Obama Cabinet and Key White House Staff
4. Eric Holder (D) - Attorney General
Former Deputy Attorney General
Former U.S. Attorney, District of Columbia
Nominated: December 1, 2008
Obama’s comments:
“Eric Holder has the talent and commitment to succeed as Attorney General from his first day on the job, which is even more important in a transition that demands vigilance. He has distinguished himself as a prosecutor, a Judge, and a senior official, and he is deeply familiar with the law enforcement challenges we face— from terrorism to counter-intelligence; from white collar crime to public corruption.
“Eric also has the combination of toughness and independence that we need at the Justice Department. Let me be clear: the Attorney General serves the American people. And I have every expectation that Eric will protect our people, uphold the public trust, and adhere to our Constitution.”
Others’ comments:
“The confirmation process, said Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), the judiciary panel’s top Republican, will be Holder’s ‘day in court’ and a chance to ‘state his case.’
“Specter previewed the main line of attack in a floor speech this week, asserting that, in Holder’s years as President Bill Clinton’s deputy attorney general, he at times ‘appeared to be serving the interest of his superiors’ rather than heeding recommendations from career Justice Department lawyers.
“In a pointed effort to scrub Holder’s past, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa) and two other leading GOP Judiciary Committee members submitted a public records request this week to Illinois officials, seeking information on a thwarted $300,000 legal services contract that Holder won from now-disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D).
“‘I told him the hearing wouldn’t be easy,’ Grassley said.
“Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the panel’s chairman, said he is convinced that Holder will be confirmed on the basis of his top-drawer credentials and experience. Earlier in his career, Holder easily won appointment as a local judge, the District’s top prosecutor and the second in command at the Justice Department.
“‘Eric Holder’s long record of public service has earned him strong support from law enforcement organizations, civil rights groups, victims’ rights advocates, former Reagan and Bush administration officials, and others,’ Leahy said. "Any effort to question his character is unfounded.’
“Also being explored are Holder’s eight years in private practice at the law firm Covington & Burling, where he argued for leniency for major corporations and government contractors, including Chiquita Brands and UBS, an international banking giant under federal investigation for alleged tax and accounting abuse.
“Chiquita signed a $25 million plea deal with federal prosecutors in 2007 to resolve allegations that it made protection payments to the United Self-Defense Forces, a Colombian paramilitary squad labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. In an unusual twist, Holder’s work for the company has drawn fire from liberal groups, including environmental and human rights watchdogs.
Senate researchers also are probing Holder’s record on gun control—an issue that could bring strong opposition from gun rights groups, many Republicans and some conservative Democrats.
“Last year, Holder and other former Justice Department officials from Democratic administrations filed a friend of the court brief in a landmark D.C. gun ownership case, arguing that the Second Amendment gives citizens a ‘collective right’ to bear arms rather than individual ownership rights. The Supreme Court last year ruled in the case, in favor of individual rights.
“Holder’s views are relevant because the court’s ruling probably will lead to challenges of other gun control laws in which the Justice Department will have an interest.
“Republicans may try to point out inconsistencies in Holder’s approach to national security. In the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he gave interviews in which he appeared to leave room for extended detention of terrorism suspects without charging them with crimes.
“But in recent years, Holder has been more critical of Bush administration policies on detention and interrogation, saying the government's tactics have harmed international relations and violated civil liberties.
“Senate staff members said the hearings could include potentially hostile witnesses, including victims of bombings carried out by the FALN, a Puerto Rican nationalist group. Members of the group won clemency in 1999 while Holder held a top Justice Department post overseeing the pardon process under Clinton.
“The Senate passed a bipartisan resolution that year saying Clinton should not have granted clemency, which prosecutors and the FBI opposed. This week, two former Justice Department pardon lawyers told the Los Angeles Times that Holder had pressed them to change their recommendations and support the clemency bid, even after one of them says he warned Holder and his top aide that the move would backfire politically.
“Holder has previously apologized for not paying sufficient attention to a request to pardon fugitive financier Marc Rich in early 2001, and for telling White House officials that he was ‘neutral leaning toward favorable’ on the idea. The last-minute presidential pardon touched off investigations by federal prosecutors in New York and congressional inquiries into contacts between Holder and Jack Quinn, a Clinton White House lawyer working for Rich. Bipartisan committee reports later described the incident as ‘bad judgment’ by Holder.
“Longtime Holder allies are pushing back behind the scenes against the GOP pressure. Prominent white-collar defense lawyer Reid Weingarten, one of the nominee’s closest friends, has been enlisting support from Republican circles, including former top-level Justice Department officials from GOP administrations.
“Holder has lined up heavyweight supporters, including former FBI director Louis J. Freeh and former Bush administration deputy attorney general James B. Comey, who wrote a letter last month to the Judiciary Committee calling the pardon a ‘huge misjudgment’ but ultimately concluded that the episode ‘may actually make him a better steward of the Department of Justice because he has learned a hard lesson about protecting the integrity of that great institution from political fixers.’”
—WashingtonPost.com
Approved: February 2, 2009
Sworn in: February 3, 2009
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