Tom Malinowski

Dept of State

Former Asst Sec Human Rights/Democracy/Labor, Dept of State

The White House has set its eye on "good guy lobbyist" Tom Malinowski of the nonprofit group Human Rights Watch to be the next Assistant Secretary of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the State Department. If Malinowski is confirmed by the Senate, it will be his third time swinging through the revolving door between the public and private sectors. He began his career in public service as an assistant to Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) in 1988, and then was a researcher at the Ford Foundation from 1992-1993. In 1994, Malinowski joined the State Department as a speechwriter, remaining there for four years until he left for a job in the Clinton White House.

He continued to build his career as a foreign policy expert and speechwriting whiz once at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., where he helped lead the foreign policy speechwriting team for the National Security Council and was a special assistant to President Clinton. In 2001, Malinowski began his 12-year stint at Human Rights Watch, where he's currently the Washington director, one of the organization's top advocacy liaisons to the federal government. According to OpenSecrets.org data, the organization spent at least $1.25 million lobbying on civil liberties, foreign relations, and homeland security during his tenure. Malinowski's last personal lobbying disclosure filing dates from 2006. In 2012, Malinowski contributed $250 to the campaign of Democratic candidate Clyde Williams, a contender to oust Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) who was forced to resign from his position as the House Ways and Means Committee chairman in 2010 and was later convicted of 11 violations of House ethics rules. (Rangel was re-elected to his seat last November.) Malinowski holds a Master of Philosophy degree from Oxford University and a bachelor's degree from the University of California-Berkeley.

July 2013

https://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/rev_summary.php?id=78011