Mediaboss Marketing

A major league ball club signs an all-star free agent. An NBA team recruits a big-name basketball coach. You really cant be sure how theyll perform.

The ballplayer could become an MVP or a bust. The coach could lead his team to the finals or be a bad fit. But odds are it was a good move.

Thats how to look at the Democratic-controlled Legislatures surprise signing last week of former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder to help it fight off the looming Trump administration and save many of Californias liberal public programs.

Holder certainly has Washington savvy and national gravitas. He knows his way around the Beltway.

Except for Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), a 12-term congressman chosen by Gov. Jerry Brown to replace new U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris as state attorney general, Sacramento conspicuously lacks Holders knowledge of federal lawmaking and dealing.

Sacramento isnt a small Washington, after all. Its a big Carson City.

That said, does Holder understand California politics and public policy very well? Probably not. And it probably doesnt matter.

A law firm colleague of his, former Los Angeles congressman and state legislator Howard Berman, is a longtime master of California and Washington politics.

Will Holder really hustle for his new Sacramento team? Well find out.

But for now, his signing by state Senate leader Kevin de Len (D-Los Angeles) and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) seems smart.

It helps protect California public policy enacted by both Democrat Brown and his Republican predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Its a crisp political message: Californias no pushover for Donald Trump. And its good national PR, at least in blue states. State politicians love national attention.

Republicans immediately reacted with knee-jerk, predictable whining about wasteful spending.

Democrats should focus on solving real-world problems instead of wasting taxpayer money to score political points before the president-elect even takes office, declared Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley.

Fair enough. But that off-the-shelf wasting taxpayer money bit cheapens his argument.

My favorite came from veteran state Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber): How can the state afford to pay for an out-of-state overpriced lawyer when we could be using those funds to help the poor and those in need?

Guess Ive missed all those Republican efforts to help the needy. Please.

The Legislatures three-month contract with Holder, Berman and a covey of attorneys from the Covington & Burling firm is for $75,000 plus expenses. Thats good for up to 40 billable hours per month. Do the math: Its $625 an hour high by most peoples standards, but a bargain compared with what many high-powered law firms charge.

If the three-month tryout works, theyll negotiate an extension.

Their normal rate is $1,700 per hour, says Dan Reeves, De Lens chief of staff. Were not paying that.

To put the $75,000 in perspective, the Legislatures annual budget is around $300 million.

Updates from Sacramento

Any lawmaker really worried about overspending could cut back on the introduction of frivolous bills. It costs roughly $20,000 an old estimate to run a bill through the Legislature. Last year, 1,059 were sent to the governor. He vetoed 159 and 900 became law. Obviously, were all much better off.

Or legislators could trim their generous expense allowance, their per diem. Its $176 per day, seven days a week while the Legislature is in session, whether members are in Sacramento or not.

But why, Republicans ask, should Democrats pay for any private counsel when theres a state attorney general to handle state legal work?

Heres a civics refresher: The Legislature and the attorney general arent one and the same. They constitute different branches of government, a separation of powers. The attorney general doesnt answer to the Legislature.

Legislative leaders want their own astute lawyer at their beck and call not to sue the Trump administration, but to advise whats legal and whats not.

Can a President Trump cut off federal funds to California sanctuary cities that shield undocumented immigrants from federal deportation? Can a Republican president and Congress gut Californias landmark environmental protections and climate change programs?

What can California do besides spending an extra $20 billion, a political impossibility to save Obamacare, which covers 6.5 million Californians?

Thats not a trumped up number, De Len says.

Can the U.S. labor department eviscerate De Lens recently passed act to provide a retirement plan for low-income, self-employed people?

Trump is a huge threat to California laws, quite honestly, Rendon says. I think hes a threat to democracy, someone who doesnt care much for checks and balances.

And face it, Becerra, although first-rate, hasnt practiced law in more than a quarter-century.

Moreover, he hasnt even publicly committed to seeking election to a full four-year term in 2018. Hes leaving some wiggle room, presumably to possibly run for governor or the U.S. Senate if Dianne Feinstein retires.

Thats making some legislators nervous. And Becerra is sure to be pressed on it when the Assembly holds his first confirmation hearing Tuesday.

He cant show up for a year and just use the office as a springboard for his own political ambitions, one influential Democratic senator told me, requesting anonymity.

Read the original post:
Eric Holder could be California's MVP, or he could be a bust ...

Former Attorney General Eric Holder will back the California Legislature in potential legal clashes with the incoming Trump administration.

Holder, currently a partner at the law firm Covington & Burling, will serve as an adviser and outside counsel to help "resist any attempts to roll back the progress California has made" in particular with climate change, health care, civil rights and immigration issues, legislative leaders said Wednesday.

Democrats control both houses in California's Legislature as well as the governor's office. The left-leaning state, which went overwhelmingly for Trump's opponent Hillary Clinton, is poised to be at the forefront of legal battles with the GOP-led federal government.

"With the upcoming change in administrations, we expect that there will be extraordinary challenges for California in the uncertain times ahead," California Senate leader Kevin de Len and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said in a joint statement.

Related: Eric Holder, Former Attorney General, Returning to Covington & Burling Law Firm

Holder would potentially work with the governor's pick for state attorney general, Congressman Xavier Becerra, who is expected to be confirmed next week.

Holder added that his firm will help look at any changes to federal law and their impact on California. For instance, the state would see the biggest increase in uninsured residents if Obamacare were repealed by Republicans in Washington, CNBC reported.

Some California cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, have been vocal about potential changes in federal immigration policy under Trump that could lead to mass deportations.

Holder, who served as attorney general under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2015, has been an outspoken critic of Trump.

In October, he called out then-candidate Trump's threat to prosecute Clinton over her use of a private email server.

"Be afraid of any candidate who says he will order DOJ/FBI to act on his command," Holder tweeted.

De Len told The New York Times that Holder's compensation was still being worked out, but that it will be publicly disclosed.

Read the original:
Eric Holder Hired by California for Legal Battles Against ...

Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, Associated Press

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, seen in 2014, has been hired by the California Legislature o advise members regarding potential conflicts with the incoming Trump administration.

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, seen in 2014, has been hired by the California Legislature o advise members regarding potential conflicts with the incoming Trump administration.

California Legislature hires Eric Holder to fend off Trump

SACRAMENTO California legislative leaders upped the ante on their vows to fight attempts by the incoming Trump administration to weaken the states climate change, immigration or other policies, announcing Wednesday that their houses hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to help.

State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Len, D-Los Angeles, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount (Los Angeles County), said Holder and his team from the firm Covington & Burling will serve as outside legal counsel for the Legislature under a three-month, $75,000 contract.

Its very important to prepare California in the event there needs to be a legal fight to protect the policies that have made California the fifth-largest economy in the world, de Len said in an interview Wednesday.

The move comes after Gov. Jerry Brown nominated Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra to fill the attorney general seat vacated by Kamala Harris, who was sworn into the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. The Legislature is holding nomination hearings next week for Becerras appointment, which lawmakers are expected to approve.

Californias attorney general typically serves as the states top attorney, but Rendon and de Len said they began talking in November about bringing on additional legal help after Donald Trump was elected president. They said Holder and his firm ensure they have the best and brightest defense in order to resist any attempts to roll back the progress California has made.

The renowned firm has represented states and corporations in fights against the federal government.

The Assembly and state Senate will split the firms $25,000 monthly fee, which covers 40 attorney hours, to retain Holder and his team.

The three-month contract is scheduled to begin Feb. 1. Rendon said Holder and the firm will work directly with him and de Len.

The contract calls for Holder, former Los Angeles Rep. Howard Berman, former federal prosecutor Daniel Shallman and others at the firm to advise the Legislature on a wide range of topics where the state could clash with the Trump administration, including immigration, health care, civil rights and climate change policies.

The Legislature made the announcement on the first day of the new legislative session. Democrats have a supermajority in both houses of the Legislature, meaning they have a two-thirds voting bloc that could be used to pass taxes or put initiatives on the ballot without a single Republican vote.

The move to hire Holder comes after de Len and Rendon used their swearing-in ceremonies last month to say they will fight Trump and his Cabinet picks on any effort to increase deportations of immigrants in the country without documentation.

I am honored that the legislature chose Covington to serve as its legal advisor as it considers how to respond to potential changes in federal law that could impact Californias residents and policy priorities, Holder said in a statement. I am confident that our expertise across a wide array of federal legal and regulatory issues will be a great resource to the legislature.

A spokesman at the firm declined to comment further.

Holder was a partner at Covington from 2001 to 2009 before becoming attorney general in the Obama administration. He resigned as attorney general in 2015 and returned to the firms Washington office.

State Republicans called the move a political stunt and questioned why outside counsel is needed given the attorney generals office serves as the states legal team and the Legislature has an office of its own legislative lawyers.

Democrats should focus on solving these real-world problems instead of wasting tax-payer money to score political points before the president-elect even takes office, said Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes, R-Yucca Valley (San Bernardino County), in a statement. The states incoming attorney general has spent decades in Washington working on federal policies. Its not clear why legislative Democrats needed to hire a D.C. insider to litigate the exact same issues.

What a waste, added state Sen. Patricia Bates, R-Laguna Niguel (Orange County).

Rendon said the attorney general is tasked with providing legal advice to the state, not lawmakers, and that legislative counsel is a nonpartisan office that cant advise Democrats on strategy.

The rhetoric coming out of the future administration, the rhetoric throughout the campaign we dont think this is overreaction at all, Rendon told reporters Wednesday.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez

Visit link:
California Legislature hires Eric Holder to fend off Trump ...

Michelle Obama greets Gwen Ifill's family members at the journalist's funeral in Washington D.C. (Published Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016)

Thousands of mourners including first lady Michelle Obama remembered and celebrated veteran Washington journalist Gwen Ifill on Saturday, recalling her as a standard bearer, cherished friend, devoted mentor and woman of abiding faith.

Ifill died Monday at 61 after a yearlong battle with cancer. Mrs. Obama did not speak at the service, but several journalists and political figures offered reflections.

"We didn't look like other anchor pairs and we loved that," said Judy Woodruff, half of the history-making team that became the first female co-anchors of a major news broadcast in 2013. The two co-hosted PBS' "NewsHour." Woodruff added that Ifill is needed "more than ever."

"Never have we faced tougher challenges, and no one would've risen to them better," she said. Ifill, she added, will "be our compass."

Bloomberg via Getty Images

Former Attorney General Eric Holder read a letter from President Barack Obama, who was in Peru. Holder likened Ifill to "a comet" and challenged the colleagues she leaves behind to honor her legacy with their work by holding those in power accountable.

"Will you cower? Will you normalize that which is anything but?" Holder asked in a veiled reference to the incoming administration of Donald Trump.

The service, held at the historic Metropolitan A.M.E. Church where Ifill was a longtime member was also a grand display of her faith and roots as the daughter of Caribbean immigrants whose father was a leader of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Her pastor of many years, Bishop James L. Davis, recalled Ifill as "brilliance cloaked in humility."

A former reporter for The New York Times and The Washington Post, Ifill transitioned to television in the 1990s, covering politics and Congress for NBC News. She moved to PBS in 1999 as host of "Washington Week" and also worked for "NewsHour." She moderated vice presidential debates in 2004 and 2008.

John Dickerson, host of CBS' "Face the Nation" who joined Ifill as a regular panelist on "Washington Week," said Ifill "wore her grace like a garment," but added her infectious laugh came with a withering scowl.

"I'm not going to say it in church, but there's a very specific word for what Gwen could detect," Dickerson said.

The pews were filled with journalists, politicians, her mentees, family and friends, including civil rights attorney Vernon Jordan, interim Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile, White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, veteran journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault, New York Times columnist David Brooks, former CNN anchor Bernard Shaw, Donald Trump surrogate Omarosa Manigault, and NAACP Legal Defense Fund President Sherrilynn Ifill, the journalist's younger cousin.

"She was the shining star in our family," Sherrilynn Ifill said of Gwen. "She was the most American of success stories. Her life and her work made this country better. She did the hard work for us for so long ... It's time to take her example and do what she did."

Ifill took a leave from "NewsHour" last spring for health reasons, but kept the details of her illness private.

Published at 10:25 AM PST on Nov 19, 2016 | Updated at 2:40 PM PST on Nov 19, 2016

More:
Michelle Obama, Eric Holder Join Mourners at Gwen Ifill's Funeral | NBC ...

Former Attorney General Eric Holder is blasting his former colleague FBI Director James Comey for violating long-standing Justice Department policies by writing a letter to Congress last week about finding potentially new emails related to the Hillary Clinton email server investigation.

In an editorial published late Sunday in The Washington Post, Holder said he is deeply concerned with Comeys decision.

That decision was incorrect. It violated long-standing Justice Department policies and tradition. And it ran counter to guidance that I put in place four years ago laying out the proper way to conduct investigations during an election season, Holder wrote.

Holder, who served as President Obamas attorney general from 2009 until April 2015, explained that the policy has remained in effect and applies to the entire Justice Department including the FBI. The department also has a practice of not commenting on ongoing investigations, he wrote, as well as not taking unnecessary action close in time to Election Day that might influence an elections outcome.

Director Comey broke with these fundamental principles. I fear he has unintentionally and negatively affected public trust in both the Justice Department and the FBI, Holder wrote, adding that it has allowed for misinformation to be spread by partisans.

Holder also criticized Comey for publicly announcing in July his recommendation to the Justice Department that it not bring charges against Clinton for her use of email servers as secretary of state. Comey has led the FBI since 2013.

That was a stunning breach of protocol. It may set a dangerous precedent for future investigations. It was wrong, Holder wrote.

Holder was among dozens of former federal prosecutors who signed a letter over the weekend critical of Comeys decision, according to the Associated Press.

No one knows yet, including Comey, what the emails contain, if they were directly related to Clinton or if there was any wrongdoing involved. Investigators obtained a search warrant Sunday to look through thousands of emails on a laptop used by Anthony Weiner, which also contained emails from his estranged wife Huma Abedin, a top aide to Clinton.

2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Read this article:
Former AG Eric Holder: FBI Director James Comey made a ...