Reply #59: Insider Deals: Who was behind the CAFTA push? [View All]

[UpInArms]

Outsider Gutierrez Helped by Old Bush Hands

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/22/AR2005082201261.html?referrer=email

When Carlos M. Gutierrez took over the Commerce Department in February, he was new to government and without a stable of federal associates to draw from to help him run the sprawling agency.

Many of the advisers he brought on board did not have any connection to either the agency or the secretary -- but nearly all had long-standing ties to the White House, through President Bush's two presidential campaigns, his governorship in Texas or his father's administration.

Gutierrez has charged a small group of aides, led by David A. Sampson, the agency's second in command, with helping him steer a depar tment that boasts a $6.5 billion budget, more than 38,000 employees and disparate offices including the International Trade Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Census Bureau.

The secretary's aides said they have spent the bulk of his tenure working to win approval for the Central American Free Trade Agreement that Bush signed into law Aug. 2. Now, Gutierrez's office is focusing on protecting American intellectual property rights abroad -- an issue his advisers said was driven home to him when, on a recent trip to China, he was offered a copy of the newest "Star Wars" movie for $1.

The agency identified the following individuals as Gutierrez's inner circle:

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