Deborah Curtis is a global co-chair of Arnold & Porter’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice group. Prior to entering private practice, she served for over two decades in the U.S. national security apparatus, most recently as deputy general counsel for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). While at the CIA, she oversaw all classified litigations and investigations, advised on the invocation of diplomatic privileges and immunities, and was the senior legal counselor for all CIA counterintelligence and security programs.

Previously, Curtis was appointed as chief counsel for industry and security for the U.S. Department of Commerce, the government body which sets and administers U.S. export controls of dual-use items and national security tariffs. While at the Commerce Department, she co-drafted the landmark “foreign direct product rule,” which restricted the transfer of foreign-manufactured semiconductor technology to Huawei Technoligies.  

During a 12-year tenure at the U.S. Department of Justice, Curtis prosecuted Espionage Act cases, as well as matters involving illegal foreign agents, state-sponsored cyber intrusions, and economic sanctions and export control violations, both at the DOJ National Security Division and as deputy chief for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. 

Curtis is also a former Air Force JAG officer, stationed at the U.S. Air Force Academy as area defense counsel and cadet counsel, where she defended cadets and active duty Air Force members across the U.S. in criminal and administrative proceedings and before the Secretary of the Air Force. She began her career as a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.