Holland & Knight offices in Washington. Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi / ALM

A Holland & Knight partner in Washington who is the Trump administration nominee for general counsel at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reported earning $828,483 in salary and bonus, according to newly disclosed financial records that certain executive branch nominees are required to file.

Jason Klitenic, a Holland & Knight government contracts partner since 2010, said he planned to receive a performance-based discretionary bonus—valued at between $100,000 and $250,00—for legal services he's performed this year, according to a financial disclosure published this week by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. The salary amount would cover last year and part of 2017.

Financial disclosures offer a peek at the salaries and other benefits of lawyers and corporate officials who are entering public service. Klitenic, who leads Holland & Knight's homeland security practice, wasn't immediately reached for comment Tuesday. His nomination will go before the Senate Intelligence Committee. A hearing date has not been set.

Klitenic was one of several Holland & Knight lawyers who found roles on the Trump transition team. A former deputy general counsel to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Klitenic, the brother-in-law to FBI Director Christopher Wray, was on the Trump team at the Government Printing Office and at the National Archives and Records Administration.

At Holland & Knight, Klitenic has represented clients in front of agencies that focus on transportation security, immigration and emergency management. He provided legal services to clients including Qatar Airways; Axon Enterprise Inc., the manufacturer of the TASER brand device; United Parcel Service Inc.; and the Rochester Institute of Technology. His financial disclosure also noted he represented one company and 27 individuals whose names he was not permitted to divulge publicly.

Klitenic said he planned to divest interests—within 90 days of his confirmation—in dozens of major U.S. companies in the manufacturing, energy, insurance and financial industries, according to his ethics agreement, which was released at the same time as his financial disclosure.

The ethics agreement requires Klitenic to avoid participating “personally and substantially” in any matter that involves Holland & Knight unless he first obtains a waiver. Klitenic also said he would not participate in any matter, for a year, that involves a former client.

Klitenic would replace Robert Litt as general counsel to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, established in 2004 as the chief intelligence adviser to the president. Litt is now of counsel in Morrison & Foerster's Washington office, where he focuses on national security matters and risk and management. Bradley Brooker, who joined ODNI in 2008, is currently serving as acting general counsel.

 

Klitenic's financial disclosure is posted below: