WASHINGTON – White House counsel Greg Craig, who has played a central role in the Obama administration’s rocky efforts to close the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay, said yesterday he was resigning.
Mr Craig’s departure marks the highest-profile White House resignation since President Barack Obama took office in January and followed reports of administration dissatisfaction over his management of Guantánamo policy.
Mr Obama’s promise to shut the internationally condemned detention centre in Cuba by January 22nd has run into serious obstacles, making it unlikely the foreign terrorism suspects detained there can be transferred to meet the deadline.
Neither Mr Craig nor the White House gave any immediate reason for his resignation as Mr Obama’s top lawyer, except to say he was returning to private practice.
Mr Craig will be replaced by Bob Bauer, a Democratic lawyer who has worked for Mr Obama for years, the White House said.
“Greg Craig is a close friend and trusted adviser who tackled many tough challenges as White House counsel,” the president said in a statement released while visiting Tokyo at the start of an Asian tour.
“Because of Greg’s leadership, we have confirmed the first Latina justice on the Supreme Court, set the toughest ethics standards for any administration in history and ensured that we are keeping the nation secure in a manner that is consistent with our laws and our values.”
Mr Craig was initially assigned to the search that produced the successful Supreme Court nomination of Justice Sonia Sotomayor before the task was turned over to other administration officials. He also played a leading role in revising Bush-era policies for interrogation of terrorism suspects that had drawn heavy international criticism.
“It has been an honour to work for you,” Mr Craig said in his resignation letter to Mr Obama. He said his resignation would be effective on January 3rd. – (Reuters)