Gregory Craig To Be Obama's White House Counsel: Reports

UPDATE on November 16 at 12:27 PM EST:

The Washington Post also reports that Craig has been chosen for the post:

President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Washington lawyer Greg Craig, who served as President Bill Clinton's lead attorney during his impeachment proceedings, to be his White House counsel, according to an individual involved with the transition.

Craig has been a longtime adviser to Bill and Sen. Hillary Clinton, but became a close adviser to Obama during the campaign, reportedly serving as the stand-in for Sen. John McCain during debate preparations.

Transition officials declined to comment. And Craig did not return calls left on his machine.

Politico reports that Barack Obama will name Gregory Craig has White House counsel:

Gregory B. Craig, a well-known Washington lawyer who quarterbacked President Bill Clinton's impeachment defense, has been chosen White House counsel by President-elect Barack Obama, according to Democratic officials.

Craig is intimately familiar with the president-elect's record because he played the role of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in debate preparations.

CNN also has a source saying Craig will be named to the post:

Prominent Washington lawyer Greg Craig will be named White House counsel for the Obama administration, a Democratic source tells CNN. The source added that it is unclear when the appointment will be made public.

Craig first gained prominence representing President Clinton in the Senate impeachment trial, but he endorsed Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries and later played a key role in Obama's vice presidential vetting process.

Read more at HuffPost's Obama Transition BigNews Page.

Comments

[canucklivinginUSA]

I like to understand this Clinton hate that I see here. It is unbelievable to me that so many democrats hate one of the most succesful democrat in the past 20 years!!!! As for those who use the inanity "thats not the change I ask for", the agent of change is Obama, thats it. He will enact the change and push his attendees to follow suit, not the other way around.

[TheVicar]

I can't speak for others, of course, but I hate Clinton because he was NOT successful in any meaningful sense. He was elected and re-elected by moving so far to the right that the practical difference between Bill Clinton and a 1980s-era Republican was basically nil. It's the reason the right has gone so very far to the right -- there was no counterbalance to them; Clinton gave in to them on everything. And then he couldn't keep it in his pants when he knew that the Republicans were looking for the slightest excuse to jump on him. Based on any actual left-leaning standard, the man is a failure, and his wife is obviously filled with naked ambition for not leaving him, which means she is also amoral. I don't want to see either of them back in power, and I want their sycophants to stay away, too.

That said, it would be amazing if Obama DIDN'T hire a few Clinton-era folks. He has to have a few experienced people around, even if he ignores them, and the choice is to hire some Clinton-era people, or hire people who haven't been part of the executive branch since the 1970s.

[Jahmekyah]

WOW...such a hateful diatribe for people you don't actually know.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

It depends which Clinton era people he hires and their competence level.

I just don't want an Obama administration filled with Clinton hawks.

[larry278]

The hatred of WJC is also hatred of the DLC & the DLC's agenda. COS Emanuel will have to oust DLC types. Since COS Emanuel is a DLC type himself, he has a difficult job. DLC policies & remedies won't do in a post meltdown world. The DLC has earned its reputation of temporizing, using duct tape & band aids. You can't build an economy & a gov't with duct tape & band aids. As of now the USA has no gov't structure standing since W & Co destroyed it. The meltdown destroyed the world's economic structures. Obama must build well & build quickly; nothing else will do.
WJC & the DLC are like GHWB; they can't do the vision thing. WJC is as relevant to the current situation as W is relevant to this new situation. If WJC can learn to listen & follow Obama's instructions faithfully & fully, Slick Willy has a most limited role in the future. WJC has to make difficult choices in an instant to even be on the sidelines of what BHO must do. WJC is used to dithering & muddling through. That won't do any more.

[Jahmekyah]

WTF???

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

LOL

So true.

[LordKelvin]

CANUCK

You wrote, "I like to understand this Clinton hate that I see here. "

Consider this thought by Nietzsche

"Life is a wellspring of delight but where the rabbles drink of all wells are poisoned."

COGITO, ERGO SUM.

[ladyv]

These are generally t r 0 11 s, a specialty breed known as a purity t r 0 11, which is a subtype of the c 0 n c e r n t r 0 11.One of the new F r e e p e r tactics is to insist that if Obama works with anyone who was associated with the Democratic party before 2007, then his ideas about change are out the window. It's the same thing like during the campaign when if Obama expressed support for the Democratic party's platforms, then he wasn't about change but about more of the same. They have sought in vain to define change as "doing things different merely for the sake of doing them different."

Trust me, no matter what he does, they will complain. They've overplayed their hands and now ears just automatically shut down when they start to speak.

[blacklily]

Obama IS the change. He needs brilliant, experienced hard hitters who will implement his "change"...his new ideas and policies.

[Indubio]

Ah yes and change marches onward! Craig is sure to mix up the equation with his unorthodox advice and willingness to take some risk! (I'm jesting of course...)

[snarkopolitan]

You want unorthodox from your Cabinet, MAYBE. Definitely not from your lawyer. It was a poor, sad jest that never read a job description.

[brettb3]

This is his lawyer. You want that position filled by a renegade? You truly have no idea what you're talking about.

[POTUS2008]

this dude seems fine to me.

[mylegsareswollen]

Great! Another same ol' same ol' Washington insider!!!

Change!!!

The professional political class is involved in one enormous circle jerk at the expense of the taxpayer.

[chillmonster]

Change isn't about getting novices with no Washington experience. It's about getting people who follow a different philosophy and can get things done. Your argument is a straw man.

[mylegsareswollen]

Lobbyists galore! Fannie and Freddie connections galore!

Same old crap different day.

[Indubio]

You're right... Only thing is that I haven't seen too many people Obama's talking with who offer a different philosophy. I agree that if Craig opposes the unitary executive he's a big improvement over Alberto Gonzales but then almost anyone would be an improvement over Gonzo.

[Judyisacutie]

Agreed.

[ChiGuy]

Blah, blah, blah.......................

[obamagal]

I think some of the swelling in your legs must have gone to your head. Did you miss the part where it said Craig endorsed Barack early on, instead of Hillary Clinton? This says a lot. I second everything Chillmonster said.... oh, and one other thing, I've read that when Clinton was first elected he brought people into his administration that lacked experience. I'd suggest Barack has the right idea, especially with the serious economic crisis, and that's just for starters.

[Indubio]

It either says a lot about Craig's interest in change or his understanding that Obama really had no interest in it. Can you be sure?

Why do so many people think that the only people who can save the country are Clinton retreads? I really don't understand this mindset because Clinton was part of the 28 year rightward swing of the pendulum. Bush is the one who raised taxes and the poor bastard gets no credit for falling on his political sword. All Clinton did was slow the pendulum down a bit. Yes, he balanced the budget and that was a good thing but on whose heads did it get balanced? We need balance... some reliable old hands mixed with a lot of new people. It isn't as if such people don't exist.

[mylegsareswollen]

More than a dozen members of President-elect Obama's fast-growing transition team have worked as federally registered lobbyists within the past four years. They include former lobbyists for the nation's trial lawyers association, mortgage giant Fannie Mae, drug companies such as Amgen, high-tech firms such as Microsoft, labor unions and the liberal advocacy group Center for American Progress.

CHANGE!!!

[cjgnew]

He must be a heck of a lawyer if President Clinton hired him to represent him on his impeachment case! That's good enough for me...

Carlos Jean-Gilles
Saint Louis, MO

[MsLiz]

Craig won that case.

[SurrealPumpkin]

These leaks are maddening. Democratic Officials, Senior Democrats, a source who knows someone on the Transition Team. Please! We know how tight the Obama Campaign was, and none of these leaks are directly attributable to the Transition. I'm getting suspicious of all the Clinton admin people being named. For helping with the transition? yes, that makes sense. For his administration? No, that doesn't make sense. I'll wait and see what new faces and names show up.

[NotMcCain]

Hopefully, when Axelrod gets back from vacation in Mexico the leaks will stop.

[afgail]

These aren't leaks, they are unattributed announcements by the Obama team to let the voters know. It shows that Obama is getting ready to hit the deck running on Jan 20th. The "leaks" are an integral part of the transition. Get a clue S.Pumpkin.

[Vincero]

agree.

of course these people are being named intentionally.

[ojim]

Oh ok.

[DAE]

Obama is a Democratic, so you would expect him to hire Democrats. Most active Democrats had something to do with the Clinton administration so you'd expect to see them in another Democratic administration. Look at all the Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Papa Bush people who ended up in GW's administration. It's only to be expected.

[ojim]

Yeah! What is up with these leaks?! Unless perhaps they are using the leaks to test public response before actually sealing the appointment.

[hudsuckerproxy]

What's up with the leaks? Rahm Emanuel.

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/11/11/a-new-obama-rahm-leak-policy/

[kingmiller]

Top heavy with Clinton Democrats, but notice not in Policy making roles. Obama is shrewd in that he knows winners and doers when he meets them, but is very careful to salt his top slots with his own inner circle. I think you'll see premium effort and efficiency with the new "amalgamated" team, but Obama's voice will remain distinct and not just a 3rd "Bill Clinton" term. Our leader shows his intellect in picking the best and brightest from the past, and folding them into the best and brightest of today! Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett, Axlerod, Gibbs. Let's hope for a role for Chuck Hagel!

[obamagal]

Excellent message.

[Anastasia]

Why all the leaks? If the Obama people are thinking that these names will impress the media, a tight ship with no leaks will impress even more.

[GuyFawkes]

Andrea Mitchell broke the Hillary story, and was asked if the Obama camp was springing leaks. She laughed and said she's never seen a transition team as tight as this, and that her getting the scoop was not easy by any means.

Let's stop with the leak nonsense. Obama is letting people know what he wants them to know.

[hapiday]

These appointments are getting very interesting. PE Obama is very shrew. I wish I was a good writer I could tell you what's happening. This guy is brilliant!

[dhertzfe]

Who cares where they come from so long as they are the right people for the job. We are in a mess people and we need help to get this country back on track to undo the crap from Bushies and his cronies.

[cybernannylee]

Obama has my trust thus far, and his recent appointments of Emmanuel, Jarrett and Axelrod further cement it. I'm sure he'll be giving this very difficult and important post of White House Counsel to whomever he considers most qualified and honest. Isn't all of this so refreshing? To me it portends a paradigm shift , starting with our country and expanding outward to the globe. I really feel that, and am so grateful for my grandchildren. I'm a white 78 year old female, and did what I could , in my limited way, for Obama, as I felt this from the beginning .

[cjgnew]

Congratulations on your post, and thanks for being so open minded. Obama could not have been elected president if people like you had not done their part to get this country beyond racism and hatred. Hopefully, someday, all of the people of the world will realize that we are all brothers and sisters.

Carlos Jean-Gilles
Saint Louis, MO

[billbee]

Thank you and millions of others who summoned the will to step up for hope and change.
Many of you were always there trying to do what's best for the country. Some others had to feel the heat from hell before they got it, but they did. All of you are appreciated.

The die-hard Re-thug ideologues and the Palin "MOOSE" worshipers don't really want a better world anyhow, They just want the deed to this one.

[SPQR1052]

This is starting to look too much like another Clinton administration. Folks give the Clinton their credits however I did not sign-in to repeat the 1990's - I signed on for CHANGE. Which by definition means news faces and attitudes. What starting to happen here is SAME players different leader. Check my post I am an AVID 0BAMA supporter and have been since mid primaries - never supported Clinton. I don't detest the Clinton's either for the record.

I was just hoping perhaps too much so that this time it would be different.

[peacebypiece]

Hopefully, this can help ease your mind:

http://www.change.gov/

YES WE CAN

[Agnim]

Please don't force us to defend what was good about the Clinton Presidency. Clinton did not have Presidential success by himself. Many played effective roles; and it makes good sense that Obama seeks to tap the best of the Clinton years, and leave the downside behind.

Change is improvement on the past, with the good of the past as a foundation!

[freshnotbitter]

Instead of having Greg Craig get Obama out of his stupidities why doesn't he have him at State avoiding the stupidities to begin with.

[mlr710]

You should reverse that username.

[norwaylass]

http://www.wc.com/attorney-GregoryCraig.html
Check it out very broad and wide experience and with interesting foreign background

[DAE]

Obama has a strong sense of self which Clinton never had. He will not be led by his libido but by his ethos.

[TRYKER]

Instead of having Greg Craig get Obama out of his stupidities why doesn't he have him at State avoiding the stupidities to begin with." freshnotbitter

what wall did you bounce off ? good grief, his stupidities? WTF are you talking about?
Hello, the man takes office in 2 months, hasn't done anything yet, where do you get off with the insults?
Sarah Palin called, she wants her tinfoil hat back.

[biglover]

Is that English your are speaking or hateism?

[cybernannylee]

Obama has my trust thus far, and his recent appointments of Emmanuel, Jarrett and Axelrod further cement it. I'm sure he'll be giving this very difficult and important post to whomever he considers most qualified and honest. Isn't all of this so refreshing? To me it portends a paradigm shift , starting with our country and expanding outward to the globe. I really feel that, and am so grateful for my grandchildren. I'm a white 78 year old female, and did what I could , in my limited way, for Obama, as I felt this from the beginning .