Fred F. Fielding

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On January 8, 2007, it was announced that President George W. Bush is to appoint veteran Washington lawyer Fred Fisher Fielding as White House Counsel. [1]

This would mark the third time that Fielding has served as White House Counsel under a Republican president. From 1981 to 1986, he served under President Ronald Reagan, "where one of his assistants was John Roberts, now the chief justice of the Supreme Court." From 1972 to 1974, Fielding served under President Richard M. Nixon; he also served as an associate counsel under Nixon from 1970 to 1972. [2] Fielding served as John W. Dean's deputy during the Watergate scandal. [3]

Fielding would replace Harriet E. Miers, who at one time was under consideration as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Miers has served since February 2005 and resigned January 5, 2007. [4]

President Bush's first White House Counsel was Alberto R. Gonzales (2001-2005), who is now U.S. Attorney General.

"world-class keeper of secrets"

"Fred Fielding held one of the most important jobs on the Bush transition team of 2000-01. He was the guy who met with potential cabinet nominees one-on-one, in a locked room with the windowshades drawn, and asked what was potentially a very sensitive question: 'Anything in your background that might embarass the president?' The guy is presumably a world-class keeper of secrets."—John J. Miller, National Review Online, January 8, 2007. [5]

Profiles

Fielding served as a Commissioner on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.

According to his Commission profile, "Fred Fielding is senior partner and head of Wiley, Rein, & Fielding's Government Affairs, Business & Finance, Litigation and Crisis Management/White Collar Crime Practices. From 1981-1986, he served as Counsel to the President of the United States, as deputy counsel from 1972-1974 and as Associate Counsel from 1970-1972. He also served as clearance counsel during the Bush-Cheney Presidential Transition. In addition to his public service as White House counsel, Fielding has served as the U.S.-designated arbitrator at the Tribunal on the U.S.-U.K. Air Treaty Dispute (1989-1994), as a member of the president's Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform (1989) and as a member of the secretary of transportation's Task Force on Aviation Disasters, (1997-1998), as well as numerous other commissions. He is a member of the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania Bars, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania; the District of Columbia Court of Appeals; U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; U.S. Courts of Appeals for the D.C., Federal, First, Third, Fourth, and Ninth Circuits; the U.S. Court of Military Appeals; and the U.S. Supreme Court. He holds an A.B., with honors, from Gettysburg College and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served on the Editorial Board of the Virginia Law Review." [6]

He is also currently on the board of advisors for the Alliance for a New Kosovo and is also on the board of counselors for the Arabic media group Layalina Productions.

Related SourceWatch Resources

External links

Profiles

Articles & Commentary

2003

2005

2007

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