Brett McGurk

Brett H. McGurk

Brett H. McGurk (born April 20, 1973) is a former Senior Advisor to the United States Ambassador to Iraq and to the United States National Security Council. He was President Barack Obama's nominee to become the next United States Ambassador to Iraq, but he withdrew himself from consideration.

Early Life and Education

McGurk was born to Barry McGurk, an English professor, and Carol Ann Capobianco, an art teacher, in West Hartford, Connecticut on 20 April 1973. McGurk received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Connecticut 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.

McGurk served three consecutive clerkships, at progressively higher levels of the federal judiciary: first for Judge Gerard E. Lynch on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, then for Judge Dennis Jacobs on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Manhattan), and finally for Chief Justice William Rehnquist on the United States Supreme Court. Following his clerkships, McGurk served briefly as appellate litigation associate at Kirkland & Ellis as well as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Virginia School of Law.

Diplomatic Career

In 2004, McGurk began service as a Legal Advisor to both the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and the United States Ambassador in Baghdad. In 2005, he was transferred to the National Security Council, where he served as Director for Iraq, and later as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Iraq and Afghanistan. As Chief Negotiator, he was instrumental in helping to draft both the Constitution of Iraq (2005) and the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement (2008). In 2009, McGurk became one of only three political appointees to survive the transition from George W. Bush to Barack Obama, serving as a Senior Advisor to both the President and the United States Ambassador to Iraq.

For his efforts in Iraq, McGurk was bestowed the Distinguished Honor Award and the Superior Honor Award by the United States Department of State. He was also given the Outstanding Service Award and the Joint Service Commendation Award by the United States National Security Council.

McGurk has served as a Resident Fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics in 2009, hosting a study group on "Highest Level (and Highest Stakes) Deliberations". He also served as an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has also been a frequent commentator on several news outlets.

In August 2013 he was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the State Department.

Ambassadorial Nomination

On 26 March 2012, McGurk was nominated to become the next United States Ambassador to Iraq, succeeding James F. Jeffrey. However, McGurk's confirmation hearings soon became embroiled in controversy after a series of his emails was leaked to the press and published on Cryptome. Speculation remains as to who was responsible for the leak. The illicit emails were exchanged with Gina Chon, then a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Critics claim that the extramarital affair cast doubt on his ability to lead and manage the embassy, while supporters argue that it was merely a momentary lapse in judgement.

Chon was later accused of leaking articles to McGurk before publication, and was forced to resign from the newspaper. McGurk and Chon married in 2012, after his previous wife, Caroline Wong, filed for divorce.

On 18 June 2012, unlikely to be confirmed by the United States Senate largely as a result of the sex scandal, McGurk withdrew himself from further consideration. The position eventually went to Robert S. Beecroft.