Rep. Jim Turner (D-Texas), the Homeland Security Committee’s ranking member, recently picked up two new additions to his committee staff.
Peter Cleveland has been tapped to serve as a counsel and professional staff member for intelligence issues. Although Cleveland has worked for the past three years as a corporate transaction and litigation lawyer in Washington, he is no stranger to Capitol Hill. He previously worked as a staff member on the Senate Intelligence Committee where he has experience on issues such as tracking the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, assessing the intelligence community and investigating China’s efforts to gain U.S. technologies through its commercial satellite launch program.
Cleveland is also a former professional staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee specializing in East Asian affairs. He holds a law degree from Georgetown University and attended Columbia University as an undergraduate.
Joining the committee’s investigative unit is Jim McGee. McGee is a longtime journalist who most recently served as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly Homeland Security covering domestic security, the Justice Department and the intelligence community.
McGee has also worked for The Washington Post’s investigative unit and was part of The Miami Herald team that received a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the Iran-Contra scandal. He holds a bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Florida.
Independent Promotions. Vermont Rep. Bernie Sanders (I) recently picked up a new technology director and staff assistant/legislative correspondent in his Hill office.
Brett Gerstein, 32, will help manage the Green Mountain State Congressman’s Web site, produce Flash presentations and online newsletters and develop marketing ideas to increase Web viewership for Sanders.
A New York City native, Gerstein is a former Web developer for the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association and program associate for the Council for Excellence in Government. He holds a master’s in international relations from American University and a bachelor’s in political science from the State University of New York at Albany.
Taking over front office administrative duties, constituent services, legislative correspondence and handling arts, welfare, child care and women’s issues for Sanders is Bridget Murphy.
Murphy, 23, previously worked at the Congressional Hunger Center as a Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow. The Northbrook, Ill., native graduated from Duke University in 2002.
