Claude Allen

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Claude Alexander Allen (born October 11, 1960) was the Assistant to the President of the United States for Domestic Policy in George W. Bush's White House and a former nominee for a judgeship on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The conservative African-American Republican was appointed to his White House position in January 2005. Allen resigned February 9, 2006, stating he wanted to spend more time with his family. It was later reported that he had been detained by retail store security guards on January 2, 2006 and subsequently arrested by local authorities ^[1] on March 9, 2006 on charges of "theft over $500" and "felony theft scheme" ^[2], allegedly claiming retail store refunds to which he was not entitled.

Allen is married, with four children. He was earning $161,000 per year in his federal job at the time of his resignation.

Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Career after college 3 Law degree and subsequent career 4 White House service 5 Policy positions 6 Arrest and plea 6.1 Reactions to resignation and arrest 7 External links 8 References

[edit] Early life and education

Allen, a native of Philadelphia, grew up in a two-bedroom apartment in a working-class section of northwest Washington, D.C. He attended Archbishop Carroll High School, a Roman Catholic school. His mother worked part-time at a Catholic school; his father worked for a plumbing supply business. In a television interview, Allen said "Probably the vast majority of the kids who grew up in our neighborhood were either strung out on drugs or in jail or dead."

In 1982, Allen graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. He was a member of a fraternity, Chi Psi. Although the majority of the members of the local chapter of Chi Psi at the University of North Carolina were white, the chapter was one of the only truly integrated fraternities on the campus at the time.

[edit] Career after college

Allen grew up a Democrat, but he took a job after college as press secretary for Bill Cobey, a Republican Congressional candidate in North Carolina. He switched parties, saying later, in an interview, "I realized after the fact that I agree more with the Republican Party platform, that it talked about independence, that it talked about individual responsibility, individual rights, it talked about the ability to guarantee opportunities, not outcomes."

Allen subsequently began working for Republican Senator Jesse Helms, of North Carolina; he was Helms' campaign spokesman in 1984. From 1985 to 1987, Allen was a staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

[edit] Law degree and subsequent career

Allen returned to school in 1987; in 1990, he finished a three-year law program and was awarded a J.D. degree from Duke University School of Law.

From 1990 to 1991, Allen was a law clerk for David B. Sentelle, a judge on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, famous for his role in the Whitewater investigation. Allen met and became a protege of Clarence Thomas, who was a judge on that court at the time Allen was clerking there.

After his clerkship, Allen became an associate at Baker Botts in Washington, D.C., from 1991 to 1995. He then served in the Virginia Attorney General's Office from 1995 to 1998, before becoming Secretary of Health and Human Resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

[edit] White House service

In 2001, Allen was appointed as the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2004 Allen was nominated by President George W. Bush to become a federal judge on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. His nomination was opposed by numerous liberal educational, religious, and racial groups, including People for the American Way, the NAACP, and the National Organization for Women (^[3] ). He was rated as partially "not qualified" by the American Bar Association ^[4]. His nomination was stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee and lapsed on December 8, 2005.

Allen was appointed to the position of Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy in January 2005 where he was responsible for providing advice on all non-economic policy issues including education, health care, labor, housing, veterans, HIV/AIDS, and other domestic issues. ^{[5] [6]} While Head of the Domestic Policy Council, Allen jointly oversaw the White House Task Force that coordinated response to Hurricane Katrina along with the Homeland Security Council ^[7].

[edit] Policy positions

Allen has said of condom use, "It's like telling your child, 'Don't use the car,' but then leaving the keys in the Lamborghini and saying, 'But if you do, buckle up.'" ^[8] He supports abstinence sex education.

Allen is pro-life. Journalist Doug Ireland wrote that when serving as Health and Human Services Commissioner in Virginia, Allen opposed certain legislation because it included taxpayer funding for abortions.^[9]

According to NNDB.com, "In 1984, as a press aide to Jesse Helms, Allen told the Greensboro News and Record: 'We could expound on and undertake a campaign against Jim Hunt's connections with the homosexuals, the labor union connection, the radical feminist connection, the socialist connection.'

Subsequent reports claim that Allen's precise words had actually been: 'We could go back and do the same thing with the queers[...]' [Allen then] he called the reporter back and apologized for his choice of words."^[10]

[edit] Arrest and plea

Allen was detained on January 2, 2006, after one alleged theft, then arrested on March 9, 2006, for a series of similar alleged thefts in Montgomery County, Maryland. According to police, Allen committed refund theft, a form of criminal activity where goods are fraudulently returned in stores for cash.

Allen was apprehended by Gaithersburg Target store loss prevention manager Pete Schomburg on January 2, 2006. According to the charging document, Allen "admitted to Agent Schomburg that he was committing fraudulent returns" ^[11]. He was not formally charged until March after a review of security video and credit card activity dating back to 2005. Police said he credited more than $5,000 to his credit card through about 25 similar transactions at other stores.^{[12][13][14] [15] [16]}

By all accounts Allen's behavior was bizarre given that his annual salary as an advisor was $160,000. He pleaded guilty to theft on August 4, 2006. He shed tears during his sentencing hearing and apologized to his wife, family, and friends. Noting that Allen had been publicly humiliated by his arrest, and that he accepted responsibility for the crimes without trying to make excuses, the judge sentenced him to 18 months of "probation before judgment", which means that his record will be expunged if he completes his probation successfully.

[edit] Reactions to resignation and arrest

On February 10, 2006, the day following Allen's resignation, the Washington Times reported that "According to a military source, Mr. Allen resigned to protest the White House's refusal to lean on the Pentagon about the issue [of allowing military chaplains to be more explicit about their faith]."^[17] However, Mr. Allen denied these reports, stating that he had resigned to spend more time with his family. ^[18]

After the arrest, Mallon Snyder, attorney for Mr. Allen, said he would prove the felony theft scheme allegations are a "a series of misunderstandings."^[19]

President George W. Bush said on March 11, 2006, "If the allegations are true, Claude Allen did not tell my Chief of Staff and legal counsel the truth, and that's deeply disappointing. If the allegations are true, something went wrong in Claude Allen's life, and that is really sad. When I heard the story last night I was shocked. And my first reaction was one of disappointment, deep disappointment that — if it's true — that we were not fully informed. But it was also one — shortly thereafter, I felt really sad for the Allen family."^[20]

The liberal Huffington Post posted a racially charged opinion piece the day after Allen's arrest [citation needed], called "When Black Republicans Go Bad." The piece opined that Allen, along with other prominent black Republicans, "stake out ultra-right-wing positions perhaps to prove their bona fides to their white superiors."

[edit] External links

• Opposition statement by the National Abortion Federation to the nomination of Claude Allen to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
• U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Policy, resume of Claude A. Allen
• Nominations Sent to the Senate, White House Press Release, January 20, 2004
• Personnel Announcement, White House Press Release, January 5, 2005
• President Thanks Domestic Policy Advisor Claude Allen for Service, White House Press Release, February 9, 2006
• Former Top Bush Aid Accused of Md. Thefts, Washington Post, March 10, 2006.
• When Black Republicans Go Bad at The Huffington Post, March 11, 2006.

[edit] References