Woolridge, SE

<p>Wooldridge</p>

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hmmn</p>

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Trump, Rove, Norton, Barbour, Brulte = Inside Bush's Indian Bureau - A labyrinth of lobbyists is manufacturing millions

Wayne Barrett, Jennifer Suh - April 27th, 2004 -</p>

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 http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0417,barrett,53013,1.h...</p>

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... </p>

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Wayne Smith ... the '90s, he'd been chief deputy to California's Republican attorney general ... at 52, he was assistant deputy secretary at Interior, managing the $3.5 billion budget of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and overseeing the hotly politicized Indian casino industry ...</p>

<p>

... <b>in his new job—which he got on the recommendation of a colleague from his AG days, Sue Wooldridge</b>, top aide to Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton. Neal McCaleb, who was Smith's immediate boss and ran BIA, put him in charge of gaming ... BIA remained a bureaucratic land where the only chiefs are buttoned-down lobbyists, raking in millions from tribes whose casinos are virtually franchises to print influence-peddling largesse.</p>

<p>

<b>Smith was troubled early ... his office was lobbied on behalf of two tribes by Diane Allbaugh, the wife of Joe Allbaugh, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the 2000 national campaign manager for Bush. Diane Allbaugh, who worked at a firm headed by former Republican National Committee chair Haley <span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">Barbour,</span> appeared on behalf of a Louisiana casino developer under contract with the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians and the Paucatuck Eastern Pequots, a Connecticut tribe then tied to Donald Trump.</b> McCaleb urged Smith to take her calls, explaining that he and Joe Allbaugh were old Oklahoma friends and that Allbaugh had "helped convince the White House" to install him at BIA.</p>

<p>

... lobbyist who concerned Smith more than any other ... he'd been on the transition working group for Interior, staffing the agency. The dark force of Indian gaming, retained as a hidden consultant by tribes and developers across the country, was Roger Stone, a veteran of eight Republican presidential campaigns and star of the Miami/Dade recount shutdown. Scott Reed is often his up-front lobbyist face.</p>

<p>

... Reed began leaning on Smith in late January 2002. Smith even got a note supporting the Stone faction from the Republican leader of the California state senate, Jim Brulte. Stone had recommended the retention of a consulting firm owned by Brulte's former chief of staff, Tom Ross, and Ross wrote the memo summarizing the Buena Vista case that Brulte enclosed. Later in 2002, Stone would host a fundraiser for Brulte at his 40 Central Park South apartment and take Brulte to visit Stone's longtime client Donald Trump. The Brulte intervention sent a particularly strong message to Smith because he'd attended a 2001 Palm Springs meeting involving Karl Rove and a dozen tribes, where Brulte was introduced as "the administration's main man in California—especially for Indian matters." .</p>

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<p style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>Sue Ellen Wooldridge</b> (born February 15, 1961) is an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">American</a> attorney and a former politically appointed U.S. government employee. She was formerly the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Assistant_Attorney_General" title="United States Assistant Attorney General" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">United States Assistant Attorney General</a> in charge of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice_Environment_and_Natural_Resources_Division" title="United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">environment and natural resources</a>, a division of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice" title="United States Department of Justice" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">United States Department of Justice</a>. As such, she was the U.S.'s top environmental prosecutor. She resigned from this post on January 8, 2007.

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<h2 style=" background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border: none; font-size: 12px; display: inline;">Contents</h2>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Ellen_Wooldridge#Personal" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Personal</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Ellen_Wooldridge#Career" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Career</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Ellen_Wooldridge#Controversies" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Controversies</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Ellen_Wooldridge#References" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Ellen_Wooldridge#External_links" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li>

</ul>

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<h2 style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Personal">Personal</span><span class="mw-editsection" style=" -webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sue_Ellen_Wooldridge&action=edit&section=1&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Personal" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>

<p style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 1.5em;">Wooldridge grew up on a farm in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverside,California" title="Riverside, California" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Artois</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California" title="California" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">California</a>. She holds a bachelor's degree in political science and history from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,Davis" title="University of California, Davis" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">University of California, Davis</a> (1983). She graduated with a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juris_Doctor" title="Juris Doctor" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">J.D.</a>degree from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Law_School" title="Harvard Law School" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Harvard Law School</a> in 1987. She is admitted to practice law in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States" title="Supreme Court of the United States" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">United States Supreme Court</a> and in the state and federal courts of California.

<b>She lived with </b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Steven_Griles" title="J. Steven Griles" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><b>J. Steven Griles</b></a><b>, whom she began dating while he was one of her supervisors at the </b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_the_Interior" title="United States Department of the Interior" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><b>United States Department of the Interior</b></a><b>.</b><a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0215-08.htm" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><b>[1]</b></a><b>, and they were married in March, 2007, "three days after Griles pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about his relationship with </b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Abramoff" title="Jack Abramoff" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><b>Jack Abramoff</b></a><b> and a previous romantic partner."</b><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" style=" line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Ellen_Wooldridge#cite_note-1" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><b>[1]</b></a></sup>

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<h2 style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Career">Career</span><span class="mw-editsection" style=" -webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sue_Ellen_Wooldridge&action=edit&section=2&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Career" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>

<p style=" margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 1.5em;"><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Prior to her service with the Department of Justice, Wooldridge served as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solicitor" title="Solicitor" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">Solicitor</a> for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_the_Interior" title="United States Department of the Interior" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">United States Department of the Interior</a>, that agency's highest ranking lawyer, after being appointed by President <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W.Bush" title="George W. Bush" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">George W. Bush</a> in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recess_appointment" title="Recess appointment" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">recess appointment</a>.<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.doi.gov/news/040601a" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%;">[2]</a> Prior to her employment in that capacity, she served as Counselor to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.Steven_Griles" title="J. Steven Griles" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">J. Steven Griles</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Deputy_Secretary_of_the_Interior" title="United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">Deputy Secretary</a> of the United States Department of the Interior; she also served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor for<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_the_Interior" title="United States Secretary of the Interior" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">Secretary of the Interior</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gale_Norton" title="Gale Norton" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">Gale Norton</a>, serving in that position beginning on January 31, 2001.</span></p>

<p>

<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Prior to her position with the Department of the Interior, Wooldridge worked as a lawyer in private practice in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento,_California" title="Sacramento, California" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">Sacramento, California</a> (from 1987 to 1994, and again from 1999 to 2001), served as general counsel to the non-partisan <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Fair_Political_Practices_Commission" title="California Fair Political Practices Commission" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">California Fair Political Practices Commission</a> (2000), and served as a special assistant attorney general in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Department_of_Justice" title="California Department of Justice" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none;">California Department of Justice</a>).</span></p>

<h2 style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Controversies">Controversies</span><span class="mw-editsection" style=" -webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sue_Ellen_Wooldridge&action=edit&section=3&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Controversies" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>

<p style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 1.5em;"><b>In February 2007, it was reported that in March 2006 Wooldridge had purchased a $980,000 </b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacation_property" title="Vacation property" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><b>vacation home</b></a><sup style=" line-height: 1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/asection/2007-02-15/1.htm" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><b>photo</b></a></sup><b> on </b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiawah_Island,South_Carolina" title="Kiawah Island, South Carolina" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><b>Kiawah Island</b></a><b>, </b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina" title="South Carolina" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><b>South Carolina</b></a><b>, together with two other individuals: </b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Don_R.Duncan&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Don R. Duncan (page does not exist)" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><b>Don R. Duncan</b></a><b>, the vice president for federal and international affairs and a </b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobbying" title="Lobbying" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><b>lobbyist</b></a><b> for </b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ConocoPhillips" title="ConocoPhillips" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><b>ConocoPhillips</b></a><b>, a </b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston,_Texas" title="Houston, Texas" class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><b>Houston</b></a><b>-based oil corporation; and J. Steven Griles, a former deputy interior secretary of the United States (now an oil and gas lobbyist) who pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in a Senate committee's investigation into the </b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Abramoff" title="Jack Abramoff" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><b>Jack Abramoff</b></a><b> affair.</b></p>

<p>

Nine months after buying the home with Duncan and Griles, and just before stepping down, Wooldridge approved consent decrees giving ConocoPhillips three more years to pay millions of dollars in fines for a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfund" title="Superfund" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Superfund</a> toxic waste cleanup and install pollution controls (which are estimated to cost US$525 million) at nine of its refineries.

After she resigned as Assistant Attorney General for Environment and Natural Resources Division (“ENRD” ) a newspaper allegation was made against Ms. Wooldridge that she acted improperly by jointly purchasing a vacation home at Kiawah Island, South Carolina with J. Steven Griles, her then boyfriend at the time and former Deputy Secretary at the Department of Interior (“DOI”) and with their<b> long-time friend Donald R. Duncan a lobbyist for ConocoPhillips</b>. The assertion was made that she acted improperly by approving several consent decrees in litigation between the government and ConocoPhillips, supposedly giving the company preferential treatment. These allegations received wide circulation in the press and on Capitol Hill, to the great detriment to her reputation. A thorough and complete investigation into these allegations by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) established that Ms Wooldridge had not committed any impropriety. In fact, she had proceeded with the property purchase only after first receiving a legal opinion from DOJ ethics officials stating she could participate in the joint purchase, she did not participate in any negotiations of the particular consent decrees, never discussed the consent decrees with any subordinates in her office, and signed the decrees based solely on recommendations by the EPA and every career subordinate official handling the cases that the consent decrees were appropriate and favorable to the government and the environment.

Ms. Wooldridge has been unequivocally exonerated from any supposed wrongdoing during her service in the government.</p>

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<li id="cite_note-1" style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Ellen_Wooldridge#cite_ref-1" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style=" top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up</span>^{</a></b></span> }<span class="reference-text"><span class="citation news" style=" word-wrap: break-word;">Mike Soraghan (April 20, 2007). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/three-days-after-guilty-plea-griles-ties-the-knot-2007-04-19.html" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">"Three days after guilty plea, Griles ties the knot"</a>. The Hill.</span></span></li>

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<h2 style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-image: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px;"><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span><span class="mw-editsection" style=" -webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sue_Ellen_Wooldridge&action=edit&section=5&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: External links" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://149.101.1.32/enrd/Assistant_Attorney_General.html" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Sue Ellen Wooldridge page</a> from United States Department of Justice site</li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/14/AR2007021401913.html" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><i>Washington Post</i> article</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/nationworld/article_1581616.php" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Article from <i>Orange County Register</i></a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://sacbar.org/members/saclawyer/oct_nov2001/wooldridge.html" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAdUlEQVQYV2P4//8/Awxv3LThf0dXKxyD+DA5DEUg+tWrV2AaWTFcIboJyJrhCtGtRMcgebhpL2/4/v//Lvn//x+7IRjIfn8v+P/t055gxZgKPzaC8Y/nMYQVLpnM8f/zo3AqKfzyOOL/h/sh/59c9sBUSIyvAeRdJWjk4E//AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Article about Sue Ellen Wooldridge</a></li>

<li style=" margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/128659.html" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Article from <i>Sacramento Bee</i></a></li>

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<div style=" font-size: 12px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ConocoPhillips" title="ConocoPhillips" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">ConocoPhillips</a></div>

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<th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style=" padding: 0.25em 1em; line-height: 1.5em; text-align: right; white-space: nowrap; background-color: rgb(221, 221, 255); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Divisions</th>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101_Ranch_Oil_Company" title="101 Ranch Oil Company" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">101 Ranch</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ConocoPhillips_Alaska" title="ConocoPhillips Alaska" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Alaska</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlington_Resources" title="Burlington Resources" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Burlington Resources</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_Phillips" title="Chevron Phillips" class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Chevron Phillips</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conoco_Inc." title="Conoco Inc." class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Conoco</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marland_Oil_Company" title="Marland Oil Company" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Marland</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_Petroleum_Company" title="Phillips Petroleum Company" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Phillips</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_66" title="Phillips 66" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Phillips 66</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ProJET" title="ProJET" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">ProJET</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tosco_Corporation" title="Tosco Corporation" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Tosco</a></li>

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<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayway_Refinery" title="Bayway Refinery" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Bayway Refinery</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conoco-Phillips_Building" title="Conoco-Phillips Building" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Conoco-Phillips Building</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_gas_pipeline" title="Alaska gas pipeline" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Denali Gas Pipeline</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humber_Refinery" title="Humber Refinery" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Humber Refinery</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immingham_Power_Station" title="Immingham Power Station" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Immingham Power Station</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rampside_Gas_Terminal" title="Rampside Gas Terminal" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Rampside Terminal</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodeo_San_Francisco_Refinery" title="Rodeo San Francisco Refinery" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Rodeo San Francisco Refinery</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theddlethorpe_Gas_Terminal" title="Theddlethorpe Gas Terminal" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Theddlethorpe Terminal</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_River_Refinery" title="Wood River Refinery" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Wood River Refinery</a></li>

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<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carrig" title="John Carrig" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">John A. Carrig</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_W._Dunham" title="Archie W. Dunham" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Archie W. Dunham</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.W.Marland" title="E. W. Marland" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Ernest W. Marland</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Mulva" title="James Mulva" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">James J. Mulva</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><strong class="selflink" style=" white-space: nowrap;">Sue Ellen Wooldridge</strong></li>

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<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_Disaster_of_1989" title="Phillips Disaster of 1989" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">1989 Phillips Disaster</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_explosion_of_1999" title="Phillips explosion of 1999" class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">1999 Phillips Explosion</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_explosion_of_2000" title="Phillips explosion of 2000" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">2000 Phillips Explosion</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Humber_Refinery_explosion" title="2001 Humber Refinery explosion" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">2001 Humber Refinery Explosion</a></li>

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<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conoco_Stadium" title="Conoco Stadium" class="mw-redirect" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Conoco Soccer Stadium</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ConocoPhillips_Rodeo_Run" title="ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Houston Rodeo Run</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrochemical_fluorination" title="Electrochemical fluorination" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Phillips Petroleum Process</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_66ers" title="Phillips 66ers" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Phillips 66ers</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips,_Texas" title="Phillips, Texas" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Phillips, Texas</a></li>

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<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><b>Annual revenue</b> <span title="Increase"><img src="/ed1904dc-6ff6-5aa4-9264-6307cdd20acc.png"/></span> $246.182 billion USD (2008)</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><b>Employees</b> 33,800 (2009)</li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><b>Stock symbol</b> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchange" title="New York Stock Exchange" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">NYSE</a>: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=cop" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">COP</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px; display: inline;"><b>Website</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.conocophillips.com/" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); background-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 13px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">ConocoPhillips.com</a></li>

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<div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Categories</a>: 

<li style=" margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-style: none; padding: 0px 0.5em 0px 0.25em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:1961_births" title="Category:1961 births" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">1961 births</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Living_people" title="Category:Living people" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Living people</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:United_States_Assistant_Attorneys_General" title="Category:United States Assistant Attorneys General" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">United States Assistant Attorneys General</a></li>

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<li style=" margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:People_from_Glenn_County,_California" title="Category:People from Glenn County, California" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">People from Glenn County, California</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:University_of_California,_Davis_alumni" title="Category:University of California, Davis alumni" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">University of California, Davis alumni</a></li>

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<li style=" margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:ConocoPhillips_people" title="Category:ConocoPhillips people" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">ConocoPhillips people</a></li>

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<li style=" margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:George_W._Bush_administration_controversies" title="Category:George W. Bush administration controversies" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">George W. Bush administration controversies</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Recess_appointments_during_the_George_W._Bush_administration" title="Category:Recess appointments during the George W. Bush administration" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Recess appointments during the George W. Bush administration</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_solicitors" title="Category:American solicitors" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">American solicitors</a></li>

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<h2 style=" margin: 0px auto 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.1; font-size: 28px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; width: 460px;"><a id="titleHref" href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/06/29/351968/-Griles-Wooldridge-A-marriage-made-by-Cheney" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); text-decoration: none;">Griles & Wooldridge: A marriage made by Cheney?</a></h2>

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<p style=" margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4;">The marriage of two former Interior Department appointees, Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles and Solicitor and Deputy Chief of Staff Sue Ellen Wooldridge made headlines last spring, as it occurred three days after Griles entered into a plea agreement with Wooldridge's most recent employer, the Department of Justice. <b> Talking heads abound suggested that it was an attempt by Griles, who had once been Wooldridge's boss, to protect himself from further prosecution by envoking spousal privilege.</b></p>

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<p style=" margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4;">After the <a href="http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cheney/chapters/leaving_no_tracks/index.html" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">last volley</a>in the Washington Post's <a href="http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cheney/" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">four-part take-down</a> of "a branch of government unto himself" Dick Cheney, I think the nuptial motivation may have been a bit misplaced.  Wooldridge was clearly outted as one of the VP's moles in the Interior Department (and one should not forget, later in the Justice Department).  In regards to the 2001-2 <b>Klamath River Basin drought,</b> the WaPo reported:</p>

<p style=" margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4;">Bush and Cheney couldn't afford to anger thousands of solidly Republican farmers and ranchers during the midterm elections and beyond. The case also was rapidly becoming a test for conservatives nationwide of the administration's commitment to fixing what they saw as an imbalance between conservation and economics.</p>

<p>

"What does the law say?" Christie, the former aide, recalled the vice president asking. "Isn't there some way around it?"

Next, Cheney called Wooldridge, who was then deputy chief of staff to Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton and the woman handling the Klamath situation. <br style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4;" />

Aides praise Cheney's habit of reaching down to officials who are best informed on a subject he is tackling. But the effect of his calls often leads those mid-level officials scrambling to do what they presume to be his bidding.</p>

<p>

That's what happened when a mortified Wooldridge finally returned the vice president's call, after receiving a tart follow-up inquiry from one of his aides. Cheney, she said, "was coming from the perspective that the farmers had to be able to farm -- that was his concern. The fact that the vice president was interested meant that everyone paid attention."

Cheney made sure that attention did not wander. He had Wooldridge brief his staff weekly and, Smith said, he also called the interior secretary directly.</p>

</blockquote>

<b>The WaPo pointed out in the first sentence of this segment that Wooldridge at the time was the "19th-ranking Interior Department official"; however, a mere three years later, she held the office of <a href="http://www.doi.gov/news/040601a" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none;">Solicitor</a>, the third-ranking position., after Secretary Gale Norton, and her yet undisclosed romantic partner, Steve Griles (their relationship apparently began in February, 2003.)  Wooldridge became Solicitor in June, 2004, as a Bush recess appointment, at a time when the initial revelations of Jack Abramoff's misdeeds were being reported, mostly by the Washington Post.</b>  </p>

<p>

Senator John McCain, after the initial story broke in the post in late February, 2004, subpoenaed thousands of documents from Greenberg Traurig, Abramoff's firm, and held three hearings beginning in September, 2004.  However, at no time during the 2004 hearings, despite having plenty of evidence, did McCain indicate that individuals at the DoI, DoJ or even the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy were party to the Abramoff scandal.</p>

<p>

<b> This delay allowed the Interior Department to place one of its most compromised, politically and personally, players in the position of "gatekeeper" for DoI documents and employees, while, ostensibly, removing Wooldridge from her dangerous proximity, as Deputy Chief of Staff, to the Secretary.  It is not at all surprising then, that when Griles' central role in the Abramoff affair became apparent though Senate testimony and related released documents, that Cheney's mole was moved out of DoI altogether, but into a position where she would have direct oversight into Interior affairs - as Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice, a position previously held by none other than close Cheney friend and fellow Wyomingite, Thomas Sansonetti.</b></p>

<p>

Griles was one of the few people at Interior who knew of Wooldridge's long-time connection to Cheney, and marrying him essentially shut-off that line of attack by would be detractors.  One now has to wonder if the huge outpouring of support for leniency (<a href="http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/dc/griles_letters.pdf" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">91 letters</a>) in Griles' sentencing was orchestrated as a reward for this nuptial sacrifice.  </p>

<p>

Italia Federici, however, has not been so lucky, and, having been so thoroughly spurned, has agreed to cooperate with the investigation.  Is she a threat at all to Wooldridge?  Yesterday, while combing through CREW's pile of FOIA documents released by DoI, I came across this entry in Gale Norton's calendar:</p>

<p style=" margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4;">Tuesday, July 10, 2001:  1:00 - 2:00 pm: Italia Federici, Wooldridge, Bettenberg, Ruff, Pfiefle.</p>

</blockquote>

<p style=" margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4;">William Bettenberg was Director of the Office of Policy Analysis, specializing in hydroelectricity, according to his July 19, 2001 testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  He was also, however, Director of the Minerals Management Service during the Reagan Administration, and an expert on allowing BigEnergy to run off with billions in unpaid royalties.  Eric Ruff was DoI communications director, and Mark Pfeifle, Norton's press secretary.

When I first noticed that meeting eighteen months ago, I figured it was related to CREA's ANWR campaign, as three weeks later Federici scored a meeting with DoE Secretary Spencer Abraham's CoE, joined by a Teamster's organizer and GOP PR guru, William Greener. <b> However, Wooldridge wasn't directly involved at that time in ANWR, although she had represented Norton and the DoI on Cheney's Energy Task Force working group.</b>  And the inclusion of Bettenberg was thoroughly confusing, as he was completely wrapped up in hydroelectric at the time.

While the WaPo's article leaves out the specific timeframe regarding his first contact with Wooldridge, it clearly was in the midst of the initial 2001 crisis, which came to a head in early summer 2001,</p>

<p style=" margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4;">when hundreds of farmers and their supporters used torches and crowbars to open the headgates of an irrigation canal four times in one week. Local sheriffs and police stood by, claiming lack of jurisdiction. Now National Park Service police and FBI agents guard the headwaters, but that hasn’t deterred the farmers. They are laying a pipeline that will take water from Upper Klamath Lake directly to the irrigation ditches, bypassing the headgates.</p>

</blockquote>

<p style=" margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4;">Was the July 10th meeting in response to the call placed a couple weeks earlier by Cheney?  There's nothing to indicate one way or another, but clearly, Federici, who at the time was romantically involved with Steve Griles (who was nominated, but not yet confirmed as Deputy Secretary of Interior) and Wooldridge were working on some project together, a project that was important enough for Norton herself to be involved, needed the expertise of Bettelberg, and was a communications/PR issue.</p>

<p>

If Cheney Inc. was worried about Griles, it seems clear that they would have figured a way out to silence Federici.  It seems, however, that the real danger is Wooldridge, and effectively shutting down Griles' subpoenaed testimony was a nearly brilliant move.  Of course, Griles thought he'd be spending three months of newly wedded-bliss in home confinement at the time.  I wonder if he's rethinking the wedding now that he's looking at ten months in Club Fed.

<strong style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4;">Update:</strong>  McClatchy <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/v-print/story/17466.html" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">is reporting</a> that the House Resources Committee, chaired by Nick Rahall (D-WV) is opening hearings on the Klamath due to the WaPo's reporting:</p>

<p style=" margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4;"><strong style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4;">House panel to investigate Cheney's Klamath River actions</strong><br style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4;" />

David Whitney | McClatchy Newspapers<br style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4;" />

last updated: June 28, 2007 07:58:29 PM

WASHINGTON — The House Natural Resources Committee announced Thursday that it will hold hearings into Vice President Dick Cheney's involvement in Klamath River water management that many think led to the die-off of more than 70,000 salmon four years ago.

<b>"It certainly appears that this administration will stop at nothing to achieve political gain from natural resources disasters," said Rep. Nick J. Rahall, the West Virginia Democrat</b> who heads the panel.</p>

<p>

Three dozen House Democrats from Oregon and California asked for the hearing in a letter to Rahall after the Washington Post reported on details of Cheney's intervention.

According to the newspaper, Cheney personally contacted Sue Ellen Wooldridge — a Northern Californian who then was Interior Secretary Gale Norton's top aide for the Klamath — about his concerns over the Bureau of Land Management's decision to stop deliveries of irrigation water. At the time the region was emerging from a severe drought in 2001, and the BLM was enforcing a finding by scientists that water diversions to farmers would harm endangered salmon and suckerfish.</p>

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<p style=" margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4;">Initially posted at <a href="http://wampum.wabanaki.net/vault/2007/06/003805.html" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">Wampum</a>.  The whole sordid Abramoff/Griles/Wooldridge/Federici/Norton/Norquist affair is documented for the past two years<a href="http://wampum.wabanaki.net/vault/abramoff_the_injuns/" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">here</a>.   In addition, at the time, there was quite a bit of speculation as to <a href="http://www.mindfully.org/Water/2003/Karl-Rove-Salmon-Killer30jul03.htm" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">Karl Rove's part</a> in the whole Klamath deal.</p>

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<h4 style=" margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.1; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(112, 109, 90); font-family: 'IM Fell English', serif; font-weight: normal; text-transform: uppercase; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ORIGINALLY POSTED TO <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/blog/mbw/" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none;">MBW</a> ON FRI JUN 29, 2007 AT 10:33 AM PDT.</h4>

<li style=" margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; background-image: none; display: inline; float: left; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/news/Dick%20Cheney" style=" margin: 0px 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; display: inline; float: left;">Dick Cheney</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; background-image: none; display: inline; float: left; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/news/Italia%20Federici" style=" margin: 0px 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; display: inline; float: left;">Italia Federici</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; background-image: none; display: inline; float: left; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/news/Klamath%20river" style=" margin: 0px 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; display: inline; float: left;">Klamath river</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; background-image: none; display: inline; float: left; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/news/Rescued" style=" margin: 0px 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; display: inline; float: left;">Rescued</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; background-image: none; display: inline; float: left; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/news/Steven%20Griles" style=" margin: 0px 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; display: inline; float: left;">Steven Griles</a></li>

<li style=" margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; background-image: none; display: inline; float: left; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/news/Sue%20Ellen%20Wooldridge" style=" margin: 0px 3px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.4; color: rgb(124, 71, 12); text-decoration: none; display: inline; float: left;">Sue Ellen Wooldridge</a></li>

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<h3 style=" color: rgb(23, 30, 36); font-family: Georgia; background-color: rgb(254, 253, 249);">Sue Ellen Wooldridge (2005-2007)</h3>

<p style=" color: rgb(23, 30, 36); font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(254, 253, 249);"><strong>Early History/Schooling:</strong>  Sue Ellen Wooldridge was born in Carpenteria, California on February 15, 1961.  Early in her life, her family relocated to the rural town of Artois, California, where she graduated from high school in 1979.  Wooldridge received a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from the University of California-Davis in 1983 and a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1987.</p>

<p>

<strong>Tenure as AAG: </strong>Wooldridge was nominated to be AAG by President George W. Bush on June 20, 2005, and was confirmed on November 10, 2005.  During her tenure, the Division lodged a landmark consent decree in <em>U.S. v. Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA), </em>in which PRASA agreed to perform more than $1.7 billion in injunctive relief to resolve several violations at water treatment plants throughout Puerto Rico.  In <em>Western Shoshone National Council v. U.S., </em>another case litigated during her tenure, the Division helped clear the way for the development of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste depository.  Wooldridge resigned in January 2007.

<strong>Career: </strong> After completing law school, Wooldridge joined Diepenbrock, Wuff, Plant & Hannegan, where she was a civil litigator in California state and federal courts.  <span style=" background-color: #FFF200;">In 1994, she became a Special Assistant Attorney General to then-California Attorney General Dan Lungren</span>, where she played a primary role in negotiating a tobacco settlement that generated significant revenue for California.  After Lungren lost a 1998 gubernatorial bid, Wooldridge returned to private practice as one of the founding partners of Riegels, Campos & Kenyon LLP, where she remained until January 2001. <b> She joined Secretary Gale Norton at the Department of the Interior in early 2001 as the Secretary’s Deputy Chief of Staff.  </b>During this time, she played a key role in the Department’s involvement with the Klamath Basin water dispute.  In 2004, she became the Solicitor of the Interior Department, serving in this position until her appointment as AAG. </p>

<p>

<strong>Personal:</strong>  Wooldridge married former Deputy Secretary of the Interior J. Steven Griles in 2007.  She was captain of the UC Davis women’s basketball team, and also plays tennis and golf.  She is an avid horseback rider, an activity she learned while living on her childhood farm.</p>

<p>

<em>This material is based on the review of a variety of historical sources, and its accuracy cannot be guaranteed.  If you have any corrections or additional information about this individual or about the history of the Division, please contact </em><a href="mailto:webcontentmgr.enrd@usdoj.gov" style=" color: rgb(166, 130, 75); text-decoration: none;"><em>ENRD</em></a>.</p>

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<td style=" padding: 5px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=F26681&year=2012" style=" background-color: transparent; color: rgb(62, 114, 181); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Gresham Consulting Group</a></td>

<td style=" padding: 5px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=F18398&year=2012" style=" background-color: transparent; color: rgb(62, 114, 181); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Quapaw Tribe</a></td>

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<div><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080320231857/http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/">http://web.archive.org/web/20080320231857/http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/</a></div>

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<p style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="body" style=" font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">February 16, 2007 | <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080320231857/http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/back_issues.php" class="body" style=" color: rgb(0, 102, 51); text-decoration: none;">Back Issues</a></span> 

<span class="largebold" style=" font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-weight: bold;">Short of a Crime, Anything Goes: Interior Department Corruption Scandal Widens</span>

<font class="body" style=" font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Last fall, Interior Department Inspector General Earl Devaney testified before Congress that "simply stated, short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of the Interior." [1] New revelations about the relationship between two high-ranking administration officials add new meaning to Devaney's charge.</font></p>

<p>

<font class="body" style=" font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><font class="body" style=" font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font class="body" style=" font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Sue Ellen Wooldridge, the Justice Department's top environmental attorney and a former political appointee at the Interior Department, recently resigned after disclosing her long-term relationship with J. Steven Griles—the Interior Department's former deputy secretary whose ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff are the subject of a criminal investigation<b>. Wooldridge played a lead role in responding to earlier ethics investigations of Griles, at times even helping deflect allegations against him.</b></font></font></font></p>

<p>

Griles was a top lobbyist for the mining, oil and gas industries before joining the Interior Department. While at Interior he was the subject of a high-profile ethics investigation into his continued contacts with his clients, despite having signed a recusal agreement when he took office. Environmental groups repeatedly pointed out that <b>Griles was also receiving $284,000 per year from his former lobbying firm during each of the four years he was on the government payroll.</b></p>

<p>

According to the Legal Times, while serving as deputy chief of staff to Secretary Gale Norton, Wooldridge was tasked with screening Griles' compliance with his recusal agreements. She subsequently oversaw the operation of the department's ethics office—which was monitoring Griles' conduct—while serving as solicitor, the department's top lawyer. At one point she even weighed in on his behalf, writing a letter that disputed a draft Inspector General report that concluded Griles may have committed an ethical violation. [2]</p>

<p>

At no time during the Inspector General's 18-month investigation into Griles did Wooldridge disclose her relationship with him, which, according to the Legal Times, dated at least to February of 2004. Nor did she disclose the relationship during her Senate confirmation hearing for the Interior solicitor job, or mention it when questioned about potential conflicts of interest during her later Justice Department confirmation hearing.</p>

<p>

The Washington Post reported yesterday that while at the Justice Department,<b> Wooldridge purchased a $980,000 vacation home with Griles and a lobbyist for ConocoPhillips</b>. Nine months after entering this business partnership, Wooldridge approved consent decrees allowing the oil company to delay environmental clean-up projects. [3]

The House Natural Resources Committee is holding an oversight hearing today to examine ethical failures, employee misconduct and general mismanagement at the Interior Department. Inspector General Devaney provided testimony on the ethics investigations his office has conducted over the past few years. [4]

References:

Edmund L. Andrews. Many Investigations, One Department. New York Times, January 21, 2007.
Jason McLure. Official’s Romance Raises Conflict Questions. Legal Times, February 5, 2007.
Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi. Justice Official Bought Vacation Home with Oil Lobbyist. Washington Post, February 15, 2007.
DOI Inspector General Devaney:<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080320231857/http://www.doioig.gov/upload/MMS%20ROI%20REDACTED.pdf">http://www.doioig.gov/upload/MMS%20ROI%20REDACTED.pdf</a>