Eric Holder’s life long dream
by Jesse J. Lewis, Sr.
Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr. has a strong connection to the State of Alabama. Atty. Holder’s wife, Dr. Sharon Malone, a Washington D. C. obstetrician, is a Mobile native. Because of her concern for Atty. Holder’s health, she has asked him to resign.
President Obama said that Holder, 63, intends to leave the Justice Department as soon as his successor is confirmed, a process that could run through 2014 and even into next year. Holder is one of the longest-serving members of the Obama Cabinet and currently ranks as the fourth longest tenured AG in history.
Holder most wants to be remembered for his record on civil rights: refusing to defend a law that defined marriage as between one man and one woman; suing North Carolina and Texas over voting restrictions that disproportionately affect minorities and the elderly; launching 20 investigations of abuses by local police departments; and using his bully pulpit to lobby Congress to reduce prison sentences for nonviolent drug crimes.
The attorney general was a lightning rod for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) since his appointment was announced. Their relationship reached a crisis point when the GOP-led House voted him in contempt for refusing to hand over documents about Fast and Furious, but he still held his job.
In the end, the decision to leave was Holder’s alone. The next question is where will he go. Friends say Holder has made no decision about his next professional job, but they would not be surprised if he returned to the law firm Covington & Burling, where he was a partner, representing corporate clients.
According to National Press Radio, more policy and enforcement initiatives are underway and could be announced soon. Holder sent a memo to U. S. Attorneys urging them to use sentencing enhancements know as “851” tools to gain leverage in plea negotiations with defendants (threatening defendants into avoiding trial with huge amounts of prison time). He is also expected to notify federal prosecutors that the Justice Department will no longer require defendants who plead guilty to waive their rights to appeal based on ineffective lawyering; and long-waiting racial profiling guidelines for general agents will be released. These guidelines will make clear that sexual orientation, ethnicity, and religion are not legitimate bases for law enforcement suspicion.
Holder, fighting back tears in his speech after the announcement of his resignation said to President Obama, “I am proud to call you a friend,” adding “the Obama administration has done much to make real the promise of our democracy.”
White House security unacceptable
Omar Gonzalez, a 42-year-old knife-wielding Iraq war veteran, entered an unlocked door to the executive mansion. The White House door Gonzalez barged through had no remote locking mechanism and needed to be manually locked. Such a mechanism has since been installed.
A federal grand jury indicated Gonzalez on three separate federal and District of Columbia charges that could carry a maximum of 17 years in prison.
U. S. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson called the incident “unacceptable” and told a congressional committee Tuesday, that she takes “full responsibility.” Saying she couldn’t give responses because presidential protection is highly sensitive or classified, Pierson said the incident remains under investigation and she doesn’t “want to get ahead of the investigation.”
Republicans and Democrats questioned how Gonzalez made it through five rings of security, overpowering Secret Service officer and running deep into the White House where he was finally subdued by an off-duty officer. Rep. Elijah Cummings, added, “I hate to even imagine what could have happened if Gonzalez had been carrying gun instead of a knife when he burst inside the White House. That possibility is extremely unsettling.”
At the end of the public session of the congressional hearing, Cummings said “the jury is still out” on whether Pierson can stay on in and fix the problems at the agency. Asked about his confidence in the director’s ability to continue in her post, Issa told reporters, “This hearing did not add to my confidence.”
Over and over, Democrats and Republicans sharply criticized the Secret Service director’s leadership and expressed disbelief that no one at the agency had been held accountable. Pierson noted she has been on the job for 18 months and took steps to reform the agency but also said, “when you bring change into an organization, there is pushback.”
But Pierson’s testimony only appeared to further inflame some members of the committee, yet President Obama still has confidence in the Secret Service protection.
I don’t feel Director Julia Pierson should be fired but given the responsibility of doing her job, with enhanced an budget. She should present the report to Congress and let them sign off on it. She has the authority to hire and fire anyone she so desires.
email: jjlewis@birminghamtimes.com
