Eric Holder Tapped for Attorney General

Eric Holder, a Deputy Attorney General under President Bill Clinton, has been tapped for Attorney General in the upcoming Barack Obama administration. The selection is likely to cause controversy partly because of a man named Marc Rich.

Eric Holder has been in government service for over twenty years. After serving in the Justice Department, Eric Holder was first named as an Associate Judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. Eric Holder then was appointed US Attorney for the District of Columbia by President Bill Clinton in 1993.

In 1997 Eric Holder was named Deputy Attorney General by President Bill Clinton, then replacing Jamie Gorelick. Eric Holder was confirmed by a unanimous vote of the Senate, despite some question about his opposition to the death penalty,

It was as Deputy Attorney General that Eric Holder encountered controversy when, during the closing days of the Clinton Administration, he vetted Marc Rich as a candidate for a Presidential pardon.

Marc Rich was a fugitive from justice who had been indicted for tax evasion and illegal trading with Iran in 1983 by none other than then US Attorney and future Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani. Marc Rich's former wife, Denise Rich, contributed large sums of money to both the Democratic Party and the Clinton Library. When President Clinton pardoned Marc Rich on January 20^th, 2001, the appearance of a pardon that had been bought and paid for was readily apparent.

Eric Holder also defended the extraction of Cuban refugee Elian Gonzales at gun point from his family in Miami and his return to Cuba with his father.

Despite the Marc Rich and Elian Gonzales controversies, Eric Holder is likely to be easily confirmed by a heavily Democratic Senate. Eric Holder has served as the Barack Obama Campaign's legal counsel since 2007 and was part of the committee that helped to select Joe Biden as Barack Obama's Vice Presidential running mate. Eric Holder would be the first African American Attorney General.

The selection of Eric Holder as Attorney General may be a source of discontent for Obama supporters, though. With Rahm Emanuel as White House Chief of Staff, Greg Craig as White House counsel, and the possibility of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, Eric Holder will be the latest Clinton retread to join the Obama Administration. Obama's problem is that while people like Eric Holder have the experience and skills to run a government, they hardly represent the sort of "change" his supporters thought they were getting.

Sources: Obama's Attorney General, Michael Isikoff, Newsweek, Novermber 18th, 2008

Newsweek: Obama to name Eric Holder AG, Allapundit, Hotair.Com, November 18th, 2008