Jonathan heads the firm’s U.S. foreign investment practice, advising domestic and international clients in connection with national security reviews of foreign investments in U.S. businesses. He represents clients before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and other U.S. government authorities responsible for cross-border investment controls.
Jonathan has advised clients as both an attorney and as a national security consultant on strategic and financial transactions in a wide range of industries. He advises clients on direct investments in U.S. businesses and on non-U.S. mergers and acquisitions with a nexus to U.S. business.
Jonathan has more than 18 years of CFIUS-related government experience, having served in the Senior National Intelligence Service as deputy national intelligence officer for CFIUS support at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). In that role, he led U.S. intelligence community support to the CFIUS process, directing the preparation of national security threat analyses of more than 500 cross-border transactions. He also served on the interagency committee that in 2008 drafted regulations governing the CFIUS process. Before joining ODNI, Jonathan was a program manager with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Jonathan has represented parties across the globe, advising them on CFIUS and other national security issues arising from transactions in a variety of industries, including the aerospace and defence, infrastructure, information and communications technology, manufacturing, real estate, financial services and food sectors. Examples include advising:
Jonathan is a recognized thought leader on matters relating to national security reviews of cross-border investment. Jonathan has co-authored several articles on the implications of the CFIUS process, recent CFIUS reforms, and the new outbound foreign investment security program. He has been cited by Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, Reuters, The Deal, Foreign Investment Watch, Global Competition Review and Law360, and has discussed CFIUS-related issues on Bloomberg TV and CCTV.
Jonathan’s professional experience before joining the U.S. government continues to help inform his understanding of clients’ strategic and financial objectives. After beginning his career as a corporate/securities attorney, Jonathan served as a senior manager of corporate development and business analysis for telecommunications equipment manufacturers and service providers, as principal of a consulting firm in which he evaluated strategic investments and as a senior analyst in an executive branch lobbying firm.
In both government and the private sector, Jonathan has supported the development and promotion of female, minority, and LGBTQ+ colleagues. His pro bono work has included:
From 2020-2022, Jonathan served on the board of directors of Specially Adapted Resource Clubs (SPARC), which provides a club-based, community-oriented day support program for adults with developmental and physical disabilities.
Jonathan was named a CFIUS expert in 2022-2026 by Chambers and Partners; was designated a Top Advisor for 2020-2024 by Foreign Investment Watch; and was recommended in 2022-2025 by Lexology/Who's Who Legal as a leader in foreign investment review.
A description of the selection methodologies for these designations can be found at https://chambers.com/about-us/methodology, https://foreigninvestmentwatch.com/top-advisors-2024, and https://www.lexology.com/index/methodology. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
Jonathan holds a juris doctorate from the Hastings College of the Law, University of California, where he was editor-in-chief of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review. Jonathan earned his bachelor’s degree in economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and he also holds an MBA from Georgetown University and a master’s in strategic intelligence from the National Defense Intelligence College. Jonathan is also a certified public accountant (inactive status) in Virginia.
State Admissions:
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Pennsylvania
New Jersey
U.S. Foreign Investment Controls: CFIUS and Other Regimes; M&A Review, Vol. 37 (April 2026).
Nippon Steel/U.S. Steel: How CFIUS Can Thread the Needle Between National Security and Political Concerns; The M&A Lawyer, Vol. 8, No. 5 (23 May 2024).
Big Changes in Outbound Foreign Investment to China (coauthored with Anna Gooding and Ray Tang Hou); PE Hub (28 August 2023).
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