Posted January 18, 2007 by Paul S. Ryan

Fare Thee Well, Messrs. Norton and Kahl

FEC General Counsel Larry Norton announced earlier this week that he, along with Deputy General Counsel James A. Kahl, are leaving the Commission to enter private law practice.  The Campaign Legal Center wants to publicly thank Messrs. Norton and Kahl for their years of hard work as dedicated public servants.

In today’s Washington Post article, “Resignation of Lawyers At FEC Raises Concern,” I was quoted regarding perceived changes in the role of the FEC’s General Counsel in recent years.  In his daily blog today, campaign finance attorney and commentator Bob Bauer mischaracterizes my position and criticizes one of my quotes in that press account.  Mr. Bauer writes: “In the face of Norton’s express denial, it is said that the departure signifies that the ‘influence of the general counsel has clearly diminished.’

Contrary to what is implied by Mr. Bauer’s blog entry, I fully accept Mr. Norton’s stated reasons for leaving the Commission—to enter private practice—and explicitly refused to speculate or comment to the Post on Mr. Norton’s reasons for leaving the Commission.  Contrary to Mr. Bauer’s characterization of my remarks, I made no statements regarding the “significance” of Mr. Norton’s departure.  Mr. Norton is more than capable of speaking for himself; he had already done so in the form of a press release issued by the Commission; and also spoke to the reporter who wrote the Post article, Matthew Mosk.

Instead, I limited comments to my perception (and of others in the campaign finance world) that the Commission’s relationship with the Office of General Counsel has been changing in recent years.  The Commission, for example, no longer seeks the General Counsel’s public recommendation with respect to alternative draft advisory opinions.  My perception has been explicitly confirmed by more than one Commissioner in recent months, in the context of rebutting my suggestion in a September blog piece that Commissioner von Spakovsky might have imported the new policy from the Justice Department.  Instead, I’ve been assured that all of the Commissioners support the shift and that the shift has been in progress for years, since the departure of former General Counsel Larry Noble.

And what about this policy shift?  The Campaign Legal Center believes that a non-political-appointee General Counsel—hired through bi-partisan agreement of the Commissioners—offers a unique and valuable legal perspective regarding issues often inextricably linked to partisan politics.  The public benefits from such a general counsel’s legal analysis.

Mr. Bauer apparently disagrees, which of course he is entitled to do.  To that end, he sets up a straw man and then knocks it down, commenting sarcastically: “All hell is breaking loose.  Commissioners are running the place.  Staff is being treated like staff.”  The Campaign Legal Center has never suggested that the Office of General Council should be running the Commission.  Instead, we’ve simply stated that historically we’ve appreciated hearing the General Counsel’s recommendation when alternative policy proposals are pending before the Commission—and that we disagree with Commission’s movement away from this practice.  A recommendation from the General Counsel by no means equates to “running the place.”  Just as the General Counsel has historically offered recommendations, Commissioners have historically voted on issues as they saw fit, often times in disagreement with the General Counsel.

At the end of the day, reasonable minds may disagree on the appropriate role for the FEC’s General Counsel.  We’ve made our preferences abundantly clear.

We likewise want to make abundantly clear that Messrs. Norton and Kahl deserve nothing but thanks and respect for their years of public service, skillful lawyering, and professionalism.  The Commission will undoubtedly have a difficult time filling their shoes.