Jerry Zeifman

[Bann (Premo)]

From Calabrese's article:
"The now-retired general counsel and chief of staff of the House Judiciary Committee, who supervised Hillary when she worked on the Watergate investigation..."

From Mr. Zeifman's homepage:

Curriculum Vitae
"...In 196I he was recruited by the House Judiciary Committee to serve as
counsel to its Special Subcommittee on State Taxation of Interstate
Commerce. Until 1972 he also served as chief counsel to its Subcommittee
on Civil Rights. Starting in 1973 he served as the Chief Counsel to the full
Judiciary Committee during its Nixon impeachment proceedings and the
confirmations of Gerald Ford and Nelson Rockefeller to serve as Vice
Presidents."

Also from Mr. Zeifman's homepage: (scroll down the front)

"Book By Democratic Chief Counsel Exposes Why Hillary Clinton Is 'Ethically Unfit to Hold Public Office'

Hillary's Pursuit of Power

"Jerry Zeifman, a former counsel to the House Judiciary Committee for 17 years,

takes you to a behind the scenes account of Hillary Clinton, in a book based on
his personal experiences in dealing with her. In 1974, he had supervisory authority
of a staff that included Hillary Rodham ..."

From BNet: August, 1996 - by John Elvin

Charges continue to haunt Hillary Rodham Clinton - charges of suppression of information on Richard Nixon - includes letter from Charles E. Wiggins

<snip>

"...At a recent gathering of past and current members of Congress, author Zeifman told Insight, there were "a number of former members and former staff people from the Judiciary Committee at the time of Watergate. We had a conversation, and I said I felt that us Democrats had done the country a disservice because we knew what Bernie Nussbaum was and we knew what Hillary Clinton was way back in 1974, and none of us did a thing to hold them accountable." "

Letter from Charles E. Wiggins: (go to end of article to find this)

" RELATED ARTICLE: Letter of the Law

Jerry Zeifman, chief counsel to the Democrat-controlled House Judiciary Committee during the Nixon impeachment hearings... <SNIP>

...Insight asked former Rep. Charles Wiggins of California if he could confirm the Zeifman account. Wiggins, who as a congressman served on the committee, now is a federal appeals-court judge. Here is his reply.

Dear Mr. Elvin:
This will acknowledge your letter concerning your interview with Jerry Zeifman. I have discussed recently Jerry Zeifman's book [Without Honor! with him and he furnished me with a copy of it. I understand that you wish me to comment upon Jerry's description of an incident reported in the book involving my discovery of a publication authored by several college professors and commissioned by the Judiciary Committee.

<SNIP>
Jerry Zeifman, I am told, has full access to the exchange of correspondence between myself and Chairman Rodino and will doubtless recall personally my remarks before the full committee early in the proceedings. In summary, Jerry Zeifman has the story substantially correct. It has been many years since I have attempted to recall the specifics of this affair and it is possible that my memory is currently somewhat deficient but I nevertheless am prepared to endorse Mr. Zeifman's general description of the events.

You have my authority to use this letter, or any part thereof, in your article.

Charles E. Wiggins, Judge [Info]
U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
Reno, Nev.
COPYRIGHT 1996 News World Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group"

Great work Bann! Using stuff from Zeitman's homepage as source material to substantiate his claims! How about using a more independent source that's not been subject to a re-writing of history:

Time Magazine, Monday, Aug. 05, 1974, The Man with the Judicious Gavel, The Man with the Judicious Gavel - TIME

"But to get ready, Rodino quietly assigned Jerome Zeifman, chief of the Judiciary staff, and two of his assistants to study the process and precedents." Rodino was the chairman of the House Judiciary Commitee and responsible for overseeing the Watergate investigation. Zeifman was not a "chief of staff" as he claims on his website, but only the more pedestrian "Chief of the Judiciary Staff"... a huge difference.

"Promised an unlimited budget by Speaker Albert, Rodino began assembling a separate impeachment staff—which was to grow to 105, nearly half of them lawyers—and started looking for a chief counsel. To avoid any charge of partisanship, Rodino wanted an outsider and a Republican. For two months, while the Democratic leadership squirmed at the delay, Rodino consulted deans of law schools, judges, bar-association officials and leading attorneys before choosing John Doar in December." Zeifman was never chief counsel of anything, although he claims to have been on his website. John Doar held that position from the start.

How about another interesting read? Time Magazine Monday, Aug. 05, 1974, The Fateful Vote to Impeach The Fateful Vote to Impeach - TIME

"The general domination of the staff work by Doar was resented by some veteran committee members. They felt that their regular counsel, Jerome Zeifman, a 49-year-old Democratic liberal, had been shunted aside by Doar, who had been recruited from the outside. Seeking advice and help from Zeifman, many of the majority Democrats began framing articles of their own as alternatives to those presented by Doar and those of Brooks. Rodino purposely refrained from taking part in the drafting sessions but kept in touch with all of them. He saw his role as a coordinator who would be more effective if he did not become identified with specific draft proposals."

I think this article clears a lot of things up. Zeifman's job as chief of the judiciary staff was to grab some researchers (Clinton and Nussbaum) and research the precedents for impeachment. That was it. When Rodino finally set up his Impeachment Staff, he appointed Doar and not Zeifman to be the Chief Counsel, which no doubt pissed off Zeifman and apparently others. Zeifman rails against Hillary and Doar on his webpage, making allegations that they conspired to come up with all these impeachment plans that contradicted his, but as you can see from the original history, Doar was the one who was supposed to be doing the plans in the first place, and it was Zeifman who was running a little shadow impeachment staff on the side. Rodino should have stepped in and stopped Zeifman, but apparently he tried to have it both ways and appease those who supported him and those who opposed him. Rodino had only held the position for six months at this time, and some thought he was not up to the task.

Zeifman was a regular counsel who served as the chief of the judiciary staff, and not the Chief of Staff of the Judiciary Commitee and not the chief counsel of the impeachment staff. Also, he claims in his writings "During my 14-year tenure with the House Judiciary Committee, I had supervisory authority over several hundred staff members. With the exception of Ms. Rodham, Doar and Nussbaum, I recommend all of them for future positions of public and private trust." He's trying to say that Doar was a staff member? That's a total fiction! He was a Congressman and was over Zeifman, not some staff attorney like Clinton or Nussbaum. Doar would be making the recomendation for Zeifman, not the other way around.

This guy is just your classic paranoid. I can just see him sitting in a chair like Humphry Bogart in The Caine Mutiny, rolling around his steel balls and whining about strawberries and how he would have been the chief counsel if not for his incompetent staff and disloyal Doar! Nice try Bann, but the next time a chicken goes missing from the henhouse, you might try asking questions of someone other than the fox.

[cwo_ghwebb]

and Charles E. Wiggins, Judge U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit Reno, Nev. is also a paranoid nutcase?

[Bann (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Bruzilla

Great work Bann! Using stuff from Zeitman's homepage as source material to substantiate his claims! How about using a more independent source that's not been subject to a re-writing of history:

Don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain. Move along. Nothing to see here.

[Bann (Premo)]

Was Barbara Olson also a paranoid nutcase?

Hell To Pay by Barbara Olson

Pages 120 - 124

<snip>
Page 123:
"One staffer who saw through this gambit was Jerry Zeifman, chief counsel for the Judiciary Committee, who had every reason to feel he was being shut out by his special counsel, Doar. Zeifman later concluded: "It seems to me that Haldeman and Ehrlichman are crude amateurs at arrogance in comparison to the more polished and sophisticated arrogance and deceit of some of Doar's assistants.

Whatever embarrassment Hillary might have felt, she retained Doar's confidence. If anything, Doar's reliance on Hillary grew. Hillary was one of the few researchers allowed to hear what the staff would call 'the tape of tapes'."

Interesting stuff in these pages on Burke Marshall & John Doar, starting on page 120.

Originally Posted by cwo_ghwebb

and Charles E. Wiggins, Judge U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit Reno, Nev. is also a paranoid nutcase?

I know nothing of Wiggins, and to be honest don't see any point in taking the time to look him up. Based on what I've found in the writings of the period, it appears that every senior Democrat in the House with a hard-on for Nixon was busy trying to come up with their own plan to impeach him, so it's very possible that Wiggins could have been helping Zeifman out on their own little effort, and it's also possible that Zeifman was the chief counsel for that effort. But, the effort that Zeifman undertook was not what he makes it out to be. Doar was the chief counsel to the actual, official, impeachment staff, and Clinton and Nussbaum worked for him and not Zeifman.

Originally Posted by Bann

Was Barbara Olson also a paranoid nutcase?

Hell To Pay by Barbara Olson

Pages 120 - 124

<snip>
Page 123:
"One staffer who saw through this gambit was Jerry Zeifman, chief counsel for the Judiciary Committee, who had every reason to feel he was being shut out by his special counsel, Doar. Zeifman later concluded: "It seems to me that Haldeman and Ehrlichman are crude amateurs at arrogance in comparison to the more polished and sophisticated arrogance and deceit of some of Doar's assistants.

Whatever embarrassment Hillary might have felt, she retained Doar's confidence. If anything, Doar's reliance on Hillary grew. Hillary was one of the few researchers allowed to hear what the staff would call 'the tape of tapes'."

Interesting stuff in these pages on Burke Marshall & John Doar, starting on page 120.

Of course I don't think she was a paranoid nutcase, but if you'll notice... look at who she's sourcing her information to... the same paranoid nut case that you and everyone else is sourcing... Zeifman. It doesn't matter if the information he gives is republished in Olsen's book, or published by himself on his webpage, the original source is still the same. Also, notice how everytime Zeifman refers to Doar, it's always as a "special counsel"? He refuses to even ackowledge the fact that Doar was not a special counsel but the chief counsel.

Originally Posted by Bann

Don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain. Move along. Nothing to see here.

Smart man... don't waste your time defending the indefensible.

One other thing that bothers me about the Zeifman story is Nussbaum. I can find no reference to him or Rodham in period writings, which is not surprising as they were nobodies, but I think it's pretty clear that Hillary didn't later carry out those Rose Law Firm records and stash them in the White House herself. Nussbaum was the one the authorities questioned about being behind the removal when he was her lead counsel. You would think that in Zeifman's later writings that he would be more suspicious of Nussbaum than Clinton, but who would buy a book that made allegations about Nussbaum?

[Larry Gude (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Bruzilla

One other thing that bothers me about the Zeifman story is Nussbaum. I can find no reference to him or Rodham in period writings, which is not surprising as they were nobodies, but I think it's pretty clear that Hillary didn't later carry out those Rose Law Firm records and stash them in the White House herself. Nussbaum was the one the authorities questioned about being behind the removal when he was her lead counsel. You would think that in Zeifman's later writings that he would be more suspicious of Nussbaum than Clinton, but who would buy a book that made allegations about Nussbaum?

...doesn't seem to be anyone's fool. You'll notice how nicely and neatly and cleanly he left the stage after cleaning out Vince Fosters files and planting the suicide note. And not a peep. He may have his keep me out of jail forever card.