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Evan F. Kohlmann
Terrorism - Extremist Groups - Cyberintelligence - Cyberwarfare |
| Dubbed "the Terrorist Search Engine" by New York Magazine, Evan Kohlmann has worked for more than two decades tracking terrorist organizations and other cyber threat actors through their electronic communications. He holds an unusual combination of expertise both in the subject matter of intelligence analysis, as well as in building automated systems for data acquisition and distillation. Mr. Kohlmann founded cyberintelligence market leader Flashpoint from his own bedroom, wrote the original code, and played a key role in the management and capital fundraising.
He holds a degree in International
Politics from the Edmund A. Walsh School of
Foreign Service (Georgetown University), and a
Juris Doctor (professional law degree) from the
University of Pennsylvania Law School. He
is also the recipient of a certificate in
Islamic studies from the Prince Alwaleed bin
Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding
(CMCU) at Georgetown University. He is author of
the book Al-Qaida’s Jihad in Europe: the
Afghan-Bosnian Network (Berg/Oxford
International Press, London, 2004). |
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As part of his research beginning in
approximately 1997, he has traveled overseas to
interview known terrorist recruiters and
organizers and to attend underground conferences
and rallies. Mr. Kohlmann has served at various times as a contract consultant on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTFY) at the Hague, the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the U.K. Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Scotland Yard's SO-15 Counter Terrorism Command, the Central Scotland Police, West Yorkshire Police, the Swiss Federal Public Prosecutor, and the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET). He has testified as an expert
witness in 35 federal criminal trials in the
United States and on 12 occasions as an expert
witness in jurisdictions outside the United
States.
- Federal District Judge
Mark Kravitz (U.S. v. Hassan Abu Jihaad)
- “Mr. Kohlmann is
certainly qualified to provide expert
testimony… Mr. Kohlmann is qualified by
means of his education, training,
background, and experience to testify as
an expert on terrorism… Mr. Kohlmann has
conducted first-hand interviews of several
leaders of terrorist organizations and has
reviewed reams of information about al
Qaeda… and the other subjects on which he
will offer testimony. Indeed… it is
apparent that these subjects are Mr.
Kohlmann’s life work, and he has,
therefore, acquired a considerable amount
of information and documentation on these
subjects… Mr. Kohlmann’s work receives a
considerable amount of peer review from
academic scholars and others, and by all
accounts, Mr. Kohlmann’s work is well
regarded.”
- Federal District Judge
William S. Duffey Jr. (U.S. v. Syed Haris
Ahmed)
- “Kohlmann has developed
an understanding of terrorist organization
structures, operations, and membership,
allowing him to speak with authority about
Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and
Jaish-e-Mohammed. His research and
experience have provided him a base of
understanding far greater, and far more
sophisticated, than of the Court or of
jurors... A person lacking Kohlmann's
advanced knowledge of JeM and LeT
essentially would not be able to recognize
the information on Khan’s hard drive as
information that might link a person to
JeM or LeT.”
- U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of
Appeals (U.S. v. Rafiq Sabir):
- “Kohlmann has, in fact,
been qualified as an expert on al Qaeda
and terrorism in a number of federal
prosecutions… Kohlmann’s proposed expert
testimony had a considerable factual
basis… We conclude that the district court
acted well within its discretion in
concluding that Kohlmann’s testimony
satisfied the enumerated requirements of
Rule 702… Such testimony was plainly
relevant to mens rea.”
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