Benjamin Wittes

Benjamin Wittes (born November 5, 1969) is an American journalist who focuses on issues of national security and law. He is Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, where he is the Research Director in Public Law, and Co-Director of the Harvard Law School – Brookings Project on Law and Security. He works principally on issues related to American law and national security. Along with Robert M. Chesney and Jack Goldsmith, Wittes cofounded the Lawfare Blog, which is devoted to the discussion of U.S. national security choices. Wittes is also a member of the Hoover Institution's Task Force on National Security and Law. Wittes is a frequent speaker on topics of detention, interrogation, and national security, before academic, government, policy, and military audiences. 2Biography Wittes was born in 1969 in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended a Jewish day school in New York City, and graduated from Oberlin College in 1990. He is married to Tamara Cofman Wittes. Wittes brings a non-lawyer's perspective to legal journalism, which has been his primary pursui