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2008-12-17 Home Front: Politix

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Posted by Nimble Spemble 2008-12-17 13:58|| || Front Page|| [1 views ] Top

#1
POLITICOHolder will get $3M payoff to leave firm for AG job.

By: Lisa Lerer
December 16, 2008 09:44 AM EST

Eric Holder, President-elect Barack Obama's pick for attorney general, has a net worth of $5.7 million and lobbied on behalf of three companies in the past five years, according to a questionnaire filed by Holder with the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Last year, he made more than $2.1 million as a partner at Covington & Burling, a prominent Washington law firm. The money is unsurprising given his high-profile client list, which includes companies like UBS Financial Services, Merck & Co., and Hewlett-Packard. He was also paid to sit on the boards of MCI and Eastman Kodak Company.

While Holder would certainly take a salary cut to become attorney general, he'd rake in some major profits from leaving the private sector. Covington & Burling would pay Holder over $3.14 million from his partner capital account, separation payments and deferred compensation.

The questionnaire was released shortly after Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy bowed to Republican requests to push Holder's confirmation hearing back a week to Jan. 15. Republicans are sure to make an issue of Holder's involvement in President Bill Clinton's controversial 2001 pardon of fugitive Marc Rich. Holder's personal finances have not become an issue in the confirmation.

But Holder has experience with tough congressional hearings. According to his questionnaire, he's testified before Congress ten times over the past 13 years, including two 2001 hearings over his involvement in the Rich pardon.

At Covington, Holder was registered to lobby on behalf of a group of medical schools, biotechnology firm Large Scale Biology Corp., and Global Crossing, a telecommunications company that in 2002 filed one of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history.

When Holder registered to lobby for the company after the bankruptcy, Global Crossing was hoping to be bought by a joint venture of Hong Kong-based Hutchinson Whampoa and Singapore Technologies Telemedia. The company paid Holder about $1 million to convince Congress, the White House, and government agencies not to block the purchase. Despite concerns that it could compromise national security, the deal eventually went through after Hutchinson backed out.

Holder wrote in his Judiciary disclosure form that he has consulted with the Office of Government Ethics and Department of Justice ethics official to identify any conflicts of interest from his work at the firm. "In the event of a potential conflict of interest," he wrote, "I would consult with the Department's ethics official and take all necessary steps to ensure that I comply with their guidance."

Other Holder trivia reported in the filing: his middle name is "Himpton," he has three children, is a member of historically black fraternity Sigma Pi Phi, and his wife, Sharon Denise Malone, is a doctor who, according to the Associated Press, delivered incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's daughter.

Posted by Besoeker 2008-12-17 18:19|| 2008-12-17 18:19|| Front Page Top

#2 If they're calling the 3.14m$ payment from the partner equity account a payoff they're being most misleading. It's certainly not a payoff as that work is meant in the typical political context. It's money he earned.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2008-12-17 19:13|| 2008-12-17 19:13|| Front Page Top

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