George Thomas Frampton Jr. (born August 24, 1944) is an American attorney, environmentalist, and government official who served as Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. He is currently a co-founder of an environmental advocacy non-profit, Partnership for Responsible Growth. He cowrote a book on Watergate and has authored newspaper columns on subjects including environmental issues and ballot access for independent candidates.

George T. Frampton Jr.
Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality
In office
1998–2001
PresidentBill Clinton
Preceded byKathleen McGinty
Succeeded byJames L. Connaughton
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks
In office
December 10, 1993 – October 10, 1996
PresidentBill Clinton
Succeeded byHarold Craig Manson
President of the Wilderness Society
In office
1989–1993
Personal details
Born
George Thomas Frampton Jr.

(1944-08-24) August 24, 1944 (age 80)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseCarla D'Arista
Children2
Alma materYale University (BA)
London School of Economics (MSc)
Harvard University (JD)

Frampton was an assistant special prosecutor during the Watergate investigation and later accused Robert Bork of making misleading and untenable statements about his role during the Nixon administration and Watergate Scandal in 1987 when Bork was a nominee for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.[1] He was Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks from December 10, 1993 to October 10, 1996, and served as president of the Wilderness Society from 1989 to 1993.[2]

Early life and education

edit

The son of a legal scholar, Frampton was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in White Plains, New York, Belmont, Massachusetts, and Urbana, Illinois.[3] He graduated from University High School in 1961, and graduated from Yale College with a BA in physics and philosophy in 1965.[4][5] He then earned an M.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics, specializing in advanced economic theory. In 1969, he graduated from Harvard Law School, where he was the treasurer of the Harvard Law Review.[6]

Career

edit

After Harvard, Frampton served as a lawyer for VISTA in New York and then as a consultant on a Middle East peace project under the auspices of the American Friends Service Committee, the Ford Foundation, and Professor Roger Fisher of Harvard Law School.[3] In 1971 he became a law clerk to Supreme Court of the United States Justice Harry A. Blackmun, where he was involved in Blackmun’s opinions in Roe v. Wade among others.[7][8][9] Frampton served, from 1973 to 1975, as an assistant special prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force at the U.S. Department of Justice.[10][11] In that position, he worked on the grand jury investigation and trial of President Richard M. Nixon’s top aides in the Watergate cover-up.[12] He and a colleague, Richard Ben-Veniste, co-authored Stonewall: The real story of the Watergate prosecution (1977).[13][14][15]

Frampton subsequently served as special counsel to the State of Alaska in an investigation of Governor Bill Sheffield and his chief of staff; as an assistant independent counsel to Independent Counsel Jacob A. Stein in the investigation of U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese; and deputy director and chief of staff for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Special Inquiry Group that conducted the agency’s investigation into the Three Mile Island accident.[16][17][18] From 1978 until 1985, Frampton was a partner at the Washington, D.C., law firm Rogovin, Huge & Lenzner, focusing on complex and public interest litigation.[18] He served as counsel to independent presidential candidate John B. Anderson in 1980 in a litigation campaign that succeeded in getting Anderson on the ballot in all 50 states.[19]

In 1986, Frampton was named president of The Wilderness Society.[20][21][22] He served in that capacity until 1993 when he was nominated by President Clinton to be Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of the Interior for fish, wildlife and parks.[23][24][25] Frampton was engaged in a range of issues, including Everglades restoration, the regional plan for preservation of Old Growth Forests, wolf reintroduction, and the development of the first multi-species habitat conservation plans under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.[26][27][28][29] He was the lead federal trustee on the Exxon Valdez Oil Trustee Council and helped develop a strategy with Governor Wally Hickel of Alaska to spend more than half the fund purchasing Native corporation lands and bringing them into the federal and state conservation systems.[30][31] In 1997, he resigned as Assistant Secretary.[32]

In 1997, as Clinton’s second term was beginning, Frampton represented Vice President Al Gore as his personal counsel in the preliminary investigation into Gore’s fundraising activities, and served as corporate advisor to the EarthSat.[16] Within a year, President Clinton had named Frampton the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, and he served in that position until Clinton’s departure in January 2001.[33][34][35]

After leaving public service, Frampton moved to New York City and was a partner at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP until 2009, also working as operating advisor to Pegasus Capital Advisors. From 2009 to 2014, Frampton was senior of counsel at Covington & Burling in the firm’s climate and clean energy practice.[36][37]

Frampton is a co-founder of the Partnership for Responsible Growth, a non-profit, along with former Congressman Walt Minnick and former Ambassador William Eacho.[38][39][40] In 2017, the Partnership for Responsible Growth advocated for a carbon tax in a series of advertisements.[41][42]

Personal life

edit

Frampton is married to Carla D'Arista and lives in Washington, D.C. and Aspen, Colorado.[43][44][45] Previously, he was married to Betsy Kimmelman (Karel), a Barnard College-educated photographer.[46][3][47] They have two children: Adam and Thomas.[48]

Selected publications

edit

Books

edit
  • Frampton Jr., George; Ben-Veniste, Richard (1977). Stonewall: The real story of the Watergate prosecution. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0671224639.

Articles

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Marcus, Ruth (September 30, 1987). "Bork's Role in Watergate Disputed". Washington Post. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  2. ^ "George Frampton". The Keeling Curve Prize. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  3. ^ a b c "George T. Frampton Jr. Marries Betsy Kimmelman". New York Times. April 4, 1971. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  4. ^ "Uni Graduating Classes 1961-1970". University of Illinois Laboratory High School. Archived from the original on August 2, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2022. Entry for class of 1961, George Thomas Frampton Jr.
  5. ^ "50th Reunion Panel Presentations: Climate Change: What's Next?". Yale University Class of 1965. Yale1965.org. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  6. ^ Lazarus, Richard J. (2000). "A Greener Shade of Crimson: Law and the Environment Alumni Forum". Harv. Envtl. L. Rev. 24: 317–350. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  7. ^ Browder, Sue Ellen (2015). Subverted: How I Helped the Sexual Revolution Hijack the Women's Movement. Ignatius Press. pp. 93–94. ISBN 978-1586177966. Retrieved August 24, 2018. george frampton jr.
  8. ^ Shenkman, Michael L. (2013). "Talking About Speech or Debate: Revisiting Legislative Immunity". Yale Law & Policy Review. 32 (2): 352–425, 374 fn 106. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  9. ^ Lewis, Finlay (July 9, 1995). "Terms of Estrangement". Washington Post. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  10. ^ Milano, Brett (November 13, 2017). "From Watergate to Russian election hacking, former special prosecutors reflect on the role of independent counsels". Harvard Law Today. Harvard Law School. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  11. ^ Hazard Jr., Geoffrey C. (1978). "Book Review of Reform of Court Rule-Making Procedures.By Jack B. Weinstein". Yale Law Journal. 87 (6): 1272–1318, 1294, fn 35. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  12. ^ Matthews, Mark (July 31, 2017). "Interview: Former Watergate Prosecutor Says Trump Likely Would Not Survive Saturday Night Massacre". NBC News Bay Area. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  13. ^ Nessen, Maurice M. (October 1977). "Reviewed Work: Stonewall: The Real Story of the Watergate Prosecution by Richard Ben-Veniste, George Frampton, Jr". Columbia Law Review. 77 (6): 963–975. doi:10.2307/1121984. JSTOR 1121984.
  14. ^ Martin, Douglas (April 9, 2012). "Frank H. Strickler, Watergate Defense Lawyer, Dies at 92". New York Times. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  15. ^ Samuelsohn, Darren (July 1, 2017). "Beach reading for a summer of scandal". Politico. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  16. ^ a b Willman, David (September 20, 1997). "Gore Hires Two Private Lawyers in Donor Probe". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  17. ^ Frampton Jr., George; Rogovin, Mitchell (1980). Three Mile Island: a report to the Commissioners and to the public, Volume 1. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Special Inquiry Group. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  18. ^ a b Bruske, Ed (October 29, 1984). "Prosecutor Moves". Washington Post. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  19. ^ Mason, Jim (2011). No Holding Back: The 1980 John B. Anderson Presidential Campaign. University Press of America. pp. 270, 455. ISBN 9780761852261. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  20. ^ "George T. Frampton Jr". The Wilderness Society. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  21. ^ Parrish, Michael (October 1, 1991). "Exxon Reaches $1.1-Billion Spill Settlement Deal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  22. ^ May, Lee (September 20, 1986). "Would Double Tree Harvest by Year 2030 : Reagan Seeks Expanded Timber Policy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  23. ^ "President Clinton Names George Frampton Assistant Secretary of the Interior-Fish and Wilfdlife and Parks" (PDF). Historical Documents: FWS Press Release. United States Fish and Wildlife Service. February 23, 1993. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  24. ^ Perry, M.C. (2016). "The History of Patuxent: America's Wildlife Research Story (Circular 1422)". U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Department of the Interior. p. 10. Retrieved August 25, 2018. This arrangement between the USFWS and the NBS was approved by Under Secretary of the Interior George Frampton, Jr., and was commonly called the Frampton Agreement.
  25. ^ Barr, Stephen (September 25, 1994). "Park Service Plan to Downsize Sparks Disputes : Government: Internal debate slows agency's efforts to deal with Administration's directive to shrink work force". Los Angeles Times. Washington Post. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  26. ^ Healy, Melissa (May 5, 1994). "U.S. Decides to Reintroduce Gray Wolves to Rockies : Conservation: Animals will run wild in Yellowstone and other wilderness areas. Some ranchers worry about danger to livestock". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  27. ^ Bechtold, Timothy (1999). "Listing the Bull Trout under the Endangered Species Act: The Passive-Aggressive Strategy of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to Prevent Protecting Warranted Species". Pub. Land & Resources L. Rev. 20: 99–129, 123. Criticizing Frampton's approach to the ESA.
  28. ^ Grey, Colin (March 31, 1995). "U.S. wants to bring Pandas here again". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  29. ^ Jacobs, Sharon B. (2014). "The Administrative State's Passive Virtues". Admin. L. Rev. 66: 565–625, 587.
  30. ^ Hunt, Joe (2010). Mission Without a Map. EVOS Trustee Council. p. 118. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  31. ^ "Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Settlement Trustee Council Meeting Transcript" (PDF). State of Alaska. January 31, 1994. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  32. ^ "Nominations in the Senate". Congressional Record, 105th Congress, 1st Session. 143 (155): S12070–S12071. November 7, 1997.
  33. ^ "Council on Environmental Quality-Bio for George Frampton". Clinton Whitehouse. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  34. ^ "Nominations in the Senate". Congressional Record, 106th Congress, 2nd Session. 146 (118): S9558. September 28, 2000. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  35. ^ Lehmann, Evan; Chemnick, Jean (January 20, 2017). "Obama's climate legacy: 8 years of troubles and triumphs". EENews.com (Energy & Environment News). Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  36. ^ Schned, Dan (November 15, 2013). "Infrastructure Now: Reforming America's Broken Infrastructure Approval Process, Speakers-George Frampton Jr., Covington & Burling". America2050.org. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  37. ^ "Entry for George Frampton Jr. at Covington & Burling". Lawyerdb.org. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  38. ^ Farhi, Paul (June 14, 2016). "Wall Street Journal accepts environmentalist ad but charges extra". Washington Post. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  39. ^ Schwab, Jennifer (April 18, 2016). "The Blog: Trifecta: A Carbon Tax Done Right". Huffington Post. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  40. ^ Ip, Greg (December 23, 2015). "The Narrow Path to a Carbon Tax". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  41. ^ Kastrenakes, Jacob (May 1, 2017). "Conservatives are trolling Trump with climate change ads on Fox News and Morning Joe". The Verge. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  42. ^ Pierre-Louis, Kendra (May 1, 2017). "These conservatives want to convince you that climate change is real". Popular Science. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  43. ^ Cunningham, Bill (November 14, 2010). "Evening Hours: Trophy Time". New York Times. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  44. ^ "List of Members-President's Society". Aspen Institute. Retrieved August 25, 2018. Carla D'Arista Frampton and George T. Frampton, Jr.
  45. ^ "Robert D'Artista, 58, Dies". Washington Post. October 16, 1987. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  46. ^ "Miss Betsy Kimmelman to Be Married on April 3". New York Times. March 14, 1971. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  47. ^ "Works by Betsy Karel (Betsy Frampton)". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  48. ^ "Posts by Thomas Frampton". Harvard Law Review Blog. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
edit
Government offices
Preceded by Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality
1998–2001
Succeeded by