Edwin Meese

Edwin Meese III (born December 2, 1931 in Oakland, California) served as the seventy-fifth Attorney General of the United States (1985 - 1988).

Related Topics:
December 2 - 1931 - Oakland, California - Attorney General - United States - 1985 - 1988

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In 1953, Meese graduated from Yale University. He holds a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He worked as assistant district attorney of Alameda County, California before joining Governor Ronald Reagan's staff in 1967. He served as legal affairs secretary from 1967-1968 and as executive assistant and chief of staff to Governor Reagan from 1969 through 1974.

Related Topics:
1953 - Yale University - University of California, Berkeley - Alameda County, California - Ronald Reagan - 1967 - 1968 - 1969 - 1974

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From January 1975 to May 1976, he was vice president for administration of Rohr Industries in Chula Vista, California. He left Rohr to enter private law practice in San Diego County, California. He served as a professor of law at the University of San Diego from 1977 to 1981, and also was director of the Center for Criminal Justice Policy and Management.

Related Topics:
1975 - 1976 - Chula Vista, California - San Diego County, California - University of San Diego - 1977 - 1981

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Meese headed Ronald Reagan's transition effort following the 1980 election. During the presidential campaign, he served as chief of staff and senior issues adviser for the Reagan-Bush committee. After Reagan's election, he became counselor to the President, member of the President's Cabinet and the National Security Council from 1981 to 1985. Judge Lowell Jenson was the second-ranking official in the Justice Department under Meese. In the early 1980s, Meese and the Justice Department recruited right-wing public officials to form the ?Alameda Mafia?.

Related Topics:
Ronald Reagan - 1980 election - Bush - Cabinet - National Security Council - 1981 - 1985 - Justice Department

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Meese became Attorney General in February 1985, holding this office until August, 1988.

Related Topics:
1985 - August - 1988

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Meese's tenure was highly controversial. He became the subject of deep controversy when he gave a speech calling for a "jurisprudence of original intent" in 1986 and criticizing court decisions which he believed strayed from original intent. He also courted controversy when he appointed the "Meese Commission" to investigate pornography in the United States; their report, released in July 1986, was highly critical of pornography and became a target of widespread criticism.

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He was the subject of investigations by the United States Office of the Independent Counsel on two occasions. While neither of these investigations resulted in charges being presented to a grand jury, Meese was charged with wrongdoing in several areas:

Related Topics:
United States Office of the Independent Counsel - Grand jury

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:*An independent prosecutor found Meese probably violated federal conflict-of-interest laws when his family held telephone company stock worth thousands at a time when he was reviewing telecommunications policy at the Justice Department. He also concluded that "a trier of fact would probably conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Meese willfully permitted a materially false tax return to be filed for him."

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:*The Senate Oversight of Government Management subcommittee found that Meese, as counselor to Reagan, had violated White House policy when he intervened to win a defense contract for the scandal-ridden Wedtech Corp.

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:*During the Iran-Contra Affair, Meese conspired with Reagan Administration officials to cover up the crimes committed, possibly even including the President's. He lied to the press and instructed other members of the Cabinet to do so. When conducting a Potemkin investigation, he told Reagan officials they were "under no obligation" to answer questions truthfully.

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:*Republican William Weld, former US assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal division, explained that he was frequently instructed to base his prosecutions on political and ideological criteria. As he understood it, investigations were dropped if "the political affiliation of was likely to be Republican." But they were more likely to be approved, Weld said, if the person under investigation was a liberal (Eric Alterman, The Red-State Times, Continued). (It is not clear, however, if this practice was unique to the Reagan Administration or whether it violates any laws.)

Related Topics:
William Weld - US assistant attorney general - Eric Alterman

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Meese is now a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, an influential conservative think tank, and a member of the Four Horsemen.

Related Topics:
Heritage Foundation - Conservative - Think tank - Four Horsemen

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