Tag Archives: Trump Appointments

Ex-@StateDept Staffer Charged in 1/6 Insurrection to Remain in Custody Pending Trial

March 10, 2021 By in Court Cases, Govt Documents, Political Appointees, State Department, Trump Tags: , , , ,
On March 4, former political appointee at the State Department Federico Klein was arrested in connection with the January 6 insurrection (see Three Current/Former @StateDept Employees Float to the Top in Crowded Bad News Cycle).  Klein is really going to be unhappy with his continued accommodations at the D.C. jail. On March 9 the DOJ filed its memo in support of pre-trial detention and the judge agreed to keep him in custody. Excerpt below from the pre-trial detention memo:
The dangerousness of Klein’s participation in the mob that day is only heightened by the fact that, at that time, he was an employee of the Department of State, with an obligation to uphold the Constitution. By law, federal employees are required to take an oath of office, swearing to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…” 5 U.S.C. § 3331. Presumably, Klein took that same oath of office when he entered federal employment. Despite his oath to support and defend the Constitution, Klein demonstrated his contempt for that oath, the legitimate functions of the government, and for the Constitution itself when he assaulted officers in an attempt to stop the certification of a lawful election. By his actions on January 6, 2021, Klein abdicated his responsibilities to the country and the Constitution. Despite the trust the country and government placed in Klein’s character, stability, trustworthiness, reliability, discretion, honesty, judgment, and unquestionable loyalty to the United States,5 Klein’s behavior revealed that his true allegiance lies elsewhere. Rather, Klein’s actions established that his own personal beliefs override the rule of law and that he will use violence in an attempt to halt the legitimate functions of the United States government with which he disagrees. Such blatant disregard of the law and the authority of a lawful government, along with his indifference to keeping his own commitments – even when made under oath – weigh in favor of detention. If Klein is unwilling to obey orders while in full view of law enforcement, or to conform his behavior to the law even when he disagrees with it, despite his oath to the Constitution, it is unlikely that he would adhere to this Court’s directions and release orders.
The criminal complaint dated March 2, 2021 charged Klein with the following:
18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(1) – Knowingly Entering or Remaining in any Restricted Building or Grounds Without Lawful Authority,
40 U.S.C. § 5104(e)(2) – Violent Entry and Disorderly Conduct on Capitol Grounds,
18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2) – Obstruction of Justice/Congress,
18 U.S.C. § 231(a)(3) – Obstruction of Law Enforcement During Civil Disorder,
18 U.S.C. § 111(a)(1) – Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers,
18 U.S.C. § 111(b) – Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers Using a Dangerous Weapon

 

New USAID appointee’s transfer is “being greeted with all the excitement of a root canal”

July 10, 2020 By in Appointments, Org Life, Political Appointees, State Department, Top Ranks, Trends, Trump, USAID Tags: , , ,

 

 

PR SVP and Ex-Gingrich Aide Michelle Giuda to be Asst Secretary of State for Public Affairs

January 8, 2018 By in Appointments, Officially In, Political Appointees, State Department, Trump Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted: 12:24 am ET

 

On January 4, the WH announced the President’s appointment of Michelle Giuda, the former Deputy National Press Secretary to Speaker Newt Gingrich to be the next Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. Ms Giuda has been  Senior VP for PR firm, Weber Shandwick. Via White House:

Michelle Giuda of New York, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Public Affairs). Ms. Giuda has been the Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Communications at Weber Shandwick in New York, New York, since 2014.  She oversees global communications strategy across 81 countries at Weber Shandwick, a global public relations firms with offices in major media, business, and government capitals around the world.  During her tenure, Weber Shandwick became the most awarded public relations firm at the 2016 Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity, the first firm to be named PRWeek’s Global Agency of the Year for three consecutive years, and the only PR agency on Advertising Age’s A-List in 2014 and 2015.  Ms. Giuda was named one of the Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business by the Asian American Business Development Center in 2016.  Previously, she served as Deputy National Press Secretary to Speaker Newt Gingrich and Communications Director for GOPAC in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Giuda graduated, cum laude, with a B.A. from the University of California Los Angeles, where she won an NCAA Championship and captained the UCLA Women’s Gymnastics Team; and she earned an M.P.S. from George Washington University.

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This position does not require Senate confirmation. Here’s a quick summary of the position according to history.state.gov:

The Department of State created the position of Assistant Secretary of State for Public and Cultural Relations during a general reorganization in Dec 1944, after Congress authorized an increase in the number of Assistant Secretaries in the Department from four to six (Dec 8, 1944; P.L. 78-472; 58 Stat. 798). The reorganization was the first to designate substantive designations for specific Assistant Secretary positions. The Department changed the title to Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs in 1946. Initially, incumbents supervised the forerunners of the U.S. Information Agency and the Voice of America. P.L. 112-116, the Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011 (signed into law August 10, 2012), removed the requirement for Senate confirmation of Assistant Secretaries of State for Public Affairs.

Previous appointees to this position include Admiral John F. Kirby (2015–2017), Margaret DeBardeleben Tutwiler (1989–1992), American poet and Pulitzer Prize writer, Archibald MacLeish (1944–1945), and Career Ambassador Richard A. Boucher, who served the longest from 2001–2005.

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