Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 7, 1993 TAG: 9302070128
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
CLINTON RESUMES SEARCH
Just as he did two weeks ago, President Clinton Saturday renewed his search for an attorney general, following the abrupt departure Friday of his top choice for the position, Manhattan federal Judge Kimba M. Wood.White House officials gathered Saturday to resume a search they thought had been completed until they learned that Wood had hired an illegal alien to care for her child - an action that, although it did not violate immigration laws, troubled White House officials enough that they told Wood her nomination would not go forward.
"He's still working through the same list," Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers said Saturday. "It's one less person that he'll consider."
At one point, Clinton was reported to have narrowed his list of candidates to three - Wood, Washington lawyer Charles F.C. Ruff, and former Virginia Gov. Gerald Baliles - and ran those names by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del.
But White House officials have decided that Ruff's failure to pay Social Security taxes for his one-day-per-week household help was a problem they were not willing to take on in the current climate. Sources said that although Baliles remains under consideration, other candidates, both male and female, are also being looked at.
Clinton's first choice for the job, Zoe Baird, withdrew after a public outcry over her disclosure that she hired two married undocumented workers and had failed to pay taxes on their behalf. There was no indication Saturday that a decision was imminent. "The president was deliberate in this last round and I think he will be equally deliberate when he makes his decision," said one official.
As White House officials describe it, their dream candidate would be a woman who combines a law enforcement background, the stature of a federal judgeship or similar high-ranking position, managerial skills, and a good rapport with the president. The last qualification may be the most important, they said.
But no such person has emerged, and administration officials have returned to scouring the ranks of the federal judiciary for women judges appointed by President Carter and women state and federal prosecutors. That was already done once during the transition. They are also going back to some male candidates who had originally been considered for the post.
At the White House, senior officials were said to be furious over a spate of press leaks about Wood that culminated in the barrage of stories Thursday night and Friday morning that she was slated for the post. Aides were under strict orders Saturday not to discuss possible replacements.
Some feminist leaders reacted Saturday with rising anger at what they saw as a "double standard" for women appointees. Others said privately that although they would like to see a woman in the attorney general post, they realized that Clinton was also doing other things of importance for women, such as signing the family and medical leave act.