Kirstjen Nielsen served as the Secretary of Homeland Security from December 2017 to April 2019. She originally joined the Trump administration in January 2017 as chief of staff to then-DHS Secretary John Kelly. In September 2017, she became Deputy White House Chief of Staff. Nielsen was in charge of officially enacting Trump’s family separation policy in May 2018.
Headline: Homeland Security Today: “Homeland Security Today Welcomes Former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to Editorial Board.” [Homeland Security Today, 8/12/20]
Headline: E&E News: “Ex-Trump Cabinet secretary Nielsen tapped for DOE panel.” [E&E News, 3/13/20]
Nielsen Named As Advisor To Secure Computing Platform Company BedRock Systems. “BedRock has also secured a high-profile list of advisors including Robert F. Lentz, former Deputy Assistant Secretary Defense Information Assurance, Cyber, and DoD CISO, Kirstjen Nielsen, former Secretary of U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Adam Chlipala, Associate Professor of Computer Science at MIT and Abhishek Chauhan, CTO/Founder of Granite and former Citrix Fellow & CTO. … BedRock was incubated by Wing VC and Ashar Aziz. It is backed by leading venture capital companies in Silicon Valley such as Wing VC, Kleiner Perkins, SE Ventures, the venture capital arm of Schneider Electric, as well as prominent cybersecurity founders like Ashar Aziz and Shlomo Kramer Checkpoint Founder (CHKP), Imperva Founder and former CEO and Cato Networks Founder/CEO. … BedRock Systems is the leading software company delivering an unbreakable foundation for formally secured computing from edge to cloud. Designed on the principles of Zero Trust, BedRock Systems integrates Active Security™ into the formally correct virtualization of the compute foundation.” [BedRock Systems press release, 10/14/20]
Nielsen Appointed To Advisory Panel To Guide Australian Government On Combatting Cyberattacks. “One of Donald Trump’s former cabinet secretaries who led the fight against tech giant Huawei is advising Australia on how to combat Chinese espionage. Kirstjen Nielsen, the former US secretary of homeland security, has joined the federal government’s industry advisory panel on cyber security. …Ms Nielsen quit as President Trump’s homeland security secretary in April 2019 and in November of last year joined the Australian government’s industry advisory panel on cyber security, although it wasn’t announced at the time. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s office on Wednesday confirmed she had joined this panel, chaired by Telstra chief executive Andy Penn. ‘Ms Nielsen brings a wealth of cyber security knowledge to the Panel from her experience in defending U.S. Government and critical infrastructure networks from cyber security attacks,’ it said. ‘She will provide valuable insights on how Australia can work with its international partners to address global cyber security threats from nation states and criminal groups.’” [Daily Mail, 6/23/20]
Nielsen Was Guest Speaker At FORTUNE Most Powerful Women Summit In October 2019. “Like Sean Spicer and Steve Bannon before her, former U.S. secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen has officially launched her comeback tour. Nielsen, who famously enforced and defended the Trump administration’s memo ordering the forced separation of migrant families, was invited to speak at Fortune magazine’s “Most Powerful Women” summit on Tuesday. And what better use of such a platform than to burnish your own image?” [The Cut, 10/23/19]
July 2020: Nielsen Was Featured Speaker At SALT Talks. [SALT, 7/22/20]
Headline: NBC News: “Ex-DHS chief Nielsen claims ‘there was no policy to separate families,’ despite presiding over it.” [NBC News, 7/23/20]
After Initially Voting Against Family Separation Prosecutions, Nielsen “Backed Down” The Next Day And Signed Order To Proceed. “When the group voted by a show of hands to proceed, Ms. Nielsen was the only one who kept her hand down, according to two people familiar with the vote, which was reported earlier by NBC News. The next day, Ms. Nielsen backed down, signing a memo referring all adults for prosecution and clearing the way for the children to be separated.” [New York Times, 10/6/20]
Buzzfeed: Memo Showed Nielsen “Signed Off” On Policy “Knowing It Would Lead To Family Separations,” Contradicting Her Claims There Was No Such Policy. “A memo signed by Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen contradicts statements she made at the height of the family separation crisis last spring that the administration did not have a policy of separating children from parents. Nielsen signed off on the option to prosecute all adults who crossed the border illegally, including those with kids, knowing it would lead to family separations. The administration’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy, which sought to prosecute every adult caught crossing the border illegally, resulted in thousands of families being separated, with some parents being deported without their children.” [BuzzFeed, 9/27/18]
