ONE TRACK MIND…. The departure of White House Counsel Gregory Craig has been rumored for months, but it became official today. Craig stepped down after 10 months on the job, and will be replaced by Robert Bauer, a Democratic lawyer who’s represented President Obama for years. The announcement was, as the NYT noted, “timed to take place the same day the Justice Department disclosed that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, and four other men accused in the plot will be prosecuted in federal court in New York City.”
But that’s not what Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) believes. No, the “official” version isn’t quite compelling enough for the King-man. He thinks he knows the real reason, and it’s all about … ready for this? … ACORN.
Newly appointed White House counsel Bob Bauer is “perfectly positioned to be tasked with erasing the tracks between Obama and ACORN,” one Republican lawmaker charged Friday.
The lawyer’s hiring, announced this morning shortly after Greg Craig officially resigned the post, was also an attempt by the White House to deflect any fallout that may arise from an ACORN investigation currently underway in Louisiana, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) added in a statement.
“Bob Bauer has a public record of defending Barack Obama’s relationship with ACORN,” the congressman told supporters. “Bauer’s hiring appears to be a tactical maneuver to strategically defend the White House exactly one week after Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell raided ACORN’s national headquarters in New Orleans and seized paper records and computer hard drives that may lead to the White House.”
There just has to be a prescription medication available to help King with his troubles.
As Tony Romm reported, the allegations don’t stand up well to scrutiny. Bauer worked for the Obama campaign last year, and when Republicans launched trumped up allegations against ACORN, Bauer suggested there may have been cooperation between the McCain/Palin campaign and Bush’s Justice Department. That’s scandalous because, well, King says so. Needless to say, the right-wing Iowan’s disturbed conspiracy theory doesn’t make a lick of sense.
As Dave Weigel added, “King’s attack here is almost surprisingly irresponsible. Almost.”
What’s more, Eric Kleefeld noted that King’s latest derangement “comes a few days after another King press release in which he alleged that the resignation of White House communications director Anita Dunn — Bauer’s wife — was connected to the aforementioned investigation against ACORN in Louisiana. So King previously seemed to be implying that Dunn was leaving in a hurry because of an ACORN scandal — and now says that Bauer is coming in because of the same ACORN matter.”
I imagine there are quite a few good folks in Iowa’s 5th congressional district. It’s a genuine shame King embarrasses them on a daily basis.
