Our attorneys

Andrew P. Bakaj, Esq.

Founding & Managing Partner

Phone: 202.570.4896 Email: APB@CompassRosePLLC.com

Andrew P. Bakaj is the Founding & Managing Partner of Compass Rose Legal Group and a former CIA intelligence officer and Department of Defense investigator. He represents clients in security clearance matters, protected whistleblower disclosures and reprisal claims, federal employment and EEO disputes, and government investigations.

How I Help Clients

Request a Consultation

In his professional capacities, Andrew has advised and counseled numerous senior U.S. Government officials as well as numerous European governments, including the governments of the United Kingdom and France, in a variety of legal and investigative areas. Press coverage has compared both his career and his casework to John le Carré novels. He has also advised on Hollywood films.

He has been lauded by colleagues and professional organizations alike. Notably, he was named “Lawyer of the Year” by his peers at the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association, and Washingtonian Magazine named him among Washington, DC’s top attorneys. He has also been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® (Qui Tam Law, 2027 edition), a recognition Best Lawyers reserves for the top 5% of practicing attorneys in the United States. Perhaps most unique is that Washingtonian named Andrew among Washington’s “Most Influential People”, identifying him among the “experts and advocates—outside the government—who’ll be shaping the policy debates of the years to come.”

In naming Washington’s Most Influential People, Washingtonian wrote:

“Policymaking changes as governments come in and out of power. But the bedrock underlying it—expertise that enables public service and good-faith debate and explains why idealists still come to Washington—remains. Here’s a look at who’s wielding that influence right now.”

This distinction directly corresponds with many of Andrew’s cases and his publicly-stated personal mission: that his work be timely, relevant, and have impact.

To that end, you have certainly seen his work as he has successfully represented clients in some of the nation’s highest profile matters. Andrew also lends his voice to addressing specific legal and policy issues when appropriate. As such, he has written numerous articles on security clearance issues, federal investigations, and whistleblower matters. He also teaches the D.C. Bar’s continuing legal education course on whistleblowing and has lectured at law schools, universities, and professional conferences.

Professional Experience

Central Intelligence Agency

Andrew is a former intelligence officer assigned with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Office of Inspector General. In that capacity, Andrew conducted criminal and administrative investigations involving alleged fraud, waste, abuse or violations of law, rule, or regulation. At the direction of the Inspector General, Andrew developed a whistleblower reprisal investigation program to comply with Presidential Policy Directive 19 (PPD-19). As a subject matter expert in whistleblower reprisal investigations, he led CIA, the Intelligence Community, and the Federal Government in drafting regulations and guidance creating a whistleblower reprisal investigation program within CIA. In doing so, Andrew worked with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Justice.

Previously at the Department of Defense, Andrew created the legal and investigative framework for the Federal Government’s first national security reprisal investigation program involving security clearance actions as a pretext for reprisal. As a result, he was tasked to brief the Inspector General for the Intelligence Community’s PPD-19 working group on lessons learned and proposed ways forward in standing-up reprisal investigation programs throughout the Federal Government. Specific elements of his framework were utilized as a model by numerous federal agencies in developing their policies and procedures. Subsequent to the establishment of the program, Congress passed and the President signed into law making it a violation of law to reprise against Intelligence Community whistleblowers.

Department of Defense

Andrew was the civilian whistleblower reprisal investigation’s Senior Investigator. As such, he led a team of investigators conducting inquiries into alleged retaliatory actions/reprisals taken against civilian employees within the Department of Defense. As Senior Investigator, Andrew led investigations involving the Intelligence Community, to include the National Security Agency (NSA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). He conducted oversight of NSA and DIA-led investigations and provided advice and counsel to the Defense Intelligence Community. Andrew regularly briefed senior leadership and the DoD Inspector General Office of General Counsel on the status and results of investigations and, as required, provided legal analysis and advice for the directorate and senior leadership.

Significantly, Andrew developed a legal and investigative framework in conducting the Federal Government’s first investigations involving security clearance actions as a pretext for reprisal. This framework was used as the basis for the White House issuing PPD-19. Accordingly, at the request of the Assistant and Deputy Inspectors General, Andrew briefed the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) concerning the Intelligence Community reprisal investigation program.

Noteworthy and high-profile investigations involved disclosures concerning media access to a service member’s funeral, disclosures concerning chemical weapons storage, and security clearance decisions alleged to be a pretext for reprisal. Many of Andrew’s investigations involved highly sensitive issues and have impacted numerous senior U.S. Government officials as well as having a positive impact on various DoD policies.

Other Federal Service and Private Practice

Prior to joining the Department of Defense, Andrew was a private practice attorney in Washington, DC and clerked with the Department of Justice. Furthermore, he has Capitol Hill experience having served three United States Senators: Senators Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Charles E. Schumer, and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

He has also served overseas for the Department of State at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine. While traveling on official business in Lviv, Ukraine, he was called upon to act as the American Official “on scene” and assist in the U.S. Government’s response to one of the world’s deadliest air show disasters, which resulted in substantial American aid.

Prior to practicing law and while at Syracuse University, Andrew was a founding member of the Student Association on Terrorism and Security Analysis (SATSA). SATSA is an interdisciplinary graduate and law student association dedicated to the critical analysis of terrorism, counterterrorism policy, and national and international security issues.

High Profile Cases

Andrew has been involved in a number of high-profile cases. Notably, he was the lead counsel representing the Intelligence Community Whistleblower whose disclosure led to the 2019 Impeachment Inquiry and subsequent Impeachment of the President of the United States. Andrew has also been involved in representing State Department officials who have been impacted by what is commonly referred to as Havana Syndrome. In 2021, Andrew was lead counsel (through his affiliation with Whistleblower Aid) for Frances Haugen, the Facebook Whistleblower, whose 2021 disclosures to U.S. Government agencies and testimony before Congress and the British, French, and European Union Parliaments have made significant impact.

For public documents from the Intelligence Community Whistleblower matter, see our 2019 Intelligence Community Whistleblower archive.

To watch a video of Anderson Cooper on CNN discussing Andrew’s work in a high-profile matter, click here.

To watch a video of Rachel Maddow on MSNBC describing Andrew and his work in a high-profile matter, click here.

To watch a video of Erin Burnett on CNN interviewing Andrew and his work in the Facebook Whistleblower matter, click here.

Affiliations

In addition to leading Compass Rose Legal Group as its Founding & Managing Partner, Andrew is Special Of Counsel with Mark S. Zaid, PC.

He previously served as Chief Legal Counsel of Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit legal organization that represents whistleblowers, concurrently with his role leading Compass Rose Legal Group.

Teaching and Speaking

As a member of the faculty for the D.C. Bar’s continuing legal education course on whistleblowing, Andrew teaches attorneys about whistleblower protections, protected disclosures, and reprisal.

He has also lectured at law schools and universities and has presented seminars to compliance, legal, and ethics professionals at conferences, including those hosted by the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE).

Professional Memberships

Professional Honors and Recognition

The Best Lawyers in America®
- Best Lawyers — Qui Tam Law
Named among “Washington’s Most Influential People”
- Washingtonian
Washington DC’s Best Lawyers
- Washingtonian
Lawyer of the Year (2020)
- Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association
Career Achievement Award (2012)
- Department of Defense Office of Inspector General
Investigator of the Year, Whistleblower Reprisal Investigations (2012)
- Department of Defense Office of Inspector General
Investigation of the Year, Chemical Weapons Storage Investigation, Whistleblower Reprisal Investigations (2012)
- Department of Defense Office of Inspector General
Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Award in National Security and International Affairs (2011)
- The Civilian Reprisal Investigations Team, Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, was named as a finalist in the National Security and International Affairs category.

Education

Syracuse University
College of Law

Juris Doctor
- National Security & Counterterrorism Law Certificate
- Global Law and Practice Certificate

The George Washington University
Elliott School of International Affairs

Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs, Cum Laude
- Conflict and Security Policy Concentration
- Honors: Elliott School of International Affairs Special Honors, Dean’s List

Publications

Andrew P. Bakaj and Mark Zaid, Trump Is Dismantling the System That Guards Against Government Malfeasance, The New York Times, January 29, 2025.
Andrew P. Bakaj and Mark Zaid,Trump’s purge of inspectors general is a crisis. Alarm bells should be going off everywhere, The Washington Post, April 14, 2020.
Andrew P. Bakaj and Mark Zaid, Those Who Tell Need Urgent Help, The New York Times, March 2, 2020, at Section A, Page 27.
- On March 1, 2020, The New York Times published an online version of this OpEd with the headline, We Represented the Whistle-Blower. The Law Needs Urgent Help.
Andrew P. Bakaj and Mark Zaid, We represent the whistleblower. Their identity is no longer relevant, The Washington Post, October 25, 2019.
Andrew P. Bakaj and Mark Zaid, Letter to the Editor: Whistleblower Protections Are Getting Stronger, Just Security, April 21, 2017.
Andrew P. Bakaj and Mark Zaid, New Case Proves Intelligence Community Whistleblowers Have Protections, Just Security, February 23, 2017.
Eric B. Kempen and Andrew P. Bakaj, Marshaling Whistleblower Protection, The Journal of Public Inquiry, Spring/Summer 2009, at 6.
- The Journal of Public Inquiry article was cited in an Amicus Curiae brief to the Supreme Court of the United States. Ultimately, the whistleblower prevailed. See Lane v. Franks, No. 13-483 (June 19, 2014)
Andrew P. Bakaj, Yesterday it was American Business, Today It’s the American Military: Oversight and Outsourcing of U.S. Military Functions, Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, Syracuse University, Spring 2006

Media References

Andrew has appeared in or consulted on numerous media articles and on television in a variety of capacities, both as a subject-matter expert and a subject of reporting.

References to his work have been reported globally by or published in ABC News, The Associated Press, The Australian, BBC (UK), Bloomberg, CBS News, CNBC, CNN, Financial Times, Foreign Policy, Fox News, Government Executive, The Guardian (UK), the Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, McClatchy, The New York Times, Newsweek, NBC News, NPR, ProPublica, The Daily Telegraph (UK), The Times (UK), The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, among others.

To watch a video of Andrew appearing on CNN’s “Smerconish” discussing marijuana use and security clearances, click here.