Court Nominee Gave False Data, Text Shows

• Law License Was Suspended Despite Early Denial

Thomas B. Griffith, President Bush's nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, appeared to provide inaccurate information to Utah bar officials about his legal work and lapses in obtaining law licenses over the past year, according to documents released yesterday at his nomination hearing.  Griffith's nomination has been stalled for months over concerns that he failed to maintain a valid license for three years while he practiced law in the District and Utah, and that he did not obtain a Utah license after taking a job as general counsel for Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Even as Griffith defended his record yesterday, the new documents added to that controversy.  They show Griffith reported to Utah state bar officials last year that his law license had never been suspended. It had been suspended from 1998 to 2001. He also told the state bar that he relied on his D.C. license to practice law in Utah. But at yesterday's hearing, Griffith testified that he had practiced law in Utah by relying on associations with licensed attorneys there. [more]