Congressional Investigations

Sullivan & Cromwell’s Congressional Investigations practice has a long history of guiding corporations and individual clients through their most critical investigations. From representing Microsoft and advising its CEO in high-profile antitrust hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, to representing leaders in global financial services appearing before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations during the financial crisis, S&C’s multidisciplinary approach has helped clients navigate sensitive and unpredictable investigations to the best results possible both on and off Capitol Hill. Most recently, we represented the Washington Commanders and the former owners of the Commanders in connection with inquiries by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Reform. Our advice extends beyond the four corners of the Congressional investigation to address the broader effects that an investigation may have on client operations, including other investigations and interactions with regulators and exposure to civil litigation.

S&C’s Congressional Investigations practice draws on deep and diverse experience in this area. Our lawyers have handled congressional investigations from both sides of the dais—as congressional staffers, including as chief counsel for the Senate Banking Committee, and as officials in the executive branch, including in the White House and in the leadership of the Justice Department.

Robert J. Giuffra Jr., Co-Chair of the Firm, served as Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. As Chief Counsel of the Banking Committee, he coordinated dozens of days of congressional hearings, examined many witnesses during televised hearings, and drafted committee reports. He has also testified before congressional committees. He has represented major multi-national companies and high-profile individuals in congressional investigations, including in connection with the bankruptcy of Enron, the HealthSouth accounting fraud, the financial crisis, and the Volkswagen emissions matter. He has been regularly recognized as one of the leading litigators in the United States.
Samuel R. Woodall III, a partner in the Firm’s General Practice Group, served as deputy staff director of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs and represents clients before the U.S. Congress, the executive branch, and various federal regulatory agencies, including the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

We have significant experience preparing prominent witnesses for testimony and handling investigations by a number of congressional committees and investigative bodies, including:

the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations;
the Senate Judiciary Committee;
the Senate Banking Committee;
the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee;
the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform;
the House Financial Services Committee; and
investigative bodies, such as the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.

Several members of the practice have significant prior government experience that provides beneficial insight into handling high-profile Congressional investigations and allows them to seamlessly navigate any related criminal or regulatory enforcement matters.

Jay Clayton, Senior Policy Advisor and Of Counsel to the Firm, served as Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission from May 2017 to December 2020, also testifying before Congress on over a dozen occasions, providing detailed, publicly-available testimony on the activities of the Commission, regulatory initiatives, cybersecurity and the state of financial markets.
Steven Peikin, Head of the Firm’s Securities & Commodities Investigations Practice, served as Co-Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement, where he oversaw all aspects of the SEC’s national enforcement program, supervising its more than 1400 attorneys, accountants, and staff across its 12 offices. He also coordinated SEC enforcement activities with the Department of Justice, the CFTC, and numerous foreign securities regulators around the world. Mr. Peikin also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York, including as Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force.
Karen Patton Seymour, partner in the Firm’s Litigation Group and member of the Management Committee, served as Chief of the Criminal Division for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where she supervised 165 federal prosecutors and oversaw all criminal investigations and prosecutions in the district.
Nicolas Bourtin, Managing Partner of the Firm’s Criminal Defense and Investigations Group and a co-head of the Firm’s FCPA and Anti-Corruption Group, served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, where he was involved in investigations, prosecutions and trials involving fraud, corruption, money laundering and other white collar offenses.
Alexander J. Willscher, Deputy Managing Partner of the Firm’s Criminal Defense and Investigations Group, served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York in the Office’s Public Corruption Unit and the Securities and Commodities Fraud Unit.
Kamil R. Shields, partner in the Firm’s Litigation Group, served in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Fraud and Public Corruption section.

S&C Named Finalist for New York Law Journal’s ‘Litigation Department of the Year’

Experience

John J. Ray III, in connection with the bankruptcy of FTX U.S., before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services.
The former owners of the Washington Commanders and the Commanders in relation to inquiries by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Reform and in other related inquiries and litigation.
A major U.S. insurer in connection with an investigation by a senate committee of climate change impacts to the insurance industry.
Executive-branch officials in connection with the investigation of the U.S. House Select Committee as to the events of January 6, 2021.
Senior Executive-branch official in connection with the Special Counsel investigation regarding interference in the 2016 United States elections.

JPMorgan Chase (as purchaser of the assets of Washington Mutual Bank), Goldman Sachs and Moody’s in a televised PSA investigation focused on mortgage originators and securitizers, ratings agencies and investment banks that dealt in securitized mortgages.
Barclays and another financial institution, in connection with an investigation of speculation in the natural gas markets.
CA in connection with an investigation into offshore tax avoidance.
Riggs Bank in an investigation into money laundering and USA PATRIOT Act compliance.
A major financial institution in an investigation into the role of financial institutions in Enron’s collapse.
Several major financial institutions that received Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds and had received inquiries from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform relating to post-TARP compensation practices.
An American bank in an inquiry by the Senate Finance Committee into allegedly improper contacts with a federal regulatory agency.
UBS in connection with an investigation by the House Energy and Commerce Committee into its awareness of accounting fraud by a major client of the bank.
Chief executive officers and other executives from the world’s foremost financial institutions and industrial companies in preparing for congressional testimony.
Supreme Court justices, other judges and cabinet members in confirmation, oversight and investigative hearings in preparing for congressional testimony.