Fly On The Wall Alert !!! - Obama's Ex-Counsel Reveals White House Tensions (Emanuel/Holder) - BLT

[WillyT]

Obama's Ex-Counsel Reveals White House Tensions
(With Audio)
September 25, 2010

<snip>

The possible departure of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel could shore up the standing of another prominent member of the Obama administration, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr.

That’s according to Gregory Craig, who served as counsel to President Barack Obama until January. Craig had a contentious working relationship with Emanuel on issues of national security, as has Holder, but now Emanuel is considering resigning to run for mayor of Chicago.

Craig’s views on the subject weren’t meant to be public. A live microphone picked up the chatter as he prepared to give a speech recently at Columbia Law School.

“The great thing about it, if Rahm goes to run for mayor, is that Eric survived,” Craig said, according to an audio recording of the Sept. 21 event.

The National Law Journal requested a copy of the recording from the law school, and the school provided one. The recording includes Craig’s speech and a question-and-answer session, as well as two and a half minutes of pre-speech banter between Craig and Trevor Morrison, a Columbia law professor who introduced Craig to the audience. They touched on Holder’s relationship with Emanuel and on the case of accused terrorist Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani.

As Craig suggests, Emanuel’s departure would mean Holder will have outlasted an internal rival with whom, according to news reports, Holder has repeatedly clashed on subjects like the venue for trying terrorism suspects. And it would mean Emanuel wouldn’t be around to attempt to force Holder out if tensions flared again.

Craig’s thoughts on Holder’s staying power got a positive response from Morrison, who worked for Obama as an associate White House counsel. “It’s like a miracle,” Morrison said.

“They were after him,” Craig added.

A high point of tension between Emanuel and Holder came in February. After the involvement of White House officials, Holder reversed a decision he had announced in November that prosecutors would try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other suspected 9/11 conspirators in federal court in Manhattan. Neither Holder nor the White House has announced a new plan.

Craig, answering questions after his Columbia speech, returned to the subject of Emanuel when addressing his own departure from the White House. A questioner asked Craig why he left. Craig responded that he did so for “a number of different reasons,” and then he focused squarely on Emanuel.

“One of the reasons was that I did not get along with the chief of staff well,” Craig said, “and I think that the coordination between the White House counsel and the chief of staff is vital to the success of the working of the White House.”

The comment is the first time that Craig, a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, has publicly discussed the tensions between him and Emanuel, though those tensions have been the subject of multiple news stories.

<snip>

Link: http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2010/09/obamas-ex-counsel-reveals-white-house-tensions.html

Audio: http://legaltimes.typepad.com/files/craig-and-morrison-1.mp3

:wow:

:kick:

[WillyT]

1. Kick !!!

:evilgrin:

:kick:

[DJ13]

2. K&R

The unrec'ers Are out in force unfortunately.

[WillyT]

4. They Don't Like Being Proved Wrong About Rahm...

and THIS TIME we have it from a verifiable source... on tape!

And I am LOVING IT!!!

:bounce::woohoo::bounce:

:evilgrin:

:hi:

[SugarShack]

5. I call Rahm the congressional DINO breeder...

[laughingliberal]

10. I'm loving it, too!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

Craig was a good guy. It's a shame we had to lose him before Rahm moved on. Perhaps we won't have to lose any more of the good ones, now.

[Tatiana]

3. Adding another rec. I think Holder's a decent guy. Glad he's still around. n/t

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

6. CNN tonight at the beginning of AC360 - Rahm is leaving

was listening to music so i just saw the banner. Paul Begala was on.

It was "Breaking News"!

[laughingliberal]

7. I hope Rahm's departure means some of the really good people Obama has around him will be...

heard from more often now.

Emanuel is a divisive figure in the Democratic party who always sides with the Blue Dogs and New Democrats. I hope he is replaced with someone who has a more balanced view of our party.

[WillyT]

8. + 1,000,000,000... What You Said...

:kick:

:hi:

[Yeshuah Ben Joseph]

9. From your keyboard to My Dad's ears.

Let's hope so. And thank Dad that Rahm is leaving!

[chill_wind]

11. The Fall of Greg Craig

I've posted this link here before at least once or twice in the past. It tells of a very revealing series of events between Rahm Emanuel and others. (3 pages). If you missed it from over a year ago, it is well worth the read. Maybe one day we will find out what happened to Phil Carter, as well.

The Fall of Greg Craig, Obama's Top Lawyer


Massimo Calabresi and Michael Weisskopf Thursday, Nov. 19, 200

Nearly 100 days after Barack Obama entered office, his top White House lawyer, Greg Craig, braced the President's senior advisers for a potentially explosive development. The Administration was preparing to release photographs of suspected terrorists being abused in U.S. custody. On April 16, Craig asked chief of staff Rahm Emanuel to focus on the issue. Emanuel pleaded for more time to bury the release behind other news. (Read "Why Obama Needs to Reveal Even More on Torture.")

The White House made public its plans to release the photos seven days later, triggering a powerful reprisal inside and outside the Obama Administration. The images included those of U.S. soldiers pointing guns at one detainee's head and a broomstick at the backside of another. Obama's field commanders advised that U.S. troops would die in an extremist reprisal if the release went ahead. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates originally supported the release, then opposed it. Republicans pummeled Obama for taking unnecessary risks with national security. Even John Kerry publicly voiced concern about the fallout. (See pictures of life inside Guantanamo.)

Less than three weeks later, Obama pulled a U-turn. When Craig walked into the Oval Office on Friday, May 8, for a hastily called meeting, the normally placid Obama was visibly unhappy. "I don't like my options," the President said. Craig told the President his lawyers had concluded there was no alternative to releasing the photos. Obama sent Craig scrambling for a new way out. Three days later, Craig had found a loophole: instead of releasing the photos, Obama would buy time by fighting their release all the way to the Supreme Court.

Interviews with two dozen current and former officials show that Obama's public decision to reverse himself and fight the release of the photographs signaled a behind-the-scenes turning point in his young presidency. Beginning in the first two weeks of May, Obama took harder lines on government secrecy, on the fate of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay and on the prosecution of terrorists worldwide. The President was moving away from some promises he had made during the campaign and toward more moderate positions, some favored by George W. Bush. At the same time, he quietly shifted responsibility for the legal framework for counterterrorism from Craig to political advisers overseen by Emanuel, who was more inclined to strike a balance between left and right.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1940537,00.html#ixzz10nC3lf7k

[ihavenobias]

12. Kick n/t

[WillyT]

13. Morning Kick...

:kick:

[WillyT]

14. Afternoon Kick...

:kick: