Controversial Miami Connections for Obama Leadership Picks

Greg Craig As the Herald reported this morning, several members of Obama's new leadership team in Washington have strong enough ties to the Elian Gonzalez saga to send local Republicans into a tizzy. The AP reports this afternoon that Obama is expected to make Eric Holder the first black attorney...

By Tim Elfrink

November 19, 2008

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Greg Craig

As the Herald reported this morning, several members of Obama's new leadership team in Washington have strong enough ties to the Elian Gonzalez saga to send local Republicans into a tizzy.

The AP reports this afternoon that Obama is expected to make Eric Holder the first black attorney general. Holder, the son of a Barbados immigrant, was deputy attorney general during the raid that returned young Elian to Cuba.

Obama's top choice for White House legal counsel is reportedly Greg Craig, who represented Elian's father in the dispute.

Craig also has another -- more recent -- controversial Miami connection that the Herald didn't mention. He appeared downtown at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Courthouse a few weeks ago to argue on behalf of deposed Bolivian president Gonzalez Sanchez de Lozada and defense minister Carlos Sanchez Berzain. The two face a civil suit accusing them of leading the massacre of 67 protesters in 2003.

-- Tim Elfrink

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Tim Elfrink is a former investigative reporter and managing editor for Miami New Times. He has won the George Polk Award and was a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting.

Contact: Tim Elfrink

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