Aaron Zebley

Before rejoining WilmerHale in 2019, Aaron Zebley served as the deputy special counsel under Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III for the duration of the office’s investigation of Russian government efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In that role, he was responsible for overseeing and managing all day-to-day investigation and prosecution matters. Zebley’s practice focuses on investigations, national security matters, and defending clients facing government enforcement actions or congressional inquiries.

Zebley has more than 18 years of public sector experience at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice and at a U.S. attorney’s office. He served as chief of staff for the FBI, including when Mueller was FBI director. He was also a senior counselor in the National Security Division at the Justice Department.

He was an assistant U.S. attorney in the National Security and Terrorism Unit in Alexandria, Virginia, and an FBI special agent in the Counterterrorism Division.

He received the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Furthering the Interests of U.S. National Security for his work on United States v. Moussaoui, the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award for his work on United States v. Usama Bin Ladin et al., and the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Supporting the National Security Mission for his work as prosecuting attorney on United States v. Tai Shen Kuo, Gregg Bergersen, and Yu Xin Kang.

Zebley earned his law degree in 1996 at University of Virginia School of Law and his bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in 1992 from the College of William and Mary.