Eric Holder will accept Attorney General position
By David Tuesday Nov 18, 2008 2:30pm
NBC news confirms that Eric Holder will accept the position as Barack Obama's Attorney General. NBC's Savannah Guthrie talked to Mark Whitaker who reports that Holder was the front runner for the position.
John Amato:
Holder comes out of the Clinton administration and was linked to the Mark Rich pardon which will have Conservatives up in arms, but supported Barack Obama for president. We need an AG for the people and not like the Bush crony Alberto Gonzales. It's no shock that Obama will appoint ex-Clinton people to his staff as his administration takes shape. Many capable people came out of that administration.
President-elect Obama has decided to tap Eric Holder as his attorney general, putting the veteran Washington lawyer in place to become the first African-American to head the Justice Department, according to two legal sources close to the presidential transition.
Holder, who served as deputy attorney general during the Clinton administration, still has to undergo a formal “vetting” review by the Obama transition team before the selection is final and is publicly announced, said one of the sources, who asked not to be identified talking about the transition process.
Holder, 57, has been on Obama’s “short list” for attorney general from the outset. A partner at the D.C. law firm of Covington & Burling, Holder served as co-chief (along with Caroline Kennedy) of Obama’s vice-presidential selection process. He also actively campaigned for Obama throughout the year and grew personally close to the president-elect
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Wait until the bigots get word of this. I can just hear them saying that the blacks will now take over our laws and the world and OMG. You know it will be some foolishness like that. Talk about heads exploding in the bible belt.
As for me, if Obama thinks he's the right man for the job, great by me. You can't have good employees if they aren't experienced especially if you want to hit the road running on day one.
The new AG is linked to such a slimy pardon. The fact that these guys run in tight circles froom administration to administration isn't a good thing either since some level of corruption has been uncovered in nearly every previous administration.
Weren't we just talking about pardons in the other thread?
From SameFacts:
Just found this at wiki
"During his confirmation hearing, Holder's opposition to the death penalty was questioned, but he pledged his intention to cooperate with the current laws and Attorney General Janet Reno, saying, "I am not a proponent of the death penalty, but I will enforce the law as this Congress gives it to us."
I like it that he is not a proponent of the death penalty. That gives him extra points with me.
Hell, all presidents pardon people when they leave office.
"While the Justice Department had no direct involvement in the pardon, Holder gave a "neutral, leaning towards favorable" opinion of the pardon to Clinton, which provided the administration cover for the Rich pardon on Clinton's final day in office."
can be plants.
Funny how the conservawhiners always bitch about Clinton's pardon of Rich, but never a peep about Bush Sr. pardoning basically everyone embroiled in Iran Contra...
I can hear "Rites of Spring" playing in my head. An AG against the death penalty OMG, could it be a lantern in the darkness of a punitive uncivilized nation called the u.s.a.
This is the first appointment Obama has made that has given me bone deep peace of mind. The decently inclined Holder is gold to us.
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=->
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How was he "linked" to the Rich pardon?
Google his name and go to the wiki link. It tells you about it.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
See the comment above.
And I agree on Wiki.
if the appointment tweaks the wingnuts.
They've already reached a point of status epilepticus and Obama hasn't even taken office.
Obama could appoint Jesus the Christ and the wingnuts would scream bloody murder about pacifism.
Just like a dog; if you can't eat it or shtup it, piss on it.
I agree. I just like to guess what kind of shit they will come up with, ahead of the game. They are fairly predictable.
Fuck the right wing assholes. I personally could care less what they think. I think Holder is a good choice for Obama, I like him.
Can't Obama just stay away from anything having to do with the Clinton's? Sheesh.
Well, this is interesting:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/611...
I wonder if Bush can pardon them before they're convicted?
I wonder what Holder would do with this case?
Ford pardoned Nixon before he was convicted.
former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias appointed AG. If nothing else but a jab in the eye of Karl Rove. But I think he would have made a good AG.
Jonathan Turley.
Patrick Freakin' Fitzgerald.
Many forget Eric Holder was Deputy AG but when Bush came in Ashcrof was very disrespectful. Ashcrof said he wanted the office sprayed because Eric was there. How things change in 8 years. Many talk about the pardon Clinton gave yet not a word about Libby or even the many cover ups of Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Gonzo and many others. Once you read the Constitution it's clean who and how a person can be pardoned. Now these same people will see no problem with an illegal blanket pardon for all the White House staff and contractors who have committed crimes over the pass 8 years. Holder has earned his way and not like Bush appointees given the job with no experience. One would think Americans learned after seeing Bush/Cheney have put us in a recession and World Leaders are laughting their butts off at the Bush Administration.
At lease Mr. Holder wont have to worry about the indictment of Gonzo and Cheney as it was filed in Texas and the Grand Jury approved.
Mr. Holder will need something much stronger than a spray to clean that office up.
Like a truckload of bleach.
Call Termin-X to get rid of them varmints!
Eric Holder fits the extremely disturbing pattern of Obama's advisors and appointees.
Like Obama’s “Intelligence” transition team Holder has connections to torture, death squads and the worst of US policy under Clinton. He represents Chiquita, a corporation which has, since its beginning, paid terrorists and death squads to suppress workers and their communities in Central and South America. Chiquita falsely claimed, through Holder, that they were paying extortion to the right-wing terrorist organizations when, in fact, these killers are the clandestine muscle for Chiquita and other transnational corporations, the regional economic elites, and the corrupt puppet governments that they control. It has been clearly demonstrated that Álvaro Uribe Vélez, president of Columbia, is intimately connected to and has used these torturers and mass murders who have a function similar to what the Contra’s did in Central America.
Obama’s choice of John Brennan and Jami Miscik to head his “Intelligence” transition team is disgraceful.
Brennan’s remorseless involvement in, cheerleading for, and helping to cover-up secret renditions and torture should completely disqualify him as an advisor or appointee.
Miscik participated in fabricating false intelligence that betrayed our country, killed over 4 thousand US troops and over 1 million civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan who posed no threat to us (U.S.) and wished us no harm. They should be prosecuted and sent to prison. For the disturbing details See: Mel Goodman, a member of VIPS (Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity) discuss Obama’s choices on Monday’s “Democracy Now” (11/17/08) http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/17/obama_...
Obama’s has shown very poor judgment in choosing the advisors that recommend these criminals. If his goal was brutal tyranny at home and abroad he couldn’t have started with better choices.
So far, Obama's choices point not just to more of “the same” but exacerbation of the worst that Bush (and Clinton before him) brought us.
I hope this pattern of appointments is reversed. Otherwise the future is very dark indeed.
Peace,
JK
If Obama had said the word, Lieberman would have been off the Homeland Security chair. Expect to hear a lot about how Iran is a threat to our survival as a nation.
The Obama presidency is shaping up as change in which you can--what?
Oh, I know. Dems are better than Repubs.
Support Dems. Hold your nose. Take what you can get. Don't ask questions.
Hey, he's better than McCain. At least, he's for change.
than Pigs.
I voted for Obama in an effort to slow the exsanguination of the nation.
He still may do that. I will reserve judgement.
But I suspect that I'll go back to voting Socialist in 2012.
Unless the Pigs run another Bush or Palin or Romney etc.
their views make a difference.
I know better.
Hope you do too.
Oh, by the way, please contribute for the next Dem candidate.
the question is who would uncle fester have picked, hes an expert on the attorney general ,
I know that Obama understands how critical the situation in the US is as bush leaves office - leaving - as Stephanie Miller describes it - a big flaming pile of dog poo.
I know next to nothing about the appointments he is making in the sense of WHY he is choosing the particular people that he is.
Because of that - I feel I have to trust the man to do what is right and give him the benefit of the doubt on all appointments.
I do know that above all else - Obama wants the best, most effective persons he can get - because they will make his job easier.
This doesn't mean however, that we won't all be watching.
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i too will follow my leaders into the gates of hell if need be , after all its only the ag ,right
The last thing on my list of things to worry about is what the wing-nuts and other assorted re-Thuglics, neo-cons, religious freaks etc., think of ANY of Obama's appointments.
I completely understand that right now - what they're doing is consoling each other by beating their chests and sniffing each other's bums on Faux News.
Nothing is going to change - Zebras don't change their stripes. Re-thuglics will continue to beat their chests and sniff each other's bums and they will continue to lose elections because they are all about division and hate - which the American voters have just rejected by a landslide. The party will continue its slide into irrelevance.
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Wiki doesn't mention that in 1994 as DOJ attorney for DC Holder indicted the most powerful Democrat in Congress, Dan Rostenkowski, a 35 year veteran from Chicago, on 17 felony counts of corruption, fraud, money laundering etc.
Holder won the convictions and it ended Dan Rostenkowski's career and sent him to jail. (Clinton pardoned him 6 years later). see link
I don't see why he's picking so many ex-Clintonites.
Furthermore, I never liked the Clinton's repuke-lite style of governance anyway, especially on economic issues. If I did, I would have voted for Hillary, not Obama. Much of the disaster we now face was wrought by Clinton helping the repukes to deregulate in the 90's.
Yes - But I'm optimistic that Obama is more interested in the greater good than Bill was.
I believe Bill started out that way - but gave it up. He got sucked right down into the vortex of re-thug absolutism. Obama actually has Bill's bad example to help keep him out of the same trap.
I think Obama actually has a spine.
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seems to me obama wants to hit the ground running by picking seasoned people, which means tapping into clinton appointees. my guess is he'll be grooming his own newbies for positions in 2012, and in the meantime he's assembling a team that won't get bullied by the repugs. i just hope he throws a few more women into the mix.
I personally worked with Holder at Columbia. The guy is smart, incredibly hard working and beyond reproach. He has worked in DC for over 20 years and does a lot of philanthropy.
'The list of people Holder prosecuted while with Public Integrity included Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents, politicians, organized crime figures, and even a fellow Justice Department lawyer.'
http://www.answers.com/topic/eric-h-holder-jr
He is exactly the type of person needed to start the clean up at the DOJ.
Did you work with him, or ARE you him?
... lets hope Mr. Holder & DOJ will be handed off the REAL power for Homeland Security, leaving Liberman holding a hollow plastic gavel.
. . . would be awesome.
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Bush's pardon roster and activities will make the Mark Rich pardon look like it was an obligatory act. In fact, Bush would probably throw in an extra Marc Rich pardon, if Marc Rich (Marc David Reich) needed one. He did, after all, create the spot market for crude oil in the 70s, and you KNOW the current [oily] admin owes him way more than Clinton may have ever owed him.
Fuck these goddamned pieces of shit and their hypocritical finger pointing and projection-style accusations. They should all be answered with:
1) "You did it first."
2) "You do it too."
3) "We never did that, but you did. Thanks for the reminder."
4) "So?"
5) "Go fuck yourself."
All idiot dunce a hole Thugs and Cons should be reminded upon protest, the last two retorts are verbatim quotes from The Dick, there messiah and über role model.
ON EDIT: Rich's atty of record for the period of 1985 until the spring of 2000 was Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Bring that up and smash it in their faces, too. Big corporate daisy chain.
If Holder is AG only a Bush pardon can save many a corrupt Loyal Bushie ass.
Bush 41 pardoned Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger for crimes he was never even convicted of committing.
are so many of us liberal progressives whining & bitching about the Clintons? The Clinton presidency was a very GOOD one, especially considering the Repugs had control of Congress. Who brought peace to Ireland? Who nearly brought peace to Israel? Not the anti-Clinton groups.
They did do a lot of good. Thanks for the reminder. Did they mess up here and there? Yes - when they let the re-thugs push them around. Let's hope that DOES NOT happen with Obama.
Obama DOES actually have a mandate. That considerably weakens the re-Thugs political power - and Obama knows it. Conversely that makes Obama stronger. This is what the fake dialogue over a "center-right" nation is. They KNOW they don't have the voters behind them this time - so they're trying to create the illusion that they do - and hoping that this will cow the dems.
But Obama also has bigger majorities in both houses. He's golden - let's hope he knows this. He is operating from a position of remarkable strength. Clinton was not.
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The man (Obama) hasn't even been sworn in yet, and already it's looking more and more like Clinton part 3. You all know. The best conservative Republican president not in the Republican party. What's next? Oh I know. Blue dresses and Monika Lewinsky. Is there nobody, and I mean NOBODY, that can get administration jobs in either party without having the title "formerly from" in their damn title? Ya, ya, change, change, change. Bullcrap. Same old, same old. Stay tuned for Madeline Albright to be chosen for Secretary of Retardedness. Just because of past ties.
Yeah, these DLC Democrats suck. Between the Republic Party and the DLC, al Qaeda will accomplish its objective, which is to bankrupt the USA.
At least when Palin is done, there is proof she's screwed with you. Usually another kid is around. This is getting just plain ridiculous. Next week, Obama is going to declare Hillary as the new First Lady. Ya, I know, change, change, change. And oh how great those years were under Clinton. Hell, his Free Trade has worked out great for all. And the welfare reform? Outstanding bit of legislature. Man, the globe is SO screwed.
Scooter Libby was Mark Rich's attorney, for crying out loud. Of course, for the media to bring this hypocritical stance -- ain't gonna happen.
Ahhhhhhh, John Edwards. Look at what could have been you, if you'd only kept your pants zipped!
...has precedent...as in Bobby Kennedy.
(just a joke, race police).
Rahm Emanuel,Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, Joe Lieberman does not seem like change to me and most definitely nothing I can believe in. I better start seeing something different soon.
Sandy, Holder is against the death penalty for one, a profoundly good sign indicating who he really is. It is lightyears away from the punitive cynicism that has represented the office of the AG Ever! This is one appointment I am deeply reassured about although am with you on every other sentiment.
It appears as of this morning that Clinton won't be taking Obama up on his offer! Reason given, she wants to be her own boss and not take orders from the President (Ha! anyone at all surprised?). Brennan's appointment frightens me. They need Liarman for the time being to get closer to a majority, and it will be interesting to see what his next move will be to undermine the democrats.
Rahm can be trusted to sever balls when necessary, we just have no idea whose he'll judge need severing (ours?).
Like you it is discouraging to see the likes of Albright recalling during that national telecast with Warren Christopher telling us to fuck off we're going to war. Heck, why not bring aboard the tender hearted Quick Draw (My Sharona) Janet Reno protector of children everywhere who accidently incinerated 25 infants and children right off the bat during the Branch Dividian affair. What a fantastic advisor SHE'D make! Hell, get 'em all on board!
Like you I just hate these recycled specters from the Clinton administration, and like you have no faith in their good sense nor integrity. Either this is a masterful strategy on Obama's part holding close this gaggle that represents the opposite of Change and especially HOPE, or we're in a fucking lot of trouble.
I don't know much, but Holder as AG is the first decent news I've heard yet.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081118_...
Yet more reality-warping picks from the you-guessed-it Clinton administration.
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