Who Is the President's New Lawyer?

President Bush consulted with DC lawyer James Sharp, but refuses to offer any details about the attorney. Here are some details about him from today's Progress Report:

WHO IS JAMES E. SHARP?: Attempts by the media "to reach Sharp, an Oklahoma native and former assistant U.S. attorney who has built a low-profile white-collar defense practice in Washington, were unsuccessful." The White House is being so secretive it actually refuses to confirm whether this is the same "James E. Sharp" consulting with the President.

JAMES E. SHARP ACCUSED OF SUBORNING PERJURY: The Progress Report did its own unofficial search in an effort to uncover more details about the lawyer for the president. A search of the DC Bar website lists a James E. Sharp as an active member. A search of court documents shows an attorney named James E. Sharp represented his "good friend" Joe Harry Pegg who was indicted as "one of several individuals who conspired to import marijuana into the United States in 1988 and 1989." During James E. Sharp's representation of Pegg, one of Pegg's alleged co-conspirators said Sharp "helped him concoct a false story to help exculpate Pegg." After sentencing, Pegg appealed his conviction on the ground that "his attorney had a conflict of interest that deprived him of his constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel." The 11th Circuit decision in the case reports that the government did "not deny that Sharp labored under an actual conflict of interest."