Bush names former impeachment manager to head Patent Office

President Bush has offered a top Commerce Department post to former House impeachment manager Rep. James Rogan, a Los Angeles- area Republican who lost an expensive re-election contest in November, the Associated Press reported.

Bush said Thursday he had nominated Rogan to be undersecretary of Commerce for intellectual property and director of the Patent and Trademark Office.

Rogan was defeated last year by Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff after a race in which more than $10 million was raised by both sides. The district includes the Los Angeles suburbs of Glendale, Pasadena and Burbank.

Rogan has been working at a Baltimore-based law firm since then. As manager of former President Clinton's impeachment trial, Rogan gained national attention. He blamed his role in the impeachment for his defeat.