Joseph Schmitz

Joseph Schmitz
Basic facts
Organization:	Schmitz & Socarras LLP
Role:	Partner
Location:	Washington, D.C.
Education:	•United States Naval Academy •Stanford University Law School
Prior Experience •Managing Director (WDC), Freeh Group International •CEO, Joseph E. Schmitz, PLLC •Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel, The Prince Group •Inspector General of the Department of Defense

Joseph Schmitz is a partner at the law firm Schmitz & Socarras LLP. He has extensive experience in government affairs including time as a foreign policy advisor for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. He was also inspector general of the Department of Defense, chief operating officer and general counsel to The Prince Group, and managing director (WDC) at Freeh Group International.

Career

Early career

Schmitz attended the United States Naval Academy from 1974 to 1978, graduating with a B.S. in international security. After graduating with a J.D. from Stanford University Law School in 1986, Schmitz began his career by clerking for Judge James Buckley in Washington D.C. In 1987, he began working for Virgin Atlantic Airways as outside U.S. counsel, and he continued in this capacity until 1997. From 1996 to 2001, he taught as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. During this time, he transitioned into the public arena, working as inspector general of Naval Reserve Intelligence Command from 1999 to 2001, while also working as a partner at the law firm of Patton Boggs LLP from 1996 to 2002.

Inspector general of the Department of Defense

For three years, from 2002 to 2005, Schmitz served as the inspector general of the Department of Defense. During his tenure he was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service. Schmitz resigned from his post in September 2005 amid complaints from U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and other officials that he had potentially hindered investigations of senior Bush officials related the Iraq war. According to Newsweek, Grassley "accused Schmitz of blocking investigations of Bush administration officials tied to Iraq and Afghanistan war contracts and questioned his ties to lobbyists." The L.A. Times reported in 2005 that Grassley had "sent Schmitz several letters this summer informing him that he was the focus of a congressional inquiry into whether he had blocked two criminal investigations last year." According to TIME in 2005:

“

Schmitz chose to show the White House his department's final report on a multiyear investigation into the Air Force's plan to lease air-refueling tankers from Boeing for much more than it would have cost to buy them. After two weeks of talks with the Administration, Schmitz agreed to black out the names of senior White House officials who appeared to have played a role in pushing and approving what turned out to be a controversial procurement arrangement. Schmitz ultimately sent the report to Capitol Hill, but Senators are irked that they have not yet received an original, unredacted copy.

”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) stated that the contract arrangement was "a textbook case of bad procurement policy and favoritism to a single defense contractor."

Schmitz was later cleared of wrongdoing by an independent investigation.

Employment with the Prince Group

Upon resigning from his position as inspector general, Schmitz moved on to work as chief operating officer and general counsel for the Prince Group, which owned the military contracting company Blackwater USA. Speaking to The Washington Post, Danielle Brian—executive director of the Project on Government Oversight (POGO)—criticized Schmitz's move, saying, "The inspector general is a standard-bearer for ethics and integrity for the Pentagon. To see a person who has been holding that position cash in on his public service and go work for one of their contractors is tremendously disappointing.” A spokesperson for Schmitz stated, "Joe has run the process of transitioning from the government to the private sector through the appropriate channels. There's no conflict of interest."

While working for the Prince Group from 2005 to 2008, Schmitz also worked as the director of Detecon (2005-2007) and was a guest lecturer at the Joint Advanced Warfighting School in Norfolk (2007-2008).

Later career

In 2008, Schmitz established Joseph E. Schmitz, PLLC, which he ran as the CEO until 2014. He was also the managing director of Freeh Group International from 2009 to 2010 and the principal for the Advisory Board Group, LLC, in 2014. From 2011 to 2015, he worked as U.S. Legal Counsel for Armatix GmbH and in 2015 he was a consultant for MetricStream. He is a senior fellow at Center for Security Policy and a co-author of "Shariah The Threat To America: An Exercise in Competitive Analysis." Since 2010, Schmitz has served as the chairman of BISGlobal, since 2011, as the U.S. chairman of iKey Solutions Ltd., and since 2013 as president of I-STATE U.S.A., Inc. In 2014, he became a partner at the law firm of Schmitz & Socarras LLP.

Free Syrian Army arms negotiation, 2014

In May 2014, Schmitz was involved in an effort to provide 70,000 Russian-produced assault rifles and 21 million ammunition rounds to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the fight to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The group of private individuals aimed to supplement the arms supplied to the FSA by the United States in 2013. The Wall Street Journal reported that Schmitz directed the group, including two U.S. arms brokers, to obtain assault rifles from a supply in Ukraine and transfer the weapons to the FSA with the financial backing of an anonymous member of the Saudi royal family. However, the group failed to obtain the necessary approval from the U.S. government prior to entering into brokerage negotiations. According to Schmitz, the group planned to obtain the appropriate licenses from the U.S. Department of State, but lacked "clear guidance on when activity becomes brokerage activity."

The CIA halted the project before the weapons transfer occurred by making contact with a Saudi participant in Jordan and instructing him not to finance the arrangement. Following the cessation of the program, Schmitz reiterated his support for privately arming the FSA. "If the U.S. government wants us to do it, I'm glad to try to get it going again," he told The Wall Street Journal, "But I'm not going to do anything that smacks of sneaky or illegal."

Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016

On June 16, 2015, Trump announced his bid for the presidency at Trump Tower in New York City. Nine months later, on March 21, 2016, Trump announced a list of foreign policy advisors for his campaign, including Schmitz.

The New York Times reported that policy experts were confused by some of Trump's choices for foreign policy advisors: "Mr. Trump has promised to hire the world’s brightest minds to make up for his lack of political experience, but his new foreign policy team left some of the country’s leading experts in the field scratching their heads as they tried to identify his choices." Speaking on the selections, Trump campaign co-chair and policy advisor Sam Clovis told the paper, "These are people who work for a living. If you’re looking for show ponies, you’re coming to the wrong stable."

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Schmitz is the son of former Congressman John G. Schmitz (R-Calif.). He is the brother of John P. Schmitz, managing partner of Schmitz Global Partners LLP, and former schoolteacher Mary Kay Letourneau, who was convicted on two counts of second-degree child rape in 1997.

See also

• Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016

External links

• Joseph E. Schmitz PLLC website
• Commentary by Joseph Schmitz on the Obama administration in the Wall Street Journal