Joshua Geltzer

Executive Editor (2017-Jan. 2021)

Dr. Joshua Geltzer (LinkedIn) is a partner in WilmerHale’s Defense, National Security and Government Contracts Practice.  He focuses his practice on a wide array of cutting-edge national security issues, including artificial intelligence, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), crisis management, cybersecurity and national security-related litigation. As the former top national security lawyer for the White House, Dr. Geltzer offers both strategic counsel and practical legal advice to clients navigating the statutory and regulatory issues associated with emerging technologies across all sectors.

Dr. Geltzer joined the firm after serving as Deputy Assistant to the President, Deputy White House Counsel, and Legal Advisor to the National Security Council (NSC), providing legal counsel to the President and White House leadership on matters of national defense, intelligence and foreign relations. Before that, he was Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Homeland Security Advisor, where he advised on counterterrorism, election security, migration management, and the release of US hostages and wrongful detainees. Dr. Geltzer also served as Special Assistant to the President and Special Advisor on Countering Domestic Violent Extremism, overseeing the development and implementation of the country’s first-ever National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism.

Prior to his roles in the Biden Administration, Dr. Geltzer was the executive director and visiting professor of law at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law Center, where he built and directed the institute, engaging in complex public interest litigation at all levels of the federal and state courts.

Before joining Georgetown Law, Dr. Geltzer began his government service immersed in complex national security legal and policy issues, serving as Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the NSC, Deputy Legal Advisor to the NSC and Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the Department of Justice.

Dr. Geltzer clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer of the US Supreme Court and Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Articles by this author:

The Just Security Podcast: Trump’s AI Strategy Takes Shape

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Apr 17th, 2025

Good Governance Paper No. 10: Addressing Foreign Election Interference—An Overdue To-Do List

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Oct 27th, 2020

What To Watch For In Michael Flynn’s Case On Tuesday

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Aug 10th, 2020

The Baseline: How a Functional Executive Would Have Handled the Russian Bounty Operation

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Jul 2nd, 2020

Specific Questions for Congress (and News Media) to Ask Attorney General Barr

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Jun 22nd, 2020

Don’t Let Trump Say the “American Carnage” of 2020 is What He Claimed in 2016. It’s Not.

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Jun 1st, 2020

Ten Days that Show Why Trump’s Wrong on Terrorism

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May 27th, 2020

Law Day and the Need for Virtue in Government Lawyering

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May 1st, 2020

When the Abnormal Becomes Typical: Clinging to Memories of Normalcy Three Years into the Trump Administration

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Mar 3rd, 2020

The Friday Night Massacre’s Broader Context: Trump’s Redesign for American Democracy

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Feb 10th, 2020

Three Things to Look For in the 2020 “Worldwide Threat Assessment” from the U.S. Intelligence Community

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Jan 15th, 2020

Trump Loved “His Generals”—Until He Got To Know Them

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Jan 2nd, 2020

The US Mission Tied to Syrian Oil Fields May Prove the Worst of All Strategic Options

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Nov 12th, 2019

More or Less Justice? More or Less Security?

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Nov 1st, 2019

Trump Goes Full Putin—Capitulation Inside the Oval Office

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Sep 30th, 2019

18 Years After 9/11, We Face a New International Terrorist Threat

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Sep 11th, 2019

The Pattern and Practice of Trump’s Assaults on the Intelligence Community

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Sep 3rd, 2019

Calling Off Iowa’s “Digital Caucuses” Is a Wise Display of Caution

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Aug 30th, 2019

Blame Trump, Not the U.S. Code, for His Abuse of Emergency Authority

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Aug 26th, 2019

Expert Summaries of Mueller Report: A Collection

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Aug 20th, 2019

“Virtual Iowa Caucuses” Demand Cybersecurity Attention: 2020 Election Security Can’t Wait Till 2020

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Jul 29th, 2019

35 Questions for Congress to Ask Robert Mueller (+ Questions from Readers)

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Jul 22nd, 2019

Dear Dems: Make Mueller’s Testimony About 2020, Not 2016

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Jul 19th, 2019

The Distorter-in-Chief is Hosting a Summit on Distortion on Social Media

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Jul 11th, 2019

Asking the Right Question on Iran, Al-Qaeda and the AUMF

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Jun 21st, 2019

Bill Barr’s Dangerous New Powers

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May 28th, 2019

Trump’s Preference for Acting Officials Puts National Security at Risk

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May 20th, 2019

Don’t Get Lured by False Question of Whether Mueller Got “Played” by Barr

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May 6th, 2019

What Congress Should Ask Bill Barr When He Testifies

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Apr 30th, 2019

The Missing Piece of the Mueller Investigation

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Mar 29th, 2019

Sizing Up Facebook’s New Disclosures About the Christchurch Shooting

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Mar 21st, 2019

So This Is What Congress’ Getting Involved in Foreign Affairs Looks Like

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Feb 14th, 2019