Crossposted at
Preemptive Karma
One of our readers sent me an email with some research on Rossi's legal team. It's often an interesting exercise to understand who an individual in a situation like this chooses to surround himself. In Rossi's case, it looks like some relatively big guns:
First is Harry Korrell. Korrell is a member of Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP in Seattle. He is Executive Director of Washington Chapter of the Lawyers for Bush - Cheney Coaltion; Federalist Society Member and Member of the Executive Board of the Puget Sound Laywers Chapter.
(So much for all lawyers being liberal ambulance chasers. This one is a conservative)
(more below the fold)
One of Korrel's most telling treatises is
this diatribe against the filibustering of judical nominees:
Seattle attorney Harry Korrell argues that Democratic senators who are blocking federal judicial nominees "are doing a great disservice to the country by discouraging others who might otherwise be willing to give up comfortable and lucrative private work for a life of government service. They are doing perhaps irreparable damage to the separation and balance of powers ... by engaging in an unprecedented, arguably unconstitutional filibuster to prevent nominees from ever getting a full Senate vote." Korrell argues that Democratic senators, by filibustering nominees with "stellar qualifications and bipartisan support," are "alienating mainstream Americans, particularly minorities and religious groups they have counted on in the past," a move that he predicts will hurt them in the next election.
Where was Korrell when Republican Bill Frist was blocking a Clinton nominee?. But I digress.
Next is Robert J. Maguire, also of Davis Wright Tremaine. Maguire once worked for Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn in Washington DC who happen to be (unsurpisingly) heavily involved with the Republican Party.
The interesting one of the group however is Mark Braden:
Summary:
E. Mark Braden concentrates his work principally on election law and governmental affairs. This field includes work with Congress, the Federal Election Commission, state campaign finance agencies, ballot access issues, political broadcast regulation, contests, recounts, the Voting Rights Act, initiatives, referendums and redistricting. Each is an area in which he has substantial knowledge and unusual experience.
Mr. Braden spent ten years as Chief Counsel to the Republican National Committee prior to joining Baker & Hostetler. He has worked intimately with many elected officials, the major national political consultants, and pollsters providing successful, and often highly innovative, legal guidance. For example, in campaign finance, he can rightly claim to be the father of "soft money" as now used in national political campaigns. In redistricting, he has been involved in litigation across the nation. In addition to his experience in the area of federal election law, Mr. Braden is widely recognized as an authority on state election laws, having served as Chief Counsel to the Ohio Elections Commission and Election Counsel for the Secretary of State in Ohio. He was a principal lawyer in two of the largest recounts in our political history--governors' races in New Jersey and Illinois.
Mr. Braden was a key negotiator for the site city agreements and many of the other contracts for four Republican National Conventions and has been special counsel to the House Oversight Committee. He has also worked with many nonprofit organizations on government affairs issues.
Mr. Braden has testified before congressional committees and the Federal Election Commission on numerous occasions. His experience in these areas has been recognized by numerous invitations to be guest lecturer at universities and institutes across the nation.
Mr. Braden is a member of the adjunct faculty of George Washington University and Catholic University of America.
A Lexis/Nexis search (thanks to Kevin Drum for the assist) revealed Mr. Braden's current employer. Presumably Braden is paid by the Republican National Committee for services when he works for Republican candidates. I can find no information which confirms however how payment is rendered.
Braden appears to be a journeyman GOP attorney operative. He had his fingers in the 2000 election mess in Florida, was point man in a redistricting struggle in Nevada,represented the formerly convicted Oliver North in a campaign ad scandal and may have been involved in some underhanded goings on in New Mexico for Bush/Cheney 2000.
All in all, Braden has been working for Republicans in a legal capacity for several decades.
Hear no evil..see no evil..and just plain evil? (joke..sorta)