Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.
President
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Mr. Gaffney formerly acted as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy during the Reagan Administration, following four years of service as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy. Previously, he was a professional staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee under the chairmanship of the late Senator John Tower, and a national security legislative aide to the late Senator Henry M. Jackson.
Shaun Seifert
Chief Financial Officer
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Mr. Seifert manages and coordinates the various business activities with respect to the Center’s operations, and oversees the Center’s internship program. He has previously served on the staff of the Ways and Means Committee and House Committee on the Budget. He has a BA in Economics and an MBA.
Jim Hanson
Executive Vice President
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Mr. Hanson served in US Army Special Forces and conducted Counter-Terrorism, Counter-Insurgency and other operations in more than a dozen countries. Jim joined the Center to provide the expertise of a practitioner of the art of war. He is also a seasoned fighter in the war of ideas and is helping lead the Center to an information operations strategy that takes full advantage of the new media environment.
Fred Fleitz
Senior Vice President for Policy and Programs
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Mr. Fleitz served in U.S. national security positions for 25 years at the CIA, DIA, Department of State and the House Intelligence Committee staff. During the administration of President George W. Bush, Mr. Fleitz was chief of staff to John Bolton, then Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. During his tenure with the House Intelligence Committee, he was the staff expert on the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs and briefed key National Intelligence Estimates on these issues to committee members. After he left government in 2011, he founded and served as Director of the Langley Intelligence Group Network (LIGNET), Newsmax Media’s global intelligence and forecasting service. Fleitz is a regular commentator on Secure Freedom radio and has appeared on the Fox News Channel. Mr. Fleitz is the author of Peacekeeping Fiascoes of the 1990s (Praeger) and is working on books on intelligence reform and the Iranian nuclear program. Mr Fleitz holds an MA in Political Economy from Fordham University and a BA in Politics from Saint Joseph’s University.
Clare Lopez
Vice President for Research and Analysis
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Ms. Lopez manages the Center’s counterjihad and shariah programs, bringing with her also an expertise on Iran, Hizballah, and southern border issues. From 2010-2014, she was a Sr. Fellow with the Center. Lopez began her professional career as a CIA operations officer and later applied her national security expertise as a consultant, intelligence analyst, and researcher in various contract positions within the defense sector. She has been an instructor for military intelligence and Special Forces students and lectures widely on Iran, Islam, and the Muslim Brotherhood around the country. Earlier an advisor to EMP Act America, in February 2012 Ms. Lopez was named a member of the Congressional Task Force on National and Homeland Security, which focuses on the Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) threat to the nation and is a member of the Center’s Secure the Grid Coalition.
Lopez is the co-author of two published books on Iran, author of an acclaimed paper for the Center, The Rise of the Iran Lobby, and co-author/editor of the Center’s Team B II study, “Shariah: The Threat to America”. Ms. Lopez received a B.A. in Communications and French from Notre Dame College of Ohio and an M.A. in International Relations from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. She completed Marine Corps Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Quantico, Virginia before declining a commission to join the CIA.
Ben Lerner
Vice President for Government Relations
Mr. Lerner manages the Center’s educational efforts and interactions with the federal government. He also manages coalitions and projects addressing national security law, homeland security, nuclear deterrence, American sovereignty, and energy security, and is responsible for the researching and drafting of policy publications in these and other areas. His articles have appeared in The American Spectator, The Washington Times, Townhall, The Washington Examiner, and inFocus Quarterly, and he has been a guest lecturer at the U.S. Army War College, where he has discussed the legal/ethical issues surrounding the military’s use of unmanned systems. Prior to joining the Center, Mr. Lerner served as counsel on energy, environment and homeland security issues in a government relations firm, held a senior government relations role with a foreign affairs advocacy organization, gained experience in both the House and Senate, and served as a senior adviser on a congressional campaign. He holds a law degree from Georgetown University, and received his bachelor’s degree in political science, with highest distinction, from the University of Michigan.
Tommy Waller
Director of State Legislative Outreach
Tommy Waller is Director of State Legislative Outreach at the Center for Security Policy. Mr. Waller came to the Center after twelve years as an Infantry Officer in the Marine Corps and service spanning multiple deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, Africa, and South America. His assignments have ranged from conducting basic infantry operations, special operations and reconnaissance in combat environments to assignments in staff planning, logistics, training support and professional instruction. His formal education includes numerous military schools and colleges, a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Tulane University and executive education in high stakes negotiation from the Wharton School.
David Yerushalmi, Esq.
General Counsel
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Mr. Yerushalmi is a lawyer specializing in litigation and risk analysis, especially as it relates to geo-strategic policy, national security, international business relations, securities law, disclosure and due diligence requirements for domestic and international concerns. David Yerushalmi has been involved in international legal and constitutional matters for over 25 years. David Yerushalmi is today considered an expert on Islamic law and its intersection with Islamic terrorism and national security. In this capacity, he has published widely on the subject including the principle critical scholarship on Shariah-compliant finance published in the Utah Law Review (2008, Issue 3). This work and the empirical investigation known as the Mapping Shariah project in America was the focus of a recent monograph published by the McCormack Foundation and the Center for Security Policy.
Adam Savit
Vice President for Media Production
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Mr. Savit administrates media projects across a range of formats, including books and monographs published by the Center for Security Policy Press, video production for the Center’s YouTube channel and website production and maintenance. He is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University specializing in the history of the Middle East and Mediterranean.
Nancy Menges
Editor-in-Chief of The Americas Report
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Mrs. Menges, the co-founder of the Menges Hemispheric Security Project, is in charge of the weekly edition of CSP’s Americas Report. Fluent in Spanish, she holds a degree in International Relations from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has studied at the University of the Americas in Mexico City. Her postgraduate degree has been earned from the University of Maryland. She has testified in Congress and submitted CSP’s statement regarding US-Colombian relations to the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.
Kyle Shideler
Director of the Threat Information Office
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Kyle Shideler is the Director of the Threat Information Office (TIO) at the Center for Security Policy. Kyle has previously served as a Director of Research and Communications, Senior Researcher, and Public Information Officer for several organizations in the field of Middle East and terrorism policy since 2006. He is a contributing author to “Saudi Arabia and the Global Islamic Terrorist Network: America and the West’s Fatal Embrace,” and has written for numerous publications as well as briefed legislative aides, intelligence and law enforcement officials and the general public on national security issues.
Alex VanNess
Manager of Public Information
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Alex VanNess is the Manager of Public Information for the Center. Prior to coming to the Center, Mr. VanNess worked as an Intern for Congressman Doug Lamborn and then later as a member of staff for Congressman Tom McClintock of California. His articles have appeared in The American Thinker, Breitbart News, The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, RealClearReligion, Arutz Sheva, The Jewish Press, The Washington Times, and The Jerusalem Post where he writes extensively on issues relating to U.S. defense spending, the U.S./Israel strategic relationship, and the existential threats posed by Islamic fundamentalism. Alex holds a degree in Political Science and Peace & Conflict Studies from Wayne State University, and has studied Jewish Law and Philosophy at Shor Yoshuv Rabbinical College in New York.