(FiveNation.com)- Last week, former Clinton White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum died at 84. According to his son, Nussbaum died from heart disease.
Nussbaum, who was a close friend of Hillary Clinton, was named White House counsel after Bill Clinton won in 1992, but served only 14 months before then-President Clinton requested he resign.
It was Nussbaum who had to deal with the fallout from the multiple scandals that plagued Clinton’s first years in office, including the Whitewater land venture scandal, the apparent suicide of deputy counsel Vince Foster, and the Clinton administration’s request for FBI files on Republicans.
Nussbaum became the lightning rod for the Clinton scandals, becoming a target of anger over his aggressive efforts to shield both Bill and Hillary from their growing list of scandals. Republicans accused Nussbaum of obstructing justice in his attempts to protect the Clintons.
Eventually, Nussbaum only added fuel to the Republicans’ fire, so President Clinton finally told him to resign.
Before getting hooked up with the Clintons, Nussbaum served as senior counsel on the House Judiciary Committee in 1974 during its investigation of the Watergate scandal.
Afterward, Nussbaum remained in private practice until Bill Clinton brought him in as White House Counsel.
During the Whitewater investigation, Nussbaum had suggested the Clintons refuse to turn over any documents to investigators.
During the investigation into the apparent suicide of Vince Foster, Nussbaum sought to prevent Justice Department officials from gaining access to Foster’s office files, arguing that he was ethically bound to review the files before investigators could see them so he could withhold any sensitive White House documents unrelated to Foster’s death.
When the White House was caught possessing confidential FBI background reports for dozens of people who previously worked in Republican administrations, it turned out the person whose name appeared on the request for the files was none other than Nussbaum.
The Clinton White House admitted it got the files by “mistake,” and Nussbaum claimed he wasn’t aware his office had requested them.
