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Nominee for Army's Top Lawyer Withdraws

hypocritexposer

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Nominee for Army's Top Lawyer Withdraws
By Josh Rogin, CQ Staff Josh Rogin, Cq Staff
2 hrs 33 mins ago

President Obama's choice to be general counsel of the Army, Donald M. Remy, withdrew his nomination late Friday.

In a June 12 letter to the president, obtained by Congressional Quarterly, Remy gave no specific reason for his withdrawal but thanked Obama for the opportunity to serve the public and the military.

"I am honored by your confidence in my ability to deal with the critical issues that face our soldiers and their families and I was looking forward to serving in this time of great national crisis," Remy wrote. "Regretfully, I have decided to remove my name from consideration for this position."

Remy came under fire from the Senate Armed Services Committee for what critics called a lack of candor for omitting the name of his former employer -- the troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae -- from a document submitted as part of his nomination process.

The work history noted he worked at a "major U.S. company." Remy has called the omission an oversight.

The president accepted Remy's withdrawal late Friday afternoon.

"The president believes that Donald Remy would have been an excellent general counsel of the Army, but understands his personal decision and the choice he has made," said White House spokesman Tommy Vietor.

Senate Critics Senate Armed Services Committee members John McCain, R-Ariz., and Mel Martinez, R-Fla., raised questions about Remy's tenure at Fannie Mae at an April 28 hearing.

"I noticed in your bio that you said you worked for a well-known company or corporation that happened to be Fannie Mae, one of the organizations that's responsible for the severe crisis we're in today," said McCain. "I will be submitting questions to you concerning what responsibilities you had there and what decisions were made during that period of time that you worked there."

Martinez followed up by asking when and how long Remy worked for Fannie Mae.

Remy apologized for the mistake and pointed out that he disclosed his employment at Fannie May on a number of other forms that were submitted to the committee.

"I have many different versions of my biography," he said. "The version that apparently made it to this committee did not include Fannie Mae as my employer, although it did have the responsibilities that I had undertaken at Fannie Mae at the time. That was a mistake; I take responsibility for that bio coming to the committee."

His job titles included vice president and deputy general counsel for litigation; senior vice president and deputy general counsel; senior vice president and chief compliance officer; and senior vice president, housing and community development.

"My time at Fannie Mae was a time period where I am personally proud of all the work that I did," he said. "Some shameful things may have happened there, but I have nothing to hide from my responsibilities."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20090612/pl_cq_politics/politics3142697_3
 
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