McKay Smith

Biographical Sketch

McKay Smith is an Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, National Security Division.  The Department of Justice bears the responsibility of overseeing the foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities of the United States Intelligence Community.  As an Attorney with the National Security Division, Mr. Smith provides guidance to members of the Intelligence Community regarding interpretation and application of governing authorities.  He also identifies individual and systemic incidents of noncompliance and works with responsible agencies to correct existing problems, as well as to limit the occurrence of future incidents.

Prior to joining the Department of Justice, Mr. Smith was a Senior Inspector with the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General.  The Office of Inspector General conducts independent and objective audits, inspections, and investigations of departmental programs and operations.  Mr. Smith worked in multiple capacities within the Office of Inspector General, including as an Attorney and as the Acting Intelligence Operations Specialist.  As a Senior Inspector, he reviewed highly sensitive and controversial programs to ensure compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Mr. Smith is an Adjunct Professor at both the Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University and the George Washington University Law School where he teaches courses on government oversight and internal investigations. In addition, he has authored several articles and inspector general reports related to the subject. Mr. Smith earned his JD from William and Mary Law School and an LLM, with distinction, from the Georgetown University Law Center.