Gary M. Shiffman
Gary M. Shiffman -- an economist and business executive -- is Managing Director at the Chertoff Group, and Senior Fellow at the Center for Peace and Security Studies and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He was Senior Vice President and General Manager at L-3 Communications ([LLL]) from 2006-2009. Until January 2006, Shiffman was Chief of Staff at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in the Department of Homeland Security.
Prior to his appointment to the Department of Homeland Security in May 2004, he was "Director of Governmental Affairs at the law firm Greenberg Traurig where he focused his work on U.S. anti-terrorism policies as well as international trade and homeland defense." [1]
Shiffman told Businessweek that "Post-9/11, I had the opportunity to work in Homeland Security, and that's an honor and a privilege". [2]
Working for Greenberg Traurig
Businessweek journalist Eamon Javers reported in July 2005 that Shiffman, and member Tony C. Rudy, "were involved in issues that were creating a new and lucrative lobbying niche for Greenberg Traurig and others: claims brought by victims of war, terror, and torture against foreign governments and companies. In these cases, U.S. cooperation was key, either in pressing the POWs' case against Japanese companies or in unblocking foreign assets frozen by the U.S. Treasury," Javers wrote. [3]]
"Shiffman, a Navy veteran of the first Gulf War, worked as senior policy adviser to Senator Connie Mack (R-Fla.). There he helped draft legislation directing the Treasury Dept. to use frozen Cuban assets to satisfy $96.7 million in damages that families of three slain Cuban-Americans had won in U.S. federal court against the Castro regime. The men, members of the anti-Castro group Brothers to the Rescue, died when their small plane was shot down by Cuban jets on Feb. 24, 1996. The Clinton Administration at first declined to turn over the assets. So the families hired Miami-based Greenberg Traurig and other lobbyists to help shake the money loose," Javers wrote.
Correction
A recent item on our site incorrectly identified Gary M. Shiffman as a member of Team Abramoff. According to published reports, Dr. Shiffman was not a member of Team Abramoff. We regret the error and apologize to Dr. Shiffman for any inconvenience we may have caused.
External links
- "Dr. Gary M. Shiffman: Chief of Staff, U.S. Customs and Border Protection", accessed November 2005.
- Letter to the Editor, Foreign Affairs, March/April 2001. Signed "Gary Shiffman, Former Staff Member, U.S. Senate Republican Conference." (Posted on Greenberg Traurig website.)
- Melanie Fonder, "The Star Rainmakers. The Hill's List of Top Lobbyists," The Hill, March 20, 2002.
- Michael S. Gerber, "‘We think everything is in place’. The Tuesday Profile — Gary Shiffman, Greenberg Traurig," The Hill, June 10, 2003.
- Eamon Javers, "As The Revolving Door Turns. How does Washington work these days? A telling tale of two Capitol Hill staffers," Business Week, July 11, 2005.
