Neil MacBride
{{Short description|American lawyer (born 1965)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Neil MacBride
|image = Neil H. MacBride, Treasury General Counsel.jpg
|office = General Counsel of the United States Department of the Treasury
|president = Joe Biden
|term_start = February 22, 2022
|term_end = June 28, 2024
|predecessor = Brian Callanan
|office1 = United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
|president1 = Barack Obama
|term_start1 = September 18, 2009
|term_end1 = September 13, 2013
|predecessor1 = Chuck Rosenberg
|successor1 = Dana Boente
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1965|10|14}}
|birth_place = Schenectady, New York, U.S.
|death_date =
|death_place =
|party = Democratic
|alma_mater = Houghton College
University of Virginia
}}
Neil Harvey MacBride (born October 14, 1965) is an American attorney who served as the General Counsel of the Department of the Treasury in the Biden administration. He previously served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.{{cite web |url=http://www.davispolk.com/davis-polk-welcomes-former-us-attorney-neil-macbride/ |title=Davis Polk Welcomes Former U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride |date=November 21, 2013 |access-date=January 16, 2014 |archive-date=February 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201133415/http://www.davispolk.com/davis-polk-welcomes-former-us-attorney-neil-macbride/ |url-status=dead }} The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed MacBride's nomination as U.S. Attorney on September 15, 2009, and he took office three days later. He left office on September 13, 2013.{{cite web|title=Eastern Va. U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride Stepping Down|url=http://www.mainjustice.com/2013/08/22/eastern-va-u-s-attorney-neil-macbride-stepping-down/|date=August 22, 2013|author=Jennifer Koons|publisher=Main Justice|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202111200/http://www.mainjustice.com/2013/08/22/eastern-va-u-s-attorney-neil-macbride-stepping-down/|archive-date=February 2, 2014}}
Early life and education
MacBride was born in Schenectady, New York. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and the humanities from Houghton University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Career
Prior to his appointment by President Barack Obama,{{cite web|last=McCullagh|first=Declan|date=January 23, 2009|title=Obama picks BSA's antipiracy enforcer for high-level post | Politics and Law - CNET News|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10148807-38.html|access-date=May 14, 2012|publisher=News.cnet.com}} MacBride served as an associate deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice.{{cite web|title=United States Attorney's Office - Welcome to the Eastern District of Virginia|url=http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae/usattorney.html|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091130050447/http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae/usattorney.html|archive-date=November 30, 2009|access-date=December 6, 2009}}
MacBride formerly served as vice president, anti-piracy and general counsel, of the Business Software Alliance, where he oversaw global anti-piracy enforcement and copyright policy. Prior to that, he served as staff director and chief counsel to Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-Del.) on the Senate Judiciary Committee from 2001 to 2005. From 1996 to 2001, MacBride was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Before his stint in public service, MacBride practiced law with the Washington, D.C., law firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand. He also served as a judicial law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr. in the Eastern District of Virginia.
He is a barrister with the Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court and serves on the board of advisors of the Center on Law & Security at New York University.
He was the lead prosecutor in the Megaupload controversy.{{cite web|url=http://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-u-s-government-trying-to-rewrite-the-rules-120719/ |title=Megaupload: U.S. Government Trying to Rewrite the Rules |date=July 19, 2012 |access-date=January 16, 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120615/17485919355/new-zealands-high-court-steps-into-extradition-fight-over-kim-dotcom.shtml |title=New Zealand's High Court Steps Into Extradition Fight Over Kim Dotcom |date=June 15, 2012 |access-date=January 16, 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/04/government-trying-to-deny-megaupload-legal-representation/l |title=Government trying to deny Megaupload fair legal representation |date=April 15, 2012 |access-date=January 16, 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/04/megaupload-says-us-trying-to-change-rules-to-allow-prosecution/ |title=Megaupload says US trying to change rules to allow prosecution |date=April 19, 2013 |access-date=January 16, 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/06/retired-judge-joins-fight-against-dojs-outrageous-megaupload-seizures/ |title=Retired judge joins fight against DoJ's "outrageous" Megaupload seizures |date=June 14, 2012 |access-date=January 16, 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/nz-spies-knew-kim-dotcom-shouldnt-have-been-spied-on-did-it-anyway/ |title=NZ spies knew Kim Dotcom shouldn't have been spied on, did it anyway |date=May 19, 2013 |access-date=January 16, 2014}}
In November 2020, MacBride was named a volunteer member of the Joe Biden presidential transition Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the United States Department of Justice.{{cite web |title=Agency Review Teams |url=https://buildbackbetter.com/the-transition/agency-review-teams/ |website=President-Elect Joe Biden |access-date=November 10, 2020 |archive-date=August 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828180800/https://www.whitehouse.gov/ |url-status=dead }}
=Nomination to be general counsel=
On June 3, 2021, President Biden nominated MacBride to be the next general counsel of the Department of the Treasury.{{cite web |title=President Biden Announces Key Nominations |url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/03/president-biden-announces-key-nominations/ |website=The White House |date=June 3, 2021 |access-date=February 11, 2022}} The Senate's Finance Committee held hearings on his nomination on September 22, 2021. On December 16, 2021, the committee voted to favorably report his nomination to the Senate floor.{{cite web |title=PN615 – Neil Harvey MacBride – Department of the Treasury 117th Congress (2021–2022) |url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/117th-congress/615?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22macbride%22%2C%22macbride%22%5D%7D&s=1&r=1 |website=US Congress | date=February 9, 2022 |access-date=February 11, 2022}} On February 9, 2022, the entire Senate confirmed MacBride's nomination by a vote of 61–33.{{cite web |title=On the Nomination (Confirmation: Neil Harvey MacBride, of Virginia, to be General Counsel for the Department of the Treasury) |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00050.htm |website=US Senate |access-date=February 11, 2022}} He was sworn in on February 22, 2022.{{cite web |url=https://home.treasury.gov/about/general-information/officials/neil-h-macbride |title=Neil H. MacBride |publisher=United States Department of the Treasury |access-date=May 19, 2022}} He resigned in June 2024.{{cite web |url=https://www.law360.com/pulse/articles/1855537/3-things-to-know-about-the-us-treasury-s-exiting-gc |title=3 Things To Know About The US Treasury's Exiting GC |publisher=Law360 |access-date=July 19, 2024}}
References
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External links
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Category:Houghton University alumni
Category:New York University faculty
Category:United States Department of the Treasury officials
Category:United States attorneys for the Eastern District of Virginia