Power Couple Closes On East Hampton Home

If the demands of the campaign trail allow Bill and Hillary Clinton to enjoy their annual vacation in the Hamptons this summer, they will find one of their most powerful friends waiting for them now that the attorney Robert Barnett has closed on a house on Cedar Street in East Hampton.

To some people, Barnett’s wife, Rita Braver, is the more well known because she is a veteran television reporter. She joined CBS News in 1972 and since then has served as a producer, chief law correspondent, and chief White House correspondent during President Clinton’s first term.

Ms. Braver is now in her 18th year as the chief national correspondent for the CBS television show “Sunday Morning.” It was at the University of Wisconsin that she met a fellow undergraduate student two years her senior who was an aspiring lawyer. Ms. Braver and Mr. Barnett were married 44 years ago in New Orleans.

Mr. Barnett is a more behind-the-scenes player with a capital “P.” His day job as an attorney is impressive enough, beginning as a law clerk for Judge John Minor Wisdom of the U.S. Court of Appeals and then for Supreme Court Justice Byron White. Today, Mr. Barnett is a senior partner in Williams and Connolly LLP, founded by the legendary Edward Bennett Williams and is, according to the Legal Times, the “Green Berets of high-stakes litigation.”

The firm has represented hundreds of high-profile clients in its almost 50 years in Washington D.C., including Oliver North in the Iran-Contra scandal and President Clinton during his impeachment trial. Among Mr. Barnett’s clients have been General Electric, McDonald’s, Revlon, Comcast, and the National Basketball Association.

But what began as something of a sideline is what has made Barnett one of the most powerful wheelers and dealers in the country: author representative. No scanning of obscure literary magazine to find fresh young talent for him—Mr. Barnett handles boldface names guaranteed for the best-seller lists. In addition to working out the details in book contracts for the Clintons, his stable of authors include Barbra Streisand, Bob Woodward, James Patterson, Mary Higgins Clark, Ben Bernanke, and in the true spirit of bipartisanship, Barack Obama and Jill Biden as well as George W. and Laura Bush and Dick and Lynne Cheney.

No wonder Entertainment Weekly included Mr. Barnett on its list of the 100 most powerful people in the entertainment industry, and he topped the “Washington’s Best Lawyers” list in Washingtonian magazine. He acts too … sort of, by impersonating candidates in preparation for presidential campaign debates. Barnett played the role of Dick Cheney in 2000 and 2004 and in total he has participated in debate preparations in nine presidential campaigns.

Now having purchased their $2,525,000 home, Mr. Barnett and another one of his clients, Rita Braver, are about to write their own history as East Hampton residents.