Obama Stocks White House With Prominent Lawyers

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 30, 2009; Page A03

Washington lawyer Norman L. Eisen made his name in politics as a regular Democratic contributor and co-founder of Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, a liberal-leaning watchdog group that, among other things, sued then-President George W. Bush over missing White House e-mails.
Now Eisen is part of the White House, named by President Obama this week as his special counsel for ethics and government reform.


Eisen is one of several dozen prominent lawyers who will help formulate and interpret legal policy in the new administration, signaling a dramatic departure from the legal approach and policies of Bush and his aides. The list includes heavy-hitters educated at some of the nation's most prestigious law schools, and many who were sharply critical of Bush administration policies on detention, prisoner treatment, surveillance and other issues.

Democrats have praised the appointments as necessary to roll back the legal policies of Bush and his vice president, Richard B. Cheney, who largely relied on a relatively small group of conservative lawyers to formulate an expansive view of executive branch and presidential powers.

"It's fair to say that a Democratic White House has a lot of Democratic lawyers," said Walter Dellinger, a senior Justice Department official in the Clinton administration who teaches law at Duke University. "But this is a group of people who have distinguished themselves in practice and with really solid scholarship. . . . Everyone understands that the importance of trying to get the law right has taken on a greater significance than it has in previous transitions."

On the other hand, some Republicans argue that the list shows that Obama is more partisan than advertised. Several top new lawyers at the White House, for example, served as senior advisers during Obama's presidential campaign, while another, Susan Davies, served as general counsel under the Democratic Senate Judiciary chairman, Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.).

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/01/30/ST2009013000277.html

"The list includes heavy-hitters educated at some of the nation's most prestigious law schools, and many who were sharply critical of Bush administration policies on detention, prisoner treatment, surveillance and other issues."