Norman Eisen is a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings and an expert on law, ethics, and anti-corruption. He most recently served as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee from 2019 to 2020, including for the impeachment and trial of President Trump. His book about his service, A Case for the American People: The United States v. Donald J. Trump (Crown 2020), was praised as “tantalizing” (New York Times), “compelling,” (Washington Post), and as “an important piece of the historical record” (Mother Jones). Eisen is also the author of The Last Palace: Europe’s Turbulent Century in Five Lives and One Legendary House (Crown 2018) and Democracy’s Defenders: U.S. Embassy Prague, The Fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia, and Its Aftermath (Brookings Institution Press 2020).
Eisen served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2011 to 2014. He helped develop innovative anti-corruption and transparency strategies in cooperation with U.S. and Czech law enforcement and other stakeholders. Eisen also helped advance U.S.-Czech security and defense initiatives and deepened economic ties between the two nations.
From January 2009 to January 2011, Eisen worked in the White House as special counsel and special assistant to the president for ethics and government reform. The press dubbed him “Mr. No” and the “Ethics Czar” for his tough anti-corruption approach. He was the White House Counsel Office lead on the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform and other aspects of the 2009 economic recovery, including advising on the stimulus and the rescues of the auto and finance industries. He also advised President Obama on lobbying regulation, campaign finance law, and open government issues, helping to assure the most scandal-free White House in modern history.
Before government service, Eisen was a partner in the D.C. law firm Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, where he specialized in litigation and investigations. His cases included Enron, the ADM antitrust case, the subprime financial collapse, the Monica Lewinsky matter, and the 2000 and 2004 presidential recounts. He was named one of DC’s top lawyers by Washingtonian. He currently provides pro bono legal representation on election-related matters to clients like the Voter Protection Program through his law firm, Eisen PLLC.