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When Attorney General Eric Holder released a statement on Monday regarding the developments in Ferguson, Missouri, he gave a clear signal of how seriously he is taking the matter.

The attorney general did not say that President Obama is dispatching him to Ferguson on Wednesday. Instead, Holder said that when he met with Mr. Obama on Monday, "I informed him of my plan to personally travel to Ferguson Wednesday."

While in Ferguson, Holder plans on meeting with FBI officials who are investigating the shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown, as well as prosecutors on the ground from the Justice Department's Civil Rights division and officials from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"The full resources of the Department of Justice are being committed to our federal civil rights investigation into the death of Michael Brown," Holder said in his statement, noting that more than 40 FBI agents have been canvassing the neighborhood where Brown was shot.

The unusual investment of time and resources in Ferguson shows Holder's personal commitment to the case, according to legal experts.

"It is an extraordinary level of personal involvement by an attorney general," Thomas Dupree, who served as deputy assistant attorney general during the George W. Bush administration, told CBS News. Additionally, Dupree called the ongoing investigative efforts "an extraordinary commitment of resources."

"The fact that the attorney general is personally traveling to Missouri sends a message that this investigation is a top priority of the administration, it's a top priority for the attorney general personally," he said.

Holder's efforts so far are encouraging to those looking for reforms to the systemic problems that led to Brown's shooting on Aug. 9 and the subsequent unrest in Ferguson, such as racial inequities in the criminal justice system and mistrust between local police forces and the communities they protect. Still, they're looking for a commitment to reform from the Justice Department that will last long after the dust settles in Ferguson.

"It's tremendously important the attorney general is going to Ferguson," Vanita Gupta, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, told CBS News. Holder can provide moral leadership on the ground that Gupta called "vitally important." However, she added that "this is not a situation where moral leadership alone is going to be satisfactory."

"There are very direct ways in which the Department of Justice can engage in reforms of specific policies and practices, and funding streams, to ensure another Ferguson doesn't take place."

In the immediate aftermath of the ugly confrontations between protesters and police forces decked out in combat gear, the Justice Department has sent experts from the Justice Department's Community Relations Service to Ferguson. Additionally, Ronald Davis, the director of the Justice Department's Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS), is also traveling to Ferguson Wednesday.

Adolphus Pruitt, president of the St. Louis NAACP branch, told CBS News that these Justice Department agencies are already working with local police forces and groups like his. They're playing a constructive role, he said, by giving community leaders "training and instructions on how the community can play a role to abate the overall [tense] atmosphere, and at the same time, amend the broken trust between the community and police department."

Pruitt said that in the longer term, the Justice Department can facilitate research into the sort of policing currently conducted in the St. Louis region, so that future unnecessary shootings are prevented.

"We have to do some significant research and analysis on the type of policing, the number of stops, things of that nature, not only going on in Ferguson but the entire region," he said. "In reality, Ferguson is one of 200-plus municipalities that exists within St. Louis county. They all are neighbors... While Mike Brown was killed in Ferguson, the next killing could be two blocks over in Riverview Gardens."

Just hours after Pruitt spoke with CBS News, an knife-wielding African-American man was shot and killed by police in north St. Louis.

While the Justice Department works with local police forces, Pruitt said community leaders are also expecting the federal agency to be thorough in its civil rights investigation into the Brown shooting.

"If the Justice Department finds there was a... case for charges,it would go for a long way to abating the temperament of those in the community," he said. It would show, he said, that "when police do make a mistake, there is an ability for them to be prosecuted for doing so. Right now, among the folks out there, the sentiment in the community is that this doesn't exist."

The federal government has multiple options at its disposal, in terms of the role it can play in the investigation, and ultimately in terms of whether it will file criminal or civil charges in the case, Dupree said. In a case like this, the decision to file charges would be made "at a very high level," he said, and is often dependent on the status of state or local investigations.

The Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation after the shooting of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012, but it never filed charges against the shooter, George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder by state prosecutors, but he was found not guilty in that case.

Dupree said the administration likely "drew a lesson" from that experience.

"The administration was heavily criticized -- in many cases from people who are typically their allies -- for not being more proactive in the Trayvon Martin case and not making that more of a civil rights case from the get-go," he said. By contrast, after the Michael Brown shooting, "from virtually the moment it happened, there was a very high level of real involvement and repeated statements by the president himself."

Gupta of the ACLU said that "there is a concern about the back-up of some of these investigations."

"People need to see activity and forward steps on these investigations in order to have faith in the value of independent federal investigations," she added.

While the Justice Department pursues its investigations, groups like the ACLU are waiting for the agency to take broader steps to reform the justice system. For one thing, the department should update its guidance on the use of race by law enforcement officials, including state and local law enforcement who work in partnership with the federal government, Gupta said. The Justice Department could also take steps such as requiring racial bias training and guidance for forces that receive federal grants, Gupta said.

The ACLU and other groups are also calling on the Justice Department to apply stricter rules -- or at least some oversight -- to local police forces that are given military equipment for free.

If Holder truly wants to make a difference, Gupta said, it will become more evident "once the cameras are no longer in Ferguson."

In an op-ed published Wednesday in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Holder pledged, "Long after the events of Aug. 9 have receded from the headlines, the Justice Department will continue to stand with this community."

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Eric Holder heads to Ferguson with a clear message - CBS News

The vote was 255-67.

By JOHN BRESNAHAN and SEUNG MIN KIM

06/28/2012 04:43 PM EDT

Updated 06/28/2012 05:47 PM EDT

The House has voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress over his failure to turn over documents related to the Fast and Furious scandal, the first time Congress has taken such a dramatic move against a sitting Cabinet official.

The vote was 255-67, with 17 Democrats voting in support of a criminal contempt resolution, which authorizes Republicans leaders to seek criminal charges against Holder. This Democratic support came despite a round of behind-the-scenes lobbying by senior White House and Justice officials - as well as pressure from party leaders - to support Holder.

Story Continued Below

Two Republicans, Reps. Steve LaTourette (Ohio) Scott Rigell (Va.), voted against the contempt resolution.

Another civil contempt resolution, giving the green light for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to sue the Justice Department to get the Fast and Furious documents, passed by a 258-95 margin. Twenty-one Democrats voted for that measure.

But dozens of other Democrats marched off the floor in protest during the vote, adding even more drama to a tumultuous moment in the House chamber.

The heated House floor fight over Holder capped a historic day in Washington, coming just hours after the Supreme Court, just across the street from the Capitol, issued its landmark ruling upholding most of Barack Obamas health care law. The passions of the day were evident inside the Capitol, where Democrats accused Republicans of ginning up the contempt vote for political purposes while Republicans continued to charge the Justice Department with a cover up on the Fast and Furious scandal.

The fight over the Holder contempt resolution also drew intense interest from outside groups ranging from the NAACP to the National Rifle Association.

In a statement released by his office, Holder blasted the contempt votes as politically motivated and misguided, and he singled out Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.), chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and lead Republican on the Fast and Furious probe, for special criticism.

Todays vote is the regrettable culmination of what became a misguided and politically motivated investigation during an election year, Holder said in his statement. By advancing it over the past year and a half, Congressman Issa and others have focused on politics over public safety. Instead of trying to correct the problems that led to a series of flawed law enforcement operations, and instead of helping us find ways to better protect the brave law enforcement officers, like Agent Brian Terry, who keep us safe they have led us to this unnecessary and unwarranted outcome.

Holder added: Todays vote may make for good political theater in the minds of some, but it is at base both a crass effort and a grave disservice to the American people. They expect and deserve far better.

White House officials also slammed House Republicans for the unprecedented contempt vote. White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said GOP congressional leaders pushed for political theater rather than legitimate congressional oversight. Over the past fourteen months, the Justice Department accommodated congressional investigators, producing 7,600 pages of documents, and testifying at eleven congressional hearings But unfortunately, a politically-motivated agenda prevailed and instead of engaging with the President in efforts to create jobs and grow the economy, today we saw the House of Representatives perform a transparently political stunt.

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Eric Holder contempt vote: Holder held in contempt of ...

Former attorney general Eric Holder says President Donald Trump must be impeached if its true that he ordered Michael Cohen to lie about his interest in a building a Trump Tower in Moscow.

Buzzfeed News has a new report out saying Robert Mueller has learned that it was under Trumps orders that his former personal attorney lied to Congress about the timeline of the Moscow project. Even though construction plans were eventually abandoned, the tower and Cohens perjury on its negotiations been major subjects of intrigue because of the questions they raise about Trumps dealings with Russia during the 2016 election.

Holder has noticed the report and he says the connotations are monumental:

The report says Cohen had a plan to meet with Vladimir Putin to negotiate the towers commencement, with sources saying Trump told him to make it happen. Trump and his children Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. received regular updates from Cohen while he took the lead on the project.

Cohen has already told the special counsel about Trump ordering him to lie to Congress, and the information he provided reportedly corroborates a bundle of evidence Mueller has on the matter. This includes interviews with multiple Trump Organization witnesses, internal company emails, text messages, and other documents.

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Eric Holder: Trump Must be Impeached if Moscow Tower Story ...

Very revealing video. Now Eric Holder may well be positioning himself to release more terrorists, or at very least to use the civilian court system to attack the very tactics employed for keeping America free from attacks. Are we going to be right back in the cross hairs.

Eric Holder assisted Janet Reno during Waco, Ruby Ridge and Eliyan Gonzales, I venture to say that his focus is on a perspective that few

Americans share. Very few. Let your voice be heard, ask the White house, Senate and Congress call the Capitol switchboard now - (202) 224-3121 to quash the civillian hearing of our terrorists. We don't want to risk their release back into the general public.

FALN is the acronym for Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacin Nacional English: Armed Forces of National Liberation

Referring to:Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacin Nacional (Puerto Rico)Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacin Nacional (Venezuela)

The Los Angeles Times, mirabile dictu, breaks from the Obamedia pack and does some digging into Attorney General nominee Eric Holders past history as a political fixer for the Puerto Rican FALN terrorists -Michelle Malkin

Below the NY Times findings:Attorney general nominee Eric H. Holder Jr. repeatedly pushed some of his subordinates at the Clinton Justice Department to drop their opposition to a controversial 1999 grant of clemency to 16 members of two violent Puerto Rican nationalist organizations, according to interviews and documents President Clintons decision to commute prison terms caused an uproar at the time. Holder was called before Congress to explain his role but declined to answer numerous questions from angry lawmakers demanding to know why the Justice Department had not sided with the FBI, federal prosecutors and other law enforcement officials, who were vehemently opposed to the grants. Some religious groups and influential individuals, including President Carter, had endorsed the commutations. But Clintons decision outraged law enforcement officials, who had tried to contain a bombing campaign in New York, Chicago and elsewhere in the 1970s and 1980s by groups seeking independence for Puerto Rico from the United States.

New interviews and an examination of previously undisclosed documents indicate that Holder played an active role in changing the position of the Justice Department on the commutations. Holder instructed his staff at Justices Office of the Pardon Attorney to effectively replace the departments original report recommending against any commutations, which had been sent to the White House in 1996, with one that favored clemency for at least half the prisoners, according to these interviews and documents. And after Pardon Attorney Roger Adams resisted, Holders chief of staff instructed him to draft a neutral options memo instead, Adams said. The options memo allowed Clinton to grant the commutations without appearing to go against the Justice Departments wishes, Adams and his predecessor, Margaret Colgate Love, said in their first public comments on the case.

I remember this well, because it was such a big deal to consider clemency for a group of people convicted of such heinous crimes, said Adams, the agencys top pardon lawyer from 1997 until 2008. He said he told Holder of his strong opposition to any clemency in several internal memos and a draft report recommending denial and in at least one face-to-face meeting. But each time Holder wasnt satisfied, Adams said.

The rest is here:
Eric Holder & Clinton Pardon Terrorists

Adding his voice to a group of prominent Democrats calling for an increasingly aggressive approach to Republicans, the former attorney general in the Obama Administration, Eric Holder, said when conservatives go low the leftshould kick them.

Democrats, Holder said, must get more tough if theyre going to prevail. This new attitude would represent the new Democratic Party.

His calls for a more violent approach to politics received hearty applause from his audience.

They have used the power that they have gotten for all the wrong things, Holder said during an appearance over the weekend in Georgia.They want to keep themselves in power. They want to cater to the special interests. It is time for us as Democrats to be as tough as they are, to be as dedicated as they are, to be as committed as they are.

Michelle always says Michelle Obama, I love her, you know, she and my wife like really tight, which always scares me and Barack, but Michelle always says, you know, when they go low, we go high, Holder went on.No. No. When they go low, we kick them.

His call for kicking Republicans drew a quick applause from the crowd.

Thats what thats what this new Democratic Party is about, he said.Were proud as hell to be Democrats. Were going to fight for the ideals of the Democratic Party. We are proud of our history, we are proud of our present, and we are proud of the future that we can create for this country. And we are not in this just to make a statement, were in this to win.

On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton said Democrats should abandon civility in their dealings with Republicans.

You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about, Clinton said Tuesday.

Clinton urged Democrats to only become civil once they win back the House and Senate: That's why I believe if we are fortunate enough to win back the House and/or the Senate, that's when civility can start again.

But until then, she continued,the only thing that the Republicans seem to recognize and respect is strength. And you heard how the Republican members led by Mitch McConnell, the president really demeaned the confirmation process.

In July, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) urged activists to get up in the face of congresspeople. Following Sarah Huckabee Sanders being removed from the Red Hen restaurant, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) called on her supporters to increasingly confront members of the Trump Administration.

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Eric Holder: When Republicans Go Low, We Kick Them ...