David Newman chairs the Firm’s interdisciplinary Government Strategies practice. A leader and co-founder of the National Security practice, he draws upon his deep experience in private practice and as a senior U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and White House official to represent clients in high stakes matters involving national security, geopolitical risk, emerging technology, and crisis management. David also leads the Firm’s Crisis Management practice. Over two decades, David served in national security positions at the highest levels of government and the private sector.

A former Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for National Security (PDAAG) and Associate Deputy Attorney General, David has extensive experience conducting internal and government-facing cross-border investigations. He regularly advises companies on cybersecurity incidents, sanctions and export control enforcement, Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) reviews, and Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) matters.

David launched the firm’s innovative Crisis Management practice nearly a decade ago, serving as a go-to resource for clients facing legal scrutiny by government agencies around the world. He understands how regulators and prosecutors think, enabling him to provide highly strategic counsel to clients across a broad range of industries. He has frequently served as a liaison between clients and government agencies and counseled on the regulation of new and emerging technologies.

Among other distinctions, David was selected to the Washingtonian’s 2026 list of the 500 Most Influential People Shaping Policy. Earlier in his career, for his work advising companies on how to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, he was named a “Trailblazer” by the National Law Journal. His commentary and thought leadership on law and technology have appeared in and been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNBC, and Wired Magazine, among other publications.

A partner at MoFo until January 2021, David returned to DOJ as part of the “day one” leadership team in connection with the change in Administration. From 2021 to 2022, he served as Associate Deputy Attorney General. From 2022 to 2025, he served as PDAAG, DOJ’s second-highest-ranking national security official, supervising the work of nearly 300 career attorneys in DOJ’s National Security Division (NSD) with engagement across virtually all aspects of NSD’s portfolio, including supervision of DOJ’s criminal enforcement programs for sanctions, export controls, counterterrorism, counterespionage, and FARA.

During his tenure, NSD created the “NatSecCyber” section, the first new litigating section in NSD’s history with a mission to centralize DOJ’s prosecutions and disruptions of national security cyber threats emanating from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea (among other U.S. adversaries); restructured and expanded NSD’s corporate enforcement program; and spearheaded the U.S. government’s approach to countering the threats posed by foreign adversary access to Americans’ sensitive bulk data.

In addition to his responsibilities supervising investigations and prosecutions, David served for more than two years as DOJ’s regular representative to Assistant Secretary meetings of CFIUS; represented DOJ at dozens of National Security Council (NSC) meetings; and led administration-wide initiatives involving emerging technology, bulk data security, and countering foreign malign influence and transnational repression.

In private practice, David has routinely advised clients on cybersecurity and data privacy matters including sensitive issues involving incident preparedness and response, emerging technology regulation, and economic espionage. In 2024, he delivered the capstone address at the U.S. Cyber Command Annual Legal Conference. He has testified before Congress on the threats to national security posed by emerging technology, including serving as lead briefer for an all Member briefing on proposed legislation to address the national security risks posed by TikTok and other foreign adversary-controlled social media applications. He also served as the U.S. government’s lead representative in international meetings and initiatives to address the evolving threat landscape of foreign malign influence and transnational repression. Named several years ago as one of the top “40 under 40” figures in the data law bar around the world by Global Data Review, he is routinely asked to advise on unsettled legal questions at the intersection of law and emerging technology.

David’s practice extends to advising on congressional oversight matters related to national security and emerging technology. While in private practice, David advised leading company executives and other prominent individuals related to high-profile hearings and investigations of the Senate and House Judiciary Committee, among other congressional committees. In his positions in government, David regularly briefed congressional members and staff on sensitive national security developments and coordinated responses to congressional inquiries.

Earlier in his career, David held key national security legal and policy posts at the White House, including serving as Special Assistant and Associate Counsel to President Obama (2015–2017) and in multiple roles on the NSC staff (2013–2015). He began his Executive Branch tenure as a career attorney in DOJ’s NSD.

David clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Robert A. Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

He received his J.D. from Yale Law School and his B.A. summa cum laude from Columbia University.

Selected Private Practice Matters

• Advised a major U.S. telecommunications company that successfully obtained national security and other regulatory approvals at the federal and state levels in connection with a now-completed $59 billion merger.
• Represented a prominent U.S. company in the course of a high-profile, multijurisdictional, government-facing bribery investigation in Africa before the U.S. Department of Justice and other non-U.S. authorities.

• Counseled leading U.S. companies across a range of industries – including in the technology, life sciences, and financial services sector – on instituting programs to comply with the DOJ Data Security Program, which restricts the transfer of Americans’ sensitive bulk data to China and other countries of concern.
• Advised a series of U.S. companies targeted by North Korea’s remote IT worker scheme, including on remediation and engagement with the DOJ and FBI.
• Conducted cybersecurity tabletop exercises at the operator, executive, and board levels for Fortune 500 organizations in the technology, healthcare, retail, and life sciences sectors.
• Counseled multiple companies in the energy, financial services, and logistics sectors doing business in Latin America on compliance with the U.S. government’s FTO designations of cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
• Coordinated the work of the independent corporate compliance monitor for a large South American company in the wake of a multijurisdictional resolution with DOJ.
• Advised companies across different industries on global and country-specific dawn raid protocols, employee guidance, and data management strategies to mitigate risk and disruption and anticipate the concerns of regulators.
• Conducted CFIUS counseling in several multi-billion-dollar transactions in which a non-U.S. investor pursued positions in leading and emerging technology companies.