Oppo researcher gets prime spot in Obama White House

Rick Moran
February 09, 2009

She doesn't have a law degree but Shauna Daly, a 29 year old Democratic operative has found a home in the White House counsel's office.

She won't be a secretary either. Daly's specialty is digging up dirt on opposing politicians for which she will no doubt find plenty of work in this White House:

Daly does not have the qualifications to be holding a significant position in the White House counsel's office," said Mark Levin, a conservative lawyer and radio-show host who worked in the Reagan White House and as chief of staff for Attorney General Edwin Meese.

"Her only qualification is that she knows how to dig up dirt on other people," he said.

A number of conservative and liberal lawyers and operatives confirmed that it is unusual for someone with Miss Daly's background to be working in the White House counsel's office, though some Clinton-era lawyers said that administration had non-lawyers working in the office.

The White House insists Miss Daly's work will be limited to legal research, like that of a paralegal, and won't stray into political muckraking.

"Shauna will be performing legal research in support of a team of lawyers doing traditional legal work at the White House," said White House spokesman Ben LaBolt.

And if you believe that, I have a bridge over the Potomac River I'd like to sell you.

There are other places where Miss Daly could be of service I'm sure. But the juxtaposition of her skills with the formidable legal talents of the White House counsel's office would be a marriage made in heaven - for a president who will seek to use that office for partisan purposes.

But even some Democrats said there is reason to be cautious about the presence of a political-opposition researcher inside a White House legal office that is supposed to be free of partisan influence.

"Even some Democrats?" I wouldn't doubt that they worry her skills at digging up scandal might be trained on them if they don't play ball with this president.