George J. Terwilliger III

George J. Terwilliger III (born June 5, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician. He is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of White & Case LLP and is a former United States Deputy Attorney General and acting United States Attorney General. [http://www.whitecase.com/attorneys/detail.aspx?attorney=1400 Attorney: George J. Terwilliger III,] WhiteCase.com.] [ [http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/ciag/who_we_are/steering_committee/terwilliger.cfm Steering Committee: Terwilliger,] HealthSystem.Virginia.edu.] Terwilliger, of Vermont, was nominated [http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/research/papers/1992/92021403.html Nominations,] Bush Library, February 14, 1992.] February 14, 1992, by President George H.W. Bush to be Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice. He would succeed William Pelham Barr. As Deputy Attorney General, Terwilliger became the second-highest ranking official in the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and ran the day-to-day operations of the Department, serving in that position from 1991 through 1993. He was appointed to the position after serving as the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont.

It was reported October 10, 2007, that Terwilliger, had been hired by former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales "to represent him in investigations of mismanagement" of the U.S. Department of Justice. "Investigators are look [ing] into allegations that Gonzales lied to lawmakers and illegally allowed politics to influence hiring and firing at the department." [Lara Jakes Jordan, [http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=116&sid=1265020 "Alberto Gonzales Hires Defense Attorney,"] Associated Press (WTOPNews.com), October 11, 2007.]

Career

Terwilliger was born June 5, 1950, in New Brunswick, NJ. Terwilliger is married, has three children, and resides in Oakton, VA. Terwilliger graduated from Seton Hall University (B.A., 1973) and Antioch School of Law (J.D., 1978). A former U.S. Attorney for Vermont and Deputy U.S. Attorney General (1991-93) in the George H. W. Bush administration, Terwilliger specialized in white-collar crime and terrorism. [ [http://www.cnn.com/interactive/allpolitics/0011/whos.who/terwilliger.html Profile: George Terwilliger,] CNN, undated.] Terwilliger served as a panelist for the Brookings Institution Judicial Issues Forum entitled "Politics and the Justice Department: Finding a Path to Accountability". [ [http://www.brookings.edu/comm/events/20070420jif.htm Judicial Issues Forum: "Politics and the Justice Department: Finding a Path to Accountability,"] Brookings Institution, April 10, 2007.] Terwilliger was listed among the "Top Contenders" [http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/gonzales_/2007/08/28/28202.html "5 Top Contenders for Attorney General,"] "NewsMax", August 28, 2007.] to replace Gonzales, "whose tenure has been marred by controversy and accusations of perjury before Congress". Gonzales resigned August 27, 2007, [ [http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004010.php Gonzales' resignation letter dated August 26, 2007,] posted by "TPMmuckraker", August 27, 2007.] and left office on September 17, 2007. [Pierre Thomas, et al., [http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Politics/story?id=3421219&page=1 "Attorney General Gonzales Resigns,"] ABC News, August 27, 2007.] [ [http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/27/gonzales-resigns/ "Gonzales Resigns,"] "Think Progress", August 27, 2007.] Terwilliger "briefly took the helm of the Justice Department as acting attorney general after the departure of former Attorney General William Barr in 1993." [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSN2824642720070828 "FACTBOX: Who replaces Gonzales? Bush has options,"] Reuters, August 28, 2007.] From 1978 to 1981, Terwilliger also served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

Throughout his career, Terwilliger dealt with resolving matters such as BCCI, an international banking scandal, environmental cases, antitrust merger reviews and enforcement matters, civil rights and voting cases as well as terrorism and national security cases. Terwilliger was also in charge of all Justice Department operations, including crisis response, such as the civil unrest in Los Angeles in 1992. On policy matters, he was a principal in the highest councils of government charged with addressing the broad array of legal policy issues arising in the Executive Branch.

Iran-Contra

Terwilliger, Deputy Attorney General under Attorney General Edwin Meese, was described as having acted as the Political Liability Suppression Officer for the Department of Justice in the post-Iran-Contra environment. Terwilliger, in concert with his Lowell Jensen (now Federal District Judge Lowell Jensen) acted to suppress or manipulate Iran-Contra prosecutions in sensitive jurisdictions, particularly in Miami to ensure that no government connection would be mentioned.Fact|date=January 2008

In a February 6, 2001 appearance on CNN about Ronald Reagan's "Legal Legacy", [ [http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0102/06/bp.00.html Transcript: "Burden of Proof. Ronald Reagan's Legal Legacy,"] CNN, February 6, 2001.] after being asked about "lying to Congress", Terwilliger said:

:"... one of the things that I found very bothersome about Iran-Contra was that some of the prosecutions for false statements involved false statements that were made in unrecorded interviews with investigators, not in sworn testimony under oath ...."

:"But whether or not there was substantive violation of law in Iran-Contra surrounding this policy dispute was never really adjudicated: Nobody was ever charged with that crime ... [Note: Oliver North's conviction was overturned."]

:"But the bottom line is that whether or not there was a violation of law, substantively it was problematic. And the fact that people were hounded, pursued, over alleged false statements, I mean, do we hear an echo here to the complaints from the left and from Democrats about an independent counsel hounding somebody for...."

2000 Florida recount

During the Florida 2000 election recount, Terwilliger led Republican President-elect George W. Bush's legal team [ [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0012/02/smn.05.html Transcript: "Saturday Morning News": "Florida Court Prepares for Historic Hearing,"] CNN, December 2, 2000.] and was "an advisor to the Bush-Cheney Transition and counselor to designated cabinet and other prospective appointees."

Candidate for FBI director

In June 2001, Bush administration spokesman Ari Fleischer was asked in a White House press briefing whether Terwilliger was a leading candidate to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation. [Russell Mokhiber, [http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0619-05.htm Excerpt: "Ari & I. White House Press Briefing with Ari Fleischer," June 19, 2001,] posted by "Common Dreams".]

Americans for a Better Country

In 2003, Terwilliger co-founded the 527 committee Americans for a Better Country with Frank J. Donatelli, former Ronald Reagan White House political director and secretary and treasurer of the Young America's Foundation [Frank Donatelli, [http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=11766 "Reagan's Many Contributions Live On,"] "Human Events Online", June 6, 2005.] and Craig Shirley, president and CEO of Shirley & Banister Public Affairs. [ [http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527events.asp?orgid=25 527 Committees: Americans for a Better Country,] "OpenSecrets.org".]

Affiliations

*Counsel, National Gambling Impact Study Commission (1997) [ [http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ngisc/meetings/oct3197/oct31p2.html Meeting of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission,] October 31, 1997.]
*Legal Advisory Council, National Legal Center for the Public Interest
*Washington Legal Foundation
*American Bar Association

References

External links

* [http://www.nndb.com/people/660/000162174/ George J. Terwilliger,] NNDB.com.
*George Lardner Jr. and Peter Slevin, [http://foi.missouri.edu/civilliberties/emergency.html "Military May Try Terrorism Cases. Bush Cites 'Emergency',"] "Washington Post" (Freedom of Information Center), November 14, 2001.
* [http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/july-dec01/tribunal_11-14.html "Terror Tribunals,"] PBS "Online NewsHour", November 14, 2001: "Gwen Ifill examines the debate over trying terrorists in military rather than civilian courts with George Terwilliger, former deputy attorney general for the first Bush administration, and Laura Murphy, director of the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union."
*Dan Eggen, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/12/AR2007091202499.html "Reid Says Senators Would Block Olson. Choice for Attorney General Awaited,"] "Washington Post", September 13, 2007.
*Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball, [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21224607/site/newsweek/ "Gonzales Hires a Top Gun. Still under investigation by Congress and Justice Department lawyers who once worked for him, the former attorney general has turned to a leading Washington attorney to help him beat the rap,"] "Newsweek"/MSNBC, October 10, 2007.