Word: civiletti
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Amid all the festivities aboard the Delta Queen, there came an ominous telephone call for President Carter at about 8:15 last Thursday night. It was the new Attorney General, Benjamin Civiletti. He regretfully told the President a stunning piece of news: he had just ordered the FBI to undertake a preliminary investigation of Carter's two closest White House aides, Chief of Staff Hamilton Jordan and Press Secretary Jody Powell. The reason: an allegation that Jordan had snorted cocaine during a visit to New York City's Studio 54, a celebrated disco club-the first version...
Next stop was the convention of the Sons of Italy. Joining Carter on the podium were Attorney General-designate Benjamin Civiletti, Watergate Judge John Sirica, New York Democratic Congressman Mario Biaggi and Monsignor Gino Baroni, Assistant Secretary of HUD. Carter used the occasion for another attack on Congress. Said he: "I'm sorry to say that until now the general interest has had a hard time of it in the halls of Congress...
First as head of the department's criminal division and then as the number two man, he was handed the toughest problems the Department of Justice faced. He took over the investigation of FBI break-ins when five other lawyers quit in a dispute with Bell. It was Civiletti who journeyed to South Korea to negotiate for permission to question Washington influence-peddler Tong-sun Park. And when Bell decided to remove David W. Marston, the Republican U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia who was investigating a Democratic Congressman, Civiletti reassured Marston's staff that their pursuit of political corruption...
...Civiletti is also known as a man with neither political ambition nor a political following−and his loyalty to both Jimmy Carter and Griffin Bell, the man he will succeed, is unquestioned. Although the Civiletti appointment signals no shake-up at Justice, it may mean that criminal prosecutions will move more swiftly than under the easygoing Bell. Said Civiletti last week: "There is nothing more harmful to justice or the perception of justice than delay, red tape, unpreparedness." Civiletti is seeking ways to form task forces from the various divisions of the department (such as criminal, tax and antitrust...
Regarded in the past as a skilled trial lawyer, Civiletti holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland Law School. He was an assistant U.S. Attorney in Baltimore, where he prosecuted fraud and other cases for two years, before going into private practice. Civiletti emphasized he has no further governmental ambitions. When he completes his service as Attorney General, he intends to return to his law practice in Baltimore...