AG Holder's previous employment

[Mark Crispin Miller]

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

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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.

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