Obama Team Faces Major Task in Justice Dept. Overhaul - washingtonpost.com

Obama Team Faces Major Task in Justice Dept. Overhaul - washingtonpost.com
Obama Team Faces Major Task in Justice Dept. OverhaulGoal Is to Restore Confidence in Law Enforcement Actions
By Carrie Johnson Washington Post Thursday, November 13, 2008; A02
As a transition team for the Obama administration begins work on a Justice Department overhaul, the key question is where to begin… Although retired federal judge Michael B. Mukasey, who took charge of the department in the winter, has drawn praise for limiting contacts between White House officials and prosecutors, and for firmly rejecting the role of politics in law enforcement, restoring public confidence in the department's law enforcement actions will be central, lawmakers and former government officials say… Topping the list of concerns is the Office of Legal Counsel, a once-obscure operation whose advice guides some of the government's most sensitive and controversial policies, from domestic wiretapping to the appropriateness of handing out public funding to religious groups… David Ogden, a chief of the department's civil division in the Clinton years, will lead the transition effort. Thomas J. Perrelli, who was a counselor to Attorney General Janet Reno and a classmate of Obama's at Harvard Law School , will serve as a deputy