John Bellinger Nominated to be State Department Legal Adviser

In a nomination that has been widely-expected, John B. Bellinger, III, formerly the legal adviser for the National Security Council under Condoleezza Rice, has been nominated to be the new Legal Adviser of the State Department, succeeding William Taft, IV.

According to a short bio available online, prior to joining the NSC, Bellinger was a counsel for national security matters in the criminal division of the Department of Justice from 1997 to 2001. Prior to that, he served as counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (1996), as general counsel of the Commission on the Roles and Capabilities of the U.S. Intelligence Community (1995-96), and as special assistant to Central Intelligence Agency Director William H. Webster (1988-91). Before his government service, Bellinger practiced law with Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, D.C. from 1991 to 1995.