Obama White House Counsel Greg Craig's Foreign Clients At Times At Odds With US

Politico:

As a top Washington lawyer, newly named White House counsel Greg Craig has represented high-profile clients, from Bill Clinton to John Hinckley to Alexander Solzhenitsyn to Elian Gonzalez's father.

But less well known is Craig's work in the 1990s for at least four foreign governments or leaders facing a variety of tricky situations in Washington.

Read the whole story: Politico

Comments

[cacique88]

Obama could not have picked a better WH counsel than Greg Craig. he is loyal but principled. As evidence, while he supported Bill Clinton through his lewinsky episode and subsequent impeachment tribulations, he did not support Hillary for President in the primaries. He was one of the many Clinton era people who supported Obama over the former First Lady, an early indication of a falling house of cards.

His appearances on the cable news channels in support of Obama punched big holes in the Hillary experience narrative. I am sure if Craig had been a Latino, he would have been tagged a traitor by Clinton bulldog James Carvil as was Bill Richardson. Yet it is certain, Craig met with the repudiation and wrath of Bill Clinton and his band of followers looking for the return of the Clintons to the White House.

These wounds still exist for the Clintons do not forget. Yet in spite of all the negative Rove-style campaign Hillary launched against him, Obama has the grace and superior character to offer her a major role in his administration. Would Hillary have been as gracious?

[simplify]

So now the HuffPost is doing guilt by associatio­n?...and from the 1990s no less. Is this a right wing blog?

[FatherKindly]

Agreed. Everybody has a right to counsel and Greg Craig merely demonstrates his qualifications to serve a President with the number of high-profile clients he has represented before. In a lawyer, a President doesn't need an ideologue, he needs somebody sharp and on the ball.

[Bitsko]

Not just HuffP0, but too many of the posters.

[mcantwell]

Consider the source "POLITICO.­"

[honeydiva]

"i needed to write something to fill up space and waste the readers time...a b s story...bu­t at least i am on this site today", he said.

[Bitsko]

Perhaps if I keep typing in these words everyone will think I'm doing something important when what I really what to do is DANCE!

[Durango]

So what?

Lawyers and lobbyists represent all kinds of different clients. That does not (necessarily) mean they believe in what their clients believe. They are paid to represent them.

Does anyone believe that he will represent anyone but the president in his new job? Or that he will fail to give anything but the best advice?

Or that president Obama won't be able to shift the BS from the truth?

there is nothing wrong with being a lobbyist. Or a lawyer.

Being a corrupt lobbyist or a corrupt lawyer is another issue. But hopefully they will all be gone after Jan. 20.

[sposton]

All these people make their living in ways that the majority of Americans would find objectionable. Craig is primarily a lawyer and it appears to be a good one. I think there will be very little conflict of interest in his performing his WH counsel tasks. It is not like placing a coal industry lobbyist in charge of mine safety in federal government (the kind of stuff Bush did all over federal government).

[Durango]

Bush put the different departments of the government up to the highest bidder.

Sold our birthrights for campaign cash. And other considerations.

We have not even begun to hear the real stories of corruption that will soon be coming out.

[Coinyer101]

"The real gamble in this election is playing the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expecting a different result." -- Barack Obama, Dec 27, 2007 http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/2008/view.bg?articleid=1063162&srvc=next_article

[Durango]

We have a different player. President Barak Obama.

Make no mistake. He will be in charge.

[Palmz]

You are a certified lunatic with not much to contribute on this board or in any other posts you make.

[OverIt]

This must be why the Obama campaign never attacked McCain on the issue of his advisers lobbying for the likes of Saddam Hussein, Mugabe and a slew of dictators.

For attorneys, it's understandable that Craig may have just seen himself as an advocate for people who need legal counsel, regardless of who they were. For non-attorneys though, it's a tougher call to distinguish between his representations and Craig as a person.

We'll see how it shakes out. Personally, I have no problem with him.
.

[kellygrrrl]

After the BushIntern­ationDamag­eSpree -- isn't any foreigner "at odds" with US?