Lanny Arthur Breuer (born August 5, 1958) is an American criminal defense lawyer who currently serves as vice chair of Covington & Burling LLP.

In this period, he represented U.S. Marine Sergeant Justin Elzie, one of the first U.S. service members to challenge his dismissal from the military for revealing that he was gay.

Prior to becoming assistant attorney general, Breuer was a partner in the Washington law firm of Covington & Burling LLP and the co-chairman of its white-collar defense and investigations practice group.

He represented the University of California in an investigation of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Moody's Investor Service in the wake of Enron's collapse, Halliburton/KBR in a hearing conducted by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Roger Clemens,[9] Yahoo!, and the Special Litigation Committee of the Board of Directors of Hewlett Packard.

[12] He immediately began recruiting elite lawyers from corporate firms, they later became known as the Breu Crew, in hopes of finding those responsible for culpable actions which eventually contributed to the financial crisis of 2008.

[13] During his tenure as assistant attorney general, Breuer substantially increased enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), bringing in billions in penalties and leading prosecutions against numerous individuals.

[18] On November 15, 2012, Breuer announced with the Securities and Exchange Commission the release of long-awaited guidance on the Department of Justice's and SEC's approach to FCPA enforcement.

Commentator Glenn Greenwald noted the disparity between that decision and the extremely harsh penalties regularly doled out to powerless American Muslims accused of similar behavior.

[29] On November 15, 2012, Breuer and Attorney General Holder jointly announced the largest criminal resolution in history in connection with the April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion.

[30] As part of the resolution, BP agreed to plead guilty to 11 felony manslaughter charges, environmental crimes, and obstruction of Congress, and to pay $4 billion in criminal fines and penalties.

Breuer coordinated the largest mafia takedown in the U.S. Department of Justice's history, announcing with Attorney General Holder in January 2011 charges against more than 125 members of La Cosa Nostra.

[31] The division has also prosecuted the most notorious national and international violent gangs operating in U.S. cities and along the southwest border, such as MS-13 in North Carolina, Maryland, and California,[32] and the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.

[37] In September 2012, the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General released a comprehensive report examining Operation Fast and Furious and related matters.

[39] Grassley stated that the report was wrong, citing evidence that Breuer was fully aware of the operation and had lied to Congress during his testimony.

[40] Breuer was in this position during the prosecution of Thomas Andrews Drake, an NSA whistleblower indicted in 2010 under the Espionage Act of 1917 for "retaining national defense information", which led investigative reporter Jane Mayer to write, "Because reporters often retain unauthorized defense documents, Drake's conviction would establish a legal precedent making it possible to prosecute journalists as spies.

Author Matt Taibbi, in his book, The Divide, argued that Breuer was "risk averse" and that he and Attorney General Eric Holder were overly concerned about the "collateral damage in the form of bad press and political fallout" should they lose a criminal prosecution and thus pushed for cash settlements over proper criminal procedure.

[42] On January 23, 2013, the Washington Post reported that Breuer was expected to step down and leave the office after being one of the longest-serving heads of the Criminal Division.