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Chertoff helped detain arabs without charges { January 12 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2005/01/12/bush_picks_judge_to_head_homeland_security/http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2005/01/12/bush_picks_judge_to_head_homeland_security/
Bush picks judge to head homeland security
Chertoff helped form counterterrorism plans
By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff | January 12, 2005
WASHINGTON -- President Bush yesterday nominated Michael Chertoff, former head of the Justice Department's criminal division and a chief architect of the nation's domestic counterterrorism strategy following the 2001 attacks, to be the country's second homeland security secretary.
Chertoff, a longtime prosecutor who made his name as an assistant to former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani when the latter was a US attorney taking on organized crime in the 1980s, has been confirmed by the Senate three times, most recently as a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia.
The Harvard-educated 51-year-old is expected to be easily confirmed to the new post, an important consideration for the White House after its first choice to succeed Tom Ridge, former New York City police commissioner and Giuliani business partner Bernard Kerik, withdrew last month amid allegations of personal and business improprieties.
Calling Chertoff a "key leader in the war on terror," Bush yesterday praised his new nominee's energy and intellect.
"He's faced countless challenging decisions and has helped to protect his fellow Americans while protecting their civil liberties," Bush said. "I'm grateful that the judge has agreed to bring his exceptional judgment and integrity to an urgent new responsibility. I'm confident that he will be a strong, effective leader for the Department of Homeland Security."
As deputy assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's 800-person criminal division during the Sept. 11 attacks and their aftermath, Chertoff was a central player in the Bush administration's initial response to the event and a primary supporter of the USA Patriot Act legislation.
Chertoff was also a driving force behind increasing FBI agents' authority to conduct domestic surveillance; using "material witness" warrants to indefinitely hold terrorist suspects without charges; and arresting hundreds of Middle Eastern men and interviewing thousands of Arab Americans after the attacks -- none of whom were found to have Al Qaeda connections.
Yesterday, Chertoff thanked Bush for the opportunity to rejoin the government's fight against terrorism. "On Sept. 11, 2001, I joined members of dozens of federal agencies in responding to the deadliest single attack on American civilians ever," he said. "If confirmed as secretary, I will be proud to stand again with the men and women who form our front line against terror."
Giuliani, who was criticized by fellow Republicans for having touted Kerik for the post, issued a brief statement calling his former protege an "excellent choice."
"He has a broad and unique range of experience in dealing with terrorism," said Giuliani, who now runs a homeland security consulting business. "From this base of experience, he'll be a superb Department of Homeland Security Secretary and continue the development of this important department."
David Heyman, homeland security program director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, also praised Chertoff's counterterrorism experience, but he expressed concerns about whether the nominee has the management skills necessary to run the 22-agency department or the public relations skills necessary to reassure the public.
"This was probably the least desired job in Washington," Heyman said. "For four years, people have been saying it's not a matter of if, but when, we will have the next terrorist attack. This next secretary signs up fully aware that over the next four years it's more than likely that his primary responsibility at some point will be to calm the nerves of an anxious nation after another attack."
P. J. Crowley, a former National Security Council official in the Clinton administration who now works for the Center for American Progress, a think tank in the center-left of the political spectrum, said Chertoff was a "disappointing" choice, citing a lack of public relations and management skills. Crowley also said several of the terrorism prosecutions Chertoff oversaw were "bungled." Prosecutors originally said Zacarias Moussaoui was to have been the "20th hijacker" on Sept. 11, a claim the government no longer makes. A judge threw out the convictions of men alleged to have formed an Al Qaeda cell in Detroit, citing prosecutorial misconduct.
"In the aftermath of the Kerik fiasco, he was selected not because he was qualified but because he's probably confirmable," Crowley said. "He's a fallback choice with no skeletons in his closet, but he doesn't have the national security or management credentials necessary to lead the Department of Homeland Security."
But James Carafano, a homeland security analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation, praised Chertoff as a confirmable nominee who was tested by the experience of Sept. 11, is experienced with Washington, and will be ready to start work without having to learn much on the job.
"This is someone who understands the problem because he lived through this," Carafano said.
Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University and a former special assistant to Bush, said Chertoff may need to hire a chief operating officer to help him manage the massive bureaucracy, but he has the "vision" to lead the department and can bridge its rivalry with the Justice Department.
"Michael is certainly not a 9/12-er -- he had the intellectual leadership [about counterterrorism] well before 9/11," Cilluffo said. "The idea is to know your enemy, and he knows the enemy inside and out. . . . He's hard-nosed when he needs to be, but he also builds teams. Obviously, he understands the alphabet soup in Washington, as well."
In May 2003, the Alliance for Justice, a liberal legal group, analyzed Chertoff's record during his judicial nomination. Although the group worried about his advocacy of increased police powers at the cost of civil liberties, it also noted that he had aggressively investigated racial profiling by New Jersey police and had written that Americans' sex lives are not the government's business.
They concluded that he was "an independent thinker" who should be confirmed.
When Chertoff last faced Senate confirmation as a judicial nominee, the only senator who voted against him was Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton. During the Senate investigation of the failed Whitewater land deal, Chertoff aggressively pursued the Clintons as counsel to then-Senator Alphonse D'Amato, Republican of New York.
Clinton, the junior senator from New York, yesterday released a statement saying she looked forward to meeting with Chertoff to discuss homeland security.
Several other prominent Senate Democrats praised the choice. Senator Jon Corzine of New Jersey called Chertoff "one of the most able people and public servants I have ever known." Senator Charles Schumer, the senior senator from New York, said he "has the resume to be an excellent homeland security secretary . . . At the outset, he appears to be a strong choice."
The American Civil Liberties Union, however, pronounced itself "troubled" about the extent of Chertoff's commitment to the Bill of Rights, noting that he "has been a vocal champion of the Bush administration's pervasive belief that the executive branch should be free of many of the checks and balances that keep it from abusing its immense power."
Announcing the nomination, both Bush and Chertoff took pains to emphasize that Chertoff would strive to protect civil liberties.
"If confirmed, I pledge to devote all my energy to promoting our homeland security, and as important, to preserving our fundamental liberties," Chertoff said.
Charlie Savage can be reached at csavage@globe.com.
© Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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