Like a bad penny...

[RebLem]

Bush to Name Veteran Adviser Fielding as Counsel

By Holly Rosenkrantz

Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush has picked veteran Republican legal adviser Fred Fielding to be White House counsel as the administration faces more scrutiny by the Democratic-controlled Congress, a White House official said.

Fielding, 67, replaces Harriet Miers, a longtime Bush aide whose resignation was announced Jan. 4. He served as President Ronald Reagan's chief legal adviser and worked in the White House counsel office during Richard Nixon's administration. Fielding currently is a partner at the Washington law firm of Wiley, Rein & Fielding LLP.

Announcement of the appointment may come as soon as tomorrow, the administration official said.

``It's hard to think of anyone with as much experience in that office,'' said Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond school of law in Virginia. ``He has dealt with similar situations that he will be facing in that job as far as investigations go.''

Fielding joins the administration at a time when Democrats, who won majorities in the House and Senate in last November's midterm elections, are promising more oversight hearings on the president's policies and actions.

Democratic Representative Henry Waxman of California, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, said he plans to hold hearings on ``waste, fraud and abuse'' in government programs beginning next month. Other committees in the House and Senate are scheduling hearings on Iraq.

As White House counsel from 1981 to 1986, Fielding supervised a team of lawyers that included John Roberts, now chief justice of the United States. Under Nixon, he was associate and deputy counsel. He also was a member of the commission that investigated U.S. intelligence failures prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

To contact the reporter on this story: Holly Rosenkrantz in Washington at hrosenkrantz@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: January 8, 2007 18:07 EST

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... rzKbxh0G3Q

[Ralph]

Bush is entitled to have anyone he wants as his White House counsel. It's not that important a position, anyway.

[Corlyss_D]

Dear Holly left out Fielding's most important experience: dealing with an obnoxious Democratic congress hell bent on paralyzing the executive with a barrage of endless investigations.

[RebLem]

Dear Holly left out Fielding's most important experience: dealing with an obnoxious Democratic congress hell bent on paralyzing the executive with a barrage of endless investigations.

I fondly wish.