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Austen Givens: Difference between revisions
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After graduating from UVA, Givens served as an intern in the Capitol Hill offices of then-Representative John Boozman (R-AR) and the late Jo Ann Davis (R-VA). In December 2004 he left Capitol Hill to take an entry-level job in the international trade division of Wiley, Rein & Fielding LP, a law firm co-founded by Reagan White House Counsel Fred Fielding. | After graduating from UVA, Givens served as an intern in the Capitol Hill offices of then-Representative John Boozman (R-AR) and the late Jo Ann Davis (R-VA). In December 2004 he left Capitol Hill to take an entry-level job in the international trade division of Wiley, Rein & Fielding LP, a law firm co-founded by Reagan White House Counsel Fred Fielding. | ||
From 2004-2015 Givens largely avoided politics to focus on career development and education. He published a letter to the editor of ''National Review'' in 2006 calling for Saddam Hussein to be tried in Iraq, rather than in an international tribunal, for crimes against the Iraqi people. While a graduate student, he penned an April 2008 column in ''The Richmond Times-Dispatch'' in which he advocated for U.S. nuclear sanctions against Iran to be linked to Tehran’s international support of terrorist organizations. | From 2004-2015 Givens largely avoided politics to focus on career development and education. He published a letter to the editor of ''National Review'' in 2006 calling for Saddam Hussein to be tried in Iraq, rather than in an international tribunal, for crimes against the Iraqi people. While a graduate student, he penned an April 2008 column in ''The Richmond Times-Dispatch'' in which he advocated for U.S. nuclear sanctions against Iran to be linked to Tehran’s international support of terrorist organizations. In 2013, he met Wolf von Laer, the current CEO of Students for Liberty, while they both were PhD students at King’s College London. | ||
==Criticism and Praise of Donald Trump== | ==Criticism and Praise of Donald Trump== | ||
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In a May 2018 online column, he offered qualified support for Trump’s elimination of the White House Cybersecurity Coordinator position. | In a May 2018 online column, he offered qualified support for Trump’s elimination of the White House Cybersecurity Coordinator position. | ||
==Concerns about Government Surveillance Powers== | |||
Givens has spoken out repeatedly about the potential abuse of government surveillance powers. In a 2013 article for the ''Harvard National Security Journal'' he argued that laws like the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, which dramatically expanded government surveillance authorities, become “sticky” over time without the inclusion of so-called sunset provisions. In May 2017, he gave an interview on WIBX in which he mused about the pros and cons of government surveillance. | |||
Givens backs Marc Molinaro’s 2018 campaign for Governor of New York State. | Givens backs Marc Molinaro’s 2018 campaign for Governor of New York State. | ||