Difference between revisions of "William Webster"

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In 1991 William Webster returned to private practice as a senior partner in the law offices of [[Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy]] in Washington, DC., where until 2005 he specialised in arbitration, mediation and internal investigation. He is a director of the [[American Arbitration Association]] and the advisory board of the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution and the corporate consultancy [[Diligence]]. He is also a trustee of Washington University in St. Louis.  
 
In 1991 William Webster returned to private practice as a senior partner in the law offices of [[Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy]] in Washington, DC., where until 2005 he specialised in arbitration, mediation and internal investigation. He is a director of the [[American Arbitration Association]] and the advisory board of the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution and the corporate consultancy [[Diligence]]. He is also a trustee of Washington University in St. Louis.  
  
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==HSAC==
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==Chair of HSAC==
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In 2006 Webster was appointed as the Chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council. According to Naomi Klein, as a brand-new arm of the state created by the [[George W. Bush|Bush regime]], the HSAC is the clearest expression of a 'wholly outsourced mode of government':
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In 2006 Webster was appointed as the [[Chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council|Chairman]] of the [[Homeland Security Advisory Council]]. Webster's business interests undermined his credibility to serve in position supposedly crucial to restoring faith in integrity of the US's financial system. Webster was on the board of U.S. Technologies Inc., (UST) a once high-flying Washington firm, which "ceased to exist as a publicly traded company when its stock was de-registered, four months after chief executive [[C. Gregory Earls]] was convicted of defrauding investors of $13.8 million." UST used prison labour to manufacture its products and according to the ''[[Washington Post]]'' "William H. Webster was chosen to head the federal accounting board panel created in the wake of the scandals at [[Enron]] Corp. and [[WorldCom]] Inc. Following news reports that U.S. Technologies had been sued for fraud by investors, Webster withdrew his name from consideration. The brouhaha helped prompt the resignation of Webster's sponsor, [[Harvey L. Pitt]], who was [[chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission]] at the time."<ref>Brooke A. Masters, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37216-2004Aug26.html "U.S. Technologies Stock Delisted After Fraud"], ''Washington Post'', 27 August 2004</ref>
  
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<blockquote style="background-color:beige;border:1pt solid Darkgoldenrod;padding:1%">Although the stated goal was fighting terrorism, the effect was the creation of the disaster capitalism complex - a fully fledged new economy in homeland security, privatised war and disaster reconstruction tasked with nothing less than building and running a privatised security state, both at home and abroad. The economic stimulus of this sweeping initiative proved enough to pick up the slack where globalisation and the dotcom booms had left off. Just as the internet had launched the dotcom bubble, 9/11 launched the disaster capitalism bubble. "When the IT industry shut down, post-bubble, guess who had all the money? The government," said Roger Novak of Novak Biddle Venture Partners, a venture capitalism firm that invests in homeland security companies. Now, he says, "Every fund is seeing how big the trough is and asking, 'How do I get a piece of that action?'"<ref>Naomi Klein, [http://books.guardian.co.uk/shockdoctrine/story/0,,2165953,00.html "The age of disaster capitalism"], ''The Guardian'', 10 September 2007</ref></blockquote>  
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According to [[Nathan Newman]], a union lawyer and vice president of the NYC National Lawyers' Guild:
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<blockquote style="background-color:beige;border:1pt solid Darkgoldenrod;padding:1%">Webster also managed to get appointment in the early 1990s to the three-member government panel overseeing corruption in the Teamsters. Yet despite being paid $100,000 per year for the job, paid out of hardworking Teamsters' dues, many union officials have argued that Webster has been doing very little to earn his money. In serving on the board, Webster has clear conflicts of interest, since he serves on the corporate board of Anheuser-Busch, which negotiates contracts with the Teamsters. As well, Webster serves on the board of [[Pinkerton Security and Investigations Services]], notorious in labor history for its strikebreaking. Unions and affiliated groups like the Labor Party have passed resolutions condemning the Teamster review board for allowing Webster to serve in such a position.<ref>Nathan Newman, [http://www.nathannewman.org/archives/000580.shtml "Fire 'Judge Webster' -- and Then His Boss"], NathanNewman.org, 1 December 2002</ref></blockquote>
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{{SMWDocs}}
  
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Webster's business interests undermined his credibility to serve in position supposedly crucial to restoring faith in integrity of the US's financial system. Webster was on the board of U.S. Technologies Inc., (UST) a once high-flying Washington firm, which "ceased to exist as a publicly traded company when its stock was de-registered, four months after chief executive C. Gregory Earls was convicted of defrauding investors of $13.8 million." UST used prison labour to manufacture its products and according to the ''Washington Post'':
 
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<blockquote style="background-color:beige;border:1pt solid Darkgoldenrod;padding:1%">William H. Webster was chosen to head the federal accounting board panel created in the wake of the scandals at Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. Following news reports that U.S. Technologies had been sued for fraud by investors, Webster withdrew his name from consideration. The brouhaha helped prompt the resignation of Webster's sponsor, Harvey L. Pitt, who was chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission at the time.<ref>Brooke A. Masters, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37216-2004Aug26.html "U.S. Technologies Stock Delisted After Fraud"], ''Washington Post'', 27 August 2004</ref></blockquote>
 
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According to Nathan Newman, a union lawyer and vice president of the NYC National Lawyers' Guild:
 
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<blockquote style="background-color:beige;border:1pt solid Darkgoldenrod;padding:1%">Webster also managed to get appointment in the early 1990s to the three-member government panel overseeing corruption in the Teamsters. Yet despite being paid $100,000 per year for the job, paid out of hardworking Teamsters' dues, many union officials have argued that Webster has been doing very little to earn his money.  In serving on the board, Webster has clear conflicts of interest, since he serves on the corporate board of Anheuser-Busch, which negotiates contracts with the Teamsters. As well, Webster serves on the board of Pinkerton Security and Investigations Services, notorious in labor history for its strikebreaking. Unions and affiliated groups like the Labor Party have passed resolutions condemning the Teamster review board for allowing Webster to serve in such a position.<ref>Nathan Newman, [http://www.nathannewman.org/archives/000580.shtml "Fire 'Judge Webster' -- and Then His Boss"], NathanNewman.org, 1 December 2002</ref></blockquote>
 
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{{SMWDocs}}
 
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>

Revision as of 12:19, 29 October 2015

Person.png William Webster  Rdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
William H. Webster.jpg
BornWilliam Hedgcock Webster
1924-03-06
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Alma materAmherst College, Washington University
ReligionChristian Science
SpouseDrusilla Lane Webster
Founder ofDiligence
Member ofAssociation of Former Intelligence Officers, Atlantic Council/Board, Business Executives for National Security/Advisory Council, Council on Foreign Relations/Members 3, Homeland Security Advisory Council, Institute of World Politics, Psi Upsilon, RAND/Notable Participants
PartyRepublican

William H. Webster (born March 6, 1924) [1] is an American attorney and former federal judge. He is currently Chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC).[2]

FBI and CIA

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter appointed Judge Webster Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the wake of the investigations of the FBI in the mid-1970s.[3] Webster remained FBI Director until 1987, when as the Iran-Contra investigations were ongoing and the CIA was facing new and intense pressures, President Ronald Reagan appointed him Director of Central Intelligence (CIA). William Webster is the only person to have successively held the position of Director of both FBI and CIA.[4]

Private practice

In 1991 William Webster returned to private practice as a senior partner in the law offices of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in Washington, DC., where until 2005 he specialised in arbitration, mediation and internal investigation. He is a director of the American Arbitration Association and the advisory board of the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution and the corporate consultancy Diligence. He is also a trustee of Washington University in St. Louis.

Chair of HSAC

In 2006 Webster was appointed as the Chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council. Webster's business interests undermined his credibility to serve in position supposedly crucial to restoring faith in integrity of the US's financial system. Webster was on the board of U.S. Technologies Inc., (UST) a once high-flying Washington firm, which "ceased to exist as a publicly traded company when its stock was de-registered, four months after chief executive C. Gregory Earls was convicted of defrauding investors of $13.8 million." UST used prison labour to manufacture its products and according to the Washington Post "William H. Webster was chosen to head the federal accounting board panel created in the wake of the scandals at Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. Following news reports that U.S. Technologies had been sued for fraud by investors, Webster withdrew his name from consideration. The brouhaha helped prompt the resignation of Webster's sponsor, Harvey L. Pitt, who was chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission at the time."[5]

According to Nathan Newman, a union lawyer and vice president of the NYC National Lawyers' Guild:

Webster also managed to get appointment in the early 1990s to the three-member government panel overseeing corruption in the Teamsters. Yet despite being paid $100,000 per year for the job, paid out of hardworking Teamsters' dues, many union officials have argued that Webster has been doing very little to earn his money. In serving on the board, Webster has clear conflicts of interest, since he serves on the corporate board of Anheuser-Busch, which negotiates contracts with the Teamsters. As well, Webster serves on the board of Pinkerton Security and Investigations Services, notorious in labor history for its strikebreaking. Unions and affiliated groups like the Labor Party have passed resolutions condemning the Teamster review board for allowing Webster to serve in such a position.[6]

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References

  1. ↑ Judge William H. Webster Biography at Washington University Law School
  2. ↑ "Chairman, Homeland Security Advisory"
  3. ↑ "Interview with William H. Webster", 2005, The Miller Center
  4. ↑ "Directors of Central Intelligence as Leaders of the U.S. Intelligence Community"
  5. ↑ Brooke A. Masters, "U.S. Technologies Stock Delisted After Fraud", Washington Post, 27 August 2004
  6. ↑ Nathan Newman, "Fire 'Judge Webster' -- and Then His Boss", NathanNewman.org, 1 December 2002
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