Former CIA Lawyer Advising Blockchain IPO

Russell Bruemmer’s CV includes a stint as top lawyer at the CIA. He is the former head of the congressional affairs unit at the FBI, and for many years was a corporate governance specialist at the law firm of WilmerHale. Now he is advising a blockchain startup called Applied Philosophy Labs as it prepares for an initial public offering. Bruemmer tells the online magazine CoinDesk that APL will have corporate and governance structures familiar to investors and will be transparent to both investors and regulators. “Bruemmer seemed like exactly what I needed in the new venture,” says APL founder David Levine, who earlier founded Geostellar, a solar power startup, and got into a dustup with the company’s secured creditors. Bruemmer chairs the conflict and audit committees of APL’s board. “Things are going to get weird, and we need someone brilliant, unflappable, experienced and credible,” says Levine.