In a hearing interrupted by protests over his role signing off on harsh interrogation techniques during the George W. Bush administration, Steven Bradbury, the Trump administration s pick to lead the U.S. Transportation Department s legal team, found himself faced with questions about a more recent matter in his career: His work for the now-bankrupt Takata Corp. as it dealt with the fallout from faulty air bags cited in more than 100 deaths and injuries.

Bradbury, a litigation and regulatory enforcement partner at Dechert who previously led the U.S. Justice Department s Office of Legal Counsel, testified in his opening remarks that he has handled a number of substantial regulatory matters in private practice, including before the Department of Transportation.

That fact was not lost on Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Nelson used all of his opening statement to highlight Bradbury s representation of Takata in regulatory and congressional investigations. Nelson said Bradbury had committed in the lead-up to his confirmation hearing to recuse himself from all matters involving Takata and its air bag recall. In February, Takata agreed to pay $1 billion in criminal penalties to resolve fraud allegations.

You obviously know a lot about this issue because you represented Takata in regulatory and congressional investigations for more than two years. There s no problem that you are an advocate as an attorney at law representing a client. I understand that, Nelson said. But we ve got a problem of automobile safety. You have been generously compensated for being an advocate as an attorney at law. And I believe, as the department s general counsel, you must be free of any conflicts that could be perceived as that you can t do the job of the public protecting the public.

In his questioning, Nelson sought to extract a promise that, in addition to recusing himself from Takata matters for the next two years, Bradbury would not seek any ethics waivers allowing his involvement. Bradbury said, if confirmed, he would be recused entirely from Takata s air bag recall through his term at the Transportation Department.

I recognize that I am recused for my entire time as general counsel, if I am confirmed, from all aspects of Takata recalls, Bradbury said. Takata was among the clients Bradbury identified on his financial disclosure form. He reported earning nearly $1.15 million from Dechert between January 2016 and May 2017.

In his ethics agreement, Bradbury pledged to recuse himself from any matter in which he appeared before the Transportation Department as a lawyer at Dechert. But he left open the possibility of obtaining a waiver. Also, for the first year of his tenure, Bradbury said he would not participate in any matter involving a Dechert client unless I am first authorized to participate under federal waiver rules.

As part of its recent bankruptcy filing, Takata said it would be acquired for $1.6 billion by the U.S.-based Key Safety Systems. Envisioning a future matter that while unrelated to the air bag recall involved Key Safety Systems, Bradbury said he would be barred under his ethics pledge from handling the matter for the first two years of his tenure.

I do not plan to seek a waiver to participate in any of those unrelated matters that involve a Takata successor, he said. I can t foresee, as I sit here today, what those matters might be. If it s unrelated and there s a strong need for the general counsel to be involved, that s the kind of situation that I cannot foresee, but I do not plan to seek a waiver for any such unforeseen matter as I sit here. I would certainly be in touch with your office in advance of anything.

Apparently unsatisfied with that response, Nelson asked, Why can t you just say that I m going to get involved in Takata?

The fact is that you were one of the main advocates for a company that has done dastardly things and has, according to U.S. attorneys, violated criminal laws, Nelson continued. Now, we just need the understanding as a committee that you re still not going to be an advocate for Takata.

Bradbury said he assisted Takata in coming forward and disclosing the issues with its air bags. I agree entirely that they have a long way to go, Bradbury said. He added that he would not be an advocate for that company or any company.

In addition to Takata, Bradbury, a Dechert partner since 2009, advised American Airlines, Time Warner Inc., the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Verizon, according to his financial disclosure form. He did not identify three confidential clients two individuals and one organization whose matters, he said, were subjects of nonpublic government investigations.

I ve been in government previously, and I clearly know the difference between representing a client in private practice and representing the United States as an attorney, Bradbury said Wednesday.

Bradbury, who clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas in the 1992 term, contributed $2,700 last year to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio s presidential campaign, federal election records show. A year earlier, he donated the same amount to JEB2016 Inc. Bradbury in 2011 contributed $2,500 to Mitt Romney s presidential run.

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