In the first major shakeup among President Obama's senior staff,
White House Counsel Greg Craig is being pushed out in favor of veteran
Democratic lawyer Bob Bauer because of a dispute over plans to close
the U.S. military prison in Cuba, CNN has learned.
The move will
be announced by the White House in the coming days, a senior
administration official and a senior Democratic source confirmed.
The
sources said it could be announced as early as Friday while the
president will be in Japan starting a four-nation tour of Asia, which
would make it likely the staff change will be overshadowed by other
events.
Craig declined to comment and hung up when reached by CNN late Thursday evening.
Bauer
is the husband of Anita Dunn, the outgoing White House communications
director. Dunn, who recently led a so-called "war" on Fox News,
announced earlier this week that she is leaving her White House post, a
long-anticipated move that was not connected to the media battle.
Democratic officials said Craig was ousted because of frustration among
senior White House aides over his handling of the plans to close the
prison at Guantanamo Bay.
As the White House's top lawyer, Craig was pivotal in advising Obama to
sign an executive order during his first week in office promising to
shut the prison by the end of January 2010.
In a politically embarrassing move that has frustrated some of the president's liberal supporters, White House
aides have since backed off that deadline, citing complex legal issues
surrounding what to do with the approximately 200 terror suspects still
detained at Guantanamo.
Some administration officials privately
believe Craig should have better anticipated the pitfalls. However, his
supporters believe he is being used as a scapegoat and note he was not
the only top official who supported the ironclad executive order.
One
of the Democratic officials acknowledged Craig's tenure had been a
"little choppy," but downplayed the exit as part of the normal turnover
in any administration after nearly one year in office.
Craig was
one of the lawyers defending then-President Bill Clinton during his
impeachment trial. He became an early and active supporter of Obama in
the Democratic presidential primaries, angering backers of then-Sen.
Hillary Clinton. That is one of the reasons why allies of Craig are
frustrated he is being replaced so early in the administration.
But
Democratic sources said Craig never clicked with senior White House
aides, and Bauer is a low-key, behind-the-scenes operator more in
Obama's comfort zone.
Bauer was the chief attorney during the
campaign, and will be leaving the law firm of Perkins Coie, a
Seattle-based firm that has an office in Washington, D.C.
There
has been speculation that administration officials have been trying to
find a federal judgeship or ambassadorial post for Craig, but officials
said he may return to the law firm of Williams & Connolly.
Comments (0)
Tell friend
Print
