The National Security Division (NSD) was created in March 2006 by the USA PATRIOT Reauthorization and Improvement Act (Pub. L. No. 109-177).  The creation of the NSD consolidated the Justice Department’s primary national security operations:  the former Office of Intelligence Policy and Review and the Counterterrorism and Counterespionage Sections of the Criminal Division.  The new Office of Law and Policy and the Executive Office, as well as the Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism (which previously operated out of the Criminal Division, complete the NSD) complete the NSD.  The NSD commenced operations in September 2006 upon the swearing in of the first Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

The mission of the National Security Division is to carry out the Department’s highest priority:  to combat terrorism and other threats to national security.  The NSD’s organizational structure is designed to ensure greater coordination and unity of purpose between prosecutors and law enforcement agencies, on the one hand, and intelligence attorneys and the Intelligence Community, on the other, thus strengthening the effectiveness of the federal government’s national security efforts.

The National Security Division is led by an Assistant Attorney General who is supported by three Deputy Assistant Attorneys General who oversee the Division’s components.

The National Security Division’s major responsibilities include:

Intelligence Operations and Litigation:

• Provide legal representation and counsel to agencies within the Intelligence Community to ensure that they have the legal tools necessary to conduct intelligence operations;

• Represent the United States before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to obtain authorization under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for the United States government to conduct intelligence collection activities, such as electronic surveillance and physical searches;

• Coordinate and supervise intelligence-related litigation matters, including evaluating and reviewing requests to use information collected under FISA in criminal and non-criminal proceedings and to disseminate FISA information; and

• Serve, through the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, as the Department’s primary liaison to the Director of National Intelligence.

Counterterrorism:

• Promote and oversee a coordinated national counterterrorism enforcement program, through close collaboration with Department leadership, the National Security Branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Intelligence Community, and the 93 United States Attorneys’ Offices;

• Oversee and support the Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council (ATAC) program by collaborating with prosecutors nationwide on terrorism matters, cases, and threat information; by maintaining an essential communication network between the Department and United States Attorneys’ Offices for the rapid transmission of information on terrorism threats and investigative activity; and by managing and supporting ATAC activities and initiatives;

• Consult, advise, and collaborate with prosecutors nationwide on international and domestic terrorism investigations, prosecutions, and appeals, including the use of classified evidence through the application of the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA);

• Share information with and provide advice to international prosecutors, agents, and investigating magistrates to assist in addressing international threat information and litigation initiatives; and   

• Develop training for prosecutors and investigators on cutting-edge tactics, substantive law, and relevant policies and procedures.

Counterespionage:

• Supervise the investigation and prosecution of cases involving espionage and related statutes; 

• Support and oversee the expansion of investigations and prosecutions into the unlawful export of military and strategic commodities and technology by assisting and providing guidance to United States Attorneys’ Offices in the establishment of Export Control Proliferation Task Forces;

• Coordinate and provide advice in connection with cases involving the unauthorized disclosure of classified information and support resulting prosecutions by providing advice and assistance with the application of CIPA; and

• Enforce the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (FARA) and related disclosure statutes.

Oversight:

• Oversee foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, and other national security activities to ensure compliance with the Constitution, statutes, and Executive Branch policies to protect individual privacy and civil liberties; and

• Monitor the intelligence and counterintelligence activities of the FBI to ensure conformity with applicable laws and regulations, FISC orders, and Department procedures, including the foreign intelligence and national security investigation provisions of the Attorney General’s Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations.

Law and Policy:

• Oversee the development, coordination, and implementation, in conjunction with other components of the Department as appropriate, of legislation and policies concerning intelligence, counterintelligence, counterterrorism, and other national security matters;

• Provide legal assistance and advice, in coordination with the Department’s Office of Legal Counsel as appropriate, to the Division, other components of the Department, the Attorney General, the White House, and Government agencies on matters of national security law and policy;

• Perform prepublication classification review of materials proposed to be published by present and former Department employees;

• Produce guidance on the interpretation and application of new terrorism statutes, regulations, and policies; and

• Serve as the Department’s representative on interagency boards, committees, and other groups dealing with issues related to national security.

Foreign Investment:

• Perform the Department’s staff-level work on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews foreign acquisitions of domestic entities that might affect national security and makes recommendations to the President on whether such transactions should be allowed to proceed, or if they have already occurred, should be undone;

• Track and monitor certain transactions that have been approved, including those subject to mitigation agreements, and identify unreported transactions that might merit CFIUS review;
• Respond to Federal Communication Commission (FCC) requests for the Department’s views relating to the national security implications of certain transactions relating to FCC licenses; and

• Track and monitor certain transactions that have been approved, including those subject to mitigation agreements filed with the FCC.

Victims of Terrorism:

• Establish and maintain the Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism as required by Section 126 of the Department of  Justice Appropriations Act of 2005 to ensure that the investigation and prosecution of terrorist attacks that result in the deaths and/or injuries of American citizens overseas remains a high priority within the Department; and

• Ensure that the rights of victims and their families are honored and respected, and that victims and their families are support and informed during the criminal justice process.