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R.I. native defends Alaska senator in high-profile case

2:29 PM Tue, Oct 14, 2008 | Permalink
By John E. Mulligan, Washington bureau

Rhode Island native Brendan V. Sullivan Jr., one of Washington's best-known criminal lawyers, is back in the news.

Sullivan, who became nationally famous during the Iran-Contra congressional hearings a generation ago, is making headlines as a lawyer in a high-profile corruption trial in Washington. Sullivan is defending Sen. Ted Stevens, Republican of Alaska, against charges that he lied in official financial disclosure forms in order to hide about $250,000 worth of gifts that he accepted from an oil company official who stood to gain from Stevens's actions as a legislator.

Sullivan, 66, was born in Providence and graduated from Providence Country Day School. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and its law school and has been on the National Law Journal's list of the nation's 100 most influential lawyers. He represented a central figure in the Iran-Contra hearings in 1987, Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North. A highlight of the hearings was Sullivan's reply to a senator who objected to his frequent objections to some aspect of the proceedings. "Well, sir, I'm not a potted plant. I'm here as the lawyer,'' Sullivan said. ``That's my job."

Since then, Sullivan -- a partner in the Washington firm of Williams & Connolly -- has been in the spotlight for roles ranging from the criminal defense of a onetime cabinet member to the U.S. antitrust proceeding against Microsoft.

Sullivan has also made some news in his native state. In 1991, then-Gov. Bruce G. Lundlun hired Sullivan to represent the Rhode Island in a high-stakes battle over a court-ordered cash settlement to a South County land developer. In 1993, Sullivan worked on the drafting of state legislation meant to keep convicted murderer Craig Price, a juvenile at the time, locked up after he become an adult. In1994, Sullivan became a lawyer for Arthur A. Coia, then president of the Laborers International Union, which was the target of a federal takeover in a long-running corruption case. Sullivan would ultimately help Coia negotiate a 2000 plea agreement in which the labor leader admitted to defrauding Rhode Island taxpayers.
Much of the news coverage indicates that Sullivan is scoring points against the federal team prosecuting the case against Stevens.