Brett H. McGurk
| Brett H. McGurk | |
|---|---|
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|
| Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant | |
|
Assumed office October 23, 2015 |
|
| President |
Barack Obama Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | John Allen |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 20, 1973 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Education |
University of Connecticut (BA) Columbia University (JD) |
Brett H. McGurk (born April 20, 1973) is an American lawyer and diplomat who was appointed by President Barack Obama on 23 October 2015 as Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL. He replaced General John R. Allen to whom he had been a deputy since 16 September 2014. He also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran, at the U.S. Department of State, and from October 2014 through January 2016 led 14 months of secret negotiations with Iran that led to a prisoner swap and release of four Americans from Evin Prison in Tehran, including the Washington Post journalist, Jason Rezaian. This assignment, among others, reinforced McGurk's "reputation as a doer," according to the NY Times. He earlier served under President George W. Bush as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Iraq and Afghanistan, and under President Obama as Special Advisor to the U.S. National Security Council and Senior Advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq. An attorney by training, Mr. McGurk served as a law clerk to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist on the U.S. Supreme Court during the Court's 2001 October Term. On January 19, 2017, President-Elect Donald Trump's press secretary Sean Spicer announced that the incoming administration would retain McGurk in his role leading the counter-ISIS campaign.
McGurk was born to Barry McGurk, an English professor, and Carol Ann Capobianco, an art teacher, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 20 April 1973. His family later moved to West Hartford Connecticut, where he graduated from Conard High School in 1991. McGurk received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Connecticut Honors Program in 1996, and his Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 1999. While at Columbia, he was a Senior Editor of the Columbia Law Review, a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and won the prize for best written brief in Columbia Law School's Moot Court Honors Competition.
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