House counsel

The General Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives is an appointed position in the U.S. Congress. The current House counsel is Geraldine R. Gennet. In early May 2007, Gennet announced that she would step down from the position she had held for ten years in order to pursue opportunities in the private sector.

Function
Section VIII of House Rule II defines the role of the House counsel:

"There is established an Office of General Counsel for the purpose of providing legal assistance and representation to the House. Legal assistance and representation shall be provided without regard to political affiliation. The Office of General Counsel shall function pursuant to the direction of the Speaker, who shall consult with a Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, which shall include the majority and minority leaderships. The Speaker shall appoint and set the annual rate of pay for employees of the Office of General Counsel."

109th Congress
Geraldine R. Gennet was appointed House counsel by Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) at the commencement of th 109th Congress in 2005. She had been serving the position since 1996, when she was first appointed by then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). (Read more about Gennet’s legal career at FindLaw)

Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) investigation
On September 29, 2006, Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) resigned after records of sexually charged instant messages that he had sent to congressional pages became public. On October 4, 2006, the Justice Department sent a "preservation letter" to Gennet ordering the House to preserve all documents and other materials possibly related to Foley's electronic correspondence with House pages. Such letters are often followed by both search warrants and subpoenas. 

Resources

 * House Rule II - Other officers and officials
 * FindLaw

Articles

 * Charles Tiefer, "The Senate and House Counsel Offices: Dilemmas of Representing in Court the Institutional Congressional Client," Law and Contemporary Problems, Spring 1998.
 * "Report: Hastert's office warned about Foley 3 years ago," Associated Press (delivered by CNN.com), October 4, 2006.
 * Dan Eggen and Allan Lengel, "Order on Documents Signals Justice Dept. May Pursue Foley," Washington Post, October 5, 2006.
 * Larry Margask, "Ethics Panel Launches Foley Case Probe," Washington Post, October 5, 2006. (Also see House Ethics Committee)