C. Boyden Gray, former Bush Sr. White House Counsel and transition coordinator, who sits on the Federalist Society's board of visitors, is now playing a vocal role supporting the Ashcroft nomination. Gray thinks Ashcroft was a "great choice" for attorney general, and "will restore the luster to a department which I think has been tarnished in recent years." David J. Porter, the president of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Federalist Society, leaped into print to defend Ashcroft from criticism when his nomination was announced.The chief counsel for the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Federalism, and Property Rights -- which was chaired by John Ashcroft while he was in the Senate -- was Paul D. Clement. Clement is a member of the Litigation Practice Group of the Federalist Society, and chairs its Class Action Subcommittee. He handled all issues that came before the constitution subcommittee for Ashcroft.
The role of the Federalist Society leadership is visible and prominent in shaping the new administration, and no doubt many of them will find posts. Spencer Abraham, one of three co-founders of the society, has already been nominated for Energy Secretary; Gale A. Norton, nominated for Interior Secretary by Bush, was honored by the Federalist Society as their Young Lawyer of the Year and Lee Liberman Otis, another founding member, is playing a key role in setting up the judicial selection process for the Bush administration. R. Ted Cruz, who is on the Federalist Society's Religious Liberties Practice Group, has been named as a coordinator for the Bush team overseeing policy transition for the Department of Justice.
http://www.institutefordemocracy.org/ashcroft.htmlAmong the scholars and fellows at AEI in 1988 to 1989 were Jeane Kirkpatrick, Alan Keyes, Nobel Laureate James Buchanan, International Trade Commission Chair Anne Brunsdale, White House Counsel C. Boyden Gray, Constantine C. Menges, Joshua Muravchik, Michael Novak, Richard N. Perle, Herbert Stein, Ben J. Wattenberg, and Irving Kristol.
In the 1960s the organization, determined to gain more corporate funding and expand its influence, applied for taxexempt status, which it received in the mid-1960s after a two year examination by the IRS. At the same time it became more overtly political in its goals. In its new guise, a main focus of AEI is to influence national policy and to place its scholars into influential positions in government.
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/groupwatch/aei_body.html#P188_37234
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