by Josh Meyer
Confirmation of President Barack Obama's nominee for attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., was delayed for a week today, after Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee placed a hold on it, complained that they have not been given enough time to question the former deputy attorney general about his role in some controversial Clinton-era clemency cases and other matters.
Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., grudgingly agreed to the one-week delay in the Senate's vote on Holder. The move was initiated by Republican senators on the panel, including Charles Grassley of Iowa, Jon Kyl of Arizona, Jeff Sessions of Georgia and John Cornyn of Texas.
``I am extremely disappointed, but they have that right,'' Leahy said, after saying Holder's confirmation was too important to postpone given all of the problems at the Justice Department.
``The threats confronting the country are too serious to delay this.''
The request was made by the ranking minority member on the committee, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, after a morning meeting of the GOP senators on the panel, which oversees the Justice Department and is charged with investigating attorney general nominees for their readiness and ability to serve.
Specter said that he was acting at the request of his fellow Republicans, but that he personally was reluctant to hold up the confirmation process, preferring instead to question Holder about his own concerns in a private meeting that is scheduled for sometime in the next few days.
Specter and other GOP senators said Holder has not fully answered their many questions about his role in several controversial clemency cases that appeared to favor the wishes of the White House over the objections of his own law enforcement officials and prosecutors at the Justice Department, in part because they were rushed by the Democrat-controlled committee.
``The proceedings did not lend themselves to the kind of questioning I thought was necessary,'' Specter said.
Senate confirmation of Holder, a well-respected former judge and prosecutor, is not considered to be in jeopardy, according to several sources on the committee, and some Republican senators such as Orrin Hatch, of Utah.
But the Republicans have accused Leahy and other Democrats of trying to ram through Holder's confirmation, in part by cutting off the questioning of him about his role in Clinton's last-minute pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich. They are also concerned about his role in Clinton's commutation of long prison sentences for 16 convicted members of two Puerto Rican nationalist groups that committed terrorist acts in the 1970s and 1980s an effort to gain independence for the island from the United States.
Some of the senators said a Jan. 9 report in the Tribune raised significant questions about Holder's role in the so-called FALN clemencies, including that he pressured subordinates at the Clinton Justice Department to effectively change the department's recommendation from one of vehement objection to support, and when he continued to encounter stiff opposition from his own pardon attorney, to a neutral stance.
That neutral stance allowed Clinton to issue the controversial clemencies, even though law enforcement officials were virtually unanimously opposed, without appearing to go against the wishes of the Justice Department.
Specter has also accused Leahy of blocking GOP efforts to subpoena two former senior Justice Department officials who had objected to the Rich pardon and FALN clemencies, including Pardon Attorney Roger Adams, after they refused to testify under oath willingly. And he said Leahy, as chairman, has refused to support GOP efforts to get cartons of pertinent documents relevant to Holder's time as deputy attorney general from the Justice Department and Clinton White House archives.
Comments
Let the GOP issue all the supeanas they want. And for each one they issue, the DEMS issue one for Bush-era people on war crimes, justice dept. crimes, domestic spying crimes etc. etc. etc.
Posted by: ChicagoKirk | January 21, 2009 5:20 PM
For every subpoena the GOP issues, the Democrats should issue a subpoena for Bush-era people on war crimes, Justice Dept crimes, domestic spying crimes, Scooter Libby-Plamegate etc etc etc.
Posted by: ChicagoKirk | January 21, 2009 5:25 PM
The Republican Party is terrified of the idea of Eric Holder as Attorney General. Of all of the appointments to Obama’s Cabinet, this is the one that fills the Right with horror and dread. They have been working overtime to block this appointment. Since Holder was nominated, they have been defining him in the press and framing the issues in ways that they think they could use to take him out.
They're going to throw any nonsense that they can against the wall in the hopes of killing this appointment....it won't work.
Why are they afraid?
The answer is simple: Holder will investigate the political corruption in Washington.
And for the modern Republican Party an active and righteous Department of Justice prosecuting the crimes of the Bush years is a nightmare that fills them with dread.
And so they plan to go after Holder as their latest effort to obstruct justice.
Posted by: dano | January 21, 2009 5:30 PM
Maybe we could have Cornyn strapped down and subjected to the waterboarding process, and then he could explain to us how it isn't torture...
Bottom line? Holder will be confirmed, but Republicans will use whatever cheap delaying tactics they can, just as Cornyn delayed Hillary Clinton's confirmation as Secretary of State, in a petty effort to chip away at Obama's overwhelming popularity, since they don't have the guts to go after Obama himself...yet.
Posted by: bebop | January 21, 2009 5:55 PM
The iron Republican fist comes out of the velvet glove.
They guys are going to puke all over themselves.
Note to old angry white males;
Get out of the way. Proceed directly to the dustbin of history.
Posted by: C.Morris✈ | January 21, 2009 7:08 PM
Maybe Holder could pardon the Gitmo guys he has experience in granting leniency to killers and bombers. If Blago choose him to investigate corruption in Il. gambling you know he is the right man for the job. Give Obama a break, confirm him. The Chicago gang likes him, what else do we need to know.
Posted by: Bubba Porter | January 21, 2009 8:04 PM
Attention Mr. Eric Holder..., be a stand up guy for once in your life. Remove yourself from this nomination.
Posted by: Paul | January 21, 2009 10:28 PM
To Obama, everything is a big rush... spend $800B, approve my nominees, and NOW. We don't have time for any debate.
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But the GOP is very right to question some of the things Obama is trying to ram-through while he still has a mandate and a shell-shocked public... somebody needs to stand askance of this socialist rollout.
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As for Eric Holder, he served as deputy attorney general in the Clinton Administration, was instrumental in the 2001 pardon of international fugitive and Clinton supporter Marc Rich... where it appears he took action to please Clinton, aid his own career, rather than any consideration of "justice".
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More recently, he was Gov. Blagojevich's pick to sort out a mess involving Illinois' long-dormant casino license. Blagojevich and Holder appeared together at a March 24, 2004, news conference to announce Holder's role as "special investigator to the Illinois Gaming Board"- a post that was to pay Holder and his Washington, D.C. law firm up to $300,000.
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Holder, however, omitted that event from his 47-page response to a Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire-- an "oversight" that he said he "plans to correct"... but only after a Chicago Sun-Times inquiry uncovered the omission, which was right in the middle of the Blagojevich controversy. Perhaps he just forgot about such a large, relevant event in his confirmation process?
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http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com
Posted by: Reaganite Republican | January 22, 2009 5:09 AM
"Rove, Norquist, Hatch, Cheney, Scooter, Bush Speak"
By Removing the Attorney General, in consultation with FISA Laws, in consultation with the Constitution of the United States, by inserting, eavesdropping, wiretapping, and datamining Congressional members.
We can and should all go to jail!
Shhhhhhhhhhhh please end the last Congressiona Churn that can lock us up forever!
Posted by: Roger Morris | January 22, 2009 2:23 PM
"Rove, Norquist, Hatch, Cheney, Scooter, Bush Speak"
By Removing the Attorney General, in consultation with FISA Laws, in consultation with the Constitution of the United States, by inserting, eavesdropping, wiretapping, and datamining Congressional members.
We can and should all go to jail!
Shhhhhhhhhhhh please end the last Congressional Churn that can lock us up forever!
Posted by: Roger Morris | January 22, 2009 2:24 PM