Kevin Carroll is a partner in the Washington, D.C. and New York offices of Hughes Hubbard & Reed in the White Collar & Regulatory Defense and Global Investigations, Enforcement and Compliance practice groups. His practice focuses on representing businesses, corporate executives and government officials in congressional and criminal investigations; conducting internal investigations; and litigating national security claims. Kevin counsels businesses on CFIUS/FIRRMA, cyber, EAR/ITAR, FARA, FCPA, FISA, FMS, NISPOM and OFAC compliance.
Kevin began his legal career with Hughes Hubbard. He later served as executive director of the U.S. Council on Transnational Organized Crime, senior counsel to homeland security secretary John Kelly and House homeland security committee chairman Peter King, a CIA case officer, and a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Thomas Platt.
Colonel Carroll served for thirty years in the Army and Army Reserve, retiring as a deputy commander of the National Ground Intelligence Center. His deployments included Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Yemen. He served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and on the Joint Staff, and as an intelligence officer for special operators including the National Missions Force. His decorations include the Legion of Merit. He maintains Top Secret/SCI clearance.
Kevin has published in outlets including Bloomberg Law, Law 360, the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post; offered commentary to CBS, CNN, CSPAN, Fox, NBC, and the New York Times; and addressed the American Bar Association, Association of Corporate Counsel and U.S. Departments of State and Treasury. He is active in Business Executives for National Security.
Selected Recent Publications
Author, Trump’s presidential immunity won’t protect the men and women who carry out his orders, National Public Radio, Dec. 5, 2024.
Author, The CIA’s Ugly Legacy on Workplace Sexual Violence, The Dispatch, Oct. 28, 2024
Author, The Trump campaign’s conduct at Arlington is shocking but not surprising, The Guardian, Aug. 30, 2024
Author, Uproar over Walz's military record masks real concerns about what Trump 2.0 might mean for our military, Fox News, Aug. 17, 2024
Author, God didn't 'spare our president', National Public Radio, Jul. 19, 2024
Author, A Catholic Veteran’s Memorial Day Reflections, Catholic Herald, May 25, 2024
Author, Now Is Not the Time to Hinder Our Intelligence-Gathering Capabilities, The Dispatch, Apr. 9, 2024
Author, The ISIS Attack on Moscow Should Be a Wake-Up Call to the U.S., The Dispatch, Mar. 29, 2024
Author, with Michael Huneke and Sean Reilly, Whack-a-Mole Sanctions Compliance Can Benefit From War Lessons, Bloomberg Law, Feb. 29, 2024
Author, with Michael Huneke and Sean Reilly, US Products in Enemy Weapons Need Scrutiny Across Supply Chains, Bloomberg Law, Feb. 14, 2024
Author, The Fire Next Time, Persuasion, Jan. 19, 2024
Author, How—and Why—Biden Should Act Against the Houthis, The Dispatch, Jan. 4, 2024
Author, Sherman’s Hard Truths About War Ring True Today, The Dispatch, Nov. 9, 2023
Author, Conspiracy Theorists Need Not Apply, The Dispatch, Sep. 11, 2023
Recent Speaking Engagements
All Things Investigations: Superseding Indictments and Presidential Immunity, Sep. 3, 2024
All Things Investigations: The Trump Immunity Appeal, Feb. 12, 2024
CIA terminates whistleblower prompting flood of sexual misconduct complaints, NewsNation, Feb. 11, 2024
All Things Investigations: The DC Circuit Immunity Argument, Jan. 16, 2024
All Things Investigations: Submarines and Gag Orders, Oct. 30, 2023
Recognitions
Recommended in The Legal 500 United States, Corporate Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense (2023, 2024)
2023 Capital Pro Bono High Honor Roll, sponsored by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia
Court Admissions
U.S. District Court (District of Columbia)
U.S. District Court (Western District of Virginia)
U.S. District Court (Eastern District of Virginia)
U.S. District Court (Eastern District of New York)
U.S. District Court (Southern District of New York)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
Highlighted Matters
Criminal Investigations
Represented board members, businesses, CEOs, charities, donors, government and political officials (including an undersecretary) and professionals in bank fraud (United States v. Kindambu and United States v. Nsahlai, EDVa), election law, Espionage Act, false statements, Foreign Agents Registration Act, International Traffic in Arms Regulations, public integrity, terror finance and violent crimes cases, including acquittal of a defendant facing 74 years in prison (United States v. Kim, USAF).
Represented a former prime minister in Section 1782 litigation (Razak v. Leissner, SDNY).
Represented a hedge fund victimized by a business email compromise, and individual victims of extortion, harassment, stalking and violent crimes.
Represented an FBI informant in a Section 3071 matter.
Congressional Investigations
Represented Cabinet and subcabinet officers, and CIA and military officials in House of Representatives Intelligence, Judiciary, Natural Resources, and Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigations, a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation and confirmation proceedings.
As senior counsel to the House Homeland Security Committee, helped conduct fifteen public hearings, including jointly with the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, and led or assisted in ten investigations.
Internal Investigations
Represented business executives (including a CEO), CIA, FBI, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security and State Department officials in internal investigations.
Supervised internal investigations for a Fortune 250 company, a social media company and a university victimized by China’s “Thousand Talents” program.
Performed due diligence on a politically exposed person.
Helped conduct an internal investigation of tax fraud for a Swiss bank.
Administrative and Civil Litigation
Represented a board member, businesses, CEOs and a managing director accused of defamation, discrimination, fraud (Crescent Technologies Ltd. v. Harr, Marin Co., CA), hacking, racketeering and trade secret theft (Broidy v. Global Risk Advisors LLC, SDNY).
Represented businesses, individuals and not-for-profits pursuing Antiterrorism Act (Schrier v. Qatar Islamic Bank, SDFla), Civil Rights Act, defamation, Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, First Amendment free speech and free exercise, fraud (Save Our Allies, LLC v. Gustin, SDFla and Reed v. Howard, Loudon Co., VA), Privacy Act (Doe v. Burns, DDC), trade secret theft (District Capital Partners LLC v. Palmer, DDC) and Torture Victim Protection Act (Al-Suyid v. Hifter, EDVa) claims.
Represented a business in a Government Accountability Office bid protest of a CIA contract (Probity Enter., Inc. v. Peraton, Inc.).
Represented a business before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (Zalzar FZE v. AAFES).
Helped represent a business, a government entity and a not-for-profit pursuing First Amendment free association (Americans for Prosperity v. Harris, CDCa), trade secret theft (PPG Indus. v. Jiangsu Tie Mao Glass Co., WDPa) and Securities Act ($806m trial verdict in Fed. Hous. Fin. Agency v. Nomura Holding Am., Inc., SDNY) claims.
Pro Bono
Represented the first whistleblowers regarding CIA’s mishandling of sex crimes within the Agency, leading to a House Intelligence committee investigation, an inspector general investigation ordered by the Senate Intelligence committee, criminal convictions, and statutory reforms in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (118 P.L. 31, 137 Stat. 136).
Persuaded New York State and City governments, unanimously, to amend civil service laws to allow an older Navy SEAL to join the FDNY (S.B. 6474, 2019 Leg., 242nd Sess. (N.Y. 2019), amending N.Y. Mil. Law § 243).
Persuaded a U.S. district judge to use the Administrative Procedure Act to throw out the results of a Board of Inquiry held in retaliation against a Marine whistleblower (Brezler v. Mills, EDNY).
Persuaded the Secretary of the Army to restore the rank of a wrongfully demoted general.
Assisted Afghan refugees in obtaining U.S. visas.
Other Selected Matters
Helped represent Rheinmetall AG (RHM) in its pending $950 million acquisition of Loc Performance Products.
Obtained a license to deal with a sanctioned entity.
Helped delist a sanctioned bank.
Representation of executives in Customs and Border Protection matters.
Advised businesses, a foreign government entity and not-for-profits on Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Foreign Agent Registration Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Foreign Military Sales, International Traffic in Arms Regulations and National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual compliance.
Advised litigation funders on the Antiterrorism Act and Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.
Advised businesses operating in Afghanistan, Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine.