Election Law

Obama Lawyer Dials in to Clinton Conference Call

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Barack Obama’s campaign lawyer, Bob Bauer, found an unusual way to get some free press yesterday evening: Crash a conference call for the media convened by the Clinton camp.

Bauer dialed in and called on his primary opponent to stop attacking the caucus process in Texas, clashing with Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson over the issue. Stories followed in several publications and the blogs they publish, including CNN, the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.

The stories report on this exchange:

Wolfson, asking Bauer to help prevent caucus irregularities: “Join with us this evening in helping to make sure that these problems are corrected so that everybody has an opportunity to participate.”

Bauer: “I’m more than happy to enter into any commitment that you might have to actually for the first time in some period of time stop attacking the caucus process that didn’t start bothering the Clinton campaign until it ran a series of fairly extraordinary losses.”

Wolfson finally stopped the conversation, saying he looked forward to “asking our own questions on subsequent calls of yours.” The Washington Post points out that Bauer at one time represented Wolfson, a function of the “small political world where Democratic operatives cross paths.”

Clinton ended up winning in Texas, despite the charges of problems in some of the state’s precincts.

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