Holder: Unfair To Blame Greg Craig For Gitmo Failures
Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday that he was surprised by the resignation of White House Counsel Greg Craig and believes Craig has been unfairly blamed for the administration's difficulties in closing the prison base at Guantanamo Bay.
Briefing reporters at the Department of Justice, Holder called Craig a "great lawyer" who had "contributed in a significant way to the success of this administration." On the issue of shutting down Gitmo -- a project that Craig spearheaded within the administration, but which has stalled in Congress -- the AG insisted that it was wrong to scapegoat one person.
"Greg is a friend of mine," he said, "and those who have tried to place on him, I think, an unfair proportion of the blame as to why things have not proceeded, perhaps as we've wanted, with respect to Guantanamo, that is simply unfair."
Craig's departure from the White House on Friday was long anticipated. Inside the administration, there was a growing frustration over what aides considered a botched political process, which was Craig's responsibility. Those who know Craig personally, meanwhile, say he felt increasingly frustrated with his role within the administration. He had, initially, wanted to be part of the White House's foreign policy apparatus.
The push to close Guantanamo has met various pitfalls since it became a stated administrative objective, with Congress balking at the prospect of bringing detainees to domestic prison facilities. And now, it is widely assumed that the one-year deadline for shutting the detention center will be missed.
"I think it is going to be difficult to close that facility by January the 22nd," Holder told reporters on Friday. "There are a number of things that I think are most problematic."
Greg Craig: "I still think we were right"
Greg Craig said Friday that he was not asked to step down as White House counsel and that his decision was unrelated to the difficulties in closing Guantanamo Bay prison or other policy issues.
While defending the administration’s handling of Guantanamo, including the setting of an “ambitious” deadline, he suggested that he was surprised by the opposition that erupted over closing the facility and relocating the detainees.
In an interview with POLITICO, Craig said, “I was under the impression — based on President Bush’s statements, Sen. [John] McCain’s statements and the statements of many others, Republicans as well as Democrats — that there was a strong bipartisan consensus in support of closing down Guantanamo.
“There obviously has been more opposition in the Congress than those statements would have suggested. At least some of that opposition has been motivated by partisan politics, as Republicans believe that they have an issue on which to attack the president,” he said.
The interview is available in full on POLITICO’s Arena forum.
Craig said he still thought the original January deadline for closing Guantanamo was the right call.
“During his campaign for the presidency, President Obama promised that he would close Guantanamo. He made that promise because he believed then — and still believes today — that Guantanamo has damaged and continues to do damage to our national security,” he said. “We all knew that it would be difficult and challenging. We all knew that the one-year deadline was ambitious. We all believed such a deadline was necessary to force action and to make progress. I still think we were right.”
“I am not resigning because of anything to do with Guantanamo. I promised him a year…. And I have given him that year and more.
“I also promised to help him launch his presidency. Starting with the executive orders that he issued the first week of his term, I — and the legal team that we put together — have done that. We have performed a series of important tasks for the president that brought his administration together so that we could make progress on a number of really tough issues. And I think we have helped make this very difficult year a much better one, both for him and for the country. We are very proud of our record, and I am confident that this amazing legal team will continue to serve the president and the new White House counsel with distinction.”
Obama on Friday named Robert Bauer to replace Craig. Bauer is a longtime Democratic election lawyer who also has served as Obama’s personal lawyer.
In the interview, Craig said he could “think of many ways in hindsight that I could have better served the president” but declined to be more specific. “It is probably something that can be said about any human endeavor. One should always try to learn lessons from experience. All I can say for myself and my team is that we tried to do our best all the time,” he said.
Craig said he had no idea how word got out weeks ago that he would be resigning. “In September, I began discussing with a very small group of people — three in number — whether I would stay on beyond January 2010. That group included the president. I do not believe those with whom I had these discussions were responsible for the leaks.”
Asked what he would do now, Craig said, “I plan to take a break and then return to private practice.”
White House counsel Craig resigns
As expected, the Obama administration announced White House Counsel Greg Craig's resignation this morning.
"I want to tell you how proud I am of all that your legal team has accomplished on your behalf and in support of your agenda since your Inauguration," Craig writes in a resignation letter to Obama the White House released. Craig said that he plans to return to private practice January 3rd.
“Greg Craig is a close friend and trusted advisor who tackled many tough challenges as White House Counsel,” Obama said in a statement. “Because of Greg’s leadership, we have confirmed the first Latina justice on the Supreme Court, set the toughest ethics standards for any administration in history, and ensured that we are keeping the nation secure in a manner that is consistent with our laws and our values. I’m indebted to Greg not only for leading the Counsel’s office but for his many decades of service to this country as well. He has been a huge asset in the White House, and he will be missed. I will continue to call on him for advice in the years ahead.”
Some in the human rights community consider Craig something of an Obama administration fall guy for the legal mess the Obama administration inherited from the Bush administration on terrorism and Guantanamo Bay. The Obama administration failed to head off Congressional opposition to the prospect of moving terrorism suspects to U.S. soil, when it announced its decision shortly after taking office to try to close Guantanamo Bay in one year.
“The president campaigned on closing Guantanamo and bringing national security strategy back in line with our values, and Greg helped operationalize that from day one, in the executive orders on torture and Guanatanamo," said Human Rights First's Elisa Massimino. "Without his pushing the president’s agenda forward, bureaucratic inertia would have taken hold, just as it did in the last administration, and we would be no closer to the finish line than we were 10 months ago.”
Sources: Politico, Huffington Post
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