23 Facts About Claude Allen

Claude Allen began his legal career in 1990 as a clerk for a federal judge, then was an associate with Baker Botts from 1991 to 1995 and the office of the Attorney General of Virginia from 1995 to 1998.

From 1998 to 2001 Allen served as Secretary of Health and Human Services for the State of Virginia, and then became Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services under the George W Bush administration.

Claude Allen was appointed as Assistant to the President in January 2005.

Claude Allen then resigned February 9,2006, stating he wanted to spend more time with his family.

On March 10,2006, news broke that Claude Allen had been repeatedly stealing from retail stores Target and Hecht's by engaging in return fraud.

Claude Allen was cited by police for shoplifting on January 2,2006, which triggered an investigation that resulted in Claude Allen's arrest on felony counts of theft on March 9,2006.

Claude Allen's mother worked part-time at a Catholic school; his father worked for a plumbing supply business.

Claude Allen has a twin brother named Floyd, who played football and was inducted into the Sanderson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011.

Claude Allen grew up in a Democratic household, but he took a job after college as press secretary for Bill Cobey, a Republican Congressional candidate in North Carolina.

Claude Allen subsequently began working for Republican Senator Jesse Helms, of North Carolina; he was Helms' campaign spokesman in 1984.

From 1985 to 1987, Claude Allen was a staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Claude Allen graduated from Duke University School of Law with a JD in 1990.

Claude Allen received a Master of Laws Degree from Duke University School of Law.

From 1990 to 1991, Allen was a law clerk for David B Sentelle, a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, famous for his role in the Whitewater investigation.

Claude Allen met and became a protege of Clarence Thomas, who was a judge on that court at the time Claude Allen was clerking there.

Claude Allen then served in the Virginia Attorney General's Office from 1995 to 1998, before becoming Secretary of Health and Human Resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

In 2001, Claude Allen was appointed as the Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

In 2004, Allen was nominated by President George W Bush to become a federal judge on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Claude Allen's nomination was opposed by numerous educational, religious, and racial groups, including People for the American Way, the NAACP, and the National Organization for Women.

Claude Allen's nomination was stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee and lapsed on December 8,2005.

Journalist Doug Ireland wrote that when serving as Health and Human Services Commissioner in Virginia, Claude Allen opposed certain legislation because it included taxpayer funding for abortions.

Claude Allen was apprehended by Germantown Target store loss prevention manager Pete Schomburg on January2,2006.

Claude Allen was not formally charged until March after a review of security video and credit card activity showed similar behavior dating back to 2005.