Jonetta Rose Barras: Demonizing D.C.’s attorney general

To listen to some people — federal Judge Emmet Sullivan, D.C. Council members Phil Mendelson, Mary Cheh and Yvette Alexander and a few in the media, for example — D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles is the devil incarnate.

Actually, he is the puck in a high-stakes political game. Some believe that discrediting him will weaken Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. And so, slamming Nickles — one of the mayor’s closest allies — has become blood sport.

Nickles’ enemies and critics are many. Mendelson and Cheh never wanted him appointed attorney general. They thought him too close to the mayor. They also accused him of pushing out former Attorney General Linda Singer. But some government observers, including myself, never thought she was the right person for the job.

Fenty named Nickles as Singer’s replacement. That provocative move exacerbated the animus toward him. The council approved his appointment, but only by a slim margin. Consequently, the assault didn’t end.

Last week, Alexander called for his resignation. Nothing new there; she voted against his confirmation. Judge Sullivan, who is hearing the case involving the 2002 arrest of World Bank protesters in Pershing Park, accused the attorney general of destroying or losing documents. (It’s hard to understand what Nickles gains by playing loose with evidence. When the lawsuit  was filed, he was in private practice. Fenty was a council member. Their careers won’t be injured by the outcome of the case. ) The city auditor accused

Nickles in the media of withholding files from agencies dissolved by the council two years ago. Her complaint comes as some officials suggest eliminating her office because it duplicates that of the inspector general.

Nickles is hardly perfect. He’s crotchety. He has the annoying mien of a litigator. He seems to delight in rubbing folks the wrong way. I complained, when he was the mayor’s general counsel, that he acted like former Vice President Dick Cheney — methodically expanding the prerogatives of the executive. Former Mayor Anthony A. Williams had acceded privileges of his office to the council. It was clear Fenty intended to recoup that authority; Nickles was his vehicle.

That history and Nickles’ personality often hinder an objective evaluation of his service as attorney general. Truth told, District residents have benefited greatly.

He has aggressively defended the city against lawsuits, saving taxpayers tons of money. He has protected citizens against corporations and individuals who have attempted to rip them off or deny them their rights. His office battled CareFirst over its alleged failure to invest profits in the health care of low-income people. He jacked up slum landlords and private companies scamming black churches. He pushed for improvements in Child and Family Services and, with the council, defended the city’s gun control laws.

Nickles has a record of achievement worthy of praise. But that fact often is ignored in the current political climate, where the goal is to take down a popular and powerful executive by any means necessary.

Jonetta Rose Barras, hosts of WPFW’s “D.C. Politics With Jonetta,” can be reached at rosebook1@aol.com.