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If the buzz around Washington is correct, and Theodore Olson is nominated to be the new attorney general, Democrats may rue that they do not have Alberto Gonzales to kick around anymore. The appointment of Mr. Olson would send a clear signal to Congress that President Bush is not about to go soft during his last 15 months in office. He may have lost a loyal Texan friend in Mr. Gonzales, but the return of Mr. Olson to government would show that the president is determined to maintain his ideological equilibrium.-SNIP- The speculation making the rounds on Capitol Hill suggests...

Top Democrat vows to block possible Bush nominee 41 minutes ago Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid vowed on Wednesday to block former Solicitor General Theodore Olson from becoming attorney general if President George W. Bush nominates him to replace Alberto Gonzales. Congressional and administration officials have described Olson as a leading contender for the job as the nation's chief U.S. law enforcement officer, but Reid declared: "Ted Olson will not be confirmed" by the Senate. "He's a partisan, and the last thing we need as an attorney general is a partisan," Reid told Reuters in a brief hallway interview on...

Ted Olson becomes frontrunner for Attorney General, top sources tell DRUDGE REPORT; announcement could be imminent... Developing...

President Bush is expected to choose a replacement for Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales by the middle of next week, and former solicitor general Theodore B. Olson has emerged as one of the leading contenders for the job, according to sources inside and outside the government who are familiar with White House deliberations. Other candidates still in the running include former deputy attorney general George J. Terwilliger III and D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Laurence H. Silberman, according to the sources, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the discussions. Others whose names continue to be...

Well, I think there are several things. In the first place, these were trial level, municipal type judges in New York City. Rudy had to select from people that were available, and had certain levels of compensation, I mean, certain levels of experience. Plus he was operating within a political system where his discretion was quite limited. It’s nothing like the process that he would take and had followed, indeed as you probably know he did, in the United States Justice Department when judges were being selected in the Reagan administration. HH: And so, really is the argument back to...

Theodore Olson, the stalwart conservative lawyer and former solicitor general for the Bush administration, told the Spectator he will be supporting Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid. "I admire his character, his capacity for leadership, his instincts, and his principles," Olson said over the phone this afternoon. He said he will help Giuliani raise money as well as offer advice on legal issues and domestic policy matters that involve constitutional questions.

Top Washington lawyer Ted Olson and his fiancee, Lady Booth, tied the knot yesterday in Napa Valley, Calif., starting a happy new chapter in Olson's personal life. "She's a Southern girl," he told us. "She's just a marvelous person." Olson shot to national fame when he successfully argued the 2000 election case for George W. Bush in the Supreme Court, and was named solicitor general by the grateful president. On Sept. 11, 2001 -- his 61st birthday -- his wife, conservative commentator Barbara Olson, was killed when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. His personal loss became part...

The U.S. Justice Department is trying to determine whether Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., got improper help from an Israeli lobbying group. Harman of California is the senior Democrat on the House intelligence committee. Time Magazine reports she may have received a boost from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee when Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi wanted to remove her from the committee. Harman left a voice mail for the magazine calling any suggestions of improper conduct "irresponsible, laughable and scurrilous." She has retained Ted Olson, the lawyer who formerly served as President George W. Bush's solicitor general.

Weekend Talk Show *Preview* for 7/1 and 7/2/06 (not the live thread)The main message is the Sunday Shows.  Message 1 will be the Saturday Shows and message 2 will be the show guest links post.  Then I'll post the ping list.ABC This Week (George Stephanopoulos) Meme: Bush was wrong on all the issues McCain is right onThe Supreme's smack down the Bushies (who cares if it endangers the country, it's NEWS!!!) Topics: Hamdan, Immigration, and Iraq Guests Senator John McCain, Republican - Arizona He's BAAAAACKMcCain's back and Georgie's got himIt's such a tragedy that President Bush didn't listen to Saint...

Just wanted to give thanks on this day for our great Solicitor General, Ted Olson, as he endures more than almost anyone can imagine, rmembering his dear wife, Barbara, on his birthday. Happy Birthday!!!

A former U.S. solicitor general will help Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel appeal his murder conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying Monday the case will focus on when the charges were filed. Theodore B. Olson has argued 43 cases before the nation's highest court, including representing George W. Bush in the disputed presidential race of 2000. Skakel, 45, is serving a sentence of 20 years to life for his 2002 conviction in the 1975 beating death of his Greenwich neighbor, Martha Moxley, when the two were teenagers. Skakel appealed his conviction to the Connecticut Supreme Court last year, arguing among...

...Elevating Judge Roberts to Chief was a logical decision, both politically and on the merits. The Senate and media have been investigating the nominee since July, and have found superlatives with nary a negative. The Judge is in a position to be rapidly confirmed.... More importantly, what we have learned about Judge Roberts suggests that he shares Chief Justice Rehnquist's judicial philosophy. If Mr. Bush now follows with the nomination of an equally distinguished conservative for the Court's second opening, the Roberts Court will be able to continue the legal restoration that the late Chief Rehnquist began.... That historic mission...

CHICAGO - Supreme Court nominee John Roberts skipped the American Bar Association's yearly meeting, but big-name conservatives like Kenneth Starr and Theodore Olson were there to promote his credentials. Roberts' nomination to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is a watershed for lawyers. And with Senate confirmation hearings just a month away, he was the inescapable subject at the meeting of the country's largest lawyers group. Top conservatives, from Starr and Olson to Reagan administration Attorney General Edwin Meese and Federalist Society leader Leonard Leo, were attending the meeting and serving as unofficial ambassadors on Roberts' behalf. "For those people...

NEWTOWN, CT -- (Market Wire - Jul 20, 2005) -- Firearm manufacturers today filed papers asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruling permitting lawsuits against firearms manufacturers under the District of Columbia's "Assault Weapon Manufacturing Strict Liability Act." Firearm manufacturers maintain the District's act is unconstitutional because it is intended to and does regulate out-of-state commerce. The statute imposes liability, for example, when an out-of-state manufacturer (it has long been unlawful to manufacture and sell firearms in the District) sells a gun to a federally licensed retailer who then sells the firearm...

Whom will President Bush appoint to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court? We can find the answer in his character and in his past actions. First consider that the three big "No's" of the Bush administration -- no to the Kyoto treaty, no to the renewal of the ABM treaty, and no to the International Criminal Court -- came well before the 9/11 attacks, before the Bush whose wartime performance seems to have wiped out memory of who he was when he took office. He does not fear to be unpopular or unfashionable. Then consider his early,...

Manuel Miranda no longer is the top counsel on judicial nominations for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, but he still keeps a close eye on the exciting doings at the Supreme Court. Miranda made headlines in 2003 when he was investigated for reading about 4,500 Democrat staff memos relating to President Bush's judicial nominees that he allegedly improperly accessed through a shared Judiciary Committee computer network.

President George W. Bush today announced his intention to nominate two individuals and appoint three individuals to serve in his Administration: The President intends to nominate Carol E. Dinkins, of Texas, to be Chairman of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. Ms. Dinkins is currently a Partner with Vinson and Elkins, LLP in Houston, Texas. From 1984 to 1985, she served as Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice, where she previously served as Assistant Attorney General in the Environment and Natural Resources Division. The President intends to nominate Alan Charles Raul, of the District of Columbia, to...

Others with close White House connections say a short list is well into development. "There's a normal process that the White House has definitely been pursuing for at least six months where they are soliciting views and recommendations," said Samuel B. Casey, executive director of the Christian Legal Society (CLS). "We have submitted our views." Said one top Republican official with close ties to the White House: "The same four or five or six names keep coming up. I'm sure they have a short list already." Top administration and White House officials -- including Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, Solicitor...

Ted Olson Criticizes GOP Leaders For 'Heated Rhetoric' About Judges Thu Apr 21 2005 09:57:54 ET Former solicitor general Theodore Olson writes in the WALL STREET JOURNAL on Thursday: "A prominent member of the Senate leadership recently described a Supreme Court justice as 'a disgrace.' An equally prominent member of the leadership of the House of Representatives on the other side of the political aisle has characterized another justice's approach to adjudication as 'incredibly outrageous.' These excoriations follow other examples of personalized attacks on members of the judiciary by senior political figures. So it is time to take a deep...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 - In an atmosphere of optimism, redemption and gleeful gossip - "So who's Bush going to put on the court first?" - nearly 1,000 conservative lawyers gathered here this week at the annual convention of the Federalist Society. Analysts may debate whether President Bush's margin of victory on Nov. 2 constitutes a mandate, but to the members of the society, the election means the promised land is within sight. They are confident, they said, that Mr. Bush's second term will give them what they have yearned for before, only to be disappointed at partial fulfillment. In the...