caption other_names nationality alt known_for image article_title name occupation
paul lewis paul m. lewis usa paul lewis appointed to help close guantanamo paul m. lewis -lrb- diplomat -rrb- 022514094210.jpg paul m. lewis -lrb- diplomat -rrb-
 paul lewis lawyer , diplomat
paul m. lewis -lrb- diplomat -rrb-

paul lewis is an american lawyer and diplomat .
on october 7 , 2013 president barack obama appointed lewis to be united states department of defense 's special envoy for guantanamo closure , the most senior pentagon official tasked with closing the notorious guantanamo bay detention camps , in cuba .
lewis , a former united states marine , jag officer had previously served as the chief cousnel to the house armed services committee .
he was also a law professor at georgetown university .
obama had announced the creation of two positions during a speech about guantanamo at the defense university in may 2013 .
william lietzau , the most recent deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs had resigned in july , without being replaced .
lewis 's position was not a direct replacement for the empty dasd-da position .
the other position was that of a special envoy for guantanamo closure within the state department .
that position had been filled in june , by clifford sloan .
lewis earned a law degree from notre dame university in 1983 .
he rose to the rank of captain , within the marine corps , during the five years he served as a jag officer .
he had also served as an assistant district attorney in manhattan , and an anti-racketeering prosecutor for the department of justice , before holding a series of posts as counsels to congressional representatives , or to congressional committees .
carol rosenberg , writing in the `` miami herald '' , reported that , at georgetown lewis had specialized in teaching legal ethics .
`` the hill '' reported lewis also had responsibility for finding new homes for the foreigners the usa held in extrajudicial detention in afghanistan .
