Lieberman withdraws from consideration to be FBI director

[webfact]

Lieberman withdraws from consideration to be FBI director

By Tim Ahmann

REUTERS

 

Former Senator Joe Lieberman waves as he leaves after a meeting with President Donald Trump for candidates for FBI director at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 17, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Senator and Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman has withdrawn from consideration to be the next director of the FBI, citing the potential for an appearance of a conflict of interest given President Donald Trump's decision to retain an attorney who works at the same firm.

 

Lieberman works at a New York firm headed by Marc Kasowitz, who has been hired by Trump to represent him amid probes by the Justice Department and Congress into possible ties between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.

 

"With your selection of Marc Kasowitz to represent you in the various investigations that have begun, I do believe it would be best to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest," Lieberman wrote to Trump in a letter dated Wednesday.

 

A copy of the letter, which was first disclosed by the Wall Street Journal, was provided to Reuters on Thursday.

 

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Lieberman's withdrawal.

 

Trump told reporters a week ago that he was "very close" to selecting a nominee to replace James Comey as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and he said Lieberman was a leading candidate.

 

Trump fired Comey on May 9, a decision that set off a political firestorm given Comey's central role in the FBI's probe of Russian meddling in the election and potential collusion between Trump campaign associates and Russian officials seeking to swing the vote in Trump's favor.

 

The Department of Justice appointed a special counsel, former FBI director Robert Mueller, to lead an independent investigation into the Russia matter.

 

Given Kasowitz's role, Lieberman might not have been able to participate in the Russia investigation for a period of two years without White House and Justice Department waivers, Kathleen Clark, a professor of legal ethics at Washington University School of Law told Reuters on Wednesday.

 

A federal regulation restricts newly hired government lawyers from investigating their prior law firm's clients for one year, a period that was extended to two years under an executive order signed by Trump in January.

 

CNN, citing a unnamed senior administration official, reported on Wednesday that Trump wanted to renew the search for an FBI director after having interviewed a number of candidates, including Lieberman.

 

On Thursday, citing unnamed sources, CNN said John Pistole, a former deputy director at the FBI and a former head of the Transportation Security Administration, was under consideration.

 

(Reporting by Tim Ahmann; additional reporting by Jan Wolfe, Ayesha Rascoe and Doina Chiacu; editing by G Crosse and Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-05-26

[mtls2005]

No one with an ounce of integrity will take this job. Even those without a shred of integrity are steering clear.

 

It seems like it's got to be someone whom Trump can't control, like Mike Rogers acting dir. McCabe.

[darksidedog]

You would think this would be a pretty desirable job, but thus far all the favourite choices seem to want nothing to do with it.

Mind you, given the circumstances in which the position became vacant, who can blame them?

[Traveler19491]

Anyone capable of reasoning beyond a second-grade level (about the only intellect that Trump could match wits with) and current on recent events in and around the White House is not willing to surrender either their sanity or their soul to work under the orange one's thumb. Massive tantrums, paranoid delusions, inability to focus on anything for longer than a sound-bite, constant beratings, consistent contradictions, the inability to grasp even the simplest political concepts, total lack of understanding of how government works, course changes without notice, demand for unqualified loyalty while willing to throw the loyal under the bus on a whim, incapable of any measure of self-control, inability to admit fault or error, and a complete unwillingness/inability to see the effects of anything he does outside of its immediate effect on him...what rational person would give more than a second's thought to accepting any position with this mindless waste of oxygen?

[iReason]

17 minutes ago, Traveler19491 said:

Anyone capable of reasoning beyond a second-grade level (about the only intellect that Trump could match wits with) and current on recent events in and around the White House is not willing to surrender either their sanity or their soul to work under the orange one's thumb.

 

what rational person would give more than a second's thought to accepting any position with this mindless waste of oxygen?

 

He is a discrace.

 

There is a long list of people who have turned down high level positions, wanting nothing to do with this albatross, this incompetent, unqualified buffoon.

 

NSA advisor gone. With a good portion of his cronies under investigation.

 

He can't even fill minor roles:

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/24/help-wanted-trump-administration-still-has-hundreds-of-jobs-to-fill.html