Edgar Chen

Edgar Chen served for a decade at the U.S. Department of Justice, including as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, in the Office of Legislative Affairs, and as senior trial attorney leading investigations and civil and criminal cases against suspected human rights violators, including participants in Nazi-sponsored persecution at the Office of Special Investigations (later the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section).

Previously, he served as counsel and liaison to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for the Coalition for International Justice. He also worked as an oversight attorney in the Office of General Counsel at the Department of Commerce, and as Senior Advisor (detailed as Chief of Staff) at the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. He was Policy Director for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and continues to advise the organization on combating anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination. Edgar has written extensively on a variety of issues for Just Security and other publications, including on transitional justice, human rights enforcement, racial justice in the military, the decennial Census, and congressional oversight of the executive branch. He is also on LinkedIn.

Articles by this author:

‘Good Moral Character?’ Holding Trump to the Same Standards as the Immigrants He Vilifies

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Aug 28th, 2024

With New “Alien Land Laws” Asian Immigrants Are Once Again Targeted by Real Estate Bans

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May 26th, 2023

Як Міністерство юстиції може переслідувати росіян за воєнні злочини і як Конгрес може розширити свої повноваження

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Mar 23rd, 2022

How DOJ Could Prosecute Russians for War Crimes, and How Congress Can Expand Its Remit

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Mar 23rd, 2022

Race to the Top Brass

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Mar 29th, 2021

The Next Attorney General’s Allegiance Must Be to the Rule of Law

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Nov 20th, 2020

Justifying Absolute Political Control over DOJ, Barr Promotes Myth of Unaccountable Career Prosecutor

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Sep 21st, 2020

Déjà Vu All Over Again: Racial Disparity in the Military Justice System

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Sep 14th, 2020

Principle Over Pretext: The Supreme Court Isn’t Buying What Wilbur Ross Is Selling

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Jul 1st, 2019

The Barr-Nadler Subpoena Standoff: Still Room for Accommodation?

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May 10th, 2019

Amid the Nadler-Barr Standoff: Some History of Struggles Over Hearing Processes

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May 2nd, 2019

The U.S. Must Forcefully Oppose Blanket Amnesty for Civil War Atrocities in Guatemala

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Mar 26th, 2019

The Missing Khashoggi Report: A President Can’t Choose to “Decline” His Constitutional Role to Accommodate Congressional Oversight

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Mar 1st, 2019