Dr. Christopher Swift

Christopher Swift is a partner in Foley & Lardner LLP’s Government Enforcement Defense & Investigations Practice and the Co-Chair of our International & National Security Team. Drawing on nearly three decades of legal, foreign policy, and national security experience, Dr. Swift serves as a trusted advisor, strategic counselor, and white-collar defense lawyer for clients managing complex cross-border and national security challenges. Dr. Swift represents clients before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), including both routine foreign investment reviews and complex national security investigations. He also counsels and defends clients in parallel proceedings involving the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), the Defense Counterintelligence & Security Agency (DCSA), Team Telecom, and other U.S. Government agencies. Notable experience includes negotiating National Security Agreements (NSAs) and FOCI mitigation measures for companies supporting the defense, intelligence, and law-enforcement agencies. Dr. Swift also defends clients in complex international investigations and government enforcement actions involving anti-money laundering (AML), economic sanctions (OFAC), arms controls (ITAR), dual-use exports (EAR), firearms and explosives (ATF), the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), forced labor, and human trafficking. Other notable engagements include counseling clients on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the USA PATRIOT Act, and government investigations involving espionage or terrorism. Prior to entering private practice, Dr. Swift served in U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, where he enforced sanctions targeting rogue states, terrorist syndicates, and weapons proliferators. While at OFAC, he managed a broad spectrum of civil and criminal cases in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and other U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Dr. Swift was previously an adjunct professor of national security studies at Georgetown University and a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). His other notable experience spans research and policy roles with the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), Freedom House, the University of Virginia’s Center for National Security Law, the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and a White House internship in the Office of Vice President Gore. Dr. Swift is an Eagle Scout and a graduate of the Derryfield School. He holds an A.B. in History and Government from Dartmouth College, a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and an M.St. and PhD. in Politics & International Studies from the University of Cambridge.