Help Wanted: Lawyer, Experience Fighting Subpoenas, DemocratsThe New York Times gives the rundown on the search for White House counsel Harriet Myers’ successor:
Republicans said Friday in interviews that the White House was now, in essence, seeking a politically savvy outsider with ties throughout the capital and in Congress who might be called upon to become something of a public figure in potentially high-profile fights.“They need somebody who can sit down face-to-face with an ornery committee chairman and work out a conflict over an oversight request,” said Bradford A. Berenson, a former associate counsel for Mr. Bush during his first term. “The job will require a certain minimum level of stature and a minimum level of political experience.”
Several Republicans, including some former administration officials, said the new White House counsel would also need the stature to counterbalance David S. Addington, the powerful chief of staff of Vice President Dick Cheney. Mr. Addington has tended to argue against cooperating with Congressional requests for classified information, a position that may require some softening, or at least more diplomacy, in the 110th Congress.
The White House is, in some respects, seeking a figure who is the mirror opposite of Ms. Miers, who has not shown a high level of comfort being a public figure….
This search is in tandem, of course, with the White House’s wider effort to beef up their legal ranks in preparation for the coming investigations.