Mary McCord Biography, Age, Career, Husband, and More
The legal world has many experts who talk about the law from a safe distance. Mary McCord is not that kind of lawyer. She spent close to twenty years as a federal prosecutor doing the actual work, arguing hundreds of cases in court, leading criminal divisions, and handling national security matters at the highest levels of the United States government. After leaving the Department of Justice, she moved to Georgetown and built an institution focused on protecting constitutional rights through real litigation.
Mary B. McCord earned her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1990. After graduating, she clerked for Judge Thomas Hogan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, an experience that gave her deep familiarity with federal court processes from the beginning of her career.
Federal Prosecution Career
She joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and spent nearly twenty years there. She rose through the ranks to become Deputy Chief of the Appellate Division, where she supervised and argued hundreds of cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeals. She then served as Chief of the Criminal Division, overseeing all criminal prosecutions in federal district court.
In 2014, she joined the Obama administration’s Department of Justice as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for National Security. From 2016 to 2017, she served as Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security. In that role, she was at the center of some of the most sensitive national security decisions the government was handling at the time.
She left the DOJ in 2017 and returned to Georgetown, where she became Executive Director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) and a Visiting Professor of Law. At ICAP, she leads a team that brings constitutional litigation at all levels of federal and state court, covering First Amendment rights, immigration, election protection, and the fight against private militias and domestic extremism.
Following the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed her as legal counsel for the House of Representatives Task Force reviewing Capitol security. She has also served as amicus curiae for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
She is a regular contributor on MSNBC and co-hosts the podcast Main Justice alongside former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann. The podcast focuses on developments at the Department of Justice and has become a key source of legal commentary on the Trump administration’s actions in 2025 and 2026.
Personal Life
Mary McCord is married to attorney Sheldon Snook, who has served as Special Assistant Counsel to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. McCord has spoken warmly about her husband, describing him as someone who carried significant weight at home without complaint during her most demanding years in government. The couple has no publicly confirmed children and keeps their personal life private.
Net Worth
Her estimated net worth is around $2 million, derived from her Georgetown salary, ICAP leadership role, MSNBC contributions, and speaking engagements. She lives a low-profile lifestyle with no publicly known luxury assets.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who is Mary McCord? She is a former federal prosecutor, former DOJ Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and current Executive Director of ICAP at Georgetown University Law Center.
- Who is her husband? Attorney Sheldon Snook, who serves as Special Assistant Counsel to the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
- What is Main Justice? A podcast she co-hosts with Andrew Weissmann focused on Department of Justice developments and national security law.
- What is ICAP? The Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown, which she leads, bringing constitutional impact litigation across federal and state courts.
