Obama's lawyer consolidates power

Politico ^ | 1-30-09 | Kenneth P. Vogel

[STARWISE]

President Barack Obama has installed his personal and political attorney, Bob Bauer, as the Democratic Party’s new lawyer, a move that gives Bauer unmatched power in Democratic legal circles and marks him as a top behind-the-scenes player in the president’s inner circle.

In addition to representing Obama in personal matters, such as the federal investigation of disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and political matters stemming from Obama’s presidential campaign, Bauer will also play that role for Obama’s new political network, Organizing for America, and the Democratic National Committee, which is administering the network.

The added work will mean a big pay day for Bauer, a leading election lawyer known for his shrewd but confrontational style, and his law firm, Perkins Coie, which becomes the preeminent Democratic firm. It already represents the Democrat’s Senate and House campaign committees.

It has reaped nearly $1.5 million in payments from Obama’s presidential campaign and an earlier political group since Bauer started representing Obama in 2005.

The move also completes the reshaping of the DNC in Obama’s image, a process that saw Obama allies take the reins at the highest levels of the party – including new chairman Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and new executive director Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, formerly a top Obama campaign aide.

Perhaps the closest recent parallel to Bauer’s broad reach is Republican lawyer Ben Ginsberg. In 2000, he was counsel for the Bush-Cheney campaign and in the Florida recount, then for Bush’s effort at a post-election political network, Progress for America. But he did not serve as the top outside lawyer for the Republican National Committee at the time.

Bauer brushed off questions about whether there’s precedence for a single political attorney having such broad influence. And he asserted that his many hats did not pose a potential conflict, because "in representing the President, his campaign organization, and the DNC, I am representing his interests as a Democratic President and leader of his party."

But the confluence of duties could pose something of a challenge, because of potentially overlapping needs of his clients and because of his reputation for pushing the bounds of campaign finance law.

Over the years, he has expressed skepticism about the implementation and enforcement of campaign finance rules and sued the Federal Election Commission on behalf of a client challenging the commission’s restrictions on so-called “soft money.”

Obama, on the other hand, has cast himself as an ardent supporter of stricter campaign finance rules. And the DNC this month sought permission to fight a Republican lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of soft money restrictions.

Bauer, representing the DNC, in a recent court filing in the matter alleged that Republicans are "callously attempting to dismantle needed reforms to make up for their fundraising deficiencies."

The DNC’s stance jibed with the concerns of advocates for stricter campaign rules, who worked closely with Obama during his days in the Senate and maintain high hopes he’ll champion their agenda as president.

Yet, they also blasted candidate Obama for a campaign maneuver in which Bauer played a central role: Obama’s reversal of a pledge to participate in the public financing system if his Republican opponent agreed to do the same. Campaign finance advocates predicted the move likely killed the system, which was intended to reduce the role of big-money in politics, but it also gave Obama a huge cash advantage over his Republican rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain, who accepted the $84 million public grant and its spending limits.

In explaining Obama’s decision to opt out of the system, Bauer claimed McCain’s top lawyer, Trevor Potter, rebuffed efforts to negotiate an agreement under which the two candidates would both participate in the system.

But Potter, rejected that characterization, alleging Bauer never tried to negotiate a deal.

Obama has pledged to fix the system as president. But Bauer in a 2005 post on his influential blog, suggested efforts to fix the system face tough prospects because public “support is needed and not forthcoming.”

It would be a good thing if Bauer convinced Obama to proceed cautiously on campaign finance reforms, said Brad Smith, a former FEC chairman who now heads the anti-regulation Center for Competitive Politics. He praised Bauer as “an exceptionally skilled lawyer” and asserted he “understands many of the ways in which campaign finance reform has failed.”

In many ways, Bauer’s role in Obama’s presidential campaign transcended the traditional general counsel role. He helped craft lines of attack and once famously ambushed a press conference call held by rival Hillary Clinton’s campaign to challenge her campaign’s accusations that Obama supporters violated caucus rules.

Bauer’s wife, Anita Dunn, was also a top adviser to Obama’s campaign.

[STARWISE]

Bob Bauer, as the Democratic Party’s new lawyer, will have unmatched power in Democratic legal circles.

His wife, Anita Dunn on the right, with the guy who runs factcheck.org. I'm sure it's just a coincidence ......... /s.

~~~~

Obama Stocks White House With Prominent Lawyers

"On the other hand, some Republicans argue that the list shows that Obama is more partisan than advertised. Several top new lawyers at the White House, for example, served as senior advisers during Obama's presidential campaign, while another, Susan Davies, served as general counsel under the Democratic Senate Judiciary chairman, Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.)

*snip*

Many attorneys from both parties also marvel at the sheer number of lawyers Obama has appointed or nominated so far, particularly at the White House counsel's office, which will have at least 22 attorneys working under counsel Greg Craig. That's more than twice as large as the office was under Bush, with three deputy counsels, the special ethics counsel and 18 associate and deputy associate counsels."

`````

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~~~

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His investigative reporting for The AP and the Journal won several national awards. He is the author of three books: "Honest Graft: Big Money and the American Political Process" (Knopf, 1988); "Broken Promise: Why the Federal Election Commission Failed" (Twentieth Century Fund, 1990); and "unSpun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation" with Kathleen Hall Jamieson (Random House, 2007).

[STARWISE]

~~PING!

[STARWISE]

Notice how they leave out the fact that he’s
done the latest pleading in the Hollister
birth cert. case. Too much info, I guess .. /s.

[daylilly]

And why does he need a lawyer with the IL governor situation?

Appearance of evil, this is. One who has a lot to hide in his past needs lots and lots of lawyering.

[STARWISE]

Yeah .. 22 of them in the White House alone.

[Frantzie]

Ahh....is this the clown who just responded to berg’s suit saying Obama’s proof of a birthcert and citizenship was factcheck.org? Someone needs to send that picture to the judge in the case.

What a joke.

[SunkenCiv]

Obama has installed his personal and political attorney, Bob Bauer, as the Democratic Party's new lawyer, a move that gives Bauer unmatched power in Democratic legal circles and marks him as a top behind-the-scenes player in the president's inner circle. In addition to representing Obama in personal matters, such as the federal investigation of disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and political matters stemming from Obama's presidential campaign, Bauer will also play that role for Obama's new political network, Organizing for America, and the Democratic National Committee, which is administering the network.

[Red Steel]

Obama, how come you need so many lawyers running around in the White House? Do you need one to help wipe yourself too?

[freekitty]

Mr. Soetoro covering his butt. I heard on Greta this joke of commentator refer to factcheck.org as something akin to unbasis. Now there’s a joke.

[Fred Nerks]

Hollister v. Soetoro: Defendant Motion to Dismiss (curious footnotes)
Righgt Side of Life blog ^ | 1-29-2009 | Right Side Of Life blog

Posted on Friday, January 30, 2009 4:54:04 PM by Frantzie

President Obama has publicly produced a certified copy of a birth certificate showing that he was born on August 4, 1961, in Honolulu Hawaii. See, e.g., Factcheck.org, “Born in the U.S.A.: The truth about Obama’s birth certificate,” available at http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html (concluding that the birth certificate is genuine, and noting a contemporaneous birth announcement published in a Honolulu newspaper). Hawaii officials have publicly verified that they have President Obama’s “original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures.” See “Certified,” Honolulu Star Bulletin, Oct. 31, 2008. This Court can take judicial notice of these public news reports. See The Washington Post v. Robinson, 935 F.2d 282, 291 (D.C. Cir. 1991); Agee v. Muskie, 629 F.2d 80, 81 n.1, 90 (D.C. Cir. 1980).

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2174774/posts

(They’re our forgeries and we’re sticking to them!)

[penelopesire]

So..is this an admission of guilt that this man will be ‘representing’ Obama in a future scandal involving Blago?

Perhaps Obama’s BC is going to gain traction because he constitutionally ineligible.

The bottom line in this article however:

It appears that our ‘Narcissist In Chief’ has found a kindred narcissistic soul to represent him.....LOL..and a slobbering, insecure, corrupt American press to enable them both.

[rockinqsranch]

RE: The Bauer Photograph at top of post #1.

I turned the monitor around to show my wife the guys picture, and asked her to profile the B-stard as she see’s him, and she said that “it’s probably the only time we’ll ever see him with his mouth shut”.

[hoosiermama]

Defending BO and the DNC is a disservice to the DNC IMO.

[BARLF]

http://blueherald.com/2008/10/keith-olbermann-talks-to-bob-bauer-about-bogus-fraud-charges/

He reminds me of Bill Ayers.

[lilylangtree]

He will orchestrate many things. He needs to be watched carefully.

[FreeManN]

Bo's greatest weakness is that he FEARS the Military. He is not a Military man and does not have any good Military men on his staff. Orly has the winning Brief. Unite behind her and we will win this battle before SCOTUS.

[Fresh Wind]

Many attorneys from both parties also marvel at the sheer number of lawyers Obama has appointed or nominated so far, particularly at the White House counsel's office, which will have at least 22 attorneys working under counsel Greg Craig.

Either Lord Obama is expecting to have to defend himself from a lot of scandals, or he is building a hit squad to go after his enemies.

[neb52]

He probably needs Groom of the Stool!

[FreeManN]

Maybe Bob the bo's lawyer can answer some of these questions?

Robert (Bob) Bauer is currently counsel to Obama for America and the Democratic Senatorial and Congressional Campaign Committees, and has served as co-counsel to the New Hampshire State Senate in the trial of Chief Justice David A. Brock (2000).

PHONE: 202.628.6600 FAX: 202.434.1690

[Wolfstar]

Obama's lawyer consolidates power

How soon before this dude starts reinterpreting the Constitution to allow Obama to declare himself dictator? I'm most definitely not a whacked out conspiracy theorist, but these are Marxists/communists we're talking about here.