White House Memo on Sestak

The memo from Robert Bauer, White House Counsel:

SUBJECT: Review of Discussions Relating to Congressman Sestak Recent press reports have reflected questions and speculation about discussions between White House staff and Congressman Joe Sestak in relation to his plans to run for the United States Senate. Our office has reviewed those discussions and claims made about them, focusing in particular on the suggestion that government positions may have been improperly offered to the Congressman to dissuade him from pursuing a Senate candidacy.

We have concluded that allegations of improper conduct rest on factual errors and lack a basis in the law.

Secretary of the Navy. It has been suggested that the Administration may have offered Congressman Sestak the position of Secretary of the Navy in the hope that he would accept the offer and abandon a Senate candidacy. This is false. The President announced his intent to nominate Ray Mabus to be Secretary of the Navy on March 26,2009, over a month before Senator Specter announced that he was becoming a member of the Democratic Party in late April. Mabus was confirmed in May. At no time was Congressman Sestak offered, nor did he seek, the position of Secretary of the Navy.

Uncompensated Advisory Board Options. We found that, as the Congressman has publicly and accurately stated, options for Executive Branch service were raised with him. Efforts were made in June and July of 2009 to determine whether Congressman Sestak would be interested in service on a Presidential or other Senior Executive Branch Advisory Board, which would avoid a divisive Senate primary, allow him to retain his seat in the House, and provide him with an opportunity for additional service to the public in a high-level advisory capacity for which he was highly qualified. The advisory positions discussed with Congressman Sestak, while important to the work of the Administration, would have been uncompensated.

White House staff did not discuss these options with Congressman Sestak. The White House Chief of Staff enlisted the support of former President Clinton who agreed to raise with Congressman Sestak options of service on a Presidential or other Senior Executive Branch Advisory Board. Congressman Sestak declined the suggested alternatives, remaining committed to his Senate candidacy.

Relationship to Senate Campaign. It has been suggested that discussions of alternatives to the Senate campaign were improperly raised with the Congressman. There was no such impropriety. The Democratic Party leadership had a legitimate interest in averting a divisive primary fight and a similarly legitimate concern about the Congressman vacating his seat in the House. By virtue of his career in public service, including distinguished military service, Congressman Sestak was viewed to be highly qualified to hold a range of advisory positions in which he could, while holding his House seat, have additional responsibilities of considerable potential interest to him and value to the Executive Branch.

There have been numerous, reported instances in the past when prior Administrations -- both Democratic and Republican, and motivated by the same goals -- discussed alternative paths to service for qualified individuals also considering campaigns for public office. Such discussions are fully consistent with the relevant law and ethical requirements.

Greg Craig is Out in Guantanamo Dispute

Bob Bauer, husband of Anita Dunn (who recently resigned with the Obama administration), is replacing Greg Craig as White House lawyer, over Gitmo. Craig was criticized for not handling the politics of closing Gitmo very well. Bauer is seen as more politically savvy, according to Chuck Todd. See Craig's resignation letter here.

Here's an update--Gibbs disputes the dispute:

Said Gibbs: "The president sees Greg as a friend and trusted adviser and someone whose contributions to this administration are lengthy, particularly in setting up a process that will result in the [closure] of Guantanamo Bay. [Craig] was instrumental in both picking [and] nominating … the first Latina Supreme Court justice, in Sonya Sotomayor, in running a big operation in the White House, in helping to shepherd judicial picks in general – not just the selection, but through the committee process on Capitol Hill."

AP's Mark Smith asked: "To be clear, Craig is NOT leaving because the president is dissatisfied in any way with his handling of Guantanamo?"

"That's correct," Gibbs replied. Politico

Meanwhile, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind in 9-11 attacks, will be prosecuted in New York City with a civilian trial.

The White House's top lawyer is announcing his resignation on Friday, senior administration officials said.

White House counsel Greg Craig has been the subject of questions about his future since late summer, dogged by talk that President Obama's promise to close the controversial Guantanamo Bay military prison by January went awry under Craig's leadership.

Craig also oversaw the president's revamping of U.S. policy on terrorism interrogations and detentions, including a ban on torture, and was at the center of administration moves to release many documents relating to the treatment of terror suspects under the Bush administration — and to oppose the release of photos of abuse of detainees overseas by U.S. personnel. All those decisions earned Obama considerable criticism, some from the right and some from the left. More at NPR

Obama's statement:

The White House today announced today that White House Counsel Greg Craig will return to private practice and Bob Bauer will serve as White House Counsel.

“Greg Craig is a close friend and trusted advisor who tackled many tough challenges as White House Counsel,” said President Obama. “Because of Greg’s leadership, we have confirmed the first Latina justice on the Supreme Court, set the toughest ethics standards for any administration in history, and ensured that we are keeping the nation secure in a manner that is consistent with our laws and our values. I’m indebted to Greg not only for leading the Counsel’s office but for his many decades of service to this country as well. He has been a huge asset in the White House, and he will be missed. I will continue to call on him for advice in the years ahead.”

Bauer is currently a partner at Perkins Coie. He will begin serving as White House Counsel by the end of this year.

“Bob has served as a trusted counselor for many years to many elected officials and is known as a tough and widely respected advocate,” said President Obama. “Bob is well-positioned to lead the Counsel’s office as it addresses a wide variety of responsibilities, including managing the large amount of litigation the administration inherited, identifying judicial nominees for the federal courts, and assuring that White House officials continue to be held to the highest legal and ethical standards.”

Attached is a letter from Greg Craig to the President.

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Republicans Try to Block Voters in Michigan

They can't win on issues, so they lie and now they cheat.

NYT: Updated Responding to allegations that Republican Party officials in Macomb County, Michigan plan to use home foreclosure lists to challenge voters at the polls in November, the Obama Campaign and the Democratic National Committee filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in federal court to prevent what they contended was an illegal practice.

Obama Campaign General Counsel Bob Bauer said that using home foreclosure lists as a basis for challenging voter eligibility would have a “deadly effect of the voting process” and argued that the practice would be illegal.

“This is a standard operating procedure within the Republican party that’s been under legal challenge,” Mr. Bauer said on a conference call with reporters on Tuesday.

Obama Camp Predicting Big Voter Turnout

painting by Walter Gurbo

The Obama camp is predicting 130 million or more to vote in November (there are 304 million people in the U.S.)
Obama's counsel Bob Bauer is staking out the strategy.

Ambinder: Barack Obama's campaign predicts that as many as -- if not more than -- 130,000,000 voters will go to the polls this November, by far a record. The man in charge of making sure it all goes smoothly, Bob Bauer, is decidedly calm about the massive endeavor he is coordinating.

At a lunch for election lawyers, corporate and union counsels and a few nerdy reporters this afternoon, Mr. Bauer, Obama's general counsel, outlined the campaign's integrated election protection effort, the largest ever in the party's history.