Not one to break with his tradition of appointing old-timers from other Republican administrations, Bush is reportedly replacing White House counsel, Helen Miers, with a man who held that position under Reagan. If Bush hopes to resist the subpoenas expected from dirt-digging Democrats, why Fred Fielding? This stands out:
- When he was White House counsel one of his assistants was John Roberts, now the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice.
- He was Chief Deputy counsel for John Dean, in that subpoena-filled era called Watergate.
- He does a lot of white collar crisis management counseling, negotiating, and large-scale problem solving.
- He has an impressive background as a Washington business litigator and legal strategy counsel in government affairs and white collar defense. That includes those pesky congressional investigations.
Reagan wrote him warmly when he resigned.
At times of crisis, yours was a voice of calm and reason. Your intellect, skill, and tact mixed with warm personal qualities of compassion and good humor….
If I were sporting Bush’s Stetson, I’d have wooed Fred Fielding into the White House the day Bush’s nervousness over intelligence committees was belied by his foot in mouth disease:
I’d rather have them sacrificing on behalf of our nation than, you know, endless hours of testimony on congressional hill.
The new White House counsel must have moved in. That’s the President saying Bring them on.