Ex-Assemblyman Umberg Expected to Get Drug Post

Former Orange County Assemblyman Tom Umberg, who chaired President Clinton’s reelection campaign in California last year, is expected to be nominated deputy director to the nation’s drug czar, Gen. Barry McCaffrey.

Sources familiar with the nomination said Clinton will submit Umberg’s name this week to the Senate for confirmation.

If accepted, he would coordinate the efforts of the White House Office on National Drug Policy to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States, which has 5% of the world’s population but consumes half of its illegal drugs.

Umberg, a litigation partner with Morrison & Foerster in Irvine, declined to comment Tuesday on the announcement, which could come as early as today. The job would be based in Washington.

“I can’t confirm anything,” he said. “Of course, if it happened, it would be a tremendous honor.”

Bob Weiner, a drug office spokesman, also declined to comment pending a formal announcement.

Umberg nearly became drug czar in January 1996, when he was a finalist for the directorship of the drug office, which coordinates the resources of 50 federal agencies. Clinton instead chose McCaffrey, a four-star general and hero of the Persian Gulf War.

Umberg backers in Orange County said the former federal prosecutor and U.S. Army Reserve lieutenant colonel is a perfect choice for the job, which requires law enforcement and diplomacy skills.

“Tom has served abroad in Europe and in Asia and is very skilled,” said Howard Adler, former chairman of the Orange County Democratic Party, who was asked to provide information on Umberg for an FBI background check.

Wylie Aitken, head of the Democratic Foundation of Orange County, said Umberg is more than “just a political operative” who proved himself a capable leader during his work on Clinton’s reelection campaign.

Umberg has other skills as well, Aitken said: When the two met for a lunch at Prego in Irvine, Umberg launched into a conversation in Italian with one of the restaurant’s workers.

“I’ve always seen him as a natural leader and a policy maker,” Aitken said. “Now, he’s going back to his roots.”

Umberg was an assistant U.S. attorney from 1987 to 1990, prosecuting narcotics offenders, civil-rights violations and white-collar crimes. He served in the Assembly from 1990 to 1994, becoming the only Democrat in the Legislature to represent Orange County since 1984. He chose not to run for reelection and unsuccessfully challenged Republican Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren as the Democratic nominee for the state post.

President Clinton’s reelection team chose Umberg to head his statewide campaign in 1996 and California gave the president a 14% margin of victory over Republican nominee Bob Dole.

Adler said a move to Washington for the drug job signals Umberg’s desire to pursue a career in law enforcement rather than politics. Umberg said publicly he wasn’t interested in running for Congress, in part because he didn’t want to move his family to Washington.

His wife, Robin, a nurse, is a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves. The couple have three children and live in Villa Park.

“They wouldn’t go to Washington for politics but they would for something like this,” Adler said.

Umberg’s nomination, if accepted, would fill the second of two deputy directorships appointed by the president. The Senate is holding confirmation hearings on the second deputy spot, the position with responsibility for reducing the demand for drugs within the United States. An associate directorship for state and local affairs remains unfilled.