RECENT POSTS
- VP Biden's Thanksgiving Dinner for the Troops
- Life and Debt
- Obama To Cabinet: “We Cannot Sit Back and Be Satisfied” With Some Progress Amid High Unemployment Rate
- Today’s Qs for O’s WH – 11/23/2009
- Obama Calls for Annual Science Fair: Achievement Should be Recognized like NCAA Championship Win
- Obama Decision on Copenhagen Summit Attendance “In the Coming Days”
- Gitmo Detainees Intend to Plead Not Guilty in U.S. Court
- President Obama Calls 9th War Council Meeting for Tonight
- Health Care Hurdles
- The Presidential Planner
MONTHLY ARCHIVES
« Previous | Main | Next »
The Holder Nomination
December 03, 2008 8:29 AM
At this point, it doesn't appear that President-elect Obama's nomination of Eric Holder to be Attorney General is even remotely in trouble on Capitol Hill. But that doesn't mean Mr. Holder doesn't have some tough days of questioning ahead of him.
Today, the liberal editorial page of the New York Times offers some questions about comments Holder made "after the Sept. 11 attacks when he defended the Bush administration’s prisoner policies by declaring that 'you can think of these people as combatants and we are in the middle of a war.' Americans need to know that Mr. Holder does not believe that detainees can be held indefinitely without being brought before a judge — and that he would stand up for the Constitution when times are tough.
"There are other aspects of Mr. Holder’s record that are of concern," the Times adds, "starting with his role in Mr. Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich, a billionaire financier who had fled the country rather than face federal tax-evasion charges whose ex-wife, Denise Rich, had contributed heavily to the Clinton presidential library and the Democratic Party."
This comes on the heels of a Times story in which Holder's attorney Reid Weingarten offers what Mickey Kaus calls "Holder's Defense: 'I was played for a sucker by a lobbyist!'"
Weingarten, writes the Times, "said that Mr. Holder had done nothing improper in his handling of the Rich matter and that conversations about it were routine and largely insignificant, in part because he assumed that Mr. Rich’s lawyer, Jack Quinn, was going through normal pardon channels. 'Mr. Holder assumed that this was all being handled in the normal course,' Mr. Weingarten said, adding, 'There’s no question that Quinn played him and it was astute by Quinn because he did catch Eric unawares.'"
UPDATE: Mark Finkelstein at Newsbusters notes that on MSNBC yesterday, Larry O'Donnell said, "The irony of this is that the single biggest problem we have identified for anyone approaching the confirmation hearing in the Obama administration is a Clinton scandal problem. And it is not being attached to the Hillary Clinton confirmation process, as she moves forward. I mean, this was a very deeply scandalous period in the Clinton presidency. These pardons were going out the door and Hillary Clinton's brothers were involved in getting these pardons for people. And it is as dirty as we've seen since the Nixon administration: and it's hard to beat the Nixon administration. But in those terms, we haven't seen anything worse. And for it to be haunting Eric Holder instead of Hillary Clinton is really ironic at this stage."
- jpt
December 3, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (18)
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
Don't you just hate it when Republican/Conservatives like Pallin get into the
socialist 'redistribution of weath' communism stuff.. rewarding people who breed and have lots of babies with an economic incentive.
Taking money from companies to give to 'regular' people just for living in the state.
Posted by: Blue | Dec 3, 2008 6:12:17 PM
Mike_C
Afraid I'm not wrong.
I'm aware that the distribution is based in the Constitution of the People's Republic of Alaska. This year, Palin's windfall profits tax on the oil companies generated $6 billion in additional revenue for the state. This enabled her to send out $1,200 checks to all Alaskans to help them deal with increasing fuel costs. This was in addition to the $2,000 annual checks that they receive.
Posted by: Brooklyn Democrat | Dec 3, 2008 5:54:50 PM
As the news media and republicans so pointed out during the primaries she was ONLY the first lady, she held no postion of power no ablity to influence things home or abroad she just merely served tea why shoud the pardons have anything to do with her she didnt pardon them right? Did beign first lady grant her the powers to pardon people? If so I want every repbulican and every Obama supporter and media person who dogged her for just beign first lady and no foreign policy experience to go on record saying she did indeed have that kind of pull as first lady if they want to stick her with shady pardons during her husbands time in office. The past is the past better keep your eye out on who is on bushe's pardon list.
Posted by: rachel | Dec 3, 2008 2:09:53 PM
Hey Brooklyn Demo,
your WRONG....AGAIN!!!!
My uncle worked in Alaska in the 1950's and then went back to work on the pipeline in the early 1970's.
In Alaska, the State Constitution was amended in 1976 to put 25% of the State of Alaska oil income into a special savings account, the Alaska Permanent Fund. The Alaska Permanent Fund invests part of this income in stocks (so there will be cash in poor years). Then it sends a check to the state government and a check to every Alaskan citizen.
Palin's efforts are only inline with the state's constitution!
Stop whining because every time you turn around in NY you run into a tax!
As we keep hearing from you liberals...GET OVER IT ALREADY!
Posted by: Mike_C | Dec 3, 2008 2:06:57 PM
Steve,
Nice to know your keeping up your liberal way of thinking.
Jiali Gao does not "sound" American???
Sounds just as good as Barack Hussein Obama and you voted for him!
BRILLIANT !!!!!!
Posted by: Mike_C | Dec 3, 2008 1:58:58 PM
Concerned in OH -
Is Governor Palin one of the "left wing crazies" you're talking about? She's the one who "spreads the wealth" from the oil companies to anyone who's lived in Alaska for longer than one year.
Posted by: Brooklyn Democrat | Dec 3, 2008 1:10:41 PM
I see Tapper is using an obviously right leaning source, Newsbusters, to bash the Clintons. Maybe someone needs to get off the Clinton trashing merry go round.
Posted by: kat | Dec 3, 2008 1:06:07 PM
Concerned in OH,
As a Republican, do you know of any tax that you don't hate?
Posted by: Steve_NJ | Dec 3, 2008 12:38:57 PM
jiali gao,
Americans voted that way.
What is it that you don't get about democracy and voting buddy?
You don't sound like an American, are you?
Posted by: Steve_NJ | Dec 3, 2008 10:56:05 AM
What is ironic is that it is Hillary who has to work for an unqualified PEBO to serve the country rather than the pebo works for Hillary.
Posted by: jiali gao | Dec 3, 2008 10:50:41 AM
Hank737TC,
If Obama is dumb, how would you describe George W. Bush?
Posted by: Steve_NJ | Dec 3, 2008 10:45:08 AM
Carly
re: "Attorneys are not supposed to "assume" anything."
suggest you check with former AG Gonzalez about his 'assumptions' on the legality of torture and presidential power.
I enjoy comments about what Obama is or isn't doing before he's officially President. It illuminates how pathetic Bush & Co. are right now, and what a failure he has been for 8 years.
Posted by: Blue | Dec 3, 2008 10:37:26 AM
Both Clintons are crooked; Holder is a jerk; Biden is useless; and Obama is dumber than a doorknob.
This country is in GREAT shape.
Posted by: Hank737TC | Dec 3, 2008 9:50:08 AM
"Mr. Holder assumed......."
Attorneys are not supposed to "assume" anything.
Posted by: Carly | Dec 3, 2008 9:37:16 AM
I already got my bumper sticker:
DON'T BLAME ME - I DIDN'T VOTE OBAMA
Posted by: don'tblameme | Dec 3, 2008 9:33:35 AM
Who cares. What I DO care about is another Obama campaign promise which has already turned out to be a lie.
Fox News headline says that since gasoline prices have dropped, Obama will NOT impose a windfall tax on the big oil companies!!!!!
So, after a few weeks, gasoline prices will start creeping up, the oil companies will post even bigger profits than the billions they made last year and it will be the same old thing in Washington---kiss the oil companies' asses.
SO OBAMA -
WHERE IS YOUR BIG "C H A N G E" ??????
Posted by: whiteravenshead | Dec 3, 2008 9:26:54 AM
OK - the far left doesn't want him and the far right doesn't want him - sounds like a good choice to me.
Posted by: jamescbuilder | Dec 3, 2008 9:25:56 AM
Jake Jake Jake.
Why do you guys go fishing for rotting corpses even when you are sure to find none?
With the election over must you sensationalize everything to make news?
Holder will be confirmed irrespective of what some leftist cranks think about Bush and the War on Terror or what any right wing harks think about Clinton and Marc Rich.
Enough already.
Posted by: Steve_NJ | Dec 3, 2008 8:43:51 AM
Post a comment
