US President Barack Obama nominated Mark Henry Gitenstein, linked to corporate lobbying in the US Congress recently, for the seat of US Ambassador to Romania. On Friday Romania's Foreign Ministry announced the decision which can be accessed on the White House website.

Mark Gitenstein is presented on the White House website as "a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, where he specializes in issues related to national security and civil liberties. He is also a partner at the Washington office of the multi-national firm Mayer Brown LLP. Prior to his work at Mayer Brown, Mr. Gitenstein was the Executive Director of The Foundation for Change Inc. Previously, Mr. Gitenstein worked as a Senate staff member for 17 years— both in Senator Biden’s personal office, and then as Chief Counsel with the Senate Judiciary Committee. He is the author of Matters of Principle, an award winning book on his experience managing the Judiciary Committee staff during the confirmation battle over the nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court in 1987. Mr. Gitenstein holds a B.A. from Duke University and a J.D. from Georgetown University."

In February 2009, Public Citizen, an American NGO, reported that Gitenstein was involved in corporate lobbying in the US Congress and urged the Obama Administration not to push him as head of a Justice Department bureau. According to Public Citizen, Gitenstein was involved in lobbying for the US Chamber of Commerce, AT&T and Merrill Lynch.