Peter joined the DOJ in 2013 and served as assistant attorney general for the department’s Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA) from 2014 to 2017. In this capacity, he led the office’s efforts to manage the department’s relationships and advance its interests on Capitol Hill, working closely with DOJ leadership offices, law enforcement components, U.S. attorneys’ offices, litigating divisions, and grant-making components on a variety of legislative and oversight matters. He also served as the department’s liaison to the White House on legislative matters.
During his tenure at DOJ, Peter’s office prepared witnesses for testimony in congressional hearings and nominees for confirmation hearings, and he led efforts to confirm Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey, among others. He also prepared the attorney general, deputy attorney general, and numerous high-ranking Department witnesses for congressional hearings on oversight matters and proposed legislation, and testified on behalf of the Department on numerous occasions. He managed the Department’s efforts on numerous pieces of legislation, including FISA reauthorization (USA Freedom Act), criminal justice reform, enhanced measures to prevent human trafficking, ECPA reform, the Judicial Redress Act, and reauthorization of the 9-11 Victims Compensation Fund.
Prior to his DOJ service, Peter spent more than 30 years in private practice, working in antitrust and commercial litigation, congressional and internal investigations, and corporate compliance, and representing nonprofit organizations and trade associations on legal and policy matters. While in private practice, he was lead counsel in major antitrust and commercial cases, and served as liaison counsel for joint defense groups on behalf of numerous Fortune 100 companies. He also formed and advised several labor-management committees to advance the mutual interests of both in industries such as pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, steel, and timber.