President Barack Obama tried to avoid a high-profile ouster of his original White House counsel, Gregory B. Craig, by coaxing him out of his job and into a federal judgeship, according to a new book.
Craig declined Obama’s offer, and his forced removal — which he learned of while reading the morning paper — caused a backlash by Craig’s Washington loyalists, who felt he was being treated shabbily, and by many liberals, who believed he was being punished for trying to fulfill Obama’s failed campaign promise to shut the terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The details on last fall’s Craig imbroglio are among the revelations in Jonathan Alter’s “The Promise: President Obama, Year One,” a behind-the-scenes narrative of the administration’s first year that comes out Tuesday.
Full story: Book: White House offered Greg Craig judgeship – James Hohmann – POLITICO.com