Richard Painter

Richard Painter
Personal details
Born Richard William Painter
(1961-10-03) October 3, 1961
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party Republican (before 2018)
Democratic (2018–present)
Spouse(s) Karen Painter
Children 3
Education Harvard University (BA)
Yale University (JD)
Website Campaign website

Richard William Painter[1] (born October 3, 1961) is an American lawyer, professor, and political candidate. Often seen as a commentator on MSNBC and CNN, Painter has been an outspoken critic of unethical behavior in Washington, DC. He is the S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Minnesota, and since 2016 has served as vice-chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a government watchdog group.[2]

From 2005 to 2007 Painter was the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration. He is an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump.[3][4] Throughout 2017, he was involved in the CREW lawsuit against Trump, CREW v. Trump.

A longtime Republican and self-described "centrist", in 2018 Painter ran for the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party nomination for U.S. Senate, challenging recently appointed Senator Tina Smith.[5] Smith defeated Painter in the primary by a wide margin.[6]

Early life and education

Painter was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1961. He was raised outside Philadelphia, in Kansas City, Kansas, and in Champaign, Illinois. He graduated from St. George's School, Newport, Rhode Island.[7]

Painter received his B.A. in history summa cum laude from Harvard University and his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Journal on Regulation.[8][9][10] While at Harvard, Painter became politically active, speaking out against President Reagan's decision to send aid to the right-wing government in El Salvador and founding the Harvard Radcliffe Democratic Club newspaper Perspective.[11] In 1982, he made his first appearance on national television during an episode of "Firing Line" with Reagan in which he called out Reagan's "reckless deficit spending and cuts to social programs".[12] During the 1984 presidential election, Painter was chairperson of Harvard Students for Walter Mondale.

Career

Painter served as law clerk to Judge John T. Noonan Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He then worked at the law firms of Sullivan & Cromwell in New York and Finn Dixon & Herling in Stamford, Connecticut.[9]

Painter was the Guy Raymond and Mildred Van Voorhis Jones Professor of Law at the University of Illinois College of Law from 2002 to 2005 and the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration from 2005 to 2007.[8][13][14] Upon leaving the White House, he returned to teaching, at the University of Minnesota Law School.[15]

He has been a member of the American Law Institute since 2004.[10] In March 2016, Painter wrote in The New York Times that if President George W. Bush had had the opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court justice during his last two years in office, with a Democratic-majority Senate, Bush would have chosen Judge Merrick Garland (who was ultimately nominated by President Obama on March 16, 2016) as a consensus nominee.[16] William K. Kelley, who was deputy counsel to President Bush from 2005 to 2007, disagreed that Bush might have nominated Garland under such circumstances.[17]

In December 2016, Painter replaced David Brock as vice-chairman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).[18][19] As of May 2017, he is the S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.[14][18]

Emolument Clause lawsuit against Donald Trump

In January 2017, CREW filed suit against President Donald Trump for failing to sell off certain assets and place others in a blind trust.[20] Painter, vice-chairman of CREW, stated, "If Obama had tried that, we would have impeached him in two weeks."[20] CREW alleges that certain foreign payments that Trump receives are in violation of the U.S. Constitution's emoluments clause.[21] The case was dismissed by the district court, which found that the plaintiffs lacked standing;[22][23] CREW's appeal is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.[24]

2018 Senate campaign

Painter was a longtime Republican, saying in 2017: "I've been a Republican for 30 years. There's no way that I would want to see the Republican Party stand up for covering up for Russian espionage and whoever in the United States has been helping the Russians. It's going to be a disaster for the Republicans. It's going to be a disaster for our country."[25] In criticizing Trump and his administration, Painter said "We are well past the point where we were in 1973 (Watergate) with respect to clear evidence of abuse of power, obstruction of justice, and other illegal activities."[26]

In March 2018, he announced that he was forming an exploratory committee to run for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, saying he was unsure whether he would seek office as a Republican, Democrat, or independent. In April 2018, Painter announced that he would run as a Democratic (Minnesota DFL) candidate in the primary against the incumbent Senator Tina Smith.[4] Painter finished a distant second, winning 14% of the vote to Smith's 76%.[27][28]

Political positions

Painter describes himself as a centrist,[4] and has criticized the Republican Party's move to the right since 1980.[26] He has said he will not accept the support of political action committees, super PACs, or "dark money" organizations.[4] He supports major investments in transportation and other infrastructure projects, and is critical of stadium subsidies.[26] Painter has also declared his opposition to the Trump tariffs, in particular those on steel and aluminum.[29]

Painter favors legalizing recreational marijuana and ending the federal ban on marijuana.[30] On gun politics, he is critical of the NRA, calling it a "protection racket" and favors "a license-and-registration system similar to what we have for cars."[26][31]

Ethics reform

To confront corruption in Washington, Painter has proposed what he calls the "strongest ethics reform package in United States history":[32]

  • Apply 18 U.S.C § 208, a previously existing criminal statute that prohibits all unelected federal executive branch officers from participating in any matter with which they or a spouse have a personal financial conflict of interest, to the President, Vice President, and all members of the House and Senate.
  • Require the President and all members of the House and Senate to divest from individual companies’ stocks, bonds and other securities that create conflicts of interest, and instead invest in broadly diversified stock mutual funds, life insurance, bank accounts, and other conflict-free assets as defined in already existing Office of Government Ethics regulations.
  • Expand the post-government-employment ban in 18 U.S.C § 207 to include a lifetime ban on former members of the House and Senate serving as paid lobbyists, and provide that violating this ban will result in criminal penalties.
  • Impose term limits (six years in the House, twelve years in the Senate) for Congressional leadership positions and committee chairmanships, and dismantle the seniority system that gives more power to long-serving members.
  • Strip pensions of any official found guilty of violating any federal anti-corruption statute, including but not limited to 18 U.S.C §§ 207 and 208, bribery and gratuity statutes, insider trading laws, and other similar provisions.
  • Impose criminal penalties on any U.S. government official who receives profits and benefits from foreign governments in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, and mandate that the Department of Justice investigate and prosecute persons violating this prohibition.

Healthcare

Painter believes that the United States ought to support the health care system that is the most efficient and comprehensive, which he believes to be a single-payer system.[33] He supports the following:

Environment

Painter believes in climate science.[37] He rejects the Trump administration's approach to carbon emissions and departure from the Paris Accord.[38] Because he believes human-caused climate change is an existential threat to our continued way of life, Painter wants to make changes in our economy and government to assure we can have a viable world to live in for many generations to come. These include:

Copper/nickel mining

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness comprises nearly one million acres of pristine Minnesota lakes, forests, and wildlife. It also contains vast quantities of metals such as copper and nickel that foreign entities are trying to mine by an extremely dangerous method: sulfide mining.[42]

The PolyMet-Glencore project has the appearance of a Minnesota operation, but Glencore will receive most of the profits. Glencore is a Swiss-based international commodities broker, and the funding for the PolyMet project comes largely from wealthy foreign financiers like Nat Rothschild (of the Rothschild banking family), and corrupt figures such as Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch who is now under sanctions from the U.S. government and was a close associate of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.[43][44][45] Likewise, the Twin Metals operation is controlled by Andronico Luksic, a Chilean billionaire who is the DC landlord of Jared and Ivanka Trump.[46]

Painter often points out that copper/nickel mining has serious environmental consequences. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is a political office, and Painter believes Minnesotans have little reason to be confident in their ability to protect Minnesota from these consequences.[47] The legal framework governing these kinds of mines was designed to regulate taconite extraction and does not properly address sulfide mining. Additionally, Glencore’s chairman, Tony Hayward, former chairman of British Petroleum during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, gives Painter reason to question the company’s commitment to safety and environmental-consciousness.[48]

For these reasons, Painter vehemently opposes H.R. 3115, a bill that passed the U.S. House in early December 2017 to push through a land swap needed for the completion of the PolyMet mine, and the "Smith Amendment," a rider added to the National Defense Authorization Act that was designed to be parallel legislation to H.R. 3115 introduced in the U.S. Senate.[49][50] Enacting this legislation will void four pending lawsuits on the matter, preventing Minnesotans from questioning the legality of the land swap and eliminating the judicial branch's role.

Painter also opposes the MINER Act (H.R. 3905), which would prevent the completion of a two-year Forest Service study related to economic and environmental issues associated with mining near the Boundary Waters.[51] This act would allow PolyMet to begin mining before all the questions surrounding the sulfide mines are answered fully.[52] Painter believes that Minnesotans have a right to know the kind of damage these mines will do to our rivers, lakes, and ecosystems before the monied interests in Washington push them through. The MINER Act also designates Minnesota as the only state in the nation unworthy of public lands protections, requiring Congressional intervention into decisions regarding public lands in Minnesota.[53]

Clean energy

Painter believes we ought to focus on developing jobs that are sustainable, saying, "Donald Trump’s promise to bring coal mining back to the U.S. is disingenuous. We need to move forward and expand the creation of clean jobs across the state." He supports creating these jobs by expanding tax credits that can help grow solar energy farms across the state.[54]

Clean energy jobs are the fastest-growing subset of jobs in the United States with the greatest opportunity for exponential growth.[55] Painter believes that investing in clean energy will increase jobs in all areas of processing, such as installation, manufacturing, sales and distribution, and project development. Clean energy investment is critical to the improvement of public health, sustainable economies and limiting the effects of climate change.

Painter also advocates fair, free, common-sense trade policies that protect American jobs while promoting clean energy investment. The Trump tariffs threaten to eliminate Canadian imports of components of solar panels set for final manufacture in the U.S., a move that will certainly cost American jobs.[56] While Painter thinks that using American resources is important to our economy, he strongly believes that the tariffs imposed by this administration will do nothing but increase the prices of goods while falsely propping up a sector of unsustainable jobs. He thinks that clean energy jobs are essential to state and national economies, as well as the future of our environment, and thus supports trade policy that will grow the clean energy sector.[57]

Election reform

If elected, Painter has promised to take the following steps to eliminate the corrupting influence of money in politics, which he believes is legalized bribery.[58][59]

  • Introduce a bill requiring complete transparency about money in politics, including contributions to 501(c)(3) organizations, 501(c)(4) organizations, PACs, Super PACs, and any dark-money organizations engaging in communications intended to influence elections. All such contributions will be recorded by the FEC and made publicly available.
  • Enact a "Taxation Only With Representation" statute giving every taxpayer the right to designate the first $200 of their taxes to the campaign(s) of his/her choice.
  • Vote against the appointment of any Supreme Court nominee who will not, under oath, commit to overturning FEC vs. Citizens United.
  • Provide funding to state legislatures to organize and sponsor televised debates for both the primary and general election for all federal and statewide offices, as well as any other offices at the discretion of the legislature.

Personal life

Painter's wife, Karen Painter, is a professor of music history at the University of Minnesota. They have three children, and have lived in Minnesota since 2007.[60]

In July 2015, Painter was diagnosed with shingles and Ramsay Hunt syndrome type 2 which left his face partially paralyzed.[61]

The other Richard W. Painter

The subject of this article, US lawyer and professor Richard W Painter should not be confused with his namesake, the UK lawyer and professor Richard W Painter, former Dean of Law and Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Staffordshire University (and currently Senior Teaching Fellow at Keele University)[62], who, with co-author Professor Ann Holmes[63] wrote "Cases & Materials on Employment Law".[64]

Selected publications

  • Getting the Government America Deserves: How Ethics Reform Can Make a Difference (Oxford University Press 2009)
  • Professional and Personal Responsibilities of the Lawyer (with Judge John T. Noonan Jr.; Foundation 1997; Second Edition, 2001; Third Edition 2011)
  • Securities Litigation and Enforcement (with Margaret Sachs and Donna Nagy; West 2003; Second Edition, 2007; Third Edition 2011).

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Lawyer Richard Painter - Minneapolis, MN Attorney - Avvo". www.avvo.com. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  2. ↑ Debenedetti, Gabriel (January 21, 2017). "Brock groups set $40 million budget to fight Trump". Politico. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  3. ↑ Elaine Godfrey (March 7, 2018). "The Radicalization of Richard Painter: The former White House ethics lawyer is considering turning his anti-Trump crusade into a Senate campaign". TheAtlantic.com. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Paul Walsh, Former George W. Bush ethics lawyer ditches GOP, to seek U.S. Senate in Minn. as Democrat, Star Tribune (April 29, 2018).
  5. ↑ Election filing indicates Painter to run as DFL candidate for U.S. Senate; Minnesota Public Radio; Nina Moini; April 29, 2018
  6. ↑ FOX. "Minnesota primary election results roundup". KMSP. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
  7. ↑ "Expert Witness and Well-known Corporate Law Professor Richard W. Painter Discusses Internal Investigation of GM". LawCrossing.com. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  8. 1 2 "Contributors: Prof. Richard W. Painter". Federalist Society. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Richard Painter: Former Bush White House Chief Ethics lawyer". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  10. 1 2 Richard W. Painter: S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law, University of Minnesota Law School (last accessed November 7, 2018).
  11. ↑ "Proposed Dowling Review Questioned | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
  12. ↑ Buckley Jr., William (January 7, 1982). "Firing Line" (PDF).
  13. ↑ "Richard W. Painter". University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  14. 1 2 Painter, Richard W. (March 2, 2017), "Jeff Sessions Needs to Go", The New York Times, retrieved March 2, 2017
  15. ↑ Baker, Peter. "Besieged White House Reinforces Counsel's Office", Washington Post (June 9, 2007). See correction at top of the article.
  16. ↑ Painter, Richard W. Bush Would Have Nominated Garland, New York Times (March 23, 2016).
  17. ↑ Whelan, Edward. Re: Baseless Claim that President Bush Would/Might Have Nominated Garland, National Review (March 23, 2016).
  18. 1 2 "Richard W Painter". The Guardian. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Norman Eisen and Richard Painter to Lead CREW Board". Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. December 7, 2016.
  20. 1 2 Spencer, Jim (January 31, 2017). "U law prof Richard Painter sues Trump over ethics". StarTribune.com. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  21. ↑ Rosenmann, Alexandra (January 23, 2017). "Republican Ethics Lawyer Suing Trump for Violation of Constitution: 'We Are Fed Up!'". Alternet. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  22. ↑ Farenthold, David; O'Connell, Jonathan (December 21, 2017). "Judge dismisses lawsuit alleging Trump violated Constitution". Washington Post.
  23. ↑ Kroll, Andy. Judge Tosses Out Lawsuit Targeting Trump’s Foreign Business Dealings: But the constitutional battle over the emoluments clause is far from over., Mother Jones (December 21, 2017).
  24. ↑ CREW v. Donald J. Trump, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
  25. ↑ "Transcript". CNN. May 17, 2017.
  26. 1 2 3 4 David M. Perry, 'I've Been a Pain in the Rear for the Republican Party': A Conversation With Richard Painter, Pacific Standard (May 17, 2018).
  27. ↑ FOX. "Minnesota primary election results roundup". KMSP. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  28. ↑ "Tina Smith, Karin Housley make for historic matchup for U.S. Senate". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  29. ↑ "Economy - Richard Painter for US Senate". Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  30. ↑ "Richard W. Painter on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  31. ↑ Painter, Richard W. (2012-12-19). "Opinion | The N.R.A. Protection Racket". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
  32. ↑ "Painter For Minnesota on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  33. ↑ Painter Minnesota (2018-05-30), Richard Painter on the need for single-payer healthcare, retrieved 2018-08-02
  34. ↑ Jilani, Zaid (2018-05-18). ""Medicare for All" Becomes Issue in Race for Al Franken's Senate Seat". The Intercept. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  35. ↑ Painter Minnesota (2018-05-30), Richard Painter on the need for single-payer healthcare, retrieved 2018-08-02
  36. ↑ "Richard W. Painter on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  37. ↑ "Richard W. Painter on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  38. ↑ "Richard Painter". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  39. ↑ "Richard W. Painter on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  40. ↑ "Richard W. Painter on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  41. ↑ "Richard W. Painter on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  42. ↑ "Environment". Painter For Minnesota. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  43. ↑ Palcich, Elanne. "Tina Smith, PolyMet, and the Toxic Path to Pollution". duluthreader.com. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  44. ↑ "Glencore's Russian Aluminum Ties Just Got More Complicated". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  45. ↑ "Newly unsealed court filing shows Paul Manafort was more indebted to Putin ally Oleg Deripaska than previously known". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  46. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/eilperin. "Trump administration renews mining leases near Minnesota wilderness, reversing Obama". Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  47. ↑ "Environment". Painter For Minnesota. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  48. ↑ "Our Leadership". Glencore. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  49. ↑ Richard, Nolan, (2017-11-29). "H.R.3115 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): Superior National Forest Land Exchange Act of 2017". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  50. ↑ "Sen. Tina Smith's amendment would complete PolyMet land swap". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  51. ↑ Tom, Emmer, (2017-12-01). "H.R.3905 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): Minnesota's Economic Rights in the Superior National Forest Act". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  52. ↑ "Emmer Introduces MINER Act". Congressman Tom Emmer. 2017-10-03. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  53. ↑ "MINER Act introduced | The Ely Echo". www.elyecho.com. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  54. ↑ "Election Reform". Painter For Minnesota. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  55. ↑ "Clean energy is building a new American workforce". Environmental Defense Fund. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  56. ↑ "Trump government expected to defend tariffs on Canadian solar modules in court | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  57. ↑ "Election Reform". Painter For Minnesota. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  58. ↑ "Election Reform". Painter For Minnesota. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  59. ↑ "Richard W. Painter on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  60. ↑ "Faculty & Staff Directory". College of Liberal Arts | University of Minnesota. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  61. ↑ "Richard W. Painter on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
  62. ↑ Linked-In page
  63. ↑ Linked-In page
  64. ↑ ""Cases & Materials on Employment Law", OUP, ISBN 0199284490
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.