Brett Freedman

Senior National Security Fellow

Brett Freedman is the Founder and CEO of Canopy Consulting Group, an Advisor at Washington Office, and a Senior Advisor at WestExec Advisors, a strategic advisory firm. He most recently served as the Chief of Staff for Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the National Security Division at the Department of Justice overseeing approximately four hundred attorneys whose work spanned from participating in the interagency review process formulating executive policy in such areas as foreign investment to prosecutorial matters involving counterterrorism, counterespionage, and cybersecurity.

Prior to working at the Department of Justice, Brett spent seven years working for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as both Minority Counsel for Senator Dianne Feinstein and subsequently as General Counsel for Chairman Mark Warner. In this capacity, Brett’s worked included passage of several Intelligence Authorization Acts, cybersecurity legislation, revisions to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and reauthorization of foreign intelligence authorities.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Freedman served in the Executive Branch as Senior Associate General Counsel advising the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and as an Attorney-Advisor in the National Security Agency’s Office of General Counsel. In 2013, Brett was selected to serve as Counsel to the President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies that stood up following the unauthorized disclosures by Edward Snowden.

Brett’s career in public service began immediately aer college when he was hired as a Legislative Assistant for Congressman Michael E. Capuano (D-MA) and continued as a Presidential Management Fellow for the nascent Department of Homeland Security.

Brett received his Bachelor of Arts (BA) in International Relations from Boston University, a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) from the Fletcher School at Tus University, and a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from Suffolk University Law School.