Michael Zeldin

Michael Zeldin is an American attorney and a retired principal with the firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in Washington, D.C.^[1] He was the global leader of the anti-money laundering/terrorist financing and economic and trade sanctions practice until his retirement on June 1, 2013. He now serves as a CNN legal analyst. He is Special Counsel to the Buckley Sandler law firm. He has appeared as an expert commentator on CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC and other broadcast TV and radio programs. Presently, he serves as a legal analyst for CNN. He has published opinion-editorial pieces for CNN.com, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, The Hill, Washington Times and the The Washington Post.

Biography

Zeldin, born on May 12, 1951, grew up in Great Neck, New York. He graduated in 1973 from Binghamton University. He completed his JD at the George Washington University Law School in 1976 and his LLM at the Georgetown University Law Center in 1982. Zeldin was an E. Barrett Prettyman Fellow at Georgetown.^[1] He is married to Amy Rudnick, an attorney at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher. They have two children.

Zeldin taught law at George Washington University and was the Associate Dean at the Antioch School of Law (clinical programs) until joining the US Department of Justice in 1984. At the Department of Justice, Zeldin was the Deputy Chief of the Narcotics and Dangerous Drug Section, Director of the Asset Forfeiture Office, Director of the Money Laundering Office, and Special Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division for money laundering matters. In 1997, he testified before United States House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime on the topic of international money laundering.

Mr. Zeldin served as the United States delegate to the following international conventions:

• G-7 Financial Action Task Force, Paris, France
• Council of Europe, Select Committee of Experts Regarding Search, Seizure and Confiscation of Crime Proceeds, Strasbourg, France.
• UN Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, Vienna, Austria.
• Organization of American States, Legislative Drafting Committee, Washington, D.C.
• Caribbean Action Task Force, Oranjestad, Aruba.

Mr. Zeldin has lectured throughout the U.S. and abroad. He has presented at the following organizations:

• American Bankers/American Bar Association
• Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association
• Florida International Bankers Association
• Institute for International Research
• Association of Certified Anti-money Laundering Specialists
• Colombian Banking Association
• Home Front Greater Philadelphia
• National Society of Compliance Professionals
• The Australian Investigator

Zeldin acted as deputy majority counsel for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, October Surprise Task Force in 1992. In this capacity he investigated the events surrounding the holding and eventual release of the American hostages in Iran.

Zeldin was appointed Deputy Independent Counsel by Joseph DiGenova in 1993 and succeeded DiGenova in 1995. The commission of the Independent Counsel in this matter was to investigate allegations that the Administration of George H. W. Bush violated the privacy rights of candidate Bill Clinton in the 1992 campaign. A final report was issued in 1996 finding that no criminal laws had been violated.

Zeldin was an active supporter of Senator Barack Obama's campaign for the presidency beginning in April 2007. He was a member of the National Finance Committee and served on the Criminal Justice and Law and Judiciary policy committees.

Zeldin joined the Board of KEEN Greater DC in October 2013

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