Holder Nomination Hearing, Part Three

Up now on the Committee Webcast.

Grassley: Quinn called you and recorded that you had no personal problem. [places notes in record] Do you remember a comment about the Southern District?

Holder: I don’t remember it. But it suggests I knew they were aware of it.

Grassley: Don’t you think this is more reliable than your memory.

Holder: I agree in general, but I’d want to note the circumstances of this note.

DiFi spoke, but I missed a lot of it.

Kyl: Internet gambling [I was waiting for this!!] You indicated that under your leadership DOJ would enforce laws prohibiting some kinds of internet gambling.

Kyl: You also said you’d shut off cash flow to internet gambling.

Kyl: "Liability protection" for FISA law. You said you would honor the certification put forth by Mukasey unless there were compelling circumstances. That certification based on investigation of previous conduct prior to the law in order to determine whether entitled to get retroactive immunity. Law provides immunity for conduct prosepctively. What circumstances could you conceive of that would relate to this previous investigation?

Holder: I’m not sure I can come up with those circumstances. I don’t know.

Kyl: YOu are aware that DOJ has taken a position in lawsuit in support of liability protection with respect to AT&T.

Holder: It wouldn’t happen with change in Admin, that would not be compelling. 

Kyl: I hope you won’t consider this out of bounds. You were DAG under Clinton when DOJ authorized warrantless search of Ames. Were you involved in that?

Holder: I don’t remember. As I understand what my staff relayed to me, national security exception not covered by FISA that would have made that legal. 

Feingold: Guidelines on investigation. Will you take a close look at these guidelines.

Holder: FBI changing its mission. I think need to see how they work in practice. I’ll commit to doing that.

Feingold: FBI document hundreds pages long, I asked if it would be made public. As AG will you support efforts to make those public?

Holder: helps to be as transparent as we can.

Feingold: Will you support legislation to end racial profiling in America?

Holder: we need to end it.

Feingold: Do you agree there’s a need for legislation?

Holder: It’s not an issue I’ve dealt with recently. 

Feingold: Bush Admin trying to preempt state law on law suits. Do you think this needs to be changed to restore common law for citizens.

Holder: Need to approach from a pro-consumer perspective.

Cardin: When you are confirmed one of your principle responsibilities will be to make sure access is available. About 50% of those who apply for legal services are turned away. Congress should have been appropriating more money. I hope this will become a priority.

Coburn: Assault weapons? Whether or not you think that ban ought to be re-regulated.

Holder: I think making the assault weapons ban permanent would be permitted under Heller.

Coburn: FALN decision, as I do moral equivalency. I’m still troubled with your viewpoint on that. Governor "Blaowevich." You failed to mention a short-lived relationship with him. You said you never did substantive work on it. I have a copy of the letter. In response to a FOIA request, it appears you had done enough research to submit a detailed request for documents from Chair of IL gaming board. Tell me how that is not substantive work?

Holder: Letter drafted by associate I work with. We did not received any documents in response to that letter. We were trying to get things set up. Dealing with a conflict. We were never paid. That’s what we described it in way we did. 

Coburn Did you send bill for the hours worked by your associate?

Holder: No we did not.

Coburn: Want to go to rules on veterans to come back to. Rules that say a veteran incapable at this time, ajudicated mentally defective, cannot own a gun!!

[Holy shit! Coburn is going to take up the case of PTSD veterans to make sure they can own guns!! What a good idea!!]

Coburn: Mentally defective, either mentally defective, we’ve got a lot of veterans with head injuries, but they end up losing ability to go hunting with their kid or their father. 

Holder: People can get well. Rights ought to flow back to them. 

Whitehouse: Want to touch on FALN matter. At the time, in the pre-9/11 environment, substantial support for this, was there not? Partial list, 15 pages long, some names on it, Jimmy Carter, 11 members of Congress, 5 members of NYC Council, numerous members of NY legislature, former mayor of NY, David Dinkins, formal resolution, from religious community, UCC in two general synods, general conference of United Methodist Church, Baptist Peace Fellowship, Presiding Bishop of Episcopal Church of NYC. 5 Nobel Peace Prize recipients, who supported it. Two organizations that had received the Nobel Peace Prize, two family members for deceased Nobel Peace Prize winners, including Coretta Scott King, NLG by resolution. I just wanted to put those names in the record. In context it’s important to recognize that leading civil rights, Christian, and governmental organizations were in support at the time.  There’s been a real conflict between Homeland SEcurity and Hometown Security. 

Wow, Holder and Specter are getting into a fight over whether DOJ should have taken a case against Gore on the fund-raising case. Haggis is pretty funny–there are a bunch of Republicans (Hatch, but also Kyl and probably Coburn) who seem prepared to support Holder. But there Haggis is complaining about it. 

Specter wants more time.

Specter: When you came to see me for the so-called courtesy call that I wrote to AG designate Gonzales, I have written a similar letter to you, haven’t handed it to you. This is the parameter and the scope of congressional oversight. The  essence of the letter was a CRS report about appropriate oversight. 

I’ve been off making dinner. Basically Kyl presented all the counter arguments to the shield law, and Holder bought some of them. I gotta tell you, Kyl luvs him some Eric Holder. This thing is over. 

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  1. skdadl says:

    My comment about xenophobia was EPU’d on last thread, but it’s still a bother in DiFi and Holder’s exchange here. If you can’t charge ‘em, you gotta let ‘em go. Sooner or later, reason and law have to take over from paranoia, myth-making, and xenophobia. As long as hostilities continue … which hostilities are those, and who determines them? This is not healthy thought.

  2. Diane says:

    DiFi again questioning the fact that CIA uses contractors for interrorgation while FBI & military interrorgators are in-house.

  3. Palli says:

    One objective of the our war crimes was to make these POWs more dangerous – unintended consequences usually aren’t. Cheney/Bush need to keep the danger level up so war never ends

  4. skdadl says:

    Russ is going after Mukasey’s new guidelines for the FBI. Go, Russ!

    Will Holder take a close look at those guidelines early in tenure? Holder says yes, but he says FBI is changing its mission. Argh.

  5. hackworth1 says:

    Senator: What’s your favorite color?

    Holder: Green

    Senator: What’s your second favorite color?

    Holder: Yellow

    Senator: So, then, you like bananas.

    Holder: I like Chiquita.

  6. Mary says:

    How was taking away all the consumer’s privacy rights under state law statute involving telecommunications “pro-consumer”?

  7. Petrocelli says:

    [Holy shit! Coburn is going to take up the case of PTSD veterans to make sure they can own guns!! What a good idea!!] — This is what I love about you, in the midst of frantic blogging, you find time for these great comments.

  8. skdadl says:

    Sheesh. They’re going to continue through a third round, to get Holder finished today and go to a “panel” (?) tomorrow. Arlen’s complaining.

  9. skdadl says:

    Such fun to listen to Republicans singing the praises of oversight over the executive branch. (Grassley) I can hardly wait till we see the same turnaround here.

    • bobschacht says:

      Such fun to listen to Republicans singing the praises of oversight over the executive branch. (Grassley) I can hardly wait till we see the same turnaround here.

      What hypocrites. Where the heck were they for the past 8 years???

      Oh, I forgot–IOKIYAR.

      Bob in HI

  10. JPL9 says:

    Why is Session rambling on and what is he rambling on about? Leahy tried to cut him off by evoking Bush’s mistakes but to not avail.

  11. LabDancer says:

    Except for Specter & the single-interest Rs [Coburn] so many of the Rs on the SJC seem so interested in joining in with the Ds – using up lots & lots of time – praising & smooching & cuddling & petting Holder – could this behavior actually fit within some plan to run out the clock? Like a four-corner offense, Specter dribbling, dribbling, dribbling, tossing the ball to a teammate for a breather, then back, dribbling, dribbling, dribbling? Otherwise, if we thought the Ds were limited in oversight, these Rs are pathetic.

    • bmaz says:

      I dunno, but I am telling you the weather here sucks.

      With the wind chill and all we didn’t get any higher than 75 degrees.

      • acquarius74 says:

        bmaz, how about lookin in over at Oxdown, Jim White’s article today. Seems to be a troll named robspiere.
        Thanks.

      • MadDog says:

        With the wind chill and all we didn’t get any higher than 75 degrees.

        Twas 100 degrees colder than that here. Wanna trade?

        And mucho thanks for the email on the missing emails. I only wish I could take a peek at some of those 23 million “found” emails myself. 5 years is too long to wait.

  12. skdadl says:

    Whew. EW, this was heroic of you. I agree that it sounds as though Holder is in, but I guess that was a taste of what narky obstruction is going to sound like in time to come.

    • KiwiJackson says:

      It was quite heroic in blogging this epic with more to follow tomorrow. Thank you Ms.Wheeler and all whose comments I will now read over.

  13. Neil says:

    headline:

    Republican Senators rediscover standards and oversight for DOJ and Attorney General

    After years of a corrupt OLC under Gonzo,Yoo and others, and naked stonewall obstruction of Congress and justice under Mukasey, republican senators including Specter, Kyl, Grassley rediscovered the importance of holding our Department of Justice accountable to its responsibilities.

    Do you think we’ll see this in Politico, Wapo, or even NYT?

  14. Neil says:

    How did the Democrats perform? Were they as thorough and persistent as we hope they would be?

    (I missed a lot.)

    • MadDog says:

      (I missed a lot.)

      Me too, but I gotta give a great big shout-out to EW for all her hard work in giving us the liveblog details.

      Far better than having to sit through it on a DVR or heaven forbid, reading the mischaracterizations (deliberate and/or ignorant) that abound in the TradMed.

      • LabDancer says:

        We should have the questioning to Ms E Wheel & watch as that entire bunch on the SJC fails to maintain her pace in their group liveblog. It would be the C-Span remake of Woody Allen’s “Bananas”, with less fat, more fibre, more phosphates, more slapstick comedy on the toobz & most of all … delicious.

  15. acquarius74 says:

    Saw most of Bush’s farewell to the nation (promised anyway). Pure crap. He lives in a totally disconnected reality. Unfortunately it will be preserved and studied in the years ahead and maybe taken for the truth.

  16. bobschacht says:

    Coburn: Want to go to rules on veterans to come back to. Rules that say a veteran incapable at this time, ajudicated mentally defective, cannot own a gun!!

    [Holy shit! Coburn is going to take up the case of PTSD veterans to make sure they can own guns!! What a good idea!!]

    Coburn: Mentally defective, either mentally defective, we’ve got a lot of veterans with head injuries, but they end up losing ability to go hunting with their kid or their father.

    Aaaghhhh! Coburn wants to give mentally defective vets the right to own guns! Their right to go “hunting” with their kids is more important than public safety! Coburn and his ilk are stone cold crazy. Last time I remember a mentally defective vet having the right to buy guns so that he could go hunting with his kid ended with tying up the D.C. area in knots as they picked off DC motorists sniper-style, for MONTHS. Maybe someone oughta remind Coburn about that. Is that what he wants??? Aaarghhh!

    Bob in HI

    • Rayne says:

      A gun is the very LAST thing my stepson/Iraq War vet with PTSD needs — or wants.

      What he needs is help with the infuriating, frustrating bureaucracy that interferes with his ability to finish college.

      Always bugs the crap out of me that Second Amendment freaks forget what it actually says:

      A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

      Someone who isn’t competent to have a weapon in the military by virtue of their mental state cannot be a full participant in a “well regulated Militia” and may be a threat to the free state’s security that the citizen militia was intended to protect. Gah.

  17. plunger says:

    speaking of AT&T:

    AT&T serves Mossad client to wiretap Americans using Israeli technology company owned by Mossad agent and 9/11 co-conspirator, Kobi Alexander – purportedly for NSA:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI_k9Xt00YE

    THIS is the DIRECT EVIDENCE of the systems used to blackmail the United States by Israel. They wiretap EVERY call…not just NSA – but Mossad.

    AT&T guilty of misprision of treason.