Barbara Comstock

Barbara Comstock is a noted Republican political consultant, lobbyist, attorney, and campaign and media advisor. Comstock is currently the co-founder and co-principal of Corallo Comstock, a public policy and public relations firm.Paul Singer and Tory Newmyer, "K Street Files", Roll Call, April 11, 2007, p. 7] Comstock most recently served as a consultant on the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney. [http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2007/04/rumor_debunked.html Marc Ambinder, "Rumor Debunked: Comstock's Not Leaving Team Romney", The Hotline on Call, April 23, 2007] ] Update after|2008|03|01 In April 2007, Comstock was the subject of rumors, believed to be false, that she would leave Romney to work on behalf of possible presidential candidate Fred Thompson, thus joining her business partner Mark Corallo.

Career

Comstock worked as Chief Investigator for Representative Dan Burton (R-Ind.) during the Whitewater era, along with David Bossie and Floyd Brown, was opposition research director for the Republican National Committee, [http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1175245444489 T.R. Goldman and Emma Schwartz, "DOJ Official Brings Storm by Taking the Fifth in Gonzales Flap", Legal Times, April 2, 2007] ] and was director of the office of public affairs for the United States Justice Department. [http://www.iwf.org/experts/ex_coms.asp]

Comstock served as chief investigative counsel and senior counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform from 1995 to 1999.cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A43033-2001Aug21 |author=John Mintz |title=One-Woman Wrecking Crew Targets Democratic Leaders: Meticulous Comstock Helps RNC Skewer the Opposition |work=Washington Post |date=2001-08-22 |pages=A17] Earlier, she became an appropriations aide/senior aide for Congressman Frank Wolf (R-Va.) from 1991 to 1995, after volunteering in his office and leaving the private practice of law. Comstock began her congressional career as an intern for Senator Ted Kennedy.

Praise

Comstock has been described, even by critics, as a "very smart lawyer by training."David Brock, "Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative" (2003), pp. 227, 273] Comstock's work in opposition research for the RNC and with Burton has been praised as "meticulous and thorough," with her research being "one of the most successful parts of the RNC in 2000." Her research team built massive stores of paper and electronic data, known as "The Gore File," that were a key source of information on the former vice president for Republican Party publicists and ad-makers. Her team was also instrumental in assisting Republican operatives in the 2000 Florida vote recount and in writing the Republican 'playbook' defending Bush nominees such as John Ashcroft, for attorney general.

Criticisms of work on Clinton investigations

In his book "Blinded by the Right", formerly conservative journalist David Brock discusses Comstock's Whitewater investigative efforts against the Clintons, characterized as "almost unhinged" by other critics. [http://dir.salon.com/story/opinion/conason/2005/11/15/libby_defense/index.html Joe Conason, "Libby's secret defense fund", Salon, November 15, 2005] ] Brock notes that Comstock would regularly make late-night telephone calls with "the latest tidbit she had dug up in the thousands and thousands of pages of administration records she pored through frantically," and visited Brock to "watch the rerun of a dreadfully dull Whitewater hearing she had sat through all day." To Brock, Comstock seemed "especially intent on proving that Hillary [Clinton] had lied about her role" in Travelgate.

Work for prominent indicted individuals

Comstock has assisted the defense team work on behalf of two prominent indicted individuals, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and former House Majority Leader Tom Delay. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40496-2005Apr9.html Mike Allen, "DeLay's Backers Launch Offense", Washington Post, April 10, 2005] ] She has been described by critics as a "right-wing operative" who "materialized to mastermind" the Scooter Libby defense team through the promise of engaging supportive publicity and financial assistance.

Personal

Comstock graduated from Middlebury College in 1981 and graduated from Georgetown University Law School in 1986. [cite press release |title=ATTORNEY GENERAL ASHCROFT ANNOUNCES BARBARA COMSTOCK AS DIRECTOR OF OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT |author=U.S. Department of Justice |date=December 21 2001 |url=http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2001/December/01_ag_667.htm |accessdate=2008-03-12]

Comstock serves on the Board of Trustees of the Theodore Roosevelt Association.

Operative member and present with Erik Prince's(founder, CEO of BlackWater, extensive family history funding of Republican Party) legal team during his October 2nd, 2007 meeting with the US House Oversight Committee.

References

External links

* [http://www.iwf.org/experts/ex_coms.asp Independent Women's Forum Bio for Barbara Comstock]
* [http://www.scooterlibby.com Libby Legal Defense Trust]
* [http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/people/barbaracomstock "Media Matters" Profile for Barbara Comstock] Dead link|date=March 2008

See also

opposition research