About Jeff Robbins

Jeff Robbins

Jeff Robbins

Jeff Robbins' latest book, "Notes From the Brink: A Collection of Columns about Policy at Home and Abroad," is available now on AmazonBarnes & NobleApple Books and Google Play.

Robbins, a nationally recognized First Amendment lawyer and civil litigator, served as chief counsel for the Democratic senators on the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and as deputy chief counsel for the Democratic senators on the United States Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. In 1999 and 2000, he served as a United States delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland.

Between 1987 and 1990, he was an assistant United States attorney for the District of Massachusetts, where he focused on civil fraud cases and money laundering investigations. There he was tapped to be the district’s first chief of the Asset Forfeiture Unit. He was also twice appointed as a special assistant attorney general in Massachusetts, representing the secretary of the commonwealth.

He has written widely on politics, foreign policy and national security matters for the Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, The Times of Israel and the New York Observer. He is a visiting professor of the practice of political science at Brown University, where he teaches courses on congressional investigations and political journalism. He has received awards for public service from the United States Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the General Services Administration. From 2012 to 2014, he was chairman of the Anti-Defamation League’s New England board of directors, and from 2001 through 2004, he was president of the World Affairs Council of Boston.

He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Joanne. They have two children, two golden retrievers and four cats.

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Rocket Men: Hezbollah Demands Impunity and Democrats Say 'Sure!' Jun 02, 2026

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen recently claimed that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was "un-American," an announcement that surely surprised the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of American citizens who have supported AIPAC,... Read More

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Thief-in-Chief, in Brief: Trump Keeps His Cash Register Ringing May 26, 2026

Established shortly after the Civil War, Memorial Day is a solemn day of remembrance for Americans to honor those who have sacrificed their lives defending American democracy. So it was exquisitely on-brand for a president who defrauded the U.S. mili... Read More

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Losing Abe: A Giant Passes at a Particularly Bad Time May 19, 2026

In the late 1940s, when clever-sounding defenses of Soviet totalitarianism had overtaken certain fashionable political circles in Britain, George Orwell publicly addressed one leftist's soft spot for totalitarianism. He noted that the fellow did adam... Read More

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Laughingstock: Bluster and Gibberish Turn Us Into a Joke May 12, 2026

When the sorry history of the President Donald Trump Era is written, historians will note the irony that the television reality star elected twice to the presidency, assuring us that he would "make America great again," has turned the country into an... Read More