Open Minds with Hon. Jonathan Skrmetti & James Burnham
Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General of Tennessee, joins James Burnham to discuss the ways his educational journey prepared him for the legal field and the lasting impact that developing the confidence to take cases to court had on his career. Skrmetti and Burnham then consider the day’s pressing questions: How should we think about the role of Congress and government agencies, and what does that mean for democratic accountability? Are there potential concerns of corporate interests dominating policy discussions? Are current antitrust laws and frameworks equipped to handle the distinct challenges of the modern-day tech and asset management industries?
Featuring:
*******
As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.
Attorney General of Tennessee
Jonathan Skrmetti was sworn in to an eight-year term as Tennessee’s Attorney General and Reporter on September 1, 2022.
Prior to his current role, General Skrmetti served as Chief Counsel to Governor Bill Lee and as Chief Deputy Attorney General to his predecessor, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery.
Before working for the State of Tennessee, General Skrmetti was a partner at Butler Snow LLP in Memphis. His legal career began with nearly a decade as a federal prosecutor. He worked at the Civil Rights Division at Main Justice and then at the Memphis U.S. Attorney’s Office and prosecuted sex traffickers, corrupt government officials, and violent white supremacists. In addition, General Skrmetti taught cyberlaw as an adjunct professor at the University of Memphis.
General Skrmetti earned honors degrees from George Washington University, the University of Oxford, and Harvard Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. Following law school, Jonathan clerked for Judge Steven Colloton on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He lives in Franklin, Tennessee, with his wife and four children.
General Counsel, xAI and X