Why Did the Prom Queen Leave the Party?
Okay, working at the U.S. Department of Justice may not be a party these days. But the recently announced, imminent departure of Assistant Attorney General Rachel L. Brand -- her last day at the DOJ's Office of Legal Policy is July 9 -- had nothing to do with recent controversies (contrary to some insinuations).
As tout le monde in D.C. legal circles knows, the fabulous Brand -- known to some as the Prom Queen -- was planning to step down for some time. The reason? She and her husband, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Cohn, are expecting a baby boy next month.
The lede of this Reuters report, while technically accurate, is therefore misleading. Thankfully, the Washington Post was more accurate:
[T]he Justice Department announced that Rachel Brand, assistant attorney general for legal policy, is resigning....Justice officials said she plans to leave July 9 and stay at home with her first child, due this summer.
Brand, who worked on the renewal of the USA Patriot Act last year and the confirmation of two Supreme Court justices in 2005, is not known to have played a direct role in the U.S. attorneys' removal.
"[N]ot known to have played a direct role" -- maybe because she didn't? If she had, rest assured that Chuck & Friends would have invited her over to Capitol Hill for a televised chat.
[D]epartment officials have said that Gonzales's former chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson, asked her whether she might want to replace a Michigan prosecutor who was forced out. Though interested at first, Brand did not apply for the job.
Yes, Brand shrewdly did not throw her hat into that ring. As we previously noted:
In declining to be considered, Rachel Brand showed the excellent judgment that has taken her so far, so fast. Had Rachel Brand replaced Margaret Chiara, she would have been the victim of a mainstream media pile-on. The New York Times editorial board would have derided her as a Bush Administration political hack with no prosecutorial experience (albeit a hack with impeccable academic credentials, including Harvard Law School and a Supreme Court clerkship with Justice Kennedy).
So what's next for Rachel Brand (in addition to a bouncing baby boy)? She's rumored to be meeting with various private law firms -- and any of them would be lucky to snag this young legal superstar.
Brand has devoted the past six and a half years of her career to government service. She leaves the Bush Administration even more highly esteemed, on both sides of the aisle, than when she came in. This is no small feat, given the controversies that have shaken the DOJ, as well as the highly partisan atmosphere currently prevailing here in Washington.
We congratulate Rachel Brand on her successful leadership of the Office of Legal Policy, and we wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors -- including motherhood!
(Disclosure: We'd mention that we are friendly with Rachel Brand, but we know from past experience that many of you don't like such disclaimers, which come across as shameless name-dropping. So we won't.)
Correction: An earlier version of this post erroneously identified Jonathan Cohn as Deputy Attorney General, rather than Deputy Assistant Attorney General (his correct title).
Assistant Attorney General Rachel Brand Announces Departure [U.S. Dept. of Justice (press release)]
Bush Is Told to Justify Executive Privilege [Washington Post]
DOJ Loses Brand [The BLT: The Blog of the Legal Times]
Seventh official quits Justice Department [Reuters]
Justice Department Official Resigns [Associated Press]
Earlier: Rachel Brand: The Prom Queen Stays Out of Trouble
(20) 
First!!!
Don't worry about mentioning that you know her; it's not name-dropping. If she were to mention that she knew you, then it's name dropping. I'm sure that way more people know more about you than they know about her.
Yeah, Lat, don't worry about mentioning that you're not name-dropping even though you are. Also, don't worry about sounding really immature and annoying, because even if you were (which you are), I wouldn't want to alert to that fact because it's tacky, so I'm not going to.
Hey, 11:29. If you believe what you wrote, why bother visiting Lat's site? I never understand why the commenters on this site have nothing better to do than bite the hand that feeds them.
NOBODY GIVES A FUCK!!!!
Why do people read the blog who don't like David and act like assholes in the comments? Go back to audoadmit.
"(Disclosure: We'd mention that we are friendly with Rachel Brand, but we know from past experience that many of you don't like such disclaimers, which come across as shameless name-dropping. So we won't.)"
I'd respond by saying that you're a pretentious little bitch, but that would be really rude and uncalled-for, so I won't.
CHICAGO LIST OF SHAME:
Brinks Hofer
Chapman & Cutler
Drinker Biddle
Greenberg Traurig
Goldberg Kohn
Holland & Knight
Jones Day
Kaye Scholer
Lock Lord Bissell Liddell
McGuire Woods
Perkins Coie
Seyfarth
Vedder Price
Wildman Harrold
If you reach this thread via google, these firms are either too cheap or unable to raise.
I know R. Brand as well, and her name is well-dropped. She's a class-act.
R. Brand also looks like a horse rather than a prom queen.
She may not look like much but she can do things with a cock that will make you believe in the almighty.
Ha! Show me a Reuters lede, on any issue, that is NOT misleading!
Nobody Cares
wow 11:57 u r funny
"(Disclosure: We'd mention that we are friendly with Rachel Brand, but we know from past experience that many of you don't like such disclaimers, which come across as shameless name-dropping. So we won't.)"
This is a good example of prateritio. "Paralipsis, also known as praeteritio, preterition, cataphasis, antiphrasis, or parasiopesis, is a rhetorical figure of speech wherein the speaker or writer invokes a subject by denying that it should be invoked."
11:29 and 11:57: go get yourselves an education on Wikipedia instead of wasting your time misinterpreting Lat's entries and posting obtuse comments about them....
Scandal!
Is this post correct? It describes Jonathan Cohn as the "Deputy Attorney General." Is he replacing McNulty, or is this a typo (should be "deputy assistant" AG)?
10:54 -- Correct, I believe. Jonathan Cohn is a Deputy Assistant AG.
Yes, right, sure -- any private law firm would be lucky to snag a woman who has virtually no litigation experience to speak of and not many accomplishments to show for her six and a half years of esteemed government service.
The Prom Queen left the party because she didn't want to subject her baby to the rats at DOJ's day care.
Did Ms. Rachel Brand have any involvement in establishing policy at the DOJ's Office of Legal Policy? Specifically, why is there a policy against responding to a complaint against a private practise attorney just because that attorney previously worked for an office of the DOJ? Does the DOJ know that a private practise attorney has pointed to inaction by the DOJ to a complaint letter as tacit approval? Is the DOJ aware that their "no documents" responce to a FOIA request for all documents related to that certain complaint letter related to that same private practise attorney / DOJ alumni?