Thursday, March 24, 2011

Jamie Gorelick?! Is Obama Kidding?

The latest rumor has Obama looking at appointing Jamie Gorelick to be the next director of the FBI. Good grief. This pick should bother everyone. Gorelick’s career has been an unending series of conflicts of interest, abuses of power, and questionable decisions. Let’s look at the highlights of Gorelick’s reign of error.

1. Gorelick's Wall of Silence
Between 1994 and 1997, Gorelick was Clinton’s Deputy Attorney General, the number two position at the Justice Department. In 1995, Gorelick wrote a memo outlining what would become known as “Gorelick’s Wall.” This memo interpreted court decisions on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and recommended a set of restrictions on the ability of criminal investigative organizations, like the FBI, to share information with intelligence agencies, like the CIA. Gorelick’s Wall prevented intelligence agencies from accessing the computer of Zacarias Moussaoui, a computer which could well have led to the discovery of 9/11 before it happened.

But wait, says Gorelick in an editorial, the 9/11 Commission found that this wall already existed under Reagan and Bush I, and it never found this wall to be that big of a deal. What Gorelick fails to mention, however, is that she was on the 9/11 Commission AND that she never disclosed her 1995 memo to her fellow Commissioners.

This is not only an incredible conflict of interest that never should have been allowed, but it shows exactly why such conflicts must be avoided. By accepting the position on the 9/11 Commission, Gorelick essentially placed herself in the position of investigating herself. The fact she ignored such an obvious conflict of interest speaks poorly of her judgment. Moreover, her failure to disclosed this key memo to the Commission makes any conclusion they reached on this issue meaningless.

Further, Gorelick tries to defend herself by blaming Reagan and Bush for creating the policy, even though she is the one who provided the new interpretation. Then she tries to blame Janet Reno by claiming that her memo was less restrictive than what Reno ultimately put out (an argument which contradicts her attempts to blame Reagan or Bush). Also, she attacks her critics as “partisans” and blames “public rancor” for the allegations against her, which is an evasive tactic.

This incident is an ethical disgrace, and it calls into question whether she can put the interests of the FBI and the nation above her own self-interest.
2. Gorelick Champions Governments’ Right To Know
Also while serving as Clinton’s Deputy Attorney General, Gorelick tried to give the government control over the internet. Arguing that the internet was “transmitting child pornography into our homes,” that terrorists could use the internet to communicate, and that the internet could allow hackers to “shut down the banking system,” Gorelick fought for a ban on the domestic use of strong encryption and tried to force companies to put their encryption codes into escrow so the government could get at them. This is evidence of a mind that cares little for civil liberties and Constitutional rights.

(FYI, internet expert Gorelick didn’t even know her own e-mail address at the time.)
3. Fannie Mae Pay Day
Moving on from the Justice Department, Gorelick took a job as the Vice Chairman of Fannie Mae between 1997 and 2003. Guess what Fannie Mae started doing while Gorelick was there? Yep: bundling subprime loans into securities. . . the same securities that blew up the world economy in 2008. In March of 2002, Gorelick defended this practice in an interviewed with Business Week: “We believe we are managed safely. . . . Fannie Mae is among the handful of top-quality institutions.” She was paid $26,466,834 during her time at Fannie Mae. We would pay $338 billion to bail them out (and take on $5 trillion in loan guarantees).

Moreover, during this period, a $9 billion accounting scandal arose at Fannie Mae. According to the Director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, false signatures were used by Fannie Mae to shift expenses into the future and wrongly increase profits. During 1998, these false profits triggered $27.1 million in bonuses to a handful of Fannie Mae executives, including Gorelick, who received $779,625 of that.

This scandal eventually resulted in $9 billion in profits being removed from Fannie Mae’s books. And while there is no direct proof of Gorelick’s involvement, let me point out that direct proof was not considered necessary in scandals like Enron or under Sarbanes-Oxley, where executives are considered responsible for the actions that occur under their watch. Further, her senior position and the unwillingness/inability of Fannie Mae to investigate who faked these signatures or who was aware of what, call into question her role, especially as she apparently made no attempt to expose this issue.
4. Railroading White Kids At Duke
Following her departure from Fannie Mae, Gorelick returned to a big DC law firm. In 2006, she joined the defense team that represented Duke University in the 2006 Duke University lacrosse case. This was the incident where Duke railroaded 47 Duke University students on flimsy and contradictory rape allegations by a stripper with a history of mental problems, who actually identified people who were not present as the rapists, who then confessed to a friend that she was lying to get money from the “white boys,” and who later tried to set fire to her live-in boyfriend. Despite this, Gorelick’s client suspended the entire lacrosse team, took no action to stop threats made against the players, their families and the team’s coach, and sent out e-mails stoking racial tensions.
5. International Peace Through Superior Firepower
Gorelick now serves on the board of directors of United Technologies Corporation, a defense contractor with $5 billion in defense contracts, while also serving on the board of directors of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, organizations dedicated to (leftist) international peace. Do you see any conflict there?
6. Student Loan Lobbyist
Finally, Gorelick is currently a lobbyist for the lending industry fighting student loan reform. Remember the whole “no lobbyist” thing from Obama? No? Well, neither does Obama apparently. Oh, and she represents BP.

Gorelick has shown a lack of judgment when it comes to conflicts of interest, a penchant for passing blame to others, questionable business ethics, and an utter indifference to the rights of individuals. This is not someone who should be running the FBI.

24 comments:

Tennessee Jed said...

Andrew - your headline says it all. On the one hand, maybe he is desparate to shore up his base, but I would have to think the polling would be incredibly against her. Then, as you point out, there is the untold damage she could do. Maybe there is unfinished Clinton era stuff Hillary needed to destroy?

JG said...

I'm with Jed - all I needed was the headline (though I did read the rest.) Gyah. What a thing to see first thing in the morning. I wonder who put Obama up to this.

The Wall of Silence would be enough for me to loudly object. I totally forgot about her involvement in the Duke railroading case, though. What a despicable person.

Joel Farnham said...

Gorelick is the worst possible person to ever have in public service. She is stupid, corrupt, and self-serving. If someone ever deserved to be executed for 9-11, she is at the top of the list. In NAZI Germany, someone would have handed her a luger with one bullet and told, don't waste our time.

If Obama appoints her, he is treasonous.

Unknown said...

Treason is the objective of this regime--"The Soros Doctrine" in Libya should be enough proof for anyone.

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, It does seem like an attempt to bring back more Clinton people. I am actually amazed though because she's been lobbying against his student loan reform and she lobbies for BP... so you'd think she would be poison for his side?

AndrewPrice said...

JG, I'm glad you read the rest! :-)

I agree on all points. The Wall of Silence and the issues surrounding it are already too much for me. She may try to claim that her "wall" was no different than the past, but that's not true. Also, the conflict of investigating herself really shows bad judgment for an attorney.

The Duke case was despicable. Talk about abusive! I didn't know she was part of that until I began looking into her.

In any event to me, all of this is highly questionable and while makes her highly unsuitable for the top spot at the FBI.

AndrewPrice said...

Joel, I wouldn't call it treasonous, because I think there was an intent to prevent us from spotting terrorists like the 9/11 hijackers, but I do think her lack of judgment was so poor that she should have been fired for incompetence and not ever brought back. The rest is just self-serving, conflict-ridden and corrupt. Again, all of which should keep her from being the head of the FBI.

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, "The Soros Doctrine," I hadn't heard that one before. . . but it seems appropriate.

Libya is turning into a mess because of lack of leadership.

Anonymous said...

Andrew: Two great minds run in the same channel. I'll be discussing Ms. Gorelick on Saturday. One thing sure, we have no need to waste any love on this woman. It would be hard to say too much ill about this entrenched lefty.

BevfromNYC said...

Why can't we get someone who is not a political hack. How about someone already trained in Law Enforcement like Ray Kelly or Bill Bratton. Though NYC needs Kelly, he would be a better choice than another Clinton redo and former Fannie Mae VP millionaire. The Fannie Mae issue alone should disqualify her.

BUT, she would be the first female head to the FBI - Obama likes his firsts...

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, Great minds right?! Yeah, there's not much to love here, but there is much to truly dislike.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, That exact thought occurred to me too -- why do they keep recycling these political hacks? I'm sure there are some great people right now who are assistant directors at the FBI or even at DOJ, why not get one of them?

And even if his issue is finding another "first," there have to be good women already at the FBI? Why reach out and get a lobbyist with a horrible history of bad judgment?

I just don't get it.

DUQ said...

Thanks! I didn't know much about her except that she was a Clinton person. Wow! Obama is a fool if he appoints her.

AndrewPrice said...

You're welcome DUQ. Now you know! :-)

Tennessee Jed said...

Damn it, Andrew- if I happen to click on my Commentrama shortcut to check out the updates to the comments, I am forced to have to view the picture of her. This will continue until this particular post disappears down the list. This is something Hawk should take into consideration as he readies his Saturday post. Honestly, a picture of a pile of dog pooh, plastic puke or some such thing would actually be preferable to her smiling visage (l.o.l.)

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, LOL! I'm sorry about that. I'll tell Lawhawk that he should replace her picture in his article with something more aesthetically pleasing... like dog pooh! ;-)

CrispyRice said...

Another good article Andrew. Obama is a disgrace. Ugh.

Anonymous said...

Tennessee: She ain't smiling in mine. She was facing hard questions and not doing well at all.

AndrewPrice said...

Thanks Crispy. And yeah, that about sums up Obama. . . sadly for our country.

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, I like the dog pooh idea! LOL!

StanH said...

Wow! This is so typical of the ruling class revolving door, they slink around the beltway soaking up millions of dollars for doing essentially nothing, unless of coarse screwing up is considered doing something of value. Washington is a cesspool of cronyism that must be broken up if we intend to survive as a nation. The good news these appointments don’t happen in darkrooms any longer, we have the information, we now must do our part, and take back our government from these bastards, and perhaps some jail time is in order for many of these corrupt incompetent bastards.

AndrewPrice said...

Stan, Very true. It's amazing what these insiders get away with. At least now they can't do it anymore because the internet makes it so much easier to get this kind of information out.

Ed said...

In a way, I hope Obama appoints here because she's just going to piss everyone off. The problem is I don't really want the FBI messed up.

Ed said...

Sorry, "her" not "here".

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