Brand is 7th official to leave DOJ: The Swamp

Posted June 30, 2007 6:15 AM

Andrew Zajac

Rachel Brand, the Assistant U.S. Attorney for Legal Policy, becomes the seventh high-ranking Justice Department official to leave since January when Congress began poking into the circumstances surrounding the departures of nine U.S. attorneys.

It's not clear that Brand's departure is directly linked to the mushrooming scandal, but she was one of the inner circle of aggressive young conservatives who dominated the department under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Brand was on a list of suitable replacements for fired prosecutors compiled by former Gonzales chief of staff Kyle Sampson.

She also was entrusted with the crucial task of prepping John Roberts and Samuel Alito for their Senate confirmation hearings.

The Justice Department announced her departure late Friday, the time of choice for minimizing media attention.

FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 2007 (202) 514-2007

WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514-1888

ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL RACHEL BRAND
ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE FROM JUSTICE DEPARTMENT’S OFFICE OF LEGAL POLICY

WASHINGTON – Rachel Brand, Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy, has announced her resignation from the Department of Justice, effective July 9, 2007. President Bush nominated Ms. Brand to the position on March 29, 2005, and the Senate confirmed her appointment in July 2005.

“Rachel Brand has served the Department of Justice and the American people with distinction and honor,” said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. “Her considerable knowledge of legal policy is rivaled only by her passion for the issues and projects on which she worked during her tenure here at the Department. I will miss her significant contributions as an advisor to me.”

As Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy, Brand managed the development of a variety of civil and criminal policy initiatives, the creation of departmental regulations, and the Department’s role in the confirmation of the President’s judicial nominees. She played an integral role in securing reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act in 2006, and was responsible for preparing Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito for their confirmation hearings.

Most recently, Brand led the development of the Department’s 2007 crime bill and spearheaded the Attorney General's Initiative for Safer Communities.

Brand also demonstrated significant leadership through her service on the Attorney General’s Intellectual Property Task Force, her chairmanship of the policy committee of the President's Identity Theft Task Force, and her organization of the first National Methamphetamine Awareness Day. She has led a range of major Departmental initiatives involving the protection of children, the rights of crime victims, and efforts to combat trafficking in persons.

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Comments

(Knock, knock.) DOJ, anyone home?

Gonzo, don't forget the lights.

Posted by: Doug Zook | June 30, 2007 8:16 AM

It's like watching a game of Jenga...the suspense is killing me waiting for the tower to fall!

Posted by: lochnessmonster | June 30, 2007 9:36 AM

Maybe we'll need another 150 grads from Pat U to fill the void. Or are they the reason there is a void?

Posted by: bill r. | June 30, 2007 11:24 AM

Dougie Zook don't get anxious the AG is going no where till W's turn is up. This whole scandal was manufactured by Pat Leahy, Chuckie Schumer and our own Dickie Durbin and it's going no where. Jerry White, Springfield, IL

Posted by: Jerry White | June 30, 2007 1:52 PM

This whole scandal was manufactured by Pat Leahy, Chuckie Schumer and our own Dickie Durbin and it's going no where. Jerry White, Springfield, IL

Once again you astound me wih your incredible insight to these issues. It takes keen instincts and knowledge to see that after 7 DOJ employees have resigned over this, that this is an issue going nowhere. Please inform us on the meaning of all of Nostradamus' quatrains.

Posted by: bill r. | June 30, 2007 5:21 PM

The scandal, Jerry, was manufactured by DOJ and Karl Rove, not by any dems. We'll soon see who goes and where it goes now that the Dems have grown enough cajones to actually issue subpoenas to get to the bottom of this. Remember what Dick said to Leahy on the floor of the Senate a few years ago? I think Leahy is about to turn that particular exchange around on Dick.

Posted by: Rick/Sneads Ferry, NC | June 30, 2007 7:12 PM

I trust that the Judiciary Committee is preparing a subpoena for each and every one of these now-private citizens.

Posted by: athena | July 1, 2007 8:58 AM

Jerry of Springfield White,

Why do you support Gonzo's firing of prosecuters for political reasons?

I personally think these AUSAs ought to be career civil service type jobs, Hatch Act constrained, etc.

What's your take on that idea?

Posted by: Doug Zook | July 1, 2007 9:01 AM

If Andrew Zajac put any effort into his reporting, he'd find out that Rachel Brand's leaving might just, maybe, be connected to the fact that she's HAVING A BABY.

From Ed Whelan at NRO:
"Last Friday, Rachel Brand, the assistant attorney general in charge of DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy, announced that she would be leaving her position. To anyone who knows Rachel, that news would hardly come as a big surprise. With the exception of a one-year Supreme Court clerkship, she’s toiled tirelessly in the Bush Administration since January 2001, first in the Office of White House Counsel, then in OLP. She became head of OLP in July 2005, just in time for the exhausting work of preparing Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito for their confirmation hearings.

I recall hearing from Rachel a year or so ago that she wasn’t planning to stay in the Administration for the remainder of President Bush’s second term. The timing of her decision to step down was plainly dictated by the fact that she’s due to give birth to her first child in August."

All it would have taken to find this out was one phone call to Ms. Brand. One.

Posted by: Bruce | July 2, 2007 11:00 AM