Congressional Quarterly’s Keith Perine and Seth Stern report that Democrats are already giving a positive reception to the idea of Eric H. Holder, Jr. as nominee for Attorney General.
Holder wins big in the “known quantity” department.
Currently a partner at the Washington law firm of Covington and Burling, he was Deputy Attorney General in the Clinton administration. If nominated and confirmed, he would be the first African-American Attorney General.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt. - the guy who would run the confirmation hearings if Holder gets nominated — issued a written statement saying, “I have known Eric Holder for many years. He has served as a prosecutor, judge and high ranking law enforcement official. He would make an outstanding nominee, and should have the support of Senators from both sides of the aisle if President-elect Obama were to choose him for this critical position.”
Spokespeople for Obama’s transition effort did not respond to requests for comment on the reports.
House Democrats also praised Holder. Alabama Democrat Artur Davis, who serves on the House Judiciary Committee, said Holder “is an excellent pick. I think he will be one of the all-stars of the Cabinet.”
Holder brings extensive experience at the Justice Department, where he first went to work prosecuting public corruption cases straight out of Columbia Law School in 1976. He was nominated to the D.C. Superior Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 and confirmed by the Senate.
Clinton made him the capital city’s top federal prosecutor in 1993, and from 1997 until the end of the Clinton administration Holder served as second-in-command at the Justice Department as Deputy Attorney General. He advised the Obama campaign about legal issues and was a leader of Obama’s vice presidential selection committee.
Holder could face renewed questions from Republicans about his role in President Clinton’s last minute pardon of fugitive financier Mark Rich in 2001. Rich” ex-wife contributed heavily to Democratic causes, including Clinton’s presidential library and Hilary Clinton’s 2000 Senate campaign. As Deputy Attorney General, Holder signed off on the pardon.
Holder told the House Government Reform committee in Feb. 2001, “It is now clear, and this is admittedly hindsight, that we, at the Justice Department, and more importantly, former-President Clinton, the American public, in the cause of justice, would have been better served if the case had been handled through the normal channels.”
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