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Eric H. Holder Jr., Esq.


Self Description

November 2006: "During his professional career, Mr. Holder has held a number of significant positions in government. Upon graduating from Columbia Law School, he moved to Washington, DC and joined the Department of Justice as part of the Attorney General's Honors Program. He was assigned to the newly formed Public Integrity Section in 1976 and was tasked to investigate and prosecute official corruption on the local, state and federal levels. While at the Public Integrity Section, Mr. Holder participated in a number of prosecutions and appeals involving such defendants as the Treasurer of the state of Florida, the Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, a local judge in Philadelphia, an Assistant United States Attorney in New York City, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a "capo" in an organized crime family in Pennsylvania.

In 1988, Mr. Holder was nominated by President Reagan to become an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was confirmed by the Senate and his investiture occurred in October of that year. Over the next five years, Judge Holder presided over hundreds of civil and criminal trials and matters. Many of the trials involved homicides and other crimes of violence.

In 1993, President Clinton nominated Mr. Holder to become the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. He was confirmed later that year and served as the head of the largest United States Attorneys office in the nation for nearly four years. He was the first black person to serve in that position. As US Attorney, Mr. Holder created a Domestic Violence Unit to more effectively handle those types of tragic cases, implemented a community prosecution project to work hand in hand with residents and local government agencies in order to make neighborhoods safer, supported a renewed enforcement emphasis on hate crimes so that criminal acts of intolerance would be severely punished, developed a comprehensive strategy to improve the manner in which agencies handled cases involving the abuse of children, launched a community outreach program to reconnect the US Attorney's office with the citizens it serves, revitalized the Victim/Witness Assistance Program to better serve those individuals who were directly affected by crime and developed "Operation Ceasefire", an initiative designed to reduce violent crime by getting guns out of the hands of criminals.

In 1997, President Clinton appointed Mr. Holder to serve as Deputy Attorney General, the number two position in the United States Department of Justice. He became the first African-American to serve as Deputy Attorney General. Mr. Holder briefly served under President Bush as Acting Attorney General pending the confirmation of Attorney General John Ashcroft.

As Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Holder supervised all of the Department's litigating, enforcement, and administrative components in both civil and criminal matters. Under his guidance, the Department developed and issued its guidelines on the criminal prosecution of corporations (the so called "Holder Memorandum") and issued guidelines on the use of the False Claims Act in civil health care matters. A task force he created also developed the existing regulation concerning the appointment of special counsels to investigate allegations involving high-level federal officials. He began the Department's Children Exposed to Violence Initiative and made Department priorities enforcement efforts in health care fraud, computer crimes and software piracy. Mr. Holder successfully worked to fund and expand nationwide the concept of community prosecution which seeks to connect more directly prosecutors with the citizens they serve. At the request of the President, Mr. Holder began and directed Lawyers for One America a multi-agency, public/private partnership designed to diversify the legal profession and to increase the amount of pro bono work done by the nation's attorneys. As Deputy Attorney General Mr. Holder was at that time the highest-ranking black person in law enforcement in the history of the United States."

http://www.cov.com/eholder/

Third-Party Descriptions

February 2013: 'The secrecy surrounding such strikes is fast emerging as a central issue in this week’s hearing of White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, a key architect of the drone campaign, to be CIA director.  Brennan was the first administration official to publicly acknowledge drone strikes in a speech last year, calling them “consistent with the inherent right of self-defense.” In a separate talk at the Northwestern University Law School in March, Attorney General Eric Holder specifically endorsed the constitutionality of targeted killings of Americans, saying they could be justified if government officials determine the target poses  “an imminent threat of violent attack.”'

http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/04/16843014-exclusive-justice-department-memo-reveals-legal-case-for-drone-strikes-on-americans

December 2012: "Earlier this year, Attorney General Eric Holder granted the center the ability to copy entire government databases holding information on flight records, casino-employee lists, the names of Americans hosting foreign-exchange students and other data, and to store it for up to five years, even without suspicion that someone in the database has committed a crime, according to the Wall Street Journal, which broke the story."

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/12/gov-dossiers-on-us-citizens/

November 2012: "It remains unclear whether the F.B.I. also gained access to Mr. Petraeus’s personal e-mail account, or if it relied only on e-mails discovered in Ms. Broadwell’s in-box. It also remains uncertain exactly when the information about Mr. Petraeus reached Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and Robert S. Mueller III, the F.B.I. director. Both men have declined to comment."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/12/us/us-officials-say-petraeuss-affair-known-in-summer.html

January 2012: 'Taking aim at financial institutions that engaged in risky lending practices that many believe tipped the country into financial crisis, Mr. Obama said he was asking Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to create a special unit of federal prosecutors and state attorneys general to expand investigations into abusive lending. The new unit, he said, “will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans.”'

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/us/politics/state-of-the-union-2012.html

December 2011: "The move was the first time since 1994 that the department has exercised its powers under the Voting Rights Act to block a voter identification law. It followed a speech this month by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. that signaled an aggressive stance in reviewing a wave of new state voting restrictions, largely enacted by Republicans in the name of fighting fraud."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/24/us/justice-department-rejects-voter-id-law-in-south-carolina.html

December 2011: 'Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said the settlement showed that the Justice Department would “vigorously pursue those who would take advantage of certain Americans because of their race, national origin, gender or disability,” adding: “Such conduct undercuts the notion of a level playing field for all consumers. It betrays the promise of equal opportunity that is enshrined in our Constitution and our legal framework.”'

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/business/us-settlement-reported-on-countrywide-lending.html

September 2011: "Mr. Horne recently filed a lawsuit challenging the Voting Rights Act’s requirement that Arizona clear its redistricting maps and voting changes with the federal government. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. responded in a statement that he would fight to uphold the law."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/us/04redistrict.html

August 2011: '“The officers convicted today abused their power and violated the public’s trust during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, exacerbating one of the most devastating times for the people of New Orleans,” Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said. “I am hopeful today’s verdict brings justice for the victims and their family members, helps to heal the community and contributes to the restoration of public trust in the New Orleans Police Department.”'

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/06/us/06danziger.html

June 2011: 'Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said that a two-year review by a specially appointed prosecutor, John H. Durham, had determined that any further investigation into that large group of cases “is not warranted.” The inquiry into the two deaths, though, could result in criminal charges against Central Intelligence Agency officers or contractors.'

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/us/politics/01DETAIN.html

May 2011: "While Goldman paid $550 million last year to settle accusations that it had misled investors who bought the Abacus mortgage security, no other individuals at the bank have been named. Now, however, as criticism has grown about the lack of cases brought by regulators, the scope of the inquiries appears to be widening. The United States attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., has said publicly that his lawyers were reviewing possible charges against other Goldman officials in the wake of a Senate investigation that produced reams of documents detailing other questionable decisions that were made in the firm’s mortgage unit."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/business/01prosecute.html

November 2010: '“I am confident that there is no entrapment here, and no entrapment claim will be found to be successful,” Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said Monday. “There were, as I said, a number of opportunities that the subject in this matter, the defendant in this matter, was given to retreat, to take a different path. He chose at every step to continue.”'

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/us/politics/30fbi.html

June 2010: "The Obama administration has decided to file a lawsuit to strike down a new Arizona law aimed at deporting illegal immigrants....Legal action has been widely expected, given Mr. Obama’s repeated statements against it, as well as the concerns that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has voiced in interviews and news conferences."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/us/politics/19arizona.html

May 2010: "WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Sunday it would seek a law allowing investigators to interrogate terrorism suspects without informing them of their rights, as Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. flatly asserted that the defendant in the Times Square bombing attempt was trained by the Taliban in Pakistan."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/us/politics/10holder.html

October 2009: "Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has ordered a review of a little-known Bush administration policy requiring some defendants to waive their right to DNA testing even though that right is guaranteed in a landmark federal law, officials said."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/10/AR2009101002348.html

August 2009: 'American officials say they are thrilled with the Mexicans’ more aggressive extradition policy. “The best way to disrupt and dismantle a criminal organization is to lock up its leaders and seize their money — so we will work with our Mexican counterparts to locate and extradite, when appropriate, cartel leadership to the United States for prosecution,” Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in July.'

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/world/americas/11prisons.html

February 2009: "This week, Eric H. Holder Jr.'s swearing-in as the nation's first black attorney general and its top law enforcement official came weighted with heavy expectation that the system could change."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/04/AR2009020403852.html

January 2009: 'Mr. Obama’s choice for attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., is widely expected to be asked about his views on these issues at his confirmation hearing this week. Associates say Mr. Holder is open to prosecutions based on specific accusations but is less eager to use the criminal law to commence wide-ranging inquiries. Before being chosen for the Obama cabinet, he said there should be “a reckoning” over Bush administration policies.'

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/us/politics/12inquire.html

August 2004: The panel did not find a utopia. It said that Kodak needed to formalize its succession plans at all levels of the organization to ensure that 'it is diversifying the ranks of people who control the levers,'' in the words of Eric H. Holder Jr., a Washington lawyer who was deputy attorney general under President Bill Clinton and who chaired the panel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/24/business/24kodak.html

Relationships

RoleNameTypeLast Updated
Student/Trainee (past or present) Columbia University Organization Nov 1, 2006
Financial Supporter of (past or present) Supporter of (past or present) Concerned Black Men (CBM) Organization Feb 5, 2009
Advisor/Consultant to (past or present) Eastman Kodak Company Organization Nov 1, 2006
Organization Executive (past or present) Justice Department/Department of Justice (DOJ) Organization
Director/Trustee/Overseer (past or present) Lawyers for One America (LFOA) Organization Nov 1, 2006
Appointed/Selected by President William ("Bill") Jefferson Clinton Person Nov 1, 2006
Appointed/Selected Neil H. MacBride Esq. Person Aug 6, 2011
Subordinate of (past or present) Pres. Barack Hussein Obama Esq. Person Feb 5, 2009
Supervisor of (past or present) Thomas J. Perrelli Esq. Person Feb 9, 2012
Appointed/Selected by President Ronald Wilson Reagan Person Nov 1, 2006

Articles and Resources

33 Articles and Resources. Go to:  [Next 13]

Date Fairness.com Resource Read it at:
Feb 04, 2013 Justice Department memo reveals legal case for drone strikes on Americans

QUOTE: A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or “an associated force” -- even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S. The 16-page memo, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News, provides new details about the legal reasoning behind one of the Obama administration’s most secretive and controversial polices: its dramatically increased use of drone strikes against al-Qaida suspects abroad, including those aimed at American citizens

 NBC News
Dec 13, 2012 Attorney General Secretly Granted Gov. Ability to Develop and Store Dossiers on Innocent Americans

QUOTE: In a secret government agreement granted without approval or debate from lawmakers, the U.S. attorney general recently gave the National Counterterrorism Center sweeping new powers to store dossiers on U.S. citizens...Earlier this year, Attorney General Eric Holder granted the center the ability to copy entire government databases...

 Wired
Nov 11, 2012 Officials Say F.B.I. Knew of Petraeus Affair in the Summer

QUOTE: The new accounts of the events that led to Mr. Petraeus’s sudden resignation on Friday shed light on the competing pressures facing F.B.I. agents who recognized the high stakes of any investigation involving the C.I.A. director but who were wary of exposing a private affair with no criminal or security implications.

 New York Times
Jan 24, 2012 In Address, Obama Makes Pitch for Economic Fairness

QUOTE: President Obama pledged on Tuesday night to use government power to balance the scale between America’s rich and the rest of the public, trying to present an election-year choice between continued leadership toward an economy “built to last” and what he called irresponsible policies of the past that caused an economic collapse.

 New York Times
Dec 23, 2011 Justice Dept. Cites Race in Halting Law Over Voter ID

QUOTE: The Justice Department on Friday blocked a new South Carolina law that would require voters to present photo identification, saying the law would disproportionately suppress turnout among eligible minority voters....an aggressive stance in reviewing a wave of new state voting restrictions, largely enacted by Republicans in the name of fighting fraud.

 New York Times
Dec 21, 2011 Countrywide Will Settle a Bias Suit

QUOTE: The Justice Department on Wednesday announced the largest residential fair-lending settlement in history, saying that Bank of America had agreed to pay $335 million to settle allegations that its Countrywide Financial unit discriminated against black and Hispanic borrowers during the housing boom.

 New York Times
Sep 03, 2011 Arizona Redistricting Panel Is Under Attack, Even Before Its Work Is Done

QUOTE: the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, with two Republican members, two Democratic members and an independent chairwoman, has found itself subject to such fierce attacks that its work is being questioned even before that work has been done. The stakes are high — explosive population growth over the last decade, especially among Latinos, entitles the state to one more Congressional seat, its ninth.

 New York Times
Aug 05, 2011 Officers Guilty of Shooting Six in New Orleans

QUOTE: In a verdict that brought a decisive close to a case that has haunted this city since most of it lay underwater nearly six years ago, five current and former New Orleans police officers were found guilty on all counts by a federal jury on Friday for shooting six citizens, two of whom died, and orchestrating a wide-ranging cover-up in the hours, weeks and years that followed.

 New York Times
Jun 30, 2011 U.S. Widens Inquiries Into 2 Jail Deaths

QUOTE: The Justice Department announced Thursday that it was opening a full criminal investigation into the deaths of two terrorism suspects in C.I.A. custody overseas, but it was closing inquiries into the treatment of nearly 100 other detainees over the last decade.

 New York Times
May 31, 2011 S.E.C. Case Stands Out Because It Stands Alone

QUOTE: How Mr. Tourre alone came to be the face of mortgage-securities fraud has raised questions among former prosecutors and Congressional officials about how aggressive and thorough the government’s investigations have been into Wall Street’s role in the mortgage crisis.

 New York Times
Mar 29, 2011 Confusion Over Policy on Married Gay Immigrants

QUOTE: While it is routine for American citizens in heterosexual couples to obtain green cards for their foreign spouses, the Defense of Marriage Act has barred such status for immigrants in same-sex marriages... President Obama and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced that the administration would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act in the courts, although it would continue to enforce the law...

 New York Times
Mar 22, 2011 Race Issues Rise for Miami Police

QUOTE: Miami has a long history of racially charged police shootings, some of which combusted into deadly riots and Justice Department inquiries that ended with police officers in prison. The pattern this time is familiar: All seven men who were fatally shot by the police were African-American; the police officers who shot them are all Hispanic.

 New York Times
Mar 17, 2011 Justice Department criticizes New Orleans police, vows to fix problems

QUOTE: The Justice Department accused the New Orleans Police Department on Thursday of systematic misconduct that violated the Constitution, saying that officers used excessive force, illegally arrested people and targeted black and gay residents.

 Washington Post
Nov 29, 2010 In U.S. Sting Operations, Questions of Entrapment

QUOTE: The arrest on Friday of a Somali-born teenager who is accused of trying to detonate a car bomb at a crowded Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in Portland, Ore., has again thrown a spotlight on the government’s use of sting operations to capture terrorism suspects. Some defense lawyers and civil rights advocates said the government’s tactics, particularly since the Sept. 11 attacks, have raised questions about the possible entrapment of people who pose no real danger but are enticed into pretend plots at the government’s urging.

 New York Times
Jun 18, 2010 Justice Dept. Will Fight Arizona on Immigration

QUOTE: The Obama administration has decided to file a lawsuit to strike down a new Arizona law aimed at deporting illegal immigrants, thrusting itself into the fierce national debate over how the United States should enforce immigration policies.

 New York Times
Jun 03, 2010 Prosecuting Crimes Against the Earth

QUOTE: Criminal prosecution cannot restore the gulf or end the suffering of the people who live along its shores. But it could ensure just punishment. And it would make it more likely that the companies involved would pay all claims for damage to the gulf coast, because the $75 million cap on liability, set by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, does not apply in criminal cases.

 New York Times
May 09, 2010 Holder Backs a Miranda Limit for Terror Suspects

QUOTE: The Obama administration said Sunday it would seek a law allowing investigators to interrogate terrorism suspects without informing them of their rights.... [Holder] said interrogators needed greater flexibility to question terrorism suspects than is provided by existing exceptions.

 New York Times
Apr 01, 2010 Congress misses deadline for payments to black farmers

QUOTE: The federal government promised last month to pay more than $1 billion by the end of March to tens of thousands of black farmers who had filed decades-old discrimination complaints against the U.S. Agriculture Department.

 Washington Post
Oct 28, 2009 Critics: DEA crackdown denies some patients pain medication

QUOTE: Heightened efforts by the Drug Enforcement Administration to crack down on narcotics abuse are producing a troubling side effect by denying some hospice and elderly patients needed pain medication...

 Washington Post
Oct 11, 2009 Justice Dept. to Review Bush Policy on DNA Test Waivers

QUOTE: Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has ordered a review of a little-known Bush administration policy requiring some defendants to waive their right to DNA testing even though that right is guaranteed in a landmark federal law, officials said.

 Washington Post

33 Articles and Resources. Go to:  [Next 13]