Andrew Cochran (US lobbyist)

Andrew Cochran is Vice President of the Washington lobbying firm GAGE and founder of Counterterrorism Blog. Below is his biography from GAGE’s website:

Andrew Cochran, Vice President, advises clients on terrorism and homeland security, corporate governance and appropriations issues. Clients include Motley Rice LLC, one of the nation’s largest plaintiffs’ litigation firms; VeriSign, Inc., which enables and protects billions of interactions every day across the world’s voice and data networks; and i-SAFE America, Inc., a leader in providing Internet safety education for children, educators, and parents. He is also the Founder and Co-Editor of The Counterterrorism Blog, the first multi-expert website dedicated solely to terrorism issues, and the co-Chairman of The Counterterrorism Foundation. He has appeared in numerous media outlets, including CBS News, MSNBC, the Fox News Channel, BBC Radio, Congressional Quarterly, and Roll Call to discuss terrorism issues and events. Mr. Cochran previously served as Senior VP of Public Policy Partners LLC from January 2004 until that firm merged with GAGE in September 2005.
Mr. Cochran has over 18 years of experience in the oversight of the management of Cabinet-level agencies. From early 2001 through 2003, Mr. Cochran was senior oversight counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Financial Services, chaired by Rep. Michael Oxley (R-OH). He conducted oversight activities covering the Committee’s jurisdiction over federal regulation of banking, securities, insurance, and housing, with his investigations ranging from major identity theft and housing fraud cases to federal money laundering and anti-terrorist financing issues. He also led investigations into the corporate accounting scandals, including the first Congressional hearings on Enron, Global Crossing, and WorldCom. Mr. Cochran was the primary committee liaison with GAO and the Inspectors General of Treasury, HUD, and the federal financial regulators.
Prior to his service on the committee, Mr. Cochran served for almost 11 years as a division director and senior analyst at the Commerce Department’s Office of Inspector General. Performance audits conducted under his direction resulted in tens of millions of dollars in savings and effected changes in important departmental policies. As the director of an audit division focused on NOAA, he directed the first audit of a fishery management decision by NOAA and a regional fishery management council. Mr. Cochran received the Commerce OIG’s highest award for effecting material improvements through that audit to the fishery management decision process.
Mr. Cochran also served for almost five years in the Reagan Administration as a Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Commerce and to the Under Secretary for Expert Administration. He was the Deputy Secretary’s management specialist, advising the Deputy Secretary on Commerce budget and management decisions and initiatives. He led a change in the departmental approval process for consulting contracts which saved $2 million in three years.
Mr. Cochran also was a CPA in Ohio with a nationally known firm in the early 1980s prior to his government service, and he briefly practiced law with a firm in Washington, D.C. He earned a B.S. in Accounting (cum laude) from Miami University (Ohio) and a J.D. and M.B.A. (magna cum laude) from the University of Notre Dame. Mr. Cochran is a licensed attorney in Virginia and Washington, DC. He is married and lives in northern Virginia.