Sarah Istel

Sarah Istel is currently serving as Deputy General Counsel to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Prior to that, she was deputy Lead Impeachment Counsel during the January 6 Impeachment inquiry and trial, and prior to that she served as Oversight Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee and counsel during the first impeachment inquiry and trial. During the 2020 elections, she co-founded a non-partisan nonprofit to spread awareness about early in-person voting, including collaborating with activists and athletes such as Chris Paul, Gloria Steinheim, Gabrielle Union, and Ariana Grande. Before her time in Washington, Sarah previously worked as a visiting affiliate at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and in private practice as a senior associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Earlier she served as a law clerk to Judge Robert W. Sweet of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and to Judge Chester J. Straub of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She received her undergraduate degree from Princeton and graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School. She currently is a Term Member on the Council on Foreign Relations.