Jamie Raskin

Jamin Ben Raskin (born December 13, 1962) is an American attorney, former constitutional law professor, and politician who has served as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district since 2017.) A member of the Democratic Party, Raskin earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1987 and taught at American University Washington College of Law, where he directed programs on law and government. Prior to Congress, he represented District 20 in the Maryland Senate from 2007 to 2016, advocating for measures including the repeal of the death penalty and legalization of same-sex marriage.

In the House, Raskin has chaired the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and currently serves as ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, focusing on government accountability and investigations into executive actions. He led the House managers' team in prosecuting the second impeachment of President Donald Trump in 2021, arguing for conviction on charges of incitement of insurrection related to the January 6 Capitol events. Raskin's tenure has included defenses of expansive federal regulatory authority and criticisms of perceived threats to democratic institutions, though his approaches have drawn accusations of partisan overreach from opponents. Notable personal events include the suicide of his son Tommy Raskin in January 2021, shortly before the Capitol riot, which he has linked to broader societal failures in mental health support.

Jamin Ben Raskin was born on December 13, 1962, in Washington, D.C., into an Ashkenazi Jewish family. His father, Marcus Goodman Raskin (April 30, 1934–December 24, 2017), was a progressive political activist, author, and national security specialist who briefly served as an aide to President John F. Kennedy before resigning in 1962 over policy disagreements. Marcus co-founded the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) in 1963, a Washington-based think tank that advanced left-wing critiques of U.S. foreign policy, including opposition to the Vietnam War, nuclear armament, and capitalism; the IPS hosted figures from various ideological spectrums but drew accusations of facilitating Soviet influence and radical agendas during the Cold War.