The Zen Cabin

FISA: Names & Faces – AT&T’s James Cicconi

As the sports stadium barkers say: You can’t tell the traitors players without a scorecard. I’m sure anyone who follows the FISA fight is familiar with James Cicconi but I thought hey, why not shine a spotlight on him? So, let’s give Mr. Cicconi the attention he deserves – we’ll start just before things went to Hell in America.

WaPo – 9/26/99

Former president George Bush’s longtime advisers were troubled. Bush’s son was about to launch a presidential bid and some of these once powerful Washington figures felt frozen out. So after an advisory board meeting earlier this year at the Bush presidential library in College Station, Tex., they decided to raise the issue with their former boss.

Hmmm… I wonder how this will turn out. Let’s take a look!

Some in the group – which included onetime Bush officials such as Richard N. Bond, Marlin Fitzwater, Ron Kaufman, Andrew H. Card, James Cicconi and Thomas A. Scully – told the former president they were eager to be involved in Texas Gov. George W. Bush’s presidential effort. But when they approached his campaign organization, they were directed toward fund-raising – not front-line positions.

Jim Cicconi, a former Bush White House official who is now an executive vice president and general counsel of AT&T Corp., is friendly with Bush but has not sought to play a major role in the campaign. Consequently, he was hurt to read a news report last year stating that the campaign hoped to keep him out.

He was hurt… oh goodness! Why, it almost sounds as if he were eager to play a major role, after all. If only Mr. Cicconi had something to offer George W., some means of currying favor with the soon-to-be Deciderer. I wonder what he could do…

Before we go any further, let’s take a look at James Cicconi’s qualifications and background for helping the Bush administration.

James Cicconi’s AT&T bio

James W. Cicconi
Senior Executive Vice President-External and Legislative Affairs

Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president – External and Legislative Affairs, is responsible for AT&T’s public policy organization. He has served in this capacity since November 2005, shortly after the close of the merger between SBC Communications and AT&T Corp.

Previously, Mr. Cicconi served as general counsel and executive vice president – Law and Government Affairs at AT&T Corp. Before joining AT&T in September 1998, he was a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P. Mr. Cicconi also served in the White House under two presidents, including two years as deputy chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush and four years as a special assistant to President Ronald Reagan.

Mr. Cicconi currently serves as a director of the El Paso Electric Company and the American Council on Germany, as a member of the University of Texas at Austin Development Board, as a trustee of the Brookings Institution and is vice president of the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation. He has also served as a presidential appointee to the Review Advisory Committee for UNESCO and to the Administrative Conference of the United States.

So, he’s in charge of Law & Gov’t affairs at AT&T and had a major role in the first Bush administration. Sounds like a guy who might have a pretty friendly relationship with the current Bush administration, no? And it looks like he got his wish:

U of TX bio

Cicconi played an active role in each Republican Presidential campaign from 1988 to 2000, served on the George W. Bush transition staff in 2000-2001, and was an advisor for the Progress for American Voter Fund (a Section 527 political committee) during the 2004 campaign season.

Now, one could say that Mr. Cicconi is simply an active Republican supporter and willing to help the Party’s representatives. There’s nothing, thus far, to indicate that he would skirt the law or go out of his way to help the gov’t do anything shady, right? He’s just an openly loyal Republican. Well… let’s take a closer look. More background:

History News Network

Cicconi’s name cropped up again in 2000. He reportedly was the official who contacted the Archives when Governor Carlin was about to release segments from the Nixon tapes. The Chicago Tribune reported on October 27, 2000 that “The National Archives on Thursday released 430 more hours of Richard Nixon’s secret White House tape recordings, despite attempts by former President George Bush to delay the release to avoid possible embarrassment to himself and to his son’s presidential campaign. The National Archives confirmed late Thursday that James Cicconi, an attorney who represents Bush, his foundation and library in dealings with the archives, requested . . . that the long-planned release be delayed or postponed. In addition, sources indicated that what was perceived internally as pressure from Cicconi preceded the call. . . . ” Other news reports cited concerns expressed by the younger Bush’s campaign officials over the pending tapes release. The unsuccessful attempt to delay the Nixon tapes release in 2000 may have played a part in George W. Bush later issuing an executive order which strengthened the ability of former Presidents and their families to halt historical disclosures.

So, Mr. Cicconi, it seems, did have a part to play in GWB’s campaign. Keep that last sentence of the quote in mind for a few minutes. Here’s more on this particular subject:

Bush Library Blog

James Warren provided additional details in a story published October 27, 2000 in the Chicago Tribune. He wrote that “The National Archives confirmed late Thursday that James Cicconi, an attorney who represents [the elder] Bush, his foundation and library in dealings with the archives, requested, in a Wednesday conversation with Sharon Fawcett, the deputy assistant archivist for presidential libraries, that the long-planned release be delayed or postponed.

In addition, sources indicated that what was perceived internally as pressure from Cicconi preceded the call to Fawcett. It led to an apparently frenetic re-examination of hours of tapes last week, in which staffers were made to again listen to some of more than 200 conversations in which Bush, then U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was either involved or mentioned.

The presidential campaign of Texas Gov. George W. Bush earlier conceded that it had voiced concern to Cicconi over the release’s timing, suggesting it might be a way for the White House to assist the campaign of Vice President Al Gore.”

(See also: CBS News)

Are you getting the sense that James Cicconi is a person who doesn’t mind helping the gov’t (or, more specifically, the Bush family) keep things quiet? Need more convincing, you say? Ok…

Stanford University, 1995

2. AHA v. Trudy Peterson Case

On February 22 Judge Charles R. Richey of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia heard arguments in the AHA v. Peterson case, No. 94-2671 (D. D.C.) The arguments centered on the government’s motion that the plaintiff’s challenge to the Bush – Wilson Agreement is “moot.” Richard Lepley, the government attorney, insisted that a recent exchange of correspondence between Trudy Huskamp Peterson, the Acting U.S. Archivist, and George Bush’s representative, James Cicconi, provided procedures consistent with the Presidential Records Act for handling the computer e-mail records of the National Security Council. Michael Tankersley of Public Citizen represented the plaintiffs, which in addition to the AHA includes the Organization of American Historians and the American Library Association. Tankersley argued that the brief two paragraph letter of Cicconi, Bush’s designated representative, did not say that the records under consideration are Presidential records and did not disavow the Bush-Wilson Agreement, which was signed just hours prior to Bush leaving office and which gave Bush considerable control the e-mail records of the National Security Council. The letters also suggest, Tankersley noted, that the National Archives is acting subject to former President Bush’s permission. The Presidential Records Act was passed, Tankersley stressed, after Nixon tried to control his papers through a special agreement; and the law was designed to prevent such agreements that limit the authority of the U.S. Archivist.

So, Cicconi, a designated representative of Bush I, was working to keep gov’t e-mails out of the public sphere, as far back as the mid-nineties. Interesting. Remember the sentence I asked you to keep in mind? “…George W. Bush later issuing an executive order which strengthened the ability of former Presidents and their families to halt historical disclosures.” Cicconi’s handiwork. Let’s take a look at this EO, shall we?

Here’s the Executive Order that GWB issued: Presidential Records Act Executive Order – Nov. 2001

Notice this, at the very end:

Sec. 13. Revocation.

Executive Order 12667 of January 18, 1989, is revoked.

GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
November 1, 2001.

EO 12667 is revoked? Jan. 1989? Just before Bush I took office? Odd, no? Let’s look at EO 12667.

If you compare the two EO’s, your first thought might be, “Well, the more recent EO is much longer.” Did you notice why it’s so much longer? Here’s a hint:

Sec. 11. Vice Presidential Records

So, just after Cheney’s Energy Task Force meetings and the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Bush limits access to the VP’s records and their release to the Nat’l Archives. Interesting. And who was responsible for initiating this Presidential Records secrecy? James Cicconi.

We can see that Cicconi has a personal history and profound influence in the Bush administration’s practice of hiding information. It shouldn’t be any surprise that he’s a major voice in the FISA/Telcom Immunity issue:

Newsweek

The nation’s biggest telecommunications companies, working closely with the White House, have mounted a secretive lobbying campaign to get Congress to quickly approve a measure wiping out all private lawsuits against them for assisting the U.S. intelligence community’s warrantless surveillance programs.

The campaign — which involves some of Washington’s most prominent lobbying and law firms — has taken on new urgency in recent weeks because of fears that a U.S. appellate court in San Francisco is poised to rule that the lawsuits should be allowed to proceed.

Among those coordinating the industry’s effort are two well-connected capital players who both worked for President George H.W. Bush: Verizon general counsel William Barr, who served as attorney general under 41, and AT&T senior executive vice president James Cicconi, who was the elder Bush’s deputy chief of staff.

Working with them are a battery of major D.C. lobbyists and lawyers who are providing “strategic advice” to the companies on the issue, according to sources familiar with the campaign who asked not to be identified talking about it.

Here’s my point: When we talk about the FISA fight, we shouldn’t be thinking of nameless, faceless corporate machines that have been coldly gathering up information – there are people pulling the strings and making decisions, perhaps illegal decisions. James Cicconi is one of the most deeply involved in this issue, even beyond the narrow scope of his AT&T executive position. With his background, it’s reasonable to presume that he might just do anything the Bush administration asks him to do, especially when it comes to keeping information out of the public eye. It’s also reasonable, in my opinion, to presume that the Bush administration would do anything it could to protect Cicconi’s interests, vis a viz AT&T, not to mention the other “cooperative parties” involved.

One last thing:

ZDNet

Cicconi’s remarks – in response to a question at the Progress and Freedom Foundation’s annual summit here – seem to indicate that AT&T received formal authorization from the U.S. Department of Justice to authorize the program. The existence of such a letter has never been confirmed.

Cicconi may have been referring to an obscure section of federal law, 18 U.S.C. 2511, which permits a telecommunications company to provide “information” and “facilities” to the federal government as long as the attorney general authorizes it. The authorization must come in the form of “certification in writing by…the Attorney General of the United States that no warrant or court order is required by law.”

If a letter of certification exists, AT&T could be off the hook in its lawsuits. Federal law says that a “good faith” reliance on a letter of certification “is a complete defense to any civil or criminal” lawsuit, including one brought against the company by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. (Other officials, including the deputy attorney general and state attorneys general, also are authorized to write these letters.)

So, Mr. Cicconi, why won’t you simply produce a letter from an authorized official stating that no warrant was required for AT&T to collect information? It seems to me that this would be a simple solution to ward off any civil suits. Why are you and your fellow Telco executives and lobbyists pushing for immunity via legislation?

And a final note to Sen. Jay Rockefeller: Why don’t you ask James Cicconi and his telco colleagues to produce this letter of authorization? Why are you pushing for immunity when Mr. Cicconi is indicating that nothing “illegal” was done at the request of the Bush administration? Why aren’t you asking the DOJ to produce this letter?

If you’ve read this far, thanks! I hope that bringing the names of the people involved in the FISA mess will help make things easier and more honest.

Rip -

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