Juliette Kayyem | |
---|---|
![]() Kayyem in 2014 | |
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Intergovernmental Affairs | |
In office 2009–2010 | |
President | Barack Obama |
Deputy | Stephanie Tennyson |
Preceded by | Anne Petera |
Succeeded by | Betsy Markey |
Personal details | |
Born | Los Angeles,California,U.S. | August 16,1969
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | David J. Barron |
Children | 3 |
Education | Harvard University (BA,JD) |
Juliette N. Kayyem (born August 16,1969) is an American former government official and author. She is host of the Boston-based radio channel WGBH (FM)'s podcast The SCIF, [1] and has also appeared on CNN and Boston Public Radio,and written columns for The Boston Globe . [2]
Kayyem was formerly Massachusetts' first Undersecretary for Homeland Security,and served as Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs in the United States Department of Homeland Security under the Obama administration. [3] [4] She is also a former candidate for Governor of Massachusetts,and has also held positions as a Belfer Lecturer in International Security at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Pacific Council on International Policy.
Kayyem also previously served a senior advisor to the NSO Group,the Israeli tech firm known for the Pegasus spyware tool. In October 2019,Kayyem was made a contributor by the Washington Post –an appointment that was criticized by Citizen Lab in the context of her role at NSO and the criticism led to Kayyem stepping down just days later. In February 2020,Kayyem also left her role at NSO.
Born in Los Angeles to Lebanese parents, [5] Kayyem graduated from Harvard University with her bachelor's degree in 1991 and from Harvard Law School with a Juris Doctor degree in 1995. [6]
Kayyem began her legal career in 1995 at the Department of Justice,ultimately serving as an advisor to Attorney General Janet Reno until 1999. [7] From 1999 to 2000,Kayyem served as House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt's appointee to the National Commission on Terrorism,a congressionally mandated review of how the government could better prepare for the growing terrorist threat. Chaired by L. Paul Bremer,that commission's recommendations in the year 2000 urged the nation to recognize and adapt to the growing tide of terrorist activity against the United States. [5]
Kayyem was appointed as Massachusetts' first Undersecretary for Homeland Security by Governor Deval L. Patrick in January 2007, [8] overseeing the National Guard,the commonwealth's strategic security planning,and the distribution of homeland security funds consistent with the Governor's priorities.
On March 5,2009,United States Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano appointed Juliette N. Kayyem Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs.[ citation needed ] On May 7,2015,United States Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson appointed Kayyem to the Homeland Security Advisory Committee. [9] [10]
In July 2013,it was reported that Kayyem was considering a bid for Governor of Massachusetts in the 2014 election. [11] On August 21,2013,Kayyem officially announced her candidacy. [12] As a candidate,Kayyem endorsed raising the state minimum wage and an earned sick day mandate for workers. [13] In February 2014,it was reported by The Boston Globe that Kayyem failed to vote in either 2009 and 2010. At the time she was living temporarily in Washington,D.C.,and did not ask for an absentee ballot for Massachusetts or register to vote in the District of Columbia. When asked about her voting record,Kayyem's spokesman initially stated that Kayyem had registered in the District of Columbia during those years. But records later showed that Kayyem was never registered in Washington. When confronted with this evidence,Kayyem's campaign spokesman stated that Kayyem didn't think she could vote in Massachusetts during the time in Washington. [14] At the state party convention on June 14,2014,Kayyem failed to receive the 15% of delegate votes required to make the primary ballot. [15]
Since 2001,Kayyem has been a resident scholar at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs,serving both as executive director of the Kennedy School's Executive Session on Domestic Preparedness,a terrorism and homeland security research program,and as co-director of Harvard's Long-Term Legal Strategy for Combating Terrorism. She also taught courses on law and national security. [16] [2] As of fall 2011,Kayyem has returned to the Kennedy School as a lecturer in public policy. She is a member of the Belfer Center board of directors,and Faculty Co-Chair,Dubai Initiative.
Until February 2020,Kayyem was a senior advisor to NSO Group,an Israeli technology firm known for its Pegasus spying tool. The company has been reported to provide spying software that has been used in targeted attacks against human rights activists and journalists in various countries,and played a role in the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi. [17] [18] [19]
In October 2017,Kayyem became the chief executive officer of Massachusetts-based Zemcar,an on-demand and scheduled ridesharing company focused on children and seniors. [20] Zemcar discontinued its rideshare services in December 2018. As of March 2019,Kayyem has been chief executive officer of Grip Mobility,a technology company focused on providing transparency in the rideshare industry. [21]
Named one of CNN/Fortune Magazine's "People to Watch," Kayyem served as an on-air analyst for NBC,MSNBC News,and CNN. Her bi-weekly Boston Globe column is distributed through the New York Times wire service.[ citation needed ] She was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary "for her colorful,well reported columns on an array of issues,from women in combat to oil drilling in Alaska."
On October 21,2019,Kayyem was hired as an opinion contributor by The Washington Post ,where Khashoggi worked as a columnist. Observers pointed out the problematic nature of the hire. The director of Citizen Lab,a laboratory that studies human rights abuses and technology told Forbes at the time:"It is a sad day for human rights,a deeply disturbing irony in the wake of Khashoggi’s execution,and a public relations victory for NSO Group,to have the Washington Post hire someone sitting on their advisory board." [22] Kayyem stepped down from her Washington Post role four days later,on October 25. [23] In February 2020,Kayyem stepped down from her role as a senior adviser at NSO. [24]
During the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge by truckers in February 2022,Kayyem was accused of promoting vigilantism when she tweeted "The Ambassador Bridge link constitutes 28% of annual trade movement between US and Canada. Slash the tires,empty gas tanks,arrest the drivers,and move the trucks." Addressing the criticism,she denied the accusation,saying,"People have the freedom to protest. Governments have the responsibility to protect public safety. That was what I intended to say." [25]
She is married to David J. Barron,a judge on the First Circuit Court of Appeals. [26] She served on the advisory board of the Qatari-government financed International Centre for Sport Security. [27]
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ignored (help)The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management.
In the United States, the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) was a color-coded terrorism threat advisory scale created in March 2002 under the Bush administration in response to the September 11 attacks. The different levels triggered specific actions by federal agencies and state and local governments, and they affected the level of security at some airports and other public facilities. It was often called the "terror alert level" by the U.S. media. The system was replaced on April 27, 2011, with a new system called the National Terrorism Advisory System.
The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, Canada. It was founded by Ronald Deibert in 2001. The laboratory studies information controls that impact the openness and security of the Internet and that pose threats to human rights. The organization uses a "mixed methods" approach which combines computer-generated interrogation, data mining, and analysis with intensive field research, qualitative social science, and legal and policy analysis methods. The organization has played a major role in providing technical support to journalists investigating the use of NSO Group's Pegasus spyware on journalists, politicians and human rights advocates.
Paula Jon Dobriansky is an American diplomat, public official, and foreign policy expert who served as Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs (2001–2009) and the President's Envoy to Northern Ireland (2007–2009). A specialist in Central/East European affairs and the former Soviet Union, trans-Atlantic relations, and political-military affairs, Dobriansky held key senior roles in the administrations of five U.S. presidents.
Ashton Baldwin Carter was an American government official and academic who served as the 25th United States secretary of defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School.
The Homeland Security Act (HSA) of 2002, was introduced in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and subsequent mailings of anthrax spores. The HSA was cosponsored by 118 members of Congress. The act passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of 90–9, with one Senator not voting. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush in November 2002.
The Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, also known as the Belfer Center, is a research center located at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States.
Patricia Deats Jehlen is a former teacher and current Massachusetts State Senator of the Democratic Party. She represents the Second Middlesex District. That includes the cities of Cambridge, Ward 7 Precinct 1, Ward 8 Precinct 1, Ward 10, Medford and Somerville, and the town of Winchester, precincts 4 to 7, inclusive, in the County of Middlesex. She has served the Massachusetts State Senate since 2005. She also served the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1991 to 2003. She resides in Somerville, MA.
Farah Pandith is an American academic of Indian descent. She was appointed the first-ever Special Representative to Muslim Communities in June 2009 by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The position was made specifically for her after she briefed Secretary Clinton about her work in the Bush Administration. She had the rare distinction of being a political appointee for two Republican presidents and President Obama. When she was the Special Representative she traveled to almost 100 countries. After serving under both Secretaries Clinton and John Kerry, she left government. She said she came to Washington after 9/11 again and wanted to serve – she left after more than a decade in public service. She worked at USAID and then went to the National Security Council and then the U.S. Department of State. When she left in 2014, she returned to her home state of Massachusetts.
Jessica Eve Stern is an American scholar and academic on terrorism. Stern serves as a research professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. Earlier she had been a lecturer at Harvard University. She serves on the Hoover Institution Task Force on National Security and Law. In 2001, she was featured in Time magazine's series on Innovators. In 2009, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her work on trauma and violence. Her book ISIS: The State of Terror (2015), was co-authored with J.M. Berger.
The National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) is a terrorism threat advisory scale used by the US Department of Homeland Security since April 26, 2011.
The 2014 Massachusetts gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the Governor of Massachusetts, concurrently with the election of Massachusetts' Class II U.S. Senate seat, and other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Gina Marie Raimondo is an American businesswoman, lawyer, politician, and venture capitalist who has served since 2021 as the 40th United States secretary of commerce. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as the 75th governor of Rhode Island from 2015 to 2021, and was the first woman to serve in the role.
Xenia Wickett is a British-American executive coach and international advisor.
Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall is an American national security and energy leader, public servant, educator, and author currently serving as the 11th United States Homeland Security Advisor to President Joe Biden since 2021. She previously served in the Clinton and Obama Administrations and held appointments at academic institutions and think tanks.
NSO Group Technologies is an Israeli cyber-intelligence firm primarily known for its proprietary spyware Pegasus, which is capable of remote zero-click surveillance of smartphones. It employed almost 500 people as of 2017.
Pegasus is a spyware developed by the Israeli cyber-arms company NSO Group that is designed to be covertly and remotely installed on mobile phones running iOS and Android. While NSO Group markets Pegasus as a product for fighting crime and terrorism, governments around the world have routinely used the spyware to surveil journalists, lawyers, political dissidents, and human rights activists. The sale of Pegasus licenses to foreign governments must be approved by Israeli defense ministry.
The Pegasus Project is an international investigative journalism initiative that revealed governments' espionage on journalists, opposition politicians, activists, business people and others using the private Pegasus spyware developed by the Israeli technology and cyber-arms company NSO Group. Pegasus is ostensibly marketed for surveillance of "serious crimes and terrorism". In 2020, a target list of 50,000 phone numbers leaked to Forbidden Stories, and an analysis revealed the list contained the numbers of leading opposition politicians, human rights activists, journalists, lawyers and other political dissidents.
Alexandra Nicole Baker, known as Sasha Baker, is an American policy advisor who currently serves as deputy under secretary of defense for policy at the Department of Defense.
The Devil Never Sleeps: Learning to Live in an Age of Disasters is a nonfiction book about anticipating disasters, written by Juliette Kayyem and published by PublicAffairs, Kayyem observes that disasters are increasing, inevitable, and managing risk before and after disasters is important. The book also emphasizes situational awareness to help with mitigation.
One ICSS advisory board member Juliette Kayyem, who worked as an assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security in President Barack Obama's first term, said she didn't see any reasons for concern, noting that the ICSS was doing good work in examining how to keep massive sporting events safe