Gorelick to Head BP Legal Team

Main Justice ^ | June 2, 2010 | Ryan J. Reilly

[jazusamo]

Former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick will head the legal team for British Petroleum as it prepares to respond to legal challenges related to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Greenwire reported Wednesday.

Former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick (photo by Ryan J. Reilly / Main Justice).

“We have been retained to help the company respond to the numerous congressional inquiries that are underway,” Gorelick, now of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, said in an e-mail to Greenwire. “We have not been retained to advocate for any position.”

Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday that the Justice Department had opened a criminal probe into who was responsible for the oil spill, but declined to name the target. Investigators are considering both civil actions and criminal charges, Holder said.

Gorelick served as Deputy Attorney General under then-Attorney General Janet Reno during the Clinton administration. Gorelick also sat on the bipartisan Sept. 11 Commission.

BP has worked with Gorelick before; she was a lobbyist in 2007 when she helped BP respond to an inquiry from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, according to Greenwire.

Kenneth Green, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, told Greenwire that Gorelick’s knowledge of the Justice Department will help BP steer “the ins and outs of the process. You want an inside player for that.”

The company that owned and leased the Deepwater Horizon rig to BP, Transocean Ltd., has recruited Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, while Halliburton Co. — which worked on the rig — has hired Patton Boggs LLP, Greenwire reported.

[Col Frank Slade]

BP is doomed.

[ilgipper]

Jeez. No clue is she is a capable lawyer or not, but she was a disastrous bureaucrat. Possibly the worst in the past 25 years.

[Yossarian]

Jamie Gorelick: The whitehead of America’s zits.

[DCPatriot]

You have GOT to be #%!king kidding me!

[jazusamo]

No clue either but she has to know something about corruption working in the Clinton administration.

[whence911]

The latest example that shame and accountability are dead.

[norraad]

Further down the Rabbit whore, . I mean Hole.

[highlander_UW]

Good Lord! Hasn’t this woman done more than enough damage to the US to be trusted with anything at all?

[manic4organic]

It would be comical if it weren’t so tragic. Our country is so corrupt.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Oh geeez. No wonder their rig blew up and they can’t shut off the leak. They are more incompetent than the Obama regime.

[wendy1946]

This woman and her “gorilla wall” are primarily responsible for 9-11.

[cripplecreek]

You would think even liberals would be smart enough to question why this woman keeps popping up wherever there’s trouble.

Apparently stupid runs pretty deep.

[ought-six]

Is BP f***ing INSANE???

[SeaHawkFan]

With those firms involved, the attorney fees may well exceed the cleanup costs.

If I recall correctly, the law at the time set a cap on cleanup damages at $75 million. That being the case, BP has a hammer to use against Obama if the DoJ gets too aggressive. BP could say they will pay the government the $75 million and let Obama figure out how to clean it up for that price.

[jazusamo]

This woman and her “gorilla wall” are primarily responsible for 9-11.

Absolutely and you'd think a company the size of BP would take note of that.

[Slyfox]

Hasn’t she done enough damage to our country?

[Captain Beyond]

She should have been drummed out DC permanently after 9-11. WTH is she still doing there.

[Political Junkie Too]

This is GREAT NEWS!!!

Maybe she can erect the "Gorelick Wall" around the gusher and finally contain the well.

-PJ

[MileHi]

Where have I hear that name before...?