Research Briefing

Attorney General Finally Makes His Way To Senate Hearing He “Escaped” Last Month, But Will Have To Answer For His Steady Stream Of Missteps And Questionable Actions

“Last Month, Attorney General Eric Holder Narrowly Escaped A Grilling Before The Senate Judiciary Committee -- Thanks To The Signing Of President Obama’s Health-Care Reform Package On March 22, Which Preempted All Other Activity On The Hill. This Week, Holder May Not Be So Lucky.” (Anne E. Kornblut, “Attorney General Eric Holder To Attend Hearing Before Senate Judiciary Committee,” The Washington Post, 4/13/10)

MISSTEPS ON NATIONAL SECURITY HAVE HOLDER “INCREASINGLY EMBATTLED”

“[A] Series Of Gaffes, Fights With Both Republicans And Democrats, And Apparent Disagreements Between Him And The White House Have Left Holder Looking Increasingly Embattled.” (“Holder’s Future Uncertain Amid Terror Trial Disputes,” AFP, 3/21/10)

Holder Said He Was Confident That Osama Bin Laden Will Never Be Caught Alive, And “Miranda Rights” Will Be Read To Bin Laden’s “Corpse.” “‘Let’s deal with reality,’ Holder said. ‘The reality is that we will be reading Miranda rights to the corpse of Osama bin Laden. He will never appear in an American courtroom.’ Pressed further on that point, Holder said: ‘The possibility of catching him alive is infinitesimal. He will be killed by us or he will be killed by his own people so he can’t be captured by us.’” (Devlin Barrett, “Holder: Osama Bin Laden Will Never Face US Trial,” The Associated Press, 3/17/10)

• But That Contradicts Both General Stanley McChrystal And CIA Director Leon Panetta. “But the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan assured on Wednesday the objective was still to find bin Laden and bring him to justice. Not kill him. ‘We certainly would go after trying to capture him alive and bring him to justice. I think that is something that is understood by everyone,’ General Stanley McChrystal said, briefing reporters in a teleconference.” ‘“As for what might happen to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden if the U.S. gets hold of him, Panetta told the Post that ‘the most likely scenario’ would be taking him to a military facility ‘and we would then do the questioning.’” (“Would U.S. Forces Kill Or Capture Bin Laden?” Reuters, 3/17/10; Mark Memmott, “Al-Qaida Is ‘On The Run’ CIA’s Panetta Says,” NPR, 3/18/10)

Holder Made Decision To Try 9/11 Terrorists In New York City, Failing To Consult With Obama. “Today, I am announcing that the Department of Justice will pursue prosecution in federal court of the five individuals accused of conspiring to commit the 9/11 attacks… The 9/11 cases that will be pursued in federal court have been jointly assigned to prosecutors from the Southern District of New York and the Eastern District of Virginia and will be brought in Manhattan in the Southern District of New York.”; Jim Lehrer: “So, you just told him what your decision was; you didn’t say, ‘What do you think about it, Mr. President?’” Holder: “Nope. Told him last night -- or had relayed to him what I was going to do last night while he was on Air Force One on his way to Asia.”  (Eric Holder, Attorney General Announces Forum Decisions for Guantanamo Detainees, 11/13/09; PBS’ “News Hour With Jim Lehrer,” 11/13/09)

• That’s Why Decision On Trial “Is Now Being Managed By The White House Rather Than The Justice Department, Putting Holder In The Awkward Position Of Having To Defend A Decision That Has Been Overruled And Is Still In Limbo.” (Anne E. Kornblut, “Attorney General Eric Holder To Attend Hearing Before Senate Judiciary Committee,” The Washington Post, 4/13/10)

Holder Leading The Effort To Shut Down Guantanamo Detainee Facility. “President Barack Obama has tasked Holder with leading the new administration’s effort to close the detention facility within a year, and the department will play a key role in determining which detainees to try and how. Justice officials say Holder’s Covington ties will have no effect on his involvement in policy issues, but he will have to sit out charging decisions and prosecutions should they arise in cases specifically involving Covington clients.” (Joe Palazzolo, “Some Justice Department Lawyers Have Gitmo Conflicts,” The Legal Times, 3/2/09)

• But According To A USA Today/Gallup Poll, “Americans Oppose The Closing Of Gitmo By More Than A 2-To-1 Margin.” (David Morgan, “The First Draft: Poll Shows Growing U.S. Support For Afghan Troop Increase,” Reuters’ “Front Row Washington“ Blog, 11/25/09)
• And USS Cole Commander Says Releasing Detainees From Guantanamo Bay Is “An Unacceptable Risk To American Lives.” “The incident Friday means ‘we have the clearest indication yet that the president’s continual release of Guantanamo Bay detainees presents an unacceptable risk to American lives,’ said Kirk Lippold, commander of the USS Cole when it was attacked by al-Qaeda in Yemen in 2000. Yemen ‘is incapable of containing a growing terrorist insurgency… The nearly 200 detainees held at Guantanamo Bay are ‘the most dangerous of the terrorists we brought there,’ Lippold said. ‘They are high-level al-Qaeda or Taliban.’” (Mimi Hall, “Alleged Airliner Plot Raises Concerns About Gitmo Closing,” USA Today 12/30/09)

BUT OTHER QUESTIONABLE DECISIONS FROM HOLDER “THREATEN TO DERAIL HIS CAREER”

Holder’s “Decisions Threaten To Derail His Career” As White House Gives Him “Little Backing” In Order To “Save The President’s Political.” “Eric Holder has spent much of his first year as attorney general trying to reverse a series of Bush administration policies. But the controversies provoked by his decisions threaten to derail his career ... A senior Democratic congressional aide said Mr. Holder was given little backing from the White House, which wanted to save the president’s political capital ...” (Evan Perez, “In Holder’s Woes, A Dej? Vu,” The Wall Street Journal, 3/23/10)

Holder’s Justice Department Filed Brief Supporting “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy Obama Wants To Get Rid Of. “President Obama’s Justice Department filed a brief in court this week supporting the military’s ‘Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell’ policy, which the president has said he wants to rescind.” (Jake Tapper, “Using Outdated Quotes From Colin Powell, Obama Justice Department Files Brief To Support Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell Policy,” ABC News, 3/31/10)

Holder’s Civil Rights Division Ruled North Carolina Town Must Vote Along Line Of “Partisan Cue” In Order For Minority Candidates To Be Elected To Office. “In a letter dated Aug. 17, the city received the Justice Department’s answer: Elections must remain partisan because the change’s ‘effect will be strictly racial.’ ‘Removing the partisan cue in municipal elections will, in all likelihood, eliminate the single factor that allows black candidates to be elected to office,’ Loretta King, who at the time was the acting head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, wrote in a letter to the city.” (Ben Conery, “Justice Concludes Black Voters Need Democratic Party,” The Washington Times, 10/20/09)

• Overturning The Decision Of Kinston, NC, Residents In November 2008, By A Nearly 2-to-1 Margin, To Do Away With Partisan Elections With Broad Black And White Support.  “In November’s election - one in which ‘hope’ emerged as a central theme - the city had uncommonly high voter turnout, with more than 11,000 of the city’s 15,000 voters casting ballots. Kinston’s blacks voted in greater numbers than whites. Whites typically cast the majority of votes in Kinston’s general elections. Kinston residents contributed to Barack Obama’s victory as America’s first black president and voted by a margin of nearly 2-to-1 to eliminate partisan elections in the city.” (Ben Conery, “Justice Concludes Black Voters Need Democratic Party,” The Washington Times, 10/20/09)

At Civil Rights Division That’s Supposed To Enforce Current Law, Holder Created Policy Shop That Will Play “Active Role” In Creating And Changing Laws. “The Civil Rights Division is planning to establish a new Policy Section that will provide other sections in the division with policy, regulatory and legislative assistance, according to an e-mail to Justice Department staff from Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez. The new section will play ‘an active role in numerous critical legal and policy issues that contain an important civil rights dimension, but do not fit neatly into any of the division’s established sections,’ Perez wrote.” (Ryan Reilly, “Civil Rights Division Establishing Policy Section,” MainJustice.com, 4/5/10)