Maggie Cleary is a visiting fellow with Independent Women’s Law Center and serves as the Deputy Commonwealth Attorney in Culpeper County, Virginia. Previously she served as Special Counsel to Attorney General Jason Miyares, where she prosecuted major crime cases, and in Governor Youngkin’s administration as Deputy Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security. She served as Governor Youngkin’s Public Safety liaison to the General Assembly, working to pass the governor’s anti-crime agenda and roll back the criminal first, victim last policies passed during the 2021 special session. Prior to accepting the appointment, she was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, in Roanoke. In that capacity, she handled predominantly gun and drug offenses. She came to the Western District from the Culpeper County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, where she was a state prosecutor for four years, prosecuting everything from speeding offenses to Class 1 felonies.

Maggie was born and raised in Fairfax County, Virginia, and graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University and the University of Virginia School of Law. She has been a member of the Culpeper County Republican Committee and serves on the executive committee. A seventh-generation Virginian, with ancestors hailing from Woodstock, she is a proud member of Daughters of the American Revolution. In 2021, Maggie was named one of Maverick PAC’s “Future 40.” In her spare time, Maggie reads approximately fifty books a year, enjoys long-distance running, and teaches civics classes to prospective US citizens.