How Long Has Gillespie Been Acting as White House Counselor?

by emptywheel

First, a correction. I suggested the other day that Dick was one of the three people who voted not to keep Rummy when Bush took a show of hands on Rummy's fate. But Cheney may not have been among those polled. The WaPo has a review of the book and the incident today, and Cheney is not among those named (though Abramowitz does not identify all of the votes).

For Canning Rummy
Josh Bolten
Andrew Card
Condi Rice
Ed Gillespie
Three more people

Against Canning Rummy
Bush
Rove
Stephen Hadley
One other, probably Cheney

But here's what I'm really struck by. Ed Gillespie, right there among the paid Presidential advisors, casting a "can Rummy" vote.

I've been harping for some time on the problem with a big-time lobbyist entering the White House to take on the Counselor role. After all, when a guy had been lobbying for the telecom industry, a number of front organizations for corporate interests, and those student loan companies that are bankrupting our families, it suggests he might have divided loyalties when he enters the White House.

This anecdote shows that Gillespie had entered the White House in a substantive advisory role long before he stopped being paid by those corporate interests. Ed Gillespie was taking votes on personnel decisions (which Cheney no doubt promptly overrode) at the same time as he was trying to convince Bush how important it was to give the telecoms immunity for illegally cooperating in domestic spying.

Comments

[JGabriel]

EW: "Ed Gillespie was taking votes on personnel decisions (which Cheney no doubt promptly overrode) at the same time as he was trying to convince Bush how important it was to give the telecoms immunity for illegally cooperating in domestic spying."

Sometimes I wonder why companies even pay Gillespie, et. al., for services like this.

It sounds like something he'd do anyway, just for the sheer joy of it.

[Rayne]

So was Gillespie subject to 18 U.S.C. § 208, or did he get a waiver about which we don't know? Or did certain White House and DOJ officials determine loosely that Gillespie or the firm(s) for which he was a lobbyist wasn't personally or directly benefiting from decisions like the one detailed in this post and therefore outside 18 U.S.C. § 208? Or was he being consulted, gratis?

And could we trust OGE director Robert Cusick, a regular donor to Mitch McConnell confirmed to his role in mid-2006, to actually investigate and do anything about this?

[Rayne]

Oh, he's a problem, been one since day one...looks like nobody wanted to bother with him.

Wonder if a FOIA on OGE records related to Gillespie would do much good?

Also wonder: if Gillespie's been slinking around the White House in some unspecified capacity since spring of 2006, is his name on any of the documents related to the USDOJ? Has his name been whited out anywhere?

[No Blood for Hubris]

Cheney was the one counting the votes.

[Rayne]

See also this comment below, since Ed's involved.

[emptywheel]

Rayne

Yes, I've been pointing out that Ed Gillespie successfully lied to hide the fact that the WH ordered him to pay for the NH defense for some time. In other words, they got a guy who had successfully protected a WH-tied election scandal from touching the WH.

So it's probably not an accident they hired Gillespie.

[readerOfTeaLeaves]

EW, you are a genius. I don't know how many more times my brain can explode over the stuff you ferret out.

[Rayne]

EW -- So is the reason Leahy asked for early 2004 docs to benchmark pre-Gonzo and Gonzo behavior in terms of politicization, or is it specifically about the NH case, one of the more obvious cases that suffered from slow-motion prosecution? And did dragging their feet in DOJ and judiciary work so well in 2004 that Gillespie et al advocated doing it more broadly?

These guys never seem to do the same trick on a one-of basis, after all...

[emptywheel]

Rayne

There have been reports that the policized hiring started as early as 2002, under Ashcroft. So I rather suspect the timing of their requests has more to do with the four people they know to have been politicizing hiring than anything else.

As to the NH case, that wasn't really slow-walked at anywhere besides the USA level until the following year.

[bmaz]

Rayne - You are not saying these jerks were just being hypocritical again when they shouted down the "Clinton era if it feels good do it" alleged mantra; now are you? Heh ehe.

[MarkH]

Is "the Gillespie case" just another bright shiny object meant to attract the attention of Congressional oversight and away from something more worthwhile, like looking into how the WH handled/handles classified information?

[Rayne]

MarkH -- they're all interconnected, all the stories we've been chasing. They've tried to compartmentalize different threads so we can't follow them back, using all kinds of different methodologies. As Sibel Edmonds suggested, just follow one all the way back and you'll find the rest. If the SJC, HJC and the House Oversight Committee weren't being systematically obstructed, they probably could do that.

Gillespie's active participation in election dirty tricks was not in isolation, and may have been repeated in different formats elsewhere, to reseat those who were abusing classified info. The methods by which Gillespie has been able to maintain potentially illegal influence on our government is not unlike that of many other corporate interests, some of which are firmly involved in the abuse of classified information. It's all of a piece.

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[endofworld]

"First, a correction. I suggested the other day that Dick was one of the three people who voted not to keep Rummy when Bush took a show of hands on Rummy's fate."
I think the word "not" should not be present in the above sentence.

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[franceger]

My life:
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Forgive me for all :(

[franceger]

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2002
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2004
Forgive me for all :(