Mark Paoletta

Mark Paoletta is a lawyer specializing in representing clients in congressional investigations. ^[1]

Political and legal career

Mark Paoletta is a partner at the Washington, D.C. law firm DLA Piper and partner in the firm’s Federal Law and Policy practice. He has represented numerous companies and individuals, including a major hedge funds and foreign and domestic banks, according to Bisnow on Business. ^[2] Paoletta has represented Scott Jennings, a former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush, in connection with the various investigations into the firings of U.S. Attorneys. In 2007, Paoletta appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee as counsel for Scott Jennings, who had been directed by President Bush to not answer certain questions based on an assertion of executive privilege. In a letter to Chairman Leahy and Senator Specter, White House Counsel Fred F. Fielding indicated that President George W. Bush would assert executive privilege regarding Jennings' testimony. The letter indicates that Jennings was made aware of the President’s decision and was directed not to provide any testimony covered by the assertion. ^[3]

Based on this directive, Paoletta told CNN his client would "appear before the Judiciary Committee but would refuse to answer questions he feels are covered by executive privilege." ^[4] In a Washington Post article, Paoletta also said that Jennings would "cooperate to the best of his ability." ^[5]

Paoletta’s work representing strength trainer Brian McNamee in the 2008 United States Congressional hearing on Roger Clemens was highlighted in the book, American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime by Teri Thompson, Nathaniel Vinton, Michael O'Keeffe, and Christian Red. ^[6]

Paoletta has participated in several oversight training seminars for congressional staff and is featured in the Project on Government Oversight’s The Art of Congressional Oversight: A User’s Guide to Doing It Right. ^[7] Paoletta has also been interviewed about his oversight work on Federal News Radio. ^[8]

In November 2007, Paoletta was selected to serve as outside counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee to Investigate Voting Irregularities of August 2, 2007. ^[9] The final report of the committee, issued in September 2008, included recommendations to modify clause 2(a) of rule XX of the House Rules. ^[10] The findings of the committee resulted in the 111th Congress adopting H. Res. 5 – Adopting the Rules for the One Hundred Eleventh Congress, which removed the rule language related to the August 2007 incident, "A record vote by electronic device shall not be held open for the sole purpose of reversing the outcome of such vote." ^[11]

Prior to joining DLA Piper, Paoletta served as Chief Counsel for Oversight & Investigations for the House Energy and Commerce Committee from September 1997 until January 2007, according to his firm’s bio and a September 28, 2006 story in The Wall Street Journal, which also describes his working style. ^{[12] [13]} According to a 2003 National Journal profile of Paoletta, which highlighted his work on the committee, he served as the behind-the-scenes engineer for the committee’s high-profile hearings on Enron, Global Crossing, and Martha Stewart, and raised the committee’s profile and widened the breadth of its investigative work. ^[14]

During his tenure as Chief Counsel for Oversight & Investigations, Paoletta managed nearly 200 investigative hearings. ^[15] In a report released in February 2007, Congressman Joe Barton (R-Texas), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, released a compilation of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee’s work from 2001 through 2006 (during Paoletta’s tenure as Chief Counsel) that served "as a road map through many of the great government and corporate scandals of this decade." ^[16] The report highlighted numerous hearings and investigations held by the Subcommittee, including the Ford Explorer/Firestone tire safety controversy and corporate accountability investigations into Enron, Global Crossing, Qwest, HealthSouth, and ImClone, as well as Medicare reimbursements, which resulted in the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which resulted in legislation saving $15.7 billion over ten years. ^[17]

Paoletta’s work in the Enron investigation was highlighted in the book Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story, by Kurt Eichenwald. ^[18] Paoletta wrote about his work on the Committee in a February 5, 2007 article in Roll Call. ^[19] Paoletta also co-authored a piece entitled "Storm Clouds on the Horizon – Congressional Investigations 101." ^[20]

According to his official bio on DLA Piper's website, Paoletta served as Assistant Counsel to the President during the George H. W. Bush administration, where he played a key role in the successful confirmation effort of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. ^[21] Paoletta subsequently created a website to promote Thomas's autobiography, My Grandfather's Son, as well as positive stories by others about Thomas.^[22]

In his book Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative, David Brock alleges that Paoletta gave him damaging details about the personal history of Kay Savage to prevent her from giving testimony against Thomas. Paoletta has denied Brock's accusations, as have several others mentioned in the same book. ^{[23] [24]}

In another book that attacked Paoletta’s work on behalf of Justice Thomas, entitled Strange Justice by Jill Abramson and Jane Mayer, Paoletta won a letter of apology from the book’s publisher, Houghton Mifflin, according to the Columbia Business Review, ^{[25] [26]}

Role on Palin's "truth squad"

Paoletta was a volunteer on the Reagan-Bush 1984 and Bush-Quayle 1988 presidential campaigns, and according to the Anchorage Daily News (September 18, 2008), most recently he was one of three leaders of "a cadre of high-powered operatives" described by John McCain's campaign as a "truth squad" to field questions about and push back on attacks against vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. ^[27] (Paoletta's two co-leaders are Karl Rove protegee Brian Jones and Republican lawyer Ed O'Callaghan.) According to the Atlantic Monthly (September 9, 2008), Paoletta and Jones are volunteers while O'Callaghan is on staff. ^[28]

According to Yahoo News, Paoletta, Jones, and O'Callaghan are "tasked specifically with responding to the sort of viral attacks that have been popping up about Palin’s background and record in Alaska...The public face for this pushback, though, will be woman Republican politicians, a 'truth squad' team designed to highlight attacks on Palin and draw sympathy to her side."^[29]

Paoletta received a bachelor's degree from Duquesne University and his J.D. from Georgetown University. ^[30]

External links

George H W Bush Library files on Clarence Thomas nomination, with extensive material contributed by Paoletta

References