Compass Rose Legal Group

Compass Rose Legal Group, PLLC (CRLG) is a Washington, DC law firm specializing in national security law.
History
Compass Rose Legal Group was founded by Andrew P. Bakaj, a former federal official with the Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Defense Office of Inspectors General.
Practice Areas
Compass Rose Legal Group is a boutique law firm with the following practice areas:
*National Security: Security Clearance and Polygraph
*Whistleblower Representation
*Criminal and Administrative Investigations
*Internal Investigations
*Congressional Investigations
*Government & Media Relations
*Freedom of Information Act and Pre-Publication Guidance
Notable Cases
In 2016 Andrew P. Bakaj, the firm’s Managing Attorney, was quoted in an article concerning the firm’s client, John R. Crane, a former Senior Official with the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General. The article pertained to the activity of former Defense Inspector General Joseph E. Schmitz, a foreign policy advisor to Donald Trump. The information reported gained significant global media attention, particularly because, according to reporting by The Hill, of the accusations of Schmitz "boasting about firing Jews and downplaying the Holocaust while serving as inspector general for the Department of Defense (DOD)," as reported by McClatchy.
Andrew P. Bakaj
Background
Andrew Bakaj is a former intelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency Office of Inspector General (CIA OIG) and the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG). While at DoD OIG, Bakaj was central in developing the legal and investigative framework to conduct the Federal Government’s first investigations involving security clearance actions as a pretext for reprisal. In effect, he was among those who lead to the establishment of the Defense Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Program. Due to the program’s success, DoD senior leadership tasked him with briefing the and the on the program. This framework was used as the basis for the White House issuing . PPD-19 was signed by President Barack Obama and is designed to ensure that employees who serve in the Intelligence Community or have access to classified information can effectively report waste, fraud, and abuse, while protecting classified information. It is the executive order establishing standards for all Federal agencies with employees covered by the Directive, including those under Defense Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection and the U.S. Department of Defense Whistleblower Program. It also prohibits retaliation against these employees for their reports.
At CIA Bakaj conducted criminal and administrative investigations involving alleged fraud, waste, abuse or violations of law, rule, or regulation. However, due to his prior experience he was tasked to lead and develop a whistleblower reprisal investigation program to comply with PPD-19. Accordingly, he led CIA, the Intelligence Community, and the Federal Government in drafting regulations and guidance creating a whistleblower reprisal investigation program within CIA. In doing so, Bakaj worked with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Justice. Prior to joining the Department of Defense, Bakaj was a private practice attorney and clerked with the Department of Justice. Furthermore, he has worked on Capitol Hill having served three United States Senators: Senators Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Charles E. Schumer, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Bakaj has also served overseas for the Department of State at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine. While traveling on official business in L’viv, Ukraine, he was called upon to act as the American Official “on scene” and assist in the U.S. Government’s response to Sknyliv air show disaster, one of the world’s deadliest air show disasters. In August 2002 the U.S. Government provided medical equipment worth $50,000 to the city of Lviv.
Education
Bakaj earned his Bachelor’s Degree in International Affairs, with a concentration in Security Policy, from The George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs and his Juris Doctorate from Syracuse University College of Law.

Professional Honors and Recognition
*Department of Defense Office of Inspector General Career Achievement Award
*Investigator of the Year, Whistleblower Reprisal Investigations
*Investigation of the Year, Chemical Weapons Storage Investigation
*The Civilian Reprisal Investigations team, Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, was a finalist in the 2011 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Award in National Security and International Affairs
Publications
*Eric B. Kempen and Andrew P. Bakaj, Marshalling Whistleblower Protection, The Journal of Public Inquiry, Spring/Summer 2009, at 6.
**The Journal of Public Inquiry article was cited in an Amicus Curiae brief to the Supreme Court of the United States. Ultimately, the whistleblower prevailed. See Lane v. Franks, No. 13-483 (June 19, 2014).
**The Journal of Public Inquiry article was referenced in "Obstacles to Ethical Decision-Making: Mental Models, Milgram and the Problem of Obedience," which was published by Cambridge University Press in 2013.
*Andrew P. Bakaj, Yesterday it was American Business, Today It’s the American Military: Oversight and Outsourcing of U.S. Military Functions, Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, Syracuse University, Spring 2006.

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