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- Része ennek Records of the Office of the Chief of Staff (Clinton Administration), Harold Ickes, Jr.'s Files
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OCR Page 1 of 25DETERMINED TO BE AN ADMINISTRATIVE
CONFIDENTIAL
MI
MARKING
INITIALS:
5/10/13
THE WHITE HOUSE
DATE:
WASHINGTON
2022-0127-5
August 1, 1995
DRAFT
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT (via Leon E. Panetta)
FROM:
ABNER J. MIKVA & VICTORIA L. RADD
SUBJECT: DECISION MEMORANDUM: PETER EDELMAN (D.D.C.)
I.
BACKGROUND
Last year, you approved the vetting of Peter Edelman
for potential nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
D.C. Circuit. Earlier this year, in light of various concerns,
we discussed instead the possibility of nominating Edelman to a
future vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia. You tentatively decided to do this. Now that two such
district court vacancies have arisen (and we have settled upon
Merrick Garland as the potential nominee for the D.C. Circuit),
the time is ripe for a final decision on whether to proceed with
the ABA/FBI review of Edelman with the expectation of nominating
him to the district bench.
Before making such a decision, however, you should be
aware of certain writings and background issues -- many of which
have already been raised in the press in opposition to Edelman's
potential nomination to the federal bench. Because this is
likely to be a highly visible and difficult nomination battle,
you need to be comfortable with defending Edelman and his record.
One preliminary note: This memorandum is not intended
as a comprehensive review of Edelman's career and
accomplishments. Rather, the memorandum's purpose is to
highlight those likely "points of attack" against Edelman --
however overstated or unfair they might be.
II. SUMMARY OF PROFESSIONAL HISTORY
As you know, Edelman, 57, now serves as Counselor to
the Secretary of Health and Human Services. A 1961 graduate of
Harvard Law School, he went on to clerk for Judge Henry Friendly
and Justice Arthur Goldberg. From 1964 to 1968, Edelman served
as legislative assistant to Sen. Robert Kennedy. After working
on Goldberg's unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign, Edelman became
a vice president of the University of Massachusetts. From 1975
to 1978, he served as director of New York's State Division for
Youth. From 1979 to 1982, Edelman was a partner with the firm of
Foley, Lardner, Hallabaugh & Jacobs.
In 1982, Edelman became a professor at Georgetown
University Law Center, also serving as an Associate Dean from