John G. Malcolm is an American lawyer and conservative legal expert. He currently serves as Vice President of the Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law at Advancing American Freedom, where he oversees efforts to promote understanding of the Constitution and rule of law, and is also a Senior Legal Fellow and Vice President of the Institute for Constitutional Government at The Heritage Foundation. Previously, from 2012 to around 2025, he was Director of the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation, as well as the Ed Gilbertson and Sherry Lindberg Gilbertson Senior Legal Fellow, writing and speaking on topics including criminal law, constitutional law, national security, religious liberty, and intellectual property. He has collaborated professionally with Leonard Leo. Malcolm's extensive government service includes roles as a former federal prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice: Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division (2001-2004), supervising areas like computer crime, child exploitation, and public corruption; Assistant U.S. Attorney in Atlanta's fraud and public corruption section (1990-1997); and Associate Independent Counsel investigating fraud at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He received the Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for prosecuting Walter Leroy Moody Jr., who assassinated an 11th Circuit judge and NAACP leader. An honors graduate of Columbia College (B.A. magna cum laude in Economics, 1982, Phi Beta Kappa, President of Alpha Delta Phi) and Harvard Law School (J.D. cum laude, 1985), Malcolm began his career clerking for Chief Judge of the Northern District of Georgia and Senior Judge Charles A. Moye, Jr. on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and as an associate at Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan. His private sector roles include founding partner at Malcolm & Schroeder, LLP (1997-2001); Executive Vice President and Director of Worldwide Anti-Piracy Operations at the Motion Picture Association of America (2004-2009), combating piracy linked to organized crime and terrorism; Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at Pepperdine Law School (2010); and General Counsel at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (2010-2012). Nominated by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate on 2019-08-01, he serves on the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation. Malcolm is active in civic organizations, chairing Boys Town Washington D.C., and serving on boards for Enough Is Enough, Barber Family Foundation, and others, with awards like the Father Flanagan Award.