YNOT – Less than a year after his appointment as deputy U.S. Attorney General, second in command in the Obama administration’s Department of Justice, David Ogden will step down to return to private practice.Ogden, whose appointment to the post triggered outcry from the far right because of his history with the adult entertainment industry, said even before he accepted the job he intended to leave the DOJ as soon as the department was squared away and running smoothly. He never has made a secret of that plan, he noted. Insiders say the move has more to do with Ogden’s philosophical differences with his boss, Attorney General Eric Holder, a notable pornography foe. It’s unlikely the alleged failure of the two men to “click” is due solely to their views about porn.
“We’ve been at this quite a while,” Ogden told the The Washington Post, referring to his pre-election work on the Obama campaign’s blueprint for the DOJ’s future and his leadership of the transition team after the election. “My heart was in my [law] practice, which was hard to leave…. It’s really important to me and the attorney general that nobody suggest that we’re out of sync on policy. We’re just not.”
Associates, however, indicated Ogden is dissatisfied with the role handed him by Holder.
“You have two very smart people who just seemed to have a very different concept of what the job was, as sometimes happens,” Jamie S. Gorelick, a deputy attorney general during the Clinton administration one of Ogden’s former law partners, told the Post. “There’s a reason why the average tenure [in the DOJ] when I got there was 13 months.”
In a prepared statement, Holder praised Ogden as “an invaluable leader” and “an effective and diligent advocate for the American people.”
“I am sorry to see him go, and I thank him for his service to the department and to the nation.” the statement noted. This from the man who forgot his deputy’s name during a department-wide ceremony in September.
Ogden’s appointment precipitated vociferous condemnation of Obama and the DOJ from family values groups. Right-wing pundits pointed to Ogden’s liberal history, including service in the Clinton administration and clerking for U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Harry Blackmun, as evidence he was not fit to lead the DOJ during the socially fractious period that was sure to develop as the U.S. transitioned between two diametrically opposed presidential administrations. Although Ogden easily was confirmed by a 65-28 vote in the Senate, social conservatives found much to decry in his ties to the adult industry.
“David Ogden is a hired gun from Playboy and the ACLU,” Brian Burch, president of conservative group Fidelis, said at the time. “He can’t run from his long record of opposing common-sense laws protecting families, women and children.
“Ogden’s record is nothing short of obscene. He has represented Playboy Enterprises in multiple cases, Penthouse magazine, the ACLU and the largest distributor of hard-core pornography videos. He has opposed filters on library computers protecting children from internet smut and successfully defended the right of pornographers to produce material with underage children.”
Burch also noted Ogden’s support for abortion and First Amendment rights to access sexually explicit materials on the internet made him a poor choice to define the DOJ’s direction.
“A vast majority of Americans support parental notification before a minor’s abortion and protecting kids from internet pornography in our libraries,” Burch said. “Yet David Ogden has fought tooth and nail against these common-sense laws protecting our children from harm. At a time when America’s families are under increasing assault, Mr. Ogden is a dangerous choice for a position whose responsibilities include the enforcement of our nation’s laws.”
Ogden, 56, said he will leave the DOJ Feb. 5, eleven months after his appointment in March 2009. He cited evidence of success during his tenure — including steps to reduce healthcare fraud and curtail violence along the U.S.-Mexico border — and said he was eager to leave behind the strain of managing a 100,000-person staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week in order to spend more time with his wife and 10-month-old daughter. He plans to return to a partnership at the Washington, D.C. law firm WilmerHale.
Assistant Attorney General Gary Grindler is expected to step into Ogden’s role at least until the position can be filled permanently.
