So I began a legal career defined by fighting for underdogs, taking on big fights, serving our country, and standing up to power.
I first went to work at my local prosecutor’s office and then went on to practice international law. As a young attorney, I took on a long shot pro bono case—fighting for the widow and children of Victor Jara, the Chilean folk singer who was tortured and executed for daring to stand up against the Pinochet dictatorship.
The regime tried to silence Jara’s voice. But I believe justice never forgets, decades later, we brought his killer to trial in a U.S. courtroom. It was a fight against impunity, against fear, against forgetting. And we won – helping to pave the way for his killer to be extradited back to Chile to face justice.
At 35, I walked away from a successful legal career and enlisted in the military because I felt a duty to serve. I went through bootcamp, earned my commission at officer school, and now serve as a judge advocate in the National Guard. I have devoted my service as a military lawyer to defending soldiers when they’ve got no one else in their corner.
In 2020, President Biden appointed me to serve at the Pentagon—as Special Counsel in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. I advised the Secretary and the team on some of the toughest national security challenges we faced. And every day, I pushed for a foreign policy rooted in values—not hubris.
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