Courtney Simmons Elwood (born June 6, 1968) is an American attorney who served as the general counsel of the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

(CIA) in the

Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...

between 2017 and 2021.

Early life and education

Elwood was born in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

. She was a member of the first graduating class of

West Potomac High School West Potomac High School, formerly Groveton High School, is a public high school in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County, Virginia. It was founded in 1985 and is part of the Fairfax County Public Schools district. History West Potomac High Sc ...

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexingto ...

and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

Career

Prior to assuming her post at the CIA, she was a partner with the firm

Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick PLLC is an American law firm based in Washington, DC. The "uber-elite, D.C.-based litigation boutique" was founded in 1993 by three former Harvard Law School classmates, Michael K. Kellogg, Peter W. Huber, ...

. She joined this firm in 1996, after clerking for Chief Justice

William Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from ...

on the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

during the 1995 term and for Judge

J. Michael Luttig John Michael Luttig ( ; born June 13, 1954) is an American corporate lawyer and jurist who was a U.S. federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1991 to 2006. Luttig resigned his judgeship in 2006 to become general coun ...

on the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maryla ...

. Elwood has served as an associate counsel to the president, deputy counsel to the vice president, and deputy chief of staff and counselor to the attorney general. In March 2017, she was announced as President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

's nominee to become general counsel of the CIA. She was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

with a vote of 67–33 on June 6, 2017.

Personal life

On November 23, 1996, she married John Elwood, also a Yale-trained lawyer, in Alexandria, Virginia.

References

External links

Courtney Simmons at Kellogg Hansen Law
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elwood, Courtney Simmons 1968 births Living people Washington and Lee University alumni Yale Law School alumni 21st-century American lawyers Trump administration personnel Women government officials Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Law clerks of J. Michael Luttig

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links