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Clinton Vet Tapped To Run DOJ Transition
David Ogden, who during the Clinton administration led DOJ's civil division and also served as chief of staff to Janet Reno, is leading the transition team for the department, reports the Washington Post. Ogden is currently a partner at the WilmerHale law firm.
And the paper adds that "Democrats and interest groups have been developing "to do" lists for Justice, which had deemphasized antitrust, civil rights and environmental enforcement work under President Bush."
Ogden's deputy on the transition will be Thomas Perelli, who, according to the Post, "supervised the government team suing cigarette makers and oversaw the Justice unit that defends federal agencies in complex legal disputes."
We'll be watching closely to see what direction the department moves in under the new administration. But initial signs suggest the grownups may be back in charge.
Josh
Zachary
I realize I'm in the minority, but I believe it is of the utmost importance that the DOJ go after any and all that worked to undermine our civil rights. The acts of spying on Americans without a warrant, among many other criminal acts need to be investigated and brought to trial. That includes Torture and the murder of prisoners in our custody. The violation of the Geneva Convention cannot be allowed to go unpunished, not by Bush or anyone else, no matter how politically dangerous it may be.
November 6, 2008 1:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The violation of the Geneva Convention cannot be allowed to go unpunished, not by Bush or anyone else, no matter how politically dangerous it may be."
No. People want to move on. They shouldn't want to...they should be hungry for blood, for justice, to right the wrongs and all that, but half the country was (voting-wise) complicit in the madness of the last regime, and folks don't like having their noses rubbed in it.
The bureaucratic purification should occur, but quietly. The focus should be on nuts 'n bolts stuff: antitrust, securities, and the like. There are lots of good antitrust lawyers out there who have been twiddling their thumbs since 1978. Give 'em some work, especially now that the spotlight is on corporate malfeasance.
November 6, 2008 1:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
You are certainly not in the minority around here.
Obama must not repeat Clinton's mistake of forgiving past transgressions in the interest of not ruffling feathers.
We cannot allow any of these thugs anywhere near government ever again.
November 6, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's very encouraging to see Obama tapping so many Clinton alums to head his transition teams. It's a positive sign that we're seeing a push for re-regulating rather than de-regulating and I think Ogden's a sensible choice for this position. I'm excited to see that Obama isn't just talking about change, he's actually laying the groundwork for a better, more efficient administration come January. It remains to be seen how proactive the DOJ will be in an Obama Administration, but I'm hopeful that we'll soon see a restoration of our civil liberties and, with any luck, an actual investigation of the violations that have occurred during the past 7+ years.
November 6, 2008 1:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
While I think it would be great to see Bush do a 'perp walk' over his authorization of torture, it is too soon to overreach. There are lots of fine professionals in the Justice Department who likely have been unable to do their proper job, due to political interference. Set a 'new' standard for performance, which is really a non-partisan enforcement of laws that should have been the standard anyway.
And a new emphasis on getting States to run actual elections, rather than the farces that too often masquerade as elections, with requiring new standards of legibility for ballots, and new procedures for registering voters.
Once confidence in our Justice system is restored, it will be time enough to hold those accountable for the misdeeds of the past eight years.
November 6, 2008 1:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Would it be out of line to hire back the eight or nine US attorneys who were forced out? They seemed to possess the professionalism and autonomy that's lacking in the Justice Dept. I know they were Bush appointees, but it might work in Obama's favor. I remember one man in Minnessota-Heffelfinger, who was forced into retirement to make room for 34 year old Rachel Palouse, who lasted only a few months before her irascible style bumped her out. Carol Lamm, David Eglesias, Ryan and the others might give more credibility to Justice if they got their old jobs back.
November 6, 2008 2:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Related to Brodie012, it is essential that the people involved in the firings who crossed the legal line be prosecuted.
And I'm with SmileySam: We owe it not just to ourselves but also to THE CIVILIZED WORLD to prosecute those who ordered or carried out torture. In the case of the orders, it's not as if we are lacking evidence. And to me, at least, delay is complicity.
November 6, 2008 2:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
You have to think that the shredders at DOJ are going to be going full blast in the next few weeks. The first thing he should do is put the staff on notice that that will not be tolerated!
November 6, 2008 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tom Perrelli isn't just a former DOJ attorney. He's a Harvard Law School classmate of Obama's and, from what I am told, a close friend and advisor during Obama's tenure as president of the Law Review.
November 6, 2008 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
How do they go about purging the career DOJ employees hired according to party status over the past 8 years??????????????
November 6, 2008 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I know. Just how many Bradley Schlozman like characters are their at DOJ? How many Lurita Doans? When you think about it, doesn't the brazen diva like quality of Doan remind you of Sarah Palin?
November 6, 2008 2:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm glad to see Obama selected someone who was there during a pre-Bush term. David Ogden will be well situated to recognize protocols that have changed, and ask why...
November 6, 2008 2:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I worked with David Ogden at Wilmer. Very smart guy with the right policy priorities and someone who values intelligence (not blind loyalty).
November 6, 2008 2:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
smileysam .
You are exactly on point - we need accountabilty for these law breakers ASAP/
Brodie O12 -maybe we could appoint David Iglesias (or Carol Lamm_- as the manager of a special RICO DOJ investigation unit to go after these gwb43 criminals and all of their collective illegal enterprises/ -
Vice President Gore is also right --elections matter ..
November 7, 2008 5:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
As to the suggestion that former "Bush" US Atty's who were involved in the "resignations" be rehired by Obama, and the specific reference to Ton Heffelfinger out in Minnesota - readers are directed to the website www.badjustice.net which details a long-running but ripe-for-exposure scandal involving public corruption under his watch.
TPM Muckracker broke the original concerns about US Attorney resignations. Heffelfinger's presence on the "list" has never been credibly explained, and whether or not he was on that "list" for whatever reasons, this scandal my yet break and put one of his most trusted Assistant US Attorneys, Joan Ericksen on a different list. Federal Judge unworthy of any public trust, due to her pivotal and undenied role in planning massive public corruption under Tom Heffelfinger's watch.
The evidence shows that a planning meeting was hosted by then AUSA Joan [Ericksen] Lancaster, now a US District Court judge, and that $$ millions of dollars of assets, including ERISA assets are missing and unaccounted for in the 16 year Chapter 7 involuntary bankruptcy she helped plan.
If you are a bankruptcy law professor or attorney, check out one of the few if only known cases in which: 11 USC s 549(a)(2)(B); 11 USC s 704; Rule 2014; Rule 2012(a); and the Income Tax Codes were all violated with court approval, usually ordered after ex parte hearings.
Hopefully, an Obama administration or bloggers will not allow such frauds to continue out in Minnesota.
November 7, 2008 3:27 PM | Reply | Permalink