Kevin Ohlson
Head, Justice Department Professional Misconduct Review Unit
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(Ray Lustig/TWP)
- Career History: Chief of Staff to Attorney General Eric Holder (January 2009-January 2011); Director of the Executive Office of Immigration Review (September 2007-January 2009); Deputy Director of the EOIR (September 2003 to September 2007); Board Member on the Board of Immigration Appeals at the EOIR (March 2001 to September 2003); Chief of Staff to Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder (1997 to 2001); Assistant U.S. Attorney of District of Columbia (1991 to 1997)
- Hometown: West Boylston, Mass.
- Alma Mater: Washington and Jefferson College, B.A., 1982; University of Virginia, J.D., 1985
- Spouse: Carolyn Davis
- Web site
Ohlson attended Washington and Jefferson College on an ROTC scholarship. He earned a J.D. in 1985 from the University of Virginia School of Law and then served as an officer in the U.S. Army at Fort Bragg, where he was both a judge advocate and a paratrooper.
He was trained in legal protections for prisoners of war and the legality of attacking non-military buildings, such as mosques and schools, being used by opposing forces. In 1989, he became a federal prosecutor, but just a year later, he was recalled to active Army duty. He served in Honduras, Egypt and Jordan during his first tour, was part of the command staff in Saudi Arabia in his second tour, and was awarded the Bronze Star, given for "heroic or meritorious achievement or service."
As DOJ chief of staff, Ohlson led a team of seven lawyers who acted as senior advisers to Holder on all DOJ issues. He said his main role was to ensure everyone at DOJ is doing his or her job, but he wasalso a trusted Holder confidante. "
At the proverbial end of the day, the attorney general asks me to provide him with my confidential opinion, and I give him my advice," Ohlson told his hometown newspaper.
Ohlson first met Eric Holder in 1993 at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Ohlson was an assistant U.S. attorney and Holder was U.S. attorney for D.C. Ohlson later served as chief of staff for Holder when Holder became deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration.
Ohlson, a career DOJ employee, has also worked as director of the Executive Office of Immigration Review under George W. Bush Attorneys General Alberto Gonzalez and Michael Mukasey.
Ohlson donated a total of $1,000 to the Republican National Committee in 1998 and 2000 and donated $1,000 to Barack Obama in 2008.
- Interview with Eric Holder's Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Garland on April 7, 2009
- Ludden, Jennifer, "Immigration crackdown overwhelms judges," NPR, All Things Considered, February 9, 2009
- "Oversight of the Executive Office of Immigration Review," Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Sept. 23, 2008
- Press release, "Kevin A. Ohlson, Director Executive Office for Immigration Review," Executive Office for Immigration Review, September 2007
- "Bronze Star Medal," Office of the Administrative Assistant of the Secretary of the Army
- Organization information for the Executive Office for Immigration Review accessed on the official EOIR Web site
- Center for Responsive Politics
- Hammel, Lee, "AG's gatekeeper has local ties," Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Mass.), Feb. 22, 2009
- Kamen, Al, "Where can you find good help these days," The Washington Post, February 13, 2009
- Hammel, Lee, "AG's gatekeeper has local ties," Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Mass.), Feb. 22, 2009
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