Kirsten Gillibrand



Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, is the Junior Senator from New York in the United States Senate. She represented the 20th Congressional District of New York (map) between 2007-2009. On January 23, 2009, Gillibrand was appointed by New York Governor David Paterson to fill the seat in the United States Senate vacated by Hillary Clinton, who assumed the office of United States Secretary of State in President Barack Obama's administration. She resigned from the House of Representatives on January 26, 2009, and was sworn in as a senator on January 27.

Tobacco industry involvement
On March 27, 2009, the New York Times published an article detailing the extent to which Kirsten Gillibrand was involved with cigarette maker Philip Morris during her time as a lawyer with the global legal firm Davis, Polk & Wardwell. A former colleague of Gillibrand's at Davis Polk, Vincent Chang, told the Times that lawyers at Davis Polk were permitted to decline work on the tobacco cases if they had a moral or ethical objection to the work. Ms. Gillibrand did not decline to work for PM.

Under her maiden name Kirsten Rutnik (sometimes misspelled "Rutnick"), Gillibrand was involved at high levels in the legal affairs of Philip Morris. In 1998, while an attorney with Davis, Polk & Wardwell, she served on Philip Morris' Privilege and Crime Fraud Committee, which was comprised of attorneys from both inside and outside Philip Morris. A description of the Crime Fraud Committee's function is contained in a July 18, 1998 Philip Morris email authored by another attorney representing PM, Inc. and Philip Morris Companies, Thomas J. Frederick. Frederick wrote,

"... I believe the group below comprises what I'm calling the Philip Morris Crime/Fraud Issues Committee, which, as I understand it, should be consulted with respect to just about any privilege issue that might arise in any case, but especially crime/fraud issues:
 * Bill Allinder--Shook, Hardy & Bacon
 * Noel Clinard--Hunton & Williams
 * David Florendo--Philip Morris
 * John Mulderig--Philip Morris
 * David Murphy--Wachtell Lipton
 * Kirsten Rutnick--Davis Polk
 * Leslie Wharton--Arnold & Porter"

A 1999 fax cover sheet sent to Kirsten Rutnik (Gillibrand) further confirms that she was a participant on Philip Morris' Privilege and Crime Fraud Committee, along with the other advisors mentioned in the email above. Several of her colleagues on this Committee were partners at their respective law firms.

Two of her colleagues on the Privilege and Crime Fraud Committee, John Mulderig of Philip Morris' Legal Department and Leslie Wharton of the law firm Arnold and Porter, co-authored an article about the strategic danger to corporations of plaintiffs challenging privilege claims in lawsuits, which gives insight into potential areas of concern of members of PM's Privilege and Crime Fraud Committee.

Gillibrand served on PM's elite Privilege and Crime Fraud Committee during a particularly contentious and perilous time for Philip Morris and the other American tobacco companies. In June, 1997, during the height of the onslaught of state lawsuits against the tobacco industry to recoup Medicaid funds spent treating sick smokers, the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight filed a Minority Staff Report charging that attorneys who worked for the major U.S. tobacco companies had misused attorney-client privilege to shield important documents regarding the health implications of their products from the public, and thus had advanced corporate crime or fraud. The Committee wrote:

It appears that lawyers have been at the heart of a tobacco industry strategy to cast doubt on whether smoking causes cancer and to keep detrimental research on human health effects from the public. Lawyers can function largely out of view because they can shield their work product behind the attorney-client privilege. Several courts, however, have recently been presented with attorney-client documents for in camera review. These courts have determined that the tobacco industry's attorney-client documents contain evidence of a tobacco industry crime or fraud -- and should therefore be disclosed.


 * In 1998, Kirsten Rutnik (Gillibrand) consulted with Roger G. Whidden, Vice President of Philip Morris Worldwide Regulatory Affairs and Associate General Counsel for Philip Morris, regarding a draft of a document on nitrosamines, one of the carcinogenic components in tobacco smoke.


 * Kirsten Rutnik (Gillibrand) was also in contact with Dr. Wolf Reininghaus, General Manager of Philip Morris' overseas contract research lab, the Institut fur Biologische Forschung, or INBIFO, in Cologne, Germany. The lab specialized in performing inhalation toxicology tests on secondhand tobacco smoke. Between 1981 and 1989 scientists at INBIFO performed at least 115 studies for PM on the toxicity of secondhand tobacco smoke, but PM never published the results of these studies. The tests performed at INBIFO revealed that secondhand smoke is four times more toxic by inhalation and 2-6 times more tumorigenic on skin than mainstream smoke (the smoke the smoker himself inhales).


 * Gillibrand (Rutnik) visited INBIFO in person in January-Feburary 1996, with PM attorney John Mulderig


 * Rutnik visited INBIFO again on March 12, 1998.

Political courage test
Rep. Gillibrand did not respond to the 2008 Political Courage Test when asked to do so by national leaders of the political parties, prominent members of the media, Project Vote Smart President Richard Kimball, and Project Vote Smart staff.

Financial bailout bill
Gillibrand voted against the $700 billion bailout bill in the 110th Congress, saying the bill did not do enough to protect taxpayers nor did it provide enough financial return for taxpayers investment.

Energy
Gillibrand campaigned in 2008 on a record of voting to improve automotive mileage standards, for investments in renewable energy, and for tax credits to small businesses that embraced the use of alternative energy supplies. She also called on domestic energy producers to use existing leases for oil and gas development and for a release of oil from the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Health care
During her 2008 re-election campaign, Gillibrand pledged to support a national health-care system that Americans could buy into. This plan would be an alternative to plans already offered by private insurers. She also said small businesses should be encouraged, through the use of tax credits, to offer health insurance to their workers, and she also approved of giving tax credits to low-income families who elected to purchase health care.

Gun rights
In 2008, the National Rifle Association gave Gillibrand a 100-percent rating in its lawmaker scorecard. Gillibrand also introduced legislation in the farm bill that would have increased lands available for conservation and hunting.

Schedule posting
Gillibrand became the first member of the House to post their schedule online after pledging to do so in the 2006 campaign. An archive of her daily postings can be found here.

Gillibrand said she was also among the first to post her earmark requests online and to voluntary post her personal financial disclosure forms as well.

Biography
Born in Albany, Gillibrand graduated from Dartmouth College and the University of California, Los Angeles Law School. After graduation, she worked as a law clerk on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. During the Clinton Administration, she served as Special Counsel to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. At the time she ran for Congress in 2006, she was a partner in the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner. She and her husband Jonathan have two children.

2006 elections
In the 2006 congressional elections, Gillibrand defeated incumbent Rep. John Sweeney to take control of her seat.

2008 elections
Gillibrand faced Sandy Treadwell (R), a former New York State GOP chairman, in the 2008 congressional election. The incumbent raised more than $4 million to beat back Treadwell's self-financed challenge, holding on to her conservative upstate district with a centrist message and record in Congress.

Senate appointment
On December 1, 2008, then President-elect Barack Obama announced his nomination of Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. Clinton's confirmation created a vacancy in the Senate to be filled by appointment by Gov. David Paterson. Gillibrand was one of several people rumored by the media, including Caroline Kennedy and Gillibrand's former boss, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, to be under consideration as Clinton's replacement. Clinton was confirmed as Secretary of State and resigned her Senate seat on January 21, 2009.

On January 23, Paterson named Gillibrand as his appointee to Clinton's vacated seat. Paterson said Gillibrand would serve in that role until a special election is held in November 2010 for remainder of Clinton's term (which ends with the 112th Congress in January 2013). Gillibrand acknowledged many New York residents did not know her, and pledged to follow in Clinton's example and work hard for her constituents. Gillibrand resigned from the House of Representatives on January 26, 2009.

On the day of the appointment, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) announced she would challenge Gillibrand in the 2010 Democratic primary. A likely Republican opponent is Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who has shown interest in running for the Senate seat. The seat's regular election cycle continues in 2012, for the six-year term ending in 2019.

Committees and affiliations

 * House Committee on Agriculture
 * Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research
 * Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry
 * Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture
 * House Committee on Armed Services
 * Subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces
 * Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities

Contact
Washington D.C. Office: 120 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-5614 Fax: (202) 225-1168 Web Email Website

Hudson District Office: 446 Warren Street Hudson, New York 12534 Phone: (518) 828-3109 Fax: (518) 828-3985

Glens Falls District Office: 333 Glen Street, Suite 302 Glens Falls, New York 12801 Phone: (518) 743-0964 Fax: (518) 743-1391

Saratoga Springs District Office: 487 Broadway Street Saratoga Springs, New York 12866 Phone: (518) 581-8247 Fax: (518) 581-8430

External resources

 * Gillibrand for Congress, official campaign site.
 * See how you compare to Kirsten Gillibrand

Related Sourcewatch resources

 * Kirsten Gillibrand/Schedule: The Congresspedia archive of Rep. Gillibrand's daily schedule.
 * Philip Morris
 * Philip Morris Privilege and Crime Fraud Committee
 * Philip Morris Corporate Affairs
 * INBIFO

Local blogs and discussion sites

 * 20 True Blue
 * Simply Left Behind