Research

Jonathan Alter alleges in his new book, The Promise: President Obama, Year One, that an attempt was made to install former White House Counsel Greg Craig to the D.C. Circuit Court after he fumbled the closure of Guantanamo Bay. In his exposé, Alter writes that the President offered Craig the position as Federal judge in hopes that he could avoid having to publically fire him outright.

Obama delegated the task of nudging [Craig] out to [Pete] Rouse, who tried to suggest an evasive if technically accurate cover story–that Craig had never wanted the job in the first place. Craig didn’t take the hint, and he turned down Obama’s offer of an ambassadorship or a prestigious appointment to fill a vacancy on the D.C. Circuit, just a step down from the Supreme Court. . . Even though it would have made the president seem less cold, the White House was anxious that the offer not leak, for fear it would look as if Obama were offering judgeships as consolation prizes.

It would certainly look that way because that is exactly what it is. If it were not for Craig’s refusal, Obama would have appointed someone – who was unfit for his White House – to a Federal judgeship on the important D.C. Circuit, merely to save face. This comes after earlier this year, Rep. Joe Sestak suggested that the president reached out to him to offer him an appointment as Secretary of the Navy if he agreed to drop his primary challenge to Sen. Arlen Specter. A reasonable level of decency should prevent incidents like this but as veterans of the Chicago political machine President Obama and Rahm Emanuel actively encourage this type of quid pro quo. But important positions, especially lifetime appointments, are not consolation prizes, especially for people being terminated for incompetence.