Posted at 8:11 p.m. EDT Tuesday, September 15, 1998
President hires longtime friend to ward off
impeachment
By TERENCE HUNT
AP White House Correspondent
WASHINGTON (AP) -- At the height of the hippie-radical era at Yale
Law School, Hillary Rodham befriended an anti-war leader from Harvard
named Greg Craig. Two years later, Rodham and Bill Clinton moved
into a
$75-a-month New Haven apartment passed down by Craig.
For nearly three decades, they have been close friends.
As the Clintons advanced in the political world, Craig earned his
stripes on
Capitol Hill as a foreign policy adviser to Sen. Edward Kennedy.
Then he
went into private law practice with clients as diverse as Ronald
Reagan's
would-be assassin, John Hinckley, and a wealthy Haitian family that
sought
influence in Washington and tried to stave off economic sanctions
harmful to
their business.
On Tuesday, Craig took on one of the toughest assignments in
Washington:
leading Clinton's defense against possible impeachment proceedings
in the
House.
``I have known him for many years,'' the president said, ``and have
great
confidence in his judgment and ability.''
Craig will take over a job complicated by frictions between Clinton's
political and legal advisers over how to save Clinton's presidency
from the
Monica Lewinsky scandal.
``He's thought of as a good bridge between the political world and
the legal
world,'' said Clinton adviser Doug Sosnik. ``People on Capitol Hill
know
him as someone they can work with and someone they can trust.''
It will be Craig who has to sort out how Clinton can handle demands
for
him to admit that he lied about a sexual affair with Ms. Lewinsky,
while at
the same time protecting himself against perjury charges.
White House press secretary Mike McCurry said Clinton ``made it quite
clear that he had some kind of sexual relationship.'' He said that
Clinton's
lawyers, in denying that Clinton lied, have been ``answering a very
narrow
question about perjury.'' But he said Clinton, in his grand jury
testimony,
acknowledged an ``improper, intimate sexual relationship.''
``I'm not sure what else it is he is supposed to say,'' McCurry
said. ``I'm
not sure what kind of hoop you're trying to have him jump through.''
On questions like these, Craig will be Clinton's undisputed legal
quarterback. ``He's it. It's Greg Craig on this matter,'' said
Clinton
spokesman Joe Lockhart.
Significantly, Craig also is friends both with Clinton's lead
attorney, David
Kendall, and his deputy chief of staff, John Podesta, head of the
damage-control team until now.
Craig will be joined by two assistants with a lot of experience in
lobbying
congressmen and senators: Susan Brophy McGowan and Steve Ricchetti.
Both were members of Clinton's team previously as deputy assistants
for
legislative affairs. Richetti left the administration to set up a
lobbying firm,
while McGowan moved overseas as the wife of the U.S. ambassador to
Portugal, Gerald McGowan. Both came back for this fight.
Craig's relationship with the Clintons was described by author David
Maraniss in the biography ``First in His Class.'' The book describes
Craig
as ``absolutely euphoric'' when Clinton first took the oath of
office as
governor of Arkansas in 1978.
After four years on Kennedy's staff, Craig joined the Washington law
firm
of Williams & Connolly and later moved to the State Department,
There,
he was director of the policy planning staff, charged with looking at
long-term foreign policy issues and providing guidance to the
secretary of
state.
AP-ES-09-15-98 1907EDT
http://charlotte.com/special/clinton/pub/0916friend.htm
--
Bard
We are a Nation of the Rule of Law;
however, I, for one, will not be Ruled by the Lawless.
To All Elected Officials:
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you."
There's not a dime bit of difference between a DemoRat and a RepubRat,
they're simply two wings of the same bird of prey which pecks at your
earnings while insidiously devouring your Freedom.
BUCHANAN-Reform
http://gopatgo2000.com/default.htm
Eternal Vigilance - The Price of Freedom!
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