Mark David Wallace (born December 31, 1967) is an American businessman, former diplomat and lawyer who has served in a variety of government, political and private sector posts. He served in several positions during the administration of President George W. Bush, including as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations for UN Management and Reform. As of 2019, Wallace was the CEO of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and the Counter Extremism Project (CEP).
As of 2019, Wallace is the CEO of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), Turkish Democracy Project.
Biography
Wallace attended the University of Miami, where he received both his bachelor's degree and J.D. He was married to Nicolle Wallace, a political commentator who served as President George W. Bush's communications director and as senior advisor to Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential bid.
Career
Prior to government service, Wallace was a practicing commercial litigation attorney in Miami, Florida as well as General Counsel of the State of Florida's City of Miami Emergency Financial Oversight Board. He began his political career under Florida Governor Jeb Bush and was active in his election campaigns in 1994, 1998 and 2002.
In 2000 Wallace played a key role working for then Governor George W. Bush's legal team in the decisive Florida recount in 2000 where he served as counsel to the campaign in Florida and was a spokesman for the legal team in various national media outlets. Wallace was portrayed in the HBO movie Recount for his role in the disputed presidential contest.
During President Bush's administration from 1999 to 2003 Wallace served in a variety of federal government general counsel positions. At the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), he oversaw and managed all aspects of the FEMA Office of General Counsel, and acted as counsel to the FEMA-led New York and World Trade Center recovery effort in the wake of the 2001 September 11 attacks. He also served as the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), during the INS' transition from the DOJ into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 reorganization. After the reorganization, Wallace served as the first principal legal advisor to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services for the Department of Homeland Security.
In 2003, Wallace joined President George W. Bush's reelection campaign as the deputy campaign manager. In addition to his day-to-day responsibilities of assisting in the management of the national campaign, Wallace was the campaign's lead liaison to the Republican National Convention, the campaign's representative in debate negotiations, and led the campaign's debate team at each of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates.
In February 2013, Wallace and his wife publicly supported legal recognition for same-sex marriage in an amicus brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court.
UN ambassadorship
In 2005 President Bush nominated Wallace to serve in the United States Department of State, United States Mission to the United Nations as Ambassador, U.S. Representative for UN Management and Reform and Alternative Representative of the United States to Sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations. The Senate confirmed his appointment in 2006.
During his tenure as Ambassador to the United Nations, Wallace most notably sought to uncover corruption in UN programs in such places as North Korea and Burma. He exposed the "Cash for Kim" corruption scandal in North Korea. He revealed, among other issues, that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had funneled millions of dollars in hard currency to North Korea without assurance that North Korea's dictatorship would use the money to help the North Korean people instead of diverting it to illicit activities, including the country's illegal nuclear program. Wallace accused the program of being "systematically perverted for the benefit of the Kim Jong Il regime," and the media drew parallels between UNDP's corruption in North Korea and the Oil-for-Food scandal in Iraq several years earlier. The Wall Street Journal wrote that the finding of the Cash for Kim investigation "vindicates" Wallace, "who led the charge for transparency at UNDP."