Attorney General Eric Holder resigns, Obama praises ‘liberal’ accomplishments
Bumping ISIS out of the headlines briefly was the announcement that Attorney General Eric Holder has resigned as the Obama administration will scramble to find a replacement ahead of November’s election.
Obama’s announcement on Thursday included praise and a long list of liberal agenda items: “Eric has done a superb job,” Obama said, as he recited a long list of accomplishments in civil rights, gay rights, sentencing reform, counterterrorism, and crime reductions.
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Holder, the first black Attorney General, wiped away tears as Obama concluded his remarks and struggled to contain his emotions as he delivered his own.
“We have been great colleagues, but the bonds between us are much deeper than that,” Holder said. “I’m proud to call you my friend.”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a statement saying he had made the right decision in opposing Holder’s nomination six years ago. The attorney general, he said, “has placed ideological commitments over a commitment to the rule of law.”
Holder’s cheif critic in the House, Rep. Darrell Issa, called him “the most divisive U.S. attorney general in modern history.” He noted the House’s vote in 2012 to hold him in contempt.
Holder avoided the senstive topics in his remarks. “I hope I have done honor to the faith you have placed in me, Mr. President,” the former AG said. “In the months ahead, I will leave the Department of Justice, but I will never — I will never leave the work.”
The NY Times put together a list of replacements: “Kathryn Ruemmler, the former White House counsel who remains close to Mr. Obama; Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts; Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr.; former Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm of Michigan; Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, a former prosecutor; Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York; and Loretta E. Lynch, the United States attorney in Brooklyn. Mr. Patrick on Thursday said that it was not the right time for him to take such a job….White House officials said that Mr. Obama had not yet decided on a successor, with one official saying the president was “a long way” from an announcement.”
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
