Nothing like showing up the first day of work to find the whole office is already on fire.
The Trump administration just nominated former Williams & Connelly partner C.J. Mahoney to head up the State Department legal team — a post that’s sat vacant since Jennifer Newstead bailed last year to become the general counsel of Facebook, allowing her to continue shilling for Russian intelligence but with a much better paycheck.
It’s a post that probably could have used someone over the past several months. For that matter, it’s a post that could have sorely used someone over the past several DAYS, perhaps before the administration threatened to commit war crimes:
To paraphrase Calgacus, “America bombs a desert and calls it the next administration’s problem.” In his new role, Mahoney would have been the lawyer who would have quickly and forcefully pointed out the problems with the administration’s stance in a terse memo that would be just as quickly and forcefully ignored. An exciting job indeed.
The former Kozinski and Kennedy clerk would also step into a department that’s knee-deep in extorting Ukraine at the expense of national security and serving, for some unknown reason, as the chief advocate for the Soleimani strike as opposed to, say, the Defense Department. The latter issue may point to some internal cabinet power struggles that could present some legal complications. It’s not a position that many would envy.
But for Mahoney, who has served as Deputy United States Trade Representative since March of last year, no job can possibly be worse than trying to slap lipstick on the administration’s trade policy.
Truly, what are a few war crimes among friends?
Trump Picks Ex-Williams & Connolly Partner for Top State Dept. Legal Post [Law.com]
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.