Below is my column on the resignation of Eric Holder as United States Attorney General. For civil libertarians, Holder’s tenure as Attorney General under President Obama has been one of the most damaging periods in our history with a comprehensive attack on various constitutional rights and principles from free speech to the free press to international law. In recent polling by NBC and the Wall Street Journal, Holder was the second most unpopular government official after the positively radioactive Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
As someone who previously called for Holder’s firing after the investigation of various journalists under national security powers, I am hardly one who can offer congratulatory sentiments for such a record. However, much like President Obama, one has to wonder what could have been if Holder had chosen a more principled and less political approach to his office. Holder is resigning the same week that a federal judge ordered the release of “Fast and Furious” documents after the Justice Department was accused of a pattern of delay and obstruction. Holder was previously held in contempt by Congress for his withholding documents and conflicting accounts to an oversight committee looking into the scandal. Indeed, Holder was looking at an even more aggressive period with the possible loss of the Senate and increased GOP seats in the House.
Ironically, Holder came into office trying to distinguish himself from such disastrous predecessors as Alberto Gonzales but proved no less political or blindly loyal to his own president. Indeed, both men fought aggressively to expand the powers of the presidency and national security laws over countervailing individual rights and separation of powers principles. It will be civil liberties and not civil rights that will be the lasting, and troubling, legacy of Eric Holder. The column is below:
The resignation of Eric Holder as attorney general is an unavoidably symbolic moment for an administration that itself appears to be waning in the final years of a troubled second term. Holder truly personifies an administration of unrivaled ambitions colliding with inescapable realities.
He proved a fierce friend to President Obama, and that loyalty might have worked to the disadvantage of both men. After a series of major court defeats and public controversies, Obama (like President Bush before him) might have been served better by an attorney general who was more detached from him and more attached to the constitutional principles that shape both their offices.
Holder has secured a well-earned position for himself in history as the nation’s first black U.S. attorney general. He is by any means an American success story. The son of a father born in Barbados and raised in New York, Holder used his considerable intellect to go to Columbia University for both college and law school. He was made a judge on the local D.C. court by President Reagan and was appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia by President Clinton, who later made him deputy attorney general.
Holder’s life should be both an inspiration and a cautionary tale for young lawyers. As he ascended into power, Holder became increasingly viewed by critics as a bit too ambitious and political within the Justice Department. That reputation was reaffirmed for many with Clinton’s last-minute pardon of fugitive and major Democratic donor Marc Rich. By any objective measure, Rich was one of the least deserving pardon applicants in history — with 65 criminal counts, from tax evasion to wire fraud to racketeering to illegal trades with Iran. While his companies later pleaded guilty to 35 criminal counts, Rich fled to live the good life in Switzerland. Besides a long list of alleged felonies, Rich had a long list of friends close to Clinton … and Clinton in turn had Eric Holder.
Holder was accused of short-cutting the normal procedures to push through the pardon for Rich. Though he said he was “neutral” on the pardon (which itself is a bit shocking), former FBI director Louis Freeh said the Clinton White House had “used” Holder to keep the FBI and the DOJ from being heard on the pardon.
In his confirmation hearing, Holder promised not to have a repeatof the Rich scandal and not to allow politics to influence his decisions. It was a defining moment and one that Holder would have been wise to work to live up to.
But it did not take long for Holder’s inspiring “Mr. Smith comes to Washington” story to become “all the king’s men.” When the president was confronted with demands to investigate and prosecute individuals for torture under the Bush administration, Holder faced an early test of principle. He failed. The Justice Department blocked any prosecution despite our obligation under international treaties and the president’s (and Holder’s) acknowledgment that waterboarding is clearly a form of torture.
To quote Jerry Maguire, Obama had Holder at “hello” in seeking unbridled presidential authority. Many of the cases that Holder brought and policies that he supported resulted in startling defeats. He lost a series of criminal cases seeking massive reductions in privacy and due process protections for citizens. He unwisely pursued cases such as Canning, where a unanimous Supreme Court curtailed the powers of the president to make recess appointments.
Holder personally announced Obama’s “kill list” policy, in which the president claimed the right to kill any U.S. citizen on his sole authority without a charge, let alone a conviction. Holder’s department used the controversial Espionage Act of 1917 to bring twice the number of such prosecutions of all prior presidents under the Act. Journalists were placed under surveillance in a record that rivaled that of President Nixon. Holder led an appalling crackdown on whistle-blowers. Holder fought to justify massive warrantless surveillance and unchecked presidential authority to attack other countries without congressional approval.
Holder’s continual confrontations with Congress came to a head in a series of scandals, including the “Fast and Furious” controversy in which the government allowed drug gangs to get high-powered weapons in a truly moronic “gun walking” program. In that and other scandals, the administration withheld documents and key witnesses from oversight committees. Holder was wrong and was ultimately held in contempt of Congress.
While Holder can be credited with not shying away from our race conflicts, his actions such as intervening in the Zimmerman case (after the shooting of Trayvon Martin) and the recent Ferguson shooting were viewed by many as premature. His calling the United States a “nation of cowards” on race was a brave but also a divisive moment. In the end, however, his positive work in the area of civil rights will ultimately be eclipsed by his destructive legacy in the area of civil liberties and constitutional government.
The sad truth is that Holder could have been truly great — not simply as the first black attorney general but as a man of principle who stood with the law over politics and friendship. In one of the great lost opportunities in history, Holder will finish his tenure as he began it: a man with great but still unrealized potential.
Jonathan Turley, the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, is a member of USA Today’s Board of Contributors.
New comments @ 3:49 pm not posted at approximately 4:02 pm.
Thank you. Freedom of Speech. Who thought of that?
How is the vote in China different from the “vote” in America. The vote in America is inexorably diluted by amendment and “immigration” so that it is obviated then manipulated and the “presidium” which you call the “oligarchy” maintains and perpetuates its ironclad control as freedom and self-reliance are relegated to the dustbin of history.
And Olly, where were all those smart voters in 2008 and 2012? You think it would’ve been a smarter vote Republican? Not a lick of difference between the two when the offers start coming in from the richer than god types. We are just the frogs in the pot arguing over nonsense.
Olly, it’s interesting that comments are unfailingly retrieved after everyone has gone home and gone to bed.
Most organizations FIX things that are broken.
Oops! I hope nothing untoward is inferred from that unfortunate expectoration.
Remember this blog: “…crackdown on political speech.”
China Sentences Uighur Scholar To Life In Prison After Denying Him Access To Evidence
1, September 24, 2014 by jonathanturley
Profesor_Ilham_TohtiChina has continued its crackdown on political speech with a truly disgraceful trial of Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti.
John, I retrieved your comment at 3:55.
John – you could not be more wrong about the retrieval of comments.
Aridog – how are you going to know if it is fixed? It could just be your turn to be cursed,
Yes Olly, voters are “given”, given very limited choices that the oligarchs have already MADE for us. Don’t you see that they think they are far wiser than us, the ‘unwashed masses’ ? Doesn’t it pee you off that our choices in candidates has been so corrupted by BIG money?
Annie – you are allowed to write in candidates. Now in some states the write-in candidates have to be official write-in candidates which has hindered my getting Mickey Mouse elected to any office in Arizona, however, I never give up trying. There is always some office that Mickey is clearly the better candidate for.
New and different comments mysteriously (to me) missing here. This constitutes a new request for retrieval of new comments at approx. 3:48 pm. Thank you, “powers that be.”
“Voters are given…”?
Of course they are given; that’s what unprincipled people do! That’s called HUMAN NATURE and it’s as predictable as the sunrise. The Framer’s knew it and they’ve written extensively about it. Voters are also given principled options. The problem is ignorant voters cannot tell the difference. So they take the dessert and eschew the broccoli. Unprincipled voters know which is better for the country but they will still take the dessert and then blame the baker!
Understanding that America is suppressed with the yoke of collectivism including control of the means of production and redistribution of wealth, “presidium” would seem a better choice of words than “oligarchy,” which hints at some degree of freedom and free market capitalism, which simply does not exist here.
ol·i·gar·chy
a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.
“the ruling oligarchy of military men around the president”
pre·sid·i·um
a standing executive committee in a communist country.
•the standing executive committee in the former Soviet Union, which functioned as the legislative authority when the Supreme Soviet was not sitting.
noun: Presidium; noun: Praesidium
P.S. Making corruption and violation of the public trust a capital offense, might
provide rectification.
John, I retrieved your comment at 3:46.
Olly I can have absolutely no bearing on your inferences. You are a free man with the compelling forces existing only in your cranial vault. I seek only to obtain the timely posting of my comment before its perishable date.
Buy.
Olly, money can by anything or anyone, or so it seems. Voters are ‘given’ candidates that have been vetted by the oligarchs, long before they get that nomination. A third party candidate will be no different. That’s living in a fool’s paradise.
John,
Your comment implies the delay is unethical and dishonorable. This blog does not have someone standing by at the ready to either block your posts or retrieve them out of the filter. Show some humility and respect for the people that do this service for you.
It’s rather difficult to deal with a scofflaw Attorney General, isn’t it? Such people are typically disinclined to prosecute themselves. Perhaps we should amend the Constitution to make impeachment an option for holders of this office.
When comments are mysteriously “filtered,” how many minutes pass before the comments are ethically and honorably restored? Tick, tock. Tick, tock.
Squeeky,
That is where we are headed and precisely why the 4th self-evident truth begins with; “when” rather than “if”. Knowing that inevitability, we should all be united in securing the 2nd amendment right.
3:20 pm is the approximate time of the request to post comments that have been “filtered.” Thank you.
Please retrieve comments here.
Annie,
The reason I asked that question back to you is because you implied CU had anything to do with it. Where did you get that impression?
Oligarchs can only exist because the voters ignorantly reelect those that dishonor their oath. Their existence is made even easier when the voters don’t want a constitutionally-limited government but rather one that prefers a progressive ideology. Corporations and Big Money don’t cast a vote; the unprincipled people that put unprincipled candidates BACK in office do.
eric the holder has done what 0 has done please the .001% for which he’ll be reward. Those on Main Street didn’t expect anything different.
IF OBAMA FIRES ERIC HOLDER AND BOMBS SYRIA,
IT MUST BE ELECTION SEASON
Obama has opened the election campaign with fireworks. Obama fires his controversial appointee and gets tough on security in an attempt to save a Senate seat. Obama did not begin military operations in Syria when it might have been effective, he waited for the election season to open. He believes he will be seen as tough on security and war, which will cause him to rise in the polls and help democrats. He sent planes out to bomb empty buildings like Clinton’s “aspirin factory” skit.
Obama didn’t fire Holder when the Attorney General was allegedly caught committing international crimes and other unconstitutional activities. Holder was found in Contempt of Congress and allegedly engaged in gun-running to promote the anti-2nd Amendment resulting in the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.
Let’s ask the French if they’re happy about their participation in Obama’s ISIS- bombing election campaign after the French journalist was beheaded in Algeria as retaliation. Oh, that pesky “Arab Spring.”
Obama claimed he took over for Bush and won Bush’s war. Obama pulled American troops out of Iraq and sent them home. He won the war. NOT! Bush and Romney admonished against early withdrawal…oh, and Russia too. “Obama’s War” begins on an ominous note.
Obama said he defeated al Qaeda. Obama did not defeat al Qaeda, he renamed al Qaeda, calling it Khorasan. Obama says there is a new threat, a “splinter group” called Khorasan. In fact, it is a subdivision of the old threat, al Qaeda. Obama won no war and defeated no enemy.
Obama released ISIS leader Baghdadi from Guantanamo in 2009. Obama released 5 Taliban General Staff from Guantanamo to obtain the release of an “American” deserter; a defector; a traitor. He set the stage for this election cycle.
In order to preclude foreign allegiances, the Commander in Chief was required to be a “natural born citizen” of 2 citizen-parents, as the requirement for U.S. Senator is only “citizen.” Obama is the son of a foreign citizen and a mother too young to confer citizenship.
Charlie Rose Show – TOM BROKAW:
“We don’t know a lot about Barack Obama and the universe of his thinking about foreign policy.”
The “latte salute” is a revealing demonstration of Obama’s allegiances.
It is impossible to be a poster boy for affirmative action and welfare, smoke pot through a high school career, dance around a lecture hall “interpreting” law for students who don’t know any better, finally get a job as a ghetto “community organizer” and function as anything other than an “empty suit,” ineligible president, giving “latte salutes.” Especially when the only statue of you in the world, the Obama statue in Indonesia, is unceremoniously torn down. Imagine what that does to your self-esteem, psyche and world view.
Bret Stephens – Wall Street Journal – 9/22/14
“I’ve been thinking about this as it becomes clear that, even at an elementary level, Mr. Obama often doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It isn’t so much his analysis of global events that’s wrong, though it is. The deeper problem is the foundation of knowledge on which that analysis is built.”
John, I retrieved your comment at 3:15.