The Washington Post - USA (2020-12-02)

A6 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2 , 2020

was reiterated during his victory

speech the night he was declared

president-elect. “The African

American community stood up

again for me. You’ve always had

my back, and I’ll have yours,” he

said.

It was a reference to support

from Black voters during the gen-

eral election. Black voters backed

Biden by wide margins in several

key states that had gone for Presi-

dent Trump in 2016. In Georgia,

Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wis-

consin, which secured his elector-

al college advantage, about 9 in 10

Black voters sided with Biden,

exit polls showed.

During the Democratic pri-

mary, Biden’s candidacy was re-

vived in South Carolina after he

was endorsed by the powerful

Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.).

Clyburn, however, is also among

those concerned about Biden’s ap-

pointments. “I want to see where

the process leads to, what it pro-

duces,” Clyburn told Juan Wil-

liams, a columnist for The Hill

newspaper. “But so far it’s not

good.”

He and others have been push-

ing Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-

Ohio), a member of the Congres-

sional Black Caucus, for a possible

nomination as agriculture secre-

tary.

“It is critically important that

Black women’s leadership be well

represented in your Cabinet and

throughout the Administration,”

according to a letter signed by two

dozen officials who lead groups

promoting Black women.

The letter was organized by

Melanie Campbell, president of

the National Coalition on Black

Civic Participation and convener

of the Black Women’s Roundtable,

who said in addition to Agricul-

ture she is pushing for a Black

woman to run at least one other

major department, such as Hous-

ing and Urban Development;

Education; Health and Human

Services; or Justice.

“We are appreciative of the staff

positions,” Campbell said. “But

where are the Black women in the

statutory Cabinet positions?”

[email protected]

[email protected]

Vanessa Williams, Dan Lamothe and

Amy B Wang contributed to this

report.

istration. They also have signaled

that Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.),

who was defeated in November,

would be palatable. Jones is

White but has a strong civil rights

background, most notably when

as a U.S. attorney he prosecuted

Ku Klux Klan members for the

1963 bombing of a Birmingham

church in which four young Black

girls were killed.

“We had a reckoning of race

with George Floyd,” Sharpton

said. “To answer that without an

attorney general who not only has

a sensitivity but a background in

protecting people with police re-

form and voting rights would be

something that would be very

displeasing if not insulting to the

community he promised to repre-

sent on the night he was elected.”

Regarding the Defense slot,

Michèle Flournoy, a former un-

dersecretary of defense for policy

in the Obama administration who

is White, has long been regarded

as a leading candidate to become

the first female defense secretary.

But over the past few weeks,

two Black candidates have been

floated: Jeh Johnson, a secretary

of homeland security in the

Obama administration, and

Lloyd Austin, a retired Army gen-

eral.

The NAACP’s Johnson said it’s

a “problem” that he and other civil

rights leaders have not yet heard

from Biden about setting a time

for a meeting. In addition to the

NAACP, the group includes repre-

sentatives from the Urban League

and Sharpton’s National Action

Network, among others.

“It’s very important that this

meeting with the historic civil

rights leaders takes place,” said

Marc H. Morial, the president and

CEO of the National Urban

League. “We want to have the

conversation and we want to es-

tablish the relationship — and a

relationship is one where there

will be times we will be support-

ive, and there may be times we

have to object.

“There’s high expectations

about the diversity of the Cabi-

net,” Morial said. “And we think

the expectation is, when it comes

to the Cabinet [of] this incoming

administration, it will exceed the

high-water marks of Clinton and

Obama.”

Biden’s promise to Black voters

of the federal positions he plans to

highlight. For example, Susan E.

Rice, who is African American

and was on Biden’s shortlist for

secretary of state and vice presi-

dent, will get a “key job” in the

Biden administration, according

to a person in direct contact with

the president-elect.

Still, the civil rights leaders say

they are focused on top positions.

“Those of us that have had

access to administrations know

the difference between first tier

and second tier,” said the Rev. Al

Sharpton, who is among those

hoping to meet with Biden.

Sharpton noted that President

Barack Obama had two Black at-

torneys general during his eight

years in the White House. “The

expectation among the civil rights

community and the Black com-

munity here is not unfounded,”

Sharpton said.

He and others have promoted

Deval Patrick, the former Massa-

chusetts governor who ran the

Justice Department’s Civil Rights

Division during the Clinton ad-

ministration, as well as Tony

West, a former associate attorney

general during the Obama admin-

his policy vision to tackle our

nation’s toughest challenges will

be clear when our full slate of

appointees and nominees is com-

plete,” said Cameron French, a

spokesman for the Biden transi-

tion.

Other groups besides the seven

requesting a meeting have also

weighed in: In Late November,

the Congressional Asian Pacific

American Caucus wrote to Biden

urging him to make sure his ap-

pointments would reflect their

population in the United States.

Janet Murguía, president of the

Latino organization UnidosUS,

said there was an initial burst of

excitement about Mayorkas’s se-

lection for the Homeland Security

post.

“We think that’s a great start,

but there’s much more to do in

terms of seeing more representa-

tion at the highest levels,” Mur-

guía said. “There’s still many roles

to be filled. We’re encouraged by

what we’ve seen so far. But there

are some key roles we believe

could be filled by key high-profile

Hispanics.”

Biden’s team noted that he has

so far named fewer than a quarter

runoff Senate races in Georgia —

which will determine which party

controls the upper chamber.

Democrats need a strong turnout

by Black voters to win those races.

“In order to win Georgia you

have to have a very energized

African American voting base,”

Johnson said. “At the very mini-

mum you shouldn’t do anything

to dampen the energy and enthu-

siasm of that base. Who he ap-

points to what position could very

well do that.”

Biden officials noted that so far

half of the Cabinet-level positions

feature people of color and that 10

Black officials have been named

to key jobs. Biden has broken four

racial barriers with his nomina-

tions, including naming Ale-

jandro Mayorkas to be the first

Hispanic to lead the Department

of Homeland Security.

Vice President-elect Kamala D.

Harris will be the first woman,

first Black woman and first Asian

American woman to fill the job.

Biden has pledged to name the

first Black woman to the Supreme

Court should an opening arise.

“His success in finding diverse

voices to develop and implement

stage of the game — I would see
more African American appoint-
ments in the top positions,” said
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman
(D-N.J.), a member of the Con-
gressional Black Caucus who en-
dorsed Biden in the Democratic
primary. “And I would have had
more of a sense of confidence that
there would be more African
American men and women ap-
pointed to positions at the highest
level of government.”
“We are capable of being in
those lead positions,” Watson
Coleman added. “I don’t see that
yet. And that’s disappointing to
me.”
Biden’s transition team con-
firmed it had received a request
for a meeting from the seven
groups. Biden officials said they
have “engaged” with some of the
groups individually, including the
NAACP Legal Defense Fund and
the Urban League. They did not
confirm that the requested meet-
ing would take place.
Biden has nominated longtime
diplomat Linda Thomas-Green-
field, a Black former Foreign Serv-
ice officer, to be ambassador to
the United Nations. And on Tues-
day, he introduced six key mem-
bers of his economics team, a
group that includes Wally Ad-
eyemo, who would be the first
African American deputy treas-
ury secretary, and Cecilia Rouse,
who would be the first Black offi-
cial to serve as chair of the Council
of Economic Advisers. The group
also included Neera Tanden, who
would be the first woman of color
— her parents were from India —
to lead the Office of Management
and Budget. All require Senate
confirmation.
But those raising concerns cit-
ed Biden choosing White officials
for top jobs at the state and treas-
ury departments as well as White
House positions including chief
of staff, national security adviser
and press secretary. Instead, they
said, Biden has so far largely put
Black officials in lower-profile po-
sitions or in jobs that include
“deputy” in the title.
Their focus now is on positions
including defense secretary and
attorney general. They argue that
Biden’s decisions about those two
key roles could affect the two

BIDEN FROM A

Biden is pressured to name more Black top-level o∞cials

DEMETRIUS FREEMAN/THE WASHINGTON POST

Wally Adeyemo, Joe Biden’s pick for deputy treasury secretary, speaks Tuesday alongside Vice

President-elect Kamala D. Harris. Adeyemo would be the first African American to serve in that role.

BY SPENCER S. HSU

The Justice Department in Au-
gust investigated a potential
“bribery-for-pardon” scheme in
which a large political contribu-
tion would be offered in exchange
for a presidential pardon, accord-
ing to court records unsealed
Tuesday.
The documents show that U.S.
prosecutors were scrutinizing
whether two individuals ap-
proached senior White House offi-
cials as unregistered lobbyists,
and a related scheme in which
cash would be funneled through
intermediaries for a pardon or re-
prieve of a sentence for a defen-
dant apparently in Federal Bureau

of Prisons custody at some point.

The status of the investigation is

unclear.

The slender record is heavily

redacted and does not identify the

investigation’s targets or whether

anyone has been or will be

charged. It also does not indicate

what senior White House officials

did after allegedly being ap-

proached.

“No government official was or

is currently a subject or target of

the investigation disclosed in this

filing,” said a Justice Department

official, speaking on the condition

of anonymity to discuss an on-

going investigation.

The records were unsealed by

Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell of the

U.S. District Court for the District

of Columbia, who released an

Aug. 28 opinion describing the

government’s theory. The opinion

granted prosecutors’ request to

access search warrant evidence,

including confidential emails sent

among at least three individuals

and their agents that could have

been protected by attorney-client

privilege.

The White House had no com-

ment.

A government review of the evi-

dence identified emails “indi-

cat[ing] additional criminal activ-

ity” after scouring more than

50 digital media devices, includ-

ing iPhones, iPads, laptops, thumb

drives and computer and external

hard drives, Howell wrote.

The ruling offers glimpses of

the underlying investigation, stat-

ing at one point, for example, that

the government alleged at least

one person “ requested [redact-

ed]’s assistance, ‘as a personal fa-

vor,’ to use his political connec-

tions [redacted].”

It continues, “This political

strategy to obtain a presidential

pardon was ‘parallel’ to and dis-

tinct from [redacted]’s role as an

attorney-advocate for [redacted].”

In a footnote, Howell’s opinion

added, emails submitted by the

government as exhibits “do not

show any direct payment to [re-

dacted] by [redacted] or [redact-

ed] and instead indicate that [re-

dacted] expected [redacted] to as-

sist in obtaining clemency for [re-

dacted] due to [redacted]’s past

substantial campaign contribu-

tions [redacted] and [redacted]’s

anticipated future contributions.”

The language of the opinion

suggests that the potential pardon

scheme was not the original sub-

ject of the warrants, and it is not

clear whether any targets subse-

quently challenged any grand jury

proceedings.

In her largely blacked-out 18-

page opinion, the judge granted

the government’s request for in-

vestigators to access the emails,

confront three people and take

any further investigative steps.

The opinion was originally

sealed. In an update to the court

Nov. 25, the Justice Department

asked to keep the ruling secret

because it “identifies both individ-

uals and conduct that have not

been charged by the grand jury.”

Howell found the response in-

sufficient, directing the govern-

ment to explain line-by-line why a

redacted version could not be re-

leased that did not name un-

charged individuals, prompting

the government to submit the

now-public document on Monday,

she wrote.

[email protected]

Matt Zapotosky, Seung Min Kim and

Devlin Barrett contributed to this

report.

Justice Dept. investigated potential ‘bribery-for-pardon’ scheme, files show

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