Former White House adviser arrested

Friday, March 10, 2006 · Last updated 5:17 p.m. PT

Former White House adviser arrested

By STEPHEN MANNING
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- A former domestic policy adviser to President Bush has been charged with theft for allegedly receiving phony refunds at department stores.

Claude Alexander Allen, 45, was arrested Thursday by Montgomery County police for allegedly claiming refunds for more than $5,000 worth of merchandise he did not buy, according to county and federal authorities.

Allen was the No. 2 official in the Health and Human Services Department when Bush nominated him in April 2003 to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. Bush nominated to the court again a year later, but Allen never received a Senate vote.

During his confirmation hearing, Allen was questioned about his use of the word "queer" when he was a press aide to Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., in 1984. Allen said he didn't intend it as a slur against gay people.

In early 2005, Bush hired Allen as a domestic policy adviser. He resigned abruptly on Feb. 9, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.

more...

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151AP_Ex_Bush_Aide.html

Claude A. Allen -- White House
Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy

Most recently, Claude A. Allen was the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services. He also served as the Secretary of Health and Human Resources for the State of Virginia and served in the Virginia Attorney General's Office from 1995 to 1998. He was an Associate at Baker & Botts in Washington, D.C. from 1991 to 1995 and served as a professional staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1985 to 1987. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and Duke University Law School.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/results/leadership/bio_10.html

UPDATE: Allen had the highest salary of any employee in the White House, tied with Karl Rove, Andrew Card, and Stephen Hadley, among others. He was earning $161,000 a year.


http://thinkprogress.org/2006/03/10/claude-allen/

Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy
On The Nomination Of Claude Allen
Executive Business Meeting Of The Judiciary Committee
July 8, 2004

WASHINGTON (Thursday, July 8) – The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed a vote Thursday on the controversial nomination of Claude Allen to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Despite objections from Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the Democratic ranking member of the panel, and other Democratic members, Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said the committee would reconvene Friday to take a vote. Leahy’s remarks on the Allen nomination from the panel’s meeting this morning follows.

http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200407/070804a.html

'Conservative Values' Guide Court Appointee

By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 5, 2003; Page B01

RICHMOND -- Claude A. Allen, nominated by President Bush last week to the nation's most conservative federal appeals court, was just out of college when he began to immerse himself in conservative policy and rough-and-tumble politics as the campaign pitchman for then-U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.).


http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A13850-2003May4¬Found=true

March 10, 2006
Gaithersburg Man Arrested for Theft Scheme

Detectives from the Montgomery County Police Retail Theft Unit arrested a man yesterday for a continuing retail theft scheme.
Claude Alexander Allen, age 45, of the 7200 block of Cliff Pine Drive in Gaithersburg, was charged with theft scheme over $500 and theft over $500. He was released on his own recognizance.

more...

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/apps/policenews/press/DisplayInfo.cfm?ItemID=2378

President Bush's walk with Karl Rove, center, from the White House to the Marine One helicopter was viewed as Bush's show of support for his deputy chief of staff. Accompanying them was domestic policy assistant Claude Allen. Rove accompanied the president on a trip to Indianapolis.

Photo Credit: By Chip Somodevilla -- Getty Images