>From Ken Anderson: Hi Mark,
Just as a point of information (several points, actually, so I apologize for the length), and out of curiosity, I followed up Simpson's article about Holder's ties to the RNC via Covington and Burling LLC, his employer during the last eight years. Holder reportedly received some $2 million in compensation from C&B during his tenure, which coincided with a number of high-profile cases against the Bush administration. On its website, the company boasts more than a few such cases, in which it worked for Bush et al. In nearly every one, and while Holder was happily a partner in the firm, C&B defended GOP operatives--and also the financial industry and Big Pharma. These, of course, are all the very players responsible for the immense corruption of the US public sphere. Check out the litany of litigation that C&B has been involved in, mostly on the RNC side. Remember, these are the company's own proud claims. Must we, then, still wonder why Eric Holder is a no-show on GOP election-rigging and selective prosecutions? The real question is why Obama would infect his administration with both Holder and Greg Craig, both of whom are not merely politically tainted, but have acted as defense agents for the Bush administration and the GOP more generally. (See Simpson's article on Craig, which I think you may have sent around: http://pubrecord.org/special-to-the-public-record/3263/white-house-should-craig/). Can the Dems really be this clueless? I doubt it. So what else is going on? Is the political face of the parties really just that, a facade of political space when, in fact, the Rs & Ds are just part of the same machine? In short, Holder's former employer, C&B, is a legal agent for the mob--a mob that dwarfs the pikers in the Mafia. -ken __________________________________ >From "Congressional Investigations," C&B ((http://www.cov.com/practice/government_relations/congressional_investigations/): 1) We represented a major pharmaceutical company in an investigation by the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee regarding alleged off-label marketing of pharmaceutical products. 2) We represented the Republican National Committee in connection with investigations by the House Judiciary Committee and House Oversight and Government Reform Committees regarding US attorney firings and the hosting of e-mail accounts for White House officials. 3) We advised a major financial institution in connection with House and Senate investigations of the student lending industry. 4) We represented Hoffman-La Roche, Inc., in an investigation into allegations that its drug, Accutane, contributed to teen suicides. The investigation ended with multiple congressional hearings in which we represented Roche. >From "Election & Political Law" (http://www.cov.com/practice/government_relations/election_and_political_law/) 5) We represented the Republican National Committee in a high-profile election-related civil litigation in New Hampshire concerning alleged phone-jamming on election day. The firm has served as election law counsel to the RNC for many years, handling a range of litigation and advisory matters. The Firm has also been counsel on election law matters to the National Republican Congressional Committee. 6) Representation of Enron-related defendant in GSA debarment proceedings. 7) Counseling regarding US contracting disclosure and certification requirements resulting from initiation of criminal proceedings against client’s corporate officers in South America and from US indictment of corporate board member. [I've been hunting this one, curious as to whether this refers to the Ecuador v. Chevron, $27 billion pollution litigation.] 8) Representation of an executive of KBR, Halliburton’s subsidiary, in a wide-ranging investigation into alleged bribery of Nigerian government officials in connection with the selection of the company to build one of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas projects. [N.B. the time domain of this long-term bibbery scheme was then-CEO Dick Cheney's reign of error.] >From "FEC Enforcement" (http://www.cov.com/practice/government_relations/election_and_political_law/fec_enforcement/): 9) We represented the Louisiana Republican Party in a long-running FEC investigation of alleged “coordinated expenditures” ... 10) We obtained outright dismissal of FEC complaints filed against Friends of Giuliani Exploratory Committee. Some other bits and bytes: 11) Lead counsel to Pfizer ... 12) Lead counsel to GlaxoSmithKline ... 13) Representated Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, Inc ... 14) National co-coordinating counsel for Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. and Roche Laboratories Inc. ... 15)Lead counsel to Purdue Pharma in OxyContin® antitrust and consumer protection class actions. 16)Representing one of the world’s leading oil companies in an EU cartel investigation into the bitumen market. 17)A coalition of eleven oil and gas companies whose efforts to pursue development of their California offshore oil and gas leases were thwarted by the federal government. 18)Other oil companies, including Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, in breach of contract lawsuits involving leases offshore Alaska, Florida and North Carolina. 19)September 2003 press release from the firm, C&B successfully argued on behalf of the Southern Peru Copper Corporation to drop a lawsuit brought against it by Peruvian citizens charging the copper company with polluting communities and causing health problems. 20) Covington & Burling also served as "corporate affairs consultants" to the Philip Morris group of companies and helped organize the company's "Whitecoat Project," Big Tobacco's "no scientific consensus" campaign. __________________________________________________________ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to newsfromunderground-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
