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Political Hay
Rahm’s Subpoena Dodging White House Strategy?
Pew study exposes internal “no notes” Clinton legal policy: Obama’s Sestak defense?
“We did not take notes. We were subject to subpoena. People
were very careful not to put things down in writing.”
— Charles Ruff, White House
Counsel to President Bill Clinton, 1998-1999
“We just never put anything in writing. At least I
did[n’t]. All the habits I learned as a good litigator where I
took detailed notes about what was going on I threw out the
window.”
— Abner Mikva,
White House Counsel to President Bill Clinton,
1994-1995
They didn’t take notes. To avoid subpoenas.
So say two Clinton White House Counsels in a long forgotten but newly explosive ten-year old academic study uncovered over the weekend. A study that may come back to haunt ex-Clinton aide Rahm Emanuel, now the Obama White House Chief of Staff at the center of accusations involving Congressman Joe Sestak and Emanuel’s former boss — ex-President Bill Clinton.
For the lawyers who ran the Office of the White House Counsel under President Clinton, the same White House where now Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was a senior political and policy aide, the rule was as simple as that. No notes, don’t write things down. Keep very few records. Why? The reasoning was short and sweet: No notes, no written record — nothing to subpoena.
Coming in the wake of a call on Sunday by California Congressman Darrell Issa for a criminal investigation into the Sestak Jobsgate scandal and the role of the Obama White House, the revelation is certain to launch a new round of demands for an independent investigation into Emanuel and the activities of the White House Counsel’s office itself. The office is run by former Obama personal attorney Robert Bauer, the husband of ex-Obama White House Communications Director Anita Dunn. Bauer succeeded Obama’s first White House Counsel, Greg Craig. Craig was a Special White House counsel to Clinton and represented Clinton during his impeachment trial — exactly the time the Clinton White House “no notes” policy was in effect, as recounted later by then-Clinton White House Counsel Charles F.C. Ruff. Ruff died of a heart attack weeks after the Pew study was released.
At issue today: the record keeping of the Obama White House and whether potentially incriminating actions such as those involved in the Sestak Affair are simply — and deliberately — not noted by White House lawyers for fear of subpoenas. Subpoenas that could potentially reveal a deliberate cover-up of illegalities in the Sestak affair. Illegalities involving both Emanuel and his former boss, Bill Clinton.
The startling information, uncovered over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, was discovered in an obscure ten-year-old academic study of the Office of the White House Counsel. The revelations were buried deep inside the study, which was funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and released on November 1, 2000, while Bill Clinton still served in the White House. The release and academic nature of the study conducted by three professors, coming as it did in the heated days at the close of the controversial Bush-Gore campaign, precluded it from getting any serious attention at the time. The Pew study had interviewed nine former White House Counsels representing every presidency from that of Gerald Ford to Clinton. Research into the views of others was provided as well.
Serving in the Clinton White House at the time this “no notes” strategy was in effect was Emanuel, now at the center of the swirling allegations of the job-for-a-political favor scandal that is Jobsgate. Emanuel, who ran the Clinton White House Political Affairs Office and later served as a senior advisor on policy and strategy, would presumably have been well aware of this particular policy demanded by the Clinton White House Counsel’s Office.
Now the discovery of the study, combined with Issa’s new call for a criminal investigation that would involve the FBI, raises a startling new series of questions around the role of the embattled Obama White House Chief of Staff. So too will it direct attention to the activities of both current and former Obama White House Counsels Bauer and Craig.
The questions:
• Has Emanuel, fearing subpoenas to the Obama White House staff as did Ruff and Mikva in the Clinton era, re-instituted this “no notes” policy at the Obama White House in his role as White House Chief of Staff?
• Has a “no notes” policy been discussed with Obama White House Counsel Robert Bauer?
• Has Bauer re-instituted the Clinton White House “no notes” policy?
• Was a “no notes” policy discussed or instituted by Bauer’s predecessor as Obama’s White House Counsel, Greg Craig? Craig, it should be remembered again, was also serving as a Clinton White House Special Counsel during the period this “no notes” policy was in effect.
About the Author
Jeffrey Lord is a former Reagan White House political director and author. He writes from Pennsylvania at jlpa1@aol.com.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (60) | Leave a comment
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Deborah D | 6.1.10 @ 6:43AM
The most transparent administration, huh? Good grief, has there ever been an administration that so constantly says and does the opposite of the words they use to describe themselves? Sleezeballs, all.
Big Tony| 6.1.10 @ 11:15AM
Yup! Richard Milhouse Nixon a pox on both their houses.
Deborah D | 6.1.10 @ 11:24AM
Nixon -- as awful as he was -- never proclaimed to be the messiah who would lower the seas and have the most transparent administration.
The comparison, however, to Nixon is apt. If the Gulf Oil mess is Obama's Katrina, Sestak is his Watergate.
Alan Brooks| 6.1.10 @ 8:49PM
LBJ's bad administration whelped Nixon's.
Houston Rao| 6.1.10 @ 11:41AM
The transparency...OMG, it is blinding!! My eyes!!!!
Rebecca| 6.1.10 @ 7:22AM
The written record, it seems, is now the duty of the press. Haven't they been good note takers?
In the Clinton lesson to be learned from Watergate, Hillary was a young lawyer involved in the prosecution, so she would be a rich source of what not to do.
drudge ette obama| 6.1.10 @ 7:32AM
Bill Clinton, with his involvement in this scandal, has just screwed his wife's future after she completes her horrid tenure at the state department. And he has further destroyed his legacy, if that is possible. And it has been through the hands of Obama and Rahm, as well as the chatty Sestak. Clinton must be seething... he may have been set up.
But keep the eyes open - the quid pro quo will be something for Chelsea.
Hillary will provide nothing - her memory is poor, as was aptly demonstrated in the Rose Law Firm billing debacle. Even Robert Ray concluded that she probably lied, but there wasn't enough evidence to win. That's not a Not Guilty Verdict, it's insufficient evidence.
Stephanie| 6.1.10 @ 10:53AM
" Ahh humm, (throat clearing), I don't recall"
drudge ette obama| 6.1.10 @ 7:25AM
Rahm would never waste a family vacation. So it makes perfect sense that the report was released when he was on his family vacation to Israel and Clinton visited one day prior to the release - that was stupid planning, really!
Robert Bauer is sophisticated enough (look who he is married to - a Mao-loving lady) to know all about no-notes. And frankly, one $79 shredder can handle the occasional policy lapse.
This can be explained with a good investigation, picking apart each element of the report until it becomes worthless or revealing.
Rahm needs to go, but Obama should wait until there is another Rahm family vacation.
Robert Bauer will be the next victim.
Richard Baker| 6.1.10 @ 7:30AM
"The first thing we do. Let's kill all the Lawyers." Henry VI, Part 2.
Tom| 6.1.10 @ 8:33AM
You do realize that that quote taken in context is pro-lawyer? It speaks of replacing the rule of law with that of man. Killing all the lawyers or the police or the judges would be a real bad thing.
arlo price| 6.1.10 @ 11:54PM
Tom said "Killing all the lawyers or the police or the judges would be a real bad thing. "
The Declaration of Independence says "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, IT IS THEIR RIGHT, IT IS THEIR DUTY, TO THROW OFF SUCH GOVERNMENT, and to provide new guards for their future security.(emphasis added).
I'll side with the D of I.
UNFORGIVEN
Gerald Stephens| 6.2.10 @ 4:27PM
arlo price
The provocation is unremitting. The peoples 'blood lust' is fully aroused and they will do their duty in November. It is written in the stars and polls.
Anthony| 6.1.10 @ 9:10AM
Richard, I don't think we need to kill all the lawyers here, however, waterboarding them to get to the truth is a distinct possibility.
DonDuke | 6.1.10 @ 11:13AM
"Let's kill all the lawyers, let's kill 'em tonite." Don Henley
coal carrier| 6.1.10 @ 8:02AM
For all you lefties; How is the Change and Transparency working for you? It looks like the old back room deals and scams are alive and will in the present day White House. Every item this president comes out with is a scam.
Enemy of the State #666| 6.1.10 @ 8:04AM
A deliberate attempt at avoiding criminal proceedings and involvement in this case is not hard to phantom. This balck house, the scurge of the We the People, is so honest and transparent it relies upon lies to seek truth. That is the truth to seek all lies to take and talk truth to power is the turest attempt at legalizing their involvement in this criminal behaviour. Something is not right in regards to these criminals and their lieing to end up to the truth. Now I'm really confused. As an ex-business man, when this happened in my Company structure, I fired all of the parties involved. At least I knew I had the right person. The others should have known to get themselves involved.
Melvin| 6.1.10 @ 8:35AM
You know something, I thought I would never bring myself to say this about my government.
Others who came before me, others who came with me, and others who came after me swore an oath to defend this Country till our last breath.
Currently we have Americans and those who serve who love the sweet air of freedom are dying daily in defense of the oath that those in the military swear to.
So is it too damn much to ask for that lying, cheating, conniving SOB in the White House to also honor that oath of office he took with just a fraction of the dedication that our Nation's military personnel do.
Now we have this no notes bull squeeze and this is the White House's get out of jail card. Just like that no investigations, no nothing and that little Chicago weasel Rahm grins like a cat that just ate Sh*& knowing full well that the Legislative Branch will cover for his lying ass.
The only thing that I can say right now to the Americans who voted for this Presidential Louse is, "You stupid, stupid, ignorant fools who are responsible for bringing this Pox upon this Country."
You should hang your heads in absolute shame for the damage that his man and his administration has done to this Country.
What has the American people done to the Democrats to have this kind of punishment heaped upon us?
John Navratil| 6.1.10 @ 9:40AM
Melvin,
In just the mildest of defenses to the "stupid, ignorant fools", I ask what was the choice? That McCain was the better choice was clear to me, but it wasn't painless. With all respect to his military service, his political service has been terrible and his election would have delayed the inevitable.
One thing you can say for the Obama presidency is that it has galvanized the opposition. Here's praying that it is not too late.
Other than that, I really cannot disagree with you.
Lucas Smith| 6.1.10 @ 2:48PM
During the final period of the fall of Rome, the criminal element in Goverment was so rampant that it finally became safer and smarter for the politicians to side with the criminals. This is the crossroads we are now facing.
Louis Jenkins| 6.1.10 @ 8:49AM
Well Melvin, they voted for the man. And yes, they should hang their heads in shame.
Pete| 6.1.10 @ 9:39AM
When things like this come out, you can expect these classless criminals to simply double down on the lie. It is what they do best.
Richard Baker| 6.1.10 @ 9:59AM
Anthony:
I agree.
Richard Baker| 6.1.10 @ 10:03AM
Tom:
I agree with the idea that the legal profession in this day and age in the political realm is all about evading the law at every turn. With approximately 70% of the world's attorneys in the US, these guys are more about income than justice. You know, billable hours.
Tom| 6.1.10 @ 10:27AM
The problem is not the number of lawyers it is the laws. Change the laws and remove the demand for lawyers. A good start is to stop electing lawyers for anything.
BTW The US has no where near 70% of the world's lawyers, where that particular urban legend started is beyond me. The US has 1.1 million lawyers, India by itself has 1 million.
JP| 6.1.10 @ 10:51AM
Since the WH is the focal point of the execution of our laws, lawyers are a must. Every WH employs council, and in modern times usually has an office of lawyers who assist the WH in the lawful execution of policy.
This Stesak buisness will go nowhere. It is a fine line between offering "carrots" and bribery. Witness the recent Louisiana Purchase, and Cornhusker Kickback. What Reid did was legal only in the sense that Congress writes our laws. This kind of horse trading has gone on since the time of the Founders.
jack| 6.1.10 @ 10:30AM
If I dropped my wallet in the presence of Rahm I wouldnt bend over to pick it up, i would kick it away to a safe distance. You can just look at the guy or listem to him and you know he is a crook. Just like Clinton,Raines,Angie Mazzilo,Barney and Dodd. You know it in your gut. Why cant libs see this? Are they so closed minded they prefer crooks to conservatives? YES
Spike| 6.1.10 @ 10:36AM
What I find interesting in this issue, is the complicity of Sestak himself. The trouble that he finds himself in is the result of an "honor code" that he learned at the Naval Academy, and through his years of service in the Navy. Asked if he was offered a job- he answered truthfully. Give him credit for that. Now, as the President and those around him effort to skirt prosecution, they've concocted a farce. Obama and it appears Clinton are not going to offer up [any] additional content to risk further perjoring themselves. Sestak is the one, who is now out having to sell this farce. His parsing of speech at the foot of the stairs of congress was intriguing, yet disappointing.
What began as a code of honor, has become a disgrace.
Stephanie| 6.1.10 @ 11:02AM
Sestack, started to backpeddle a week or two ago. He was hedging in his speech and looked like he was not really wanting to tell all. What a disgraceful time in our history.
JP| 6.1.10 @ 10:39AM
Emanuel's "no notes" policy was a smart one. Almost all President's since Watergate had in some form of another the very same policy. I am sure HRC, as well Clinton himself rued the day when Executive Privlege was tossed aside in order to "Get Nixon". The traditon of Executive Privlege are as old as the Constiution itself. All three branches are co-equal branches (with some exception; one being the Senate's jurisidictional powers over the federal judiciary), and one branch cannot on a whim prosecute anyone branch - that is, the Founders feared the criminalization of politics. The President used to have every right to hold cofidential meetings, and those meetings to discuss policy. And those meetings were thought (until Watergate) to be air tight as far as security went. What destroyed Nixon as much as anything politically, was the airing of his WH transcripts. His foul, abusive language was such a shock to the average voter, they thought he could be guilty of anything.
We always seem to be going against the limits of seperations of powers. Congress, every 4-8 years, wishes to appoint special prosecutors; Presidents wish to take from Congress what is rightfully Congress (the powers to tax and appropirate (the line item veto is a violation of that); and the courts are always looking for new ways to create laws and set policy.
Crickets Gone Silent| 6.1.10 @ 10:57AM
Write no evil, find no evil.
DonDuke | 6.1.10 @ 11:15AM
Why didn't it suprise me when I learned that Willie Clinton was in on this?
Can you imagine what this would have been like if this was the Bush White House!!
coal carrier| 6.1.10 @ 1:00PM
Keith Overbite would be having an orgasm.
George S| 6.1.10 @ 1:24PM
Not keeping written records can be a double edge sword. If ambitious, skillful prosecutors put together a circumstantial case, they can control the narrative against you absent of written records. A good example is the IRS: if they determine that your lifestyle requires a certain income, you would be in trouble if you didn't keep records of your expenses.
This is a risky strategy that becomes harder to hide from as more people know of the circumstances. Conversely, if the Attorney General is in your hip pocket, then you have nothing to worry about.
Mr. Mojo Risin| 6.1.10 @ 1:26PM
Sestak as a Naval Academy plebe swore an oath his 1st day at Annapolis. Swore an oath upon receiving his gold bar and I'll continue guessing, swore an oath upon getting that 1st star. Another oath when he was elected to congress, all oaths to his ethics and loyalty, his commitment to defend the Constitution, here's a small excerpt: "I make this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion..." I presume it means you don't lie!!! If someone like Sestak, Andrew Romanoff, maybe Blago, comes clean, tells the truth, indicts that crowd of South Side Chicago, pimps, punks, and thugs, what would it hurt? Obama isn't going to re-elected, he's a worthless example of a useless individual who pulled off a crime of monumental deceit upon the citizens of America and his expungement would be renewal...
antidote| 6.1.10 @ 3:04PM
Now let's see, how did Rove and the Bush White House avoid subpoena power? Oh yeah, they communicated via email accounts provided by the RNC! All of which were erased by their techie geek who died in a mysterious plane crash. And let's not forget Cheney and "you can't subpoena me, I'm executive branch, n0, no, I'm legislative branch, no, no, executive, no, legislative, oh what day of the week is it?"
The sestak issue is dead. Move along, nothing to impeach here. Just another example of party politics, stop salivating vultures, no carcases to dismember.
LiveFreeOrDie| 6.1.10 @ 5:41PM
Blah blah ...BUSH BAD....blah..blah BUSH BAD....blah blah OBAMA GOOD...blah blah...
Nick| 6.1.10 @ 11:19PM
Antidote,
Yes, too bad you stinking liberals aren't half as smart as Mr. Rove and other Republicans.
antidote| 6.2.10 @ 1:50PM
Nick,
Better criminals perhaps, smarter....not so much.
Nick| 6.2.10 @ 2:31PM
Antidote,
So, you admit that you democrats are a bunch of criminals.
Thanks for the rare statement of truth from a bleeding heart liberal.
antidote| 6.2.10 @ 5:13PM
All politicians are criminals, it's simply a matter of degree, and that my friend, is where the Repubs are Waaaaaaaaaayyyyyy ahead of the Dems.
Nick| 6.3.10 @ 12:15AM
Antidote,
Here's my list. Where's yours?
Barney Fwank
The Swimmer Kennedy
The Swimmer jr., Patrick Kennedy
Alcee Hastings
Charlie Rangel
Gerry Studds
Rod Blagojevich
William Jefferson, democrat, Louisiana
John Murtha
Bob Torricelli
Alan Mollohan
Eric Massa
John Conyers
Cynthia McKinney
Richard M. Daley
Richard J. Daley
Jesse Jackson, jr.
Rahm Emmanuel
President Dither
Shrillary the Hut
Bubba the pervert
This list is by no means exhaustive, by the way.
Bob Miller| 6.1.10 @ 3:27PM
The Clintons gained valuable law-evading experience over many years, which has now been imparted (sold?) to the Obamans.
Stephanie| 6.1.10 @ 3:28PM
Hmmm, perhaps not.
Tim*| 6.1.10 @ 5:05PM
" Sestak said he answered media questions honestly, but it was up to the White House to release the details.
"I hope that is all there is to it, but I will acknowledge that it seems a little strange that if the whole arrangement were as innocuous as they've suggested in their coordinated statements, then one wonders why it took so many months to get to the bottom of it," Sestak said. "
Tim*| 6.1.10 @ 5:09PM
Pat Toomey addresses The Little Admiral's SNAFU.
" Toomey said the controversy over the offer has become a distraction.
"I think Congressman Sestak should have been more forthcoming earlier to clear the air because what this has done is distracted us from the substantive policy differences which are so stark," Toomey said. "
Paul| 6.2.10 @ 6:06PM
I'm from Mass. where the saying goes; "Don't write if you can speak, don't speak if you can nod and don't nod if you can wink." That's advice an old democrat-corruptocrat party boss in Boston gave to his fellow politburo members . The more things change the more they stay the same.
dk| 7.1.10 @ 4:47AM
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