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Dec. 30, 2010 |
DAVIS QUITS IVORY COAST |
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By Kevin McCauley
Lanny Davis & Associates has quit a $300K, three-month pact signed earlier this month to provide "substantial documentary evidence that President Laurent Gbagbo is the duly elected president" of the Ivory Coast.
The move comes as the United Nations and U.S. call for Gbagbo to step down following his Nov. 28 electoral defeat and African nations mull military intervention in the Ivory Coast to oust the strongman.
Gbagbo, who has the support of Ivory Coast's military, claims the international community has declared war against his country, where nearly 200 people have been killed in post-election rioting.
In his resignation letter, Lanny Davis, who was President Clinton's legal counselor, said he quit because Gbagdo refused to cooperate in efforts to his plan to arrange a telephone call with President Obama.
The resignation was a "difficult decision," Davis said.
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Responses: |
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Bill Huey, Atlanta (12/30):
Im sure it was all a misunderstanding. How about another beer summit, this time in Hawaii?
Veep (12/30):
Wait, Mr. Crisis abandoned his client in a crisis?
Ron Levy (1/03):
As in medicine, you can examine, diagnose and prescribe but if the client doesn't want to do what you recommend, the honorable thing is to stop recommending, stop taking the fee, and hope as Davis has done that the client wil have a good outcome. President Gbagbo was sworn in (or whatever the ceremony there is called) after the election years ago, and the Supreme Court of his country says he won the latest election. All over the world--including Alaska where Senator Murkowski will remain in office following a court decision--candidates and the public obey the rule of law. Should President Gbagbo have had a phone call with President Obama if Davis could arrange that? I guess the answer is yes. Should Davis work for other accounts, who may be lined up hoping he'll work personaly on their accounts? Surely it's yes again. Davis need not wait for the phone to ring, nor should he take Gbagbo's money if Gbagbo won't take the advice. A three-month retainer is not a union until death do us part. When I was the top expert in a very narrow area of human judgment--how to structure releases so they get maximum clippings from the wealthy suburbs--it was extremely frustrating when I worked my ass off and then the client said no to my proposal. Sometimes I told such a client to go screw himself. (Then I realized that in Washington, this could be construed as counseling unlawful behavior, so I promised myself that in the future I'd add the words: "This suggestion void where prohibited by law." |
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