Confirmation of Baird Seen Despite Hurdles

Zoe Baird still appears likely to be confirmed as attorney general after hearings today on her nomination, even though she has been criticized for hiring illegal immigrants and taking legal positions on behalf of clients that are at odds with the philosophy of the new Administration.

Testimony at her hearing and questioning by the 18-member Senate Judiciary Committee, however, are expected to delay a Senate confirmation vote until after Inauguration Day, when many of President-elect Bill Clinton’s nominees are expected to be confirmed.

Ralph Nader, the veteran consumer activist, is scheduled to be the main opposition witness against Baird, 40, a senior vice president and general counsel of Aetna Life & Casualty Co. Robert Hunter, president of the National Insurance Consumer Organization, also is expected to oppose her confirmation.

Nader has criticized Baird for lobbying against elements of the federal False Claims Act, which protects and encourages government whistle-blowers, and for advancing Aetna’s opposition to product liability lawsuits.

Two officials of police organizations--Dewey Stokes of the Fraternal Order of Police and Chip Warren, national vice president of the International Brotherhood of Police--are expected to appear in support of Baird.

Today’s hearing is expected to focus on Baird and her husband’s hiring of a Peruvian couple as household servants, although they were illegal immigrants not authorized to work in the United States. The Immigration and Naturalization Service imposed a fine of $2,900 on Baird and her husband, Paul Gewirtz, a professor at Yale Law School, after details of the case were made public.

Baird and Gewirtz also paid $8,000 in a lump sum to cover Social Security payroll taxes on the employees at the suggestion of the Clinton transition team.

Documents filed with the Labor Department in 1991 indicated that Baird and Gewirtz paid the Peruvian woman about $6 an hour for working from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. five days a week. Her duties were to feed, dress, bathe and take care of their son, who was 18 months old at the time. The woman’s husband served as Baird’s driver.

If confirmed, Baird would oversee the INS.