The Levin Center announced today that Andrew M. Wright will affiliate with the Center in the role of Distinguished Oversight Practitioner.
“I am excited to join the Levin Center in this new role and hopeful that my experience in private practice, government service, and academic research will further the Levin Center’s mission to improve fact-based, constructive – and, where possible, bipartisan – congressional oversight,” said Wright. “My colleagues on the congressional investigations team at K&L Gates, too, look forward to additional opportunities for collaboration with the Levin Center in its critical work.”
“Andy has been a valuable resource to the Levin Center for years, and we’re thrilled to have him join the team in an official capacity,” said Jim Townsend, director of the Levin Center. “His work will help the Levin Center to expand its capabilities and further promote the tremendous importance of fact-based oversight in our democracy.”
Wright brings a wealth of oversight experience to the Center. Early in his career, he served on the House Oversight Committee as counsel and then staff director of the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, directing investigations. He twice worked in the White House handling oversight and other issues from the perspective of the executive branch. In addition, he spent five years as a law professor, authoring law review articles on key oversight topics and helping found the online national security and governance forum Just Security. Along the way, he practiced as a white collar lawyer and litigator at several law firms and now serves as partner and co-head of the K&L Gates bipartisan congressional investigations practice.
Wright has been a longtime friend to the Levin Center, advancing its oversight work in several ways. Over the years, he has served as an instructor for the Levin Center’s Oversight Boot Camps, two-day extensive training sessions for congressional staff on how to conduct oversight investigations. He has also helped lead oversight workshops for state legislators and staff. In addition, he has participated in multiple Levin Center educational panels examining oversight developments in the courts.
As Distinguished Oversight Practitioner, Wright will deepen his relationship with the Center while also serving as a resource to the broader oversight community. The Levin Center is particularly excited about a new joint effort involving Wright’s tireless work at K&L Gates to create a monthly newsletter tracking oversight developments in Congress. For three years now, the Congressional Investigations Digest has provided a comprehensive, timely overview of ongoing inquiries by House and Senate committees and individual Members of Congress, offering not only the latest developments but also links to press releases and correspondence. Each digest also includes a dollop of oversight history to intrigue and inspire. Wright’s digests have become an invaluable resource for the oversight community, and the Levin Center is delighted to announce that it will post all 36 past digests as well as all new digests on the Levin Center website for ready access by oversight practitioners, scholars, journalists, students, and the public. You can find them here.
“Andy knows oversight from the inside out and values honest factfinding and bipartisanship,” said Townsend. “We are lucky to have him on the Levin Center team.”
