May 01,2007

Grassley Hires Four New Staff Members for His Committee Staff

WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Committee on Finance, today announced he has hired four staff members to fill positions on his committee staff.

Christopher Armstrong comes on board as investigator and counsel to work on Grassley’s investigative and oversight projects. Before coming to Grassley’s staff, from 2005 to 2007 he worked for the United States Office of Special Counsel in Washington, D.C., investigating and prosecuting retaliation cases against government whistleblowers. Armstrong graduated from law school at the Catholic University of America in 2005 and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Kennesaw State University in 2002.
Chris Condeluci comes to Grassley’s committee staff as tax and benefits counsel. He will handle issues including pension and health benefits, executive compensation, education tax policy, and retirement security issues. Condeluci joined the committee from the Washington, D.C.-based law firm, Groom Law Group, where he handled a similar portfolio of issues. Condeluci earned an LL.M. in employee benefits law from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago in 2003; his law degree from John Marshall in 2003; and a bachelor of arts degree from The Pennsylvania State University in 1995.

David Ross joins the staff as international trade counsel and will handle issues involving Europe and China, services, financial services, investment, intellectual property, and World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement issues. Ross comes from the Office of the United States Trade Representative in Washington, D.C., where since 1999 he had served as associate general counsel, representing the United States in proceedings before the WTO. Ross earned his J.D./LL.M. (comparative and international law) from Duke University in 1993. He earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1989.

Paul Thacker comes on board as an investigator to work on Grassley’s investigative and oversight projects. Thacker comes to Grassley’s staff from his position as a reporter at the Public Education Center, a non-profit group that develops investigative stories for national media outlets. The group specializes in general interest and nationally significant environmental and national security stories. Thacker earned a bachelor of science degree in biology in 1997 from the University of California at Davis.

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