The report reflects a group effort. Members of the group include:
Lauren C. Anderson––An FBI veteran, led the FBI’s New York Office Joint Terrorism Task Force; currently an advisor to the U.S. Comptroller General at the GAO and Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.
John B. Bellinger, III––Co-chair of Arnold & Porter’s Global Law and Public Policy Group; former legal advisor to the U.S. Department of State; senior associate counsel to the president.
Rosa Brooks––Professor of Law and Policy at Georgetown University; adjunct senior scholar at West Point’s Modern War Institute; author of Tangled Up in Blue: Policing the American City.
David Cohen––From 2002 to 2014, New York Police Department Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence; 35 years at the CIA; former Deputy Director of the CIA for Operations, and Associate Deputy Direct for Intelligence.
Matthew G. Devost––CEO and Co-Founder of OODA LLC, a global advisory firm on security, technology, and intelligence matters; Adjunct Professor at Columbia University teaching cybersecurity and business risk.
Horace Frank––34-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department; former Assistant Chief, Director of Special Operations; former commanding officer, Information and Technology Bureau.
Donell Harvin––former Chief of Homeland Security and Intelligence, overseeing the Fusion Intelligence Center at the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, Washington DC: Visiting Scientist at Harvard University.
Brian Michael Jenkins––Senior advisor to the president of the RAND Corporation; former director of research on political violence; former adviser to the National Commission on Terrorism; former officer, U.S. Army Special Forces.
Terrence K. Kelly––Former Vice President of the RAND Corporation and first director of the RAND Homeland Security Research Division; former U.S. Army officer; Director, U.S. Joint Strategic Planning Assessment Office in Baghdad.
Cathy L. Lanier––Former Chief of Police with the Washington DC Metro Police Department; former commanding officer of Homeland Security and Counter-Terrorism; Senior Vice President and Director of Security for the NFL.
Michael E. Leiter––Longest serving head of the National Counterterrorism Center; former Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Stephan C. Margolis––40-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department where he directed the nation’s second-largest anti-terrorist unit and established the first transnational organized crime police unit.
Jim McDonnell––Elected in 2014 as 32nd Sheriff of Los Angeles County leading the country’s largest sheriff’s department; former Chief of Long Beach Police Department; previously 29-year veteran of Los Angeles Police Department.
John S. Pistole––26 years in the FBI; former FBI Executive Assistant Director for National Security, then Deputy Director of the FBI until his appointment as head of the Transportation Security Agency; president of Anderson University.
David F. Ronfeldt––Senior national security analyst with 35 years at the RAND Corporation; specialist on information and network centric conflict; author of numerous books and reports on governance, cyberspace, and conflict
John P. Sullivan––30-year veteran of Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department; created the Terrorism Early Warning group, which after 9/11 became the prototype for the nation’s intelligence fusion centers; Senior Fellow at Small Wars Journal.
Heather J. Williams––Senior Policy Researcher at the RAND Corporation; served 13 years in the Intelligence Community; served multiple tours overseas supporting Special Operations Forces counterterrorist operations.
Several other officials and scholars participated in the workshops and contributed to the report, but for reasons of their current positions or circumstances are not named.
“THE BIGGEST CASUALTY OF SERIOUS ELECTION VIOLENCE WOULD BE THE PERCEPTION OF AMERICA’S ABILITY TO GOVERN ITSELF. THIS WOULD HAVE PROFOUND CONSEQUENCES FOR AMERICANS, THE NATION’S ALLIES, AND ITS FOES.”
WHO ARE WE AND WHY DID WE PRODUCE THIS REPORT?
In the spring of 2024, a group of senior law enforcement officials, national security analysts, attorneys, legal scholars and others initiated discussions that led to this report.
They were motivated by their shared concern for the future of the country. They had confidence in the resilience of American society––faith that American common sense would prevail. But they also worried that the country’s deep divisions and dark mood could propel even minor incidents of violence during the election cycle into a dangerous national crisis.