Archive for the ‘Eric Holder’ Category

Eric Holder Fast Facts – CNN

Personal:Birth date: January 21, 1951

Birth place: Bronx, New York

Birth name: Eric Himpton Holder Jr.

Father: Eric Himpton Holder, realtor

Mother: Miriam (Yearwood) Holder

Marriage: Sharon (Malone) Holder (1990-present)

Children: Maya, Brooke and Eric

Education: Columbia College, B.A., 1973; Columbia Law School, J.D., 1976

Other Facts:The first African-American US Attorney General.

Timeline:1976-1988 - Works for the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section.

1988-1993 - Associate judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

1993-1997 - US attorney for the District of Columbia.

1997-2001 - Deputy Attorney General of the United States. He is the first African-American to hold this position.

2001-2008 - Litigation partner with Covington & Burling LLP.

2007-2008 - Senior legal adviser for Obama's presidential campaign.

December 1, 2008 - President-elect Obama nominates Holder to be attorney general of the United States.

February 2, 2009 - Is confirmed by the Senate, 75-21.

October 12, 2011 - The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee issues a subpoena for communications from Holder and other Justice Department officials relating to Operation Fast and Furious.

December 2, 2011 - About 1,400 pages of internal documents on Operation Fast and Furious are released by the Justice Department.

June 20, 2012 - President Obama asserts executive privilege over some of the documents sought by the committee investigating Operation Fast and Furious.

June 20, 2012 - The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee recommends that Holder be cited for contempt of Congress for failing to turn over all of the documents relating to the Fast and Furious operation.

June 29, 2012 - The White House announces that Holder will not face criminal prosecution under the contempt of Congress citation. President Obama's assertion of executive privilege in the case prevents a criminal prosecution.

August 13, 2012 - The House Oversight Committee files a civil contempt lawsuit against Holder, seeking the release of Operation Fast and Furious documents.

February 27, 2014 - Holder is hospitalized after experiencing faintness and shortness of breath.

July 2015 - Holder re-joins the law firm of Covington and Burling, LLP.

October 17, 2016 - It is announced by Politico that Holder will chair the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. The new group will focus on redistricting reform.

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Eric Holder Fast Facts - CNN

Eric Holder: Trump administration has ‘brought shame to …

Former Attorney General Eric HolderEric Himpton HolderEric Holder: Trump administration has 'brought shame to the nation with family separations US law is not on the side of Mueller's appointment as special counsel Holder redistricting group backs lawsuits for 3 additional majority-black congressional districts MORE tore into the Trump administration late Tuesday for its zero-tolerance immigration policy, which is separating migrant parents and children.

Trump Administration is detaining babies and toddlers in 'tender age shelters' who may never be reunited with their parents, Holder tweeted with asketch of President Lincoln holding his head in his hands.

Babies. Babies. You have brought shame to the nation. We are better than this, he added.

Trump Administration is detaining babies and toddlers in tender age shelters who may never be reunited with their parents. Babies. Babies. You have brought shame to the nation. We are better than this. pic.twitter.com/QM2C3uHvVg

President TrumpDonald John TrumpFamily immigration detention centers could be at capacity within days: report Trump likely to meet with Putin in July: report DOJ requests military lawyers to help prosecute immigration crimes: report MORE has tried to blame the previous administration for the policy, something Holder blasted as nonsense last month.

Attorney General Jeff SessionsJefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsDOJ requests military lawyers to help prosecute immigration crimes: report Trump backs down in rare reversal Senate moving ahead with border bill, despite Trump MORE implemented a "zero-tolerance" policy for illegal U.S.-Mexico border crossings earlier this year.

The policy has led to parents being separated from their children during criminal prosecutions.

TheAssociated Press reported late Tuesday that the Trump administration is operating three "tender age" shelters for undocumented babies and toddlers.

Trump has continually blamed Democrats for his administrations policy of separating migrant families.

"Democrats are the problem. They dont care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country, like MS-13, Trump wrote in a tweet Tuesday. They cant win on their terrible policies, so they view them as potential voters!

Democrats are the problem. They dont care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country, like MS-13. They cant win on their terrible policies, so they view them as potential voters!

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Is Eric Holder’s election pet project targeting your state …

Former Attorney General Eric Holder could have your state in his crosshairs in 2018as he leads a campaign with the potential to paint the map blue for the next decade.

Democrats have played catchup in state legislative races since the Republican wave eight years ago. And they are well aware that how states draw maps, based on the 2020 Census, could determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives and most state legislatures for years to come.

Enter Holder and the group he chairs, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

The organization is focused on overhauling those maps and fighting the gerrymandering that in some cases favors Republicans.The goal is to back state Democratic candidates who could have a say in drawing new districts after 2020. Holder, while also mulling a 2020 presidential run, is now targeting adozen statesfour of which are expected to gain at least one congressional seat after the Census. Former President Barack Obama, Holders old boss, has also lent his name to the effort.

In many states, governors and state senators elected to four-year terms will still be in office when new maps are drawn in 2021, NDRC spokesmanPatrick Rodenbush told Fox News. That makes this a crucial year for redistricting.

'In many states, governors and state senators elected to four-year terms will still be in office when new maps are drawn in 2021. That makes this a crucial year for redistricting.'

The organization, which The Wall Street Journalreportedwill spend $35 million on campaigns and litigation in 2018, claims the system is rigged in favor of Republicans because of gerrymandering.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is spending another $35 million for 2018; and Forward Majority, a Democratic super PAC, plans to spend more than $20 million on state legislative ads, the Journal reported.

Despite acontroversial tenureas attorney general, Holder is considering a presidential run in 2020 and visited the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire last week. While there, he kept the door open to a White House run, but tried to focus his remarks on his redistricting mission. Politicians are picking their voters as opposed to citizens choosing who their representatives are going to be, he complained.

HOLDER TALKS 2020 SHOWDOWN WITH TRUMP

So where is Holder waging this battle?

The group is particularly active in Texas, which isexpected to gain up to three U.S. House seats after the 2020 Census,targeting gubernatorial and state legislative races there.

Holders group is also eyeing the always-crucial battleground of Florida, which it anticipates will gain two congressional seats after 2020; Colorado, which the group identifies as likely to gain one congressional seat after the Census; and Georgia, a state Democrats tried unsuccessfully to flip in the 2016 presidential race.

Holder last month cheered the Democratic gubernatorial primary victory in Georgia by Stacey Abrams, issuing a statement saying, If elected, she has pledged to continue her fight for voting rights, including by vetoing gerrymandered districts when new lines are drawn in 2021.

Holders organization is also interested in gubernatorial and legislative races in Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Two other states on the target listNorth Carolina and Virginiaare only holding legislative races in 2018.

Ohio became the latest state to approve a bipartisan commission to decide congressional and legislative districts after a referendum on which Holders group spent $50,000.

The redistricting reform passed in Ohio makes it much harder for politicians to rig elections through gerrymandering and gives me hope that we can restore fairness to our elections in states around the country, Holder said in a statement last month. This fall, Ohioans have the opportunity to support strong Democratic candidates who will have a seat at the table when new state and congressional lines are drawn in 2021.

In another targeted state, Holders groupsuedWisconsin Gov. Scott Walker after he declined to call a special election to fill two open legislative seats.

The stakes for these seemingly granular battles are huge.

During the Obama years, the GOP flipped 958 state legislative seats. Before 2010, Democrats controlled 60 of the 99 legislative chambers across the country. Now, its just 32.

Republicans flipped many legislatures in states with maps approved by Democratic lawmakers, noted Matt Walter, president of the Republican State Leadership Committee. So, he argues, gerrymandering is no excuse for Democratic losses.

We understand that voters are different from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon, while the progressive mindset is one of top-down policies, Walter told Fox News.

Holder wants favorable Democratic districts while arguing a false holier-than-thou principle of do as I say, not as I do, Walter added. Its shallow and crass and has nothing to do with good government at all.

Rodenbush, the NDRC spokesman,referenceda Holder speech in March to affirm the group isnt just seeking Democratic gerrymandering to replace GOP gerrymandering. During that Georgetown University address, the former attorney general saidRepublicans arent simply going to give up power, adding, You give me a fair fight; Ill have a Democratic Congress.

State legislatures in 42 states decide on congressional districts. Of those, 37 also pick state legislative districts. The remaining states have some form of commission, which Holder desires.

Gerrymandering is a more democratic process than naming a bureaucratic commission to draw maps, argued J. Christian Adams, a former Justice Department voting section lawyer and Holder critic.

Gerrymandering is a good thing because it means the people who won elections are supporting the will of the people in drawing district lines, Adams, now president of the conservative Public Interest Legal Foundation that specializes in election law and voter fraud cases, told Fox News.

The term gerrymandering comes from former Massachusetts Gov.Eldridge Gerry, who in 1812 signed a redistricting bill that favored his Democratic-Republican party over the Federalist party in the state. Because one of the districts looked like a salamander, partisan maps became known as gerrymandering.

Fred Lucas is the White House correspondent for the Daily Signal. Follow him on twitter @FredLucasWH

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Eric Holder: Trump’s pardons will not ‘thwart the Mueller …

Former Attorney General Eric Holder said President Trump is trying to send a message to people involved in the Russia investigation through his recent pardon for conservative filmmaker Dinesh DSouza, suggesting democracy is under attack during a speech Friday in New Hampshire.

After the president issued a pardon Thursday, pundits speculated about whether the president was sending a message to Special Counsel Robert Mueller since Mr. DSouza pleaded guilty to charges of an illegal campaign contribution an allegation lobbed at Mr. Trumps personal attorney Michael Cohen for hush money paid in 2016 to porn star Stormy Daniels, who allegedly had an affair with the president.

The president is also considering pardoning domestic doyenne Martha Stewart, who was convicted in 2004 of lying to the FBI, similar to his former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, and former Illinois Governor Rob Blagojevich, who is serving time for corruption.

If you use all the typical metrics we use in the Justice Department very few of these people would be considered good candidates for pardons, Mr. Holder said.

But, he added, It wont ultimately thwart the Mueller investigation.

Mr. Holder himself is not immune from criticism surrounding pardons. He has admitted to not going through the proper pardon procedure when he served as deputy attorney general under President Bill Clinton with regard to businessman Marc Rich, who was convicted of income tax evasion, among dozens of other charges, in 1983.

Richs wife had donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to then-Senate candidate Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Library, sparking accusations the pardon was bought.

Mr. Holder, who said he would make a decision next year about whether hell run for president in 2020, spoke during a political event at St. Anselm College, where he predicted a blue wave in Novembers midterm elections.

But the former attorney general warned partisan gerrymandering by Republicans could lead to unfair election results.

He said the will of the American people has been thwarted by partisan gerrymandering efforts, which have pushed Republican lawmakers further and further to the right.

The potential 2020 presidential candidate told the New Hampshire voters he and President Obama are attempting to challenge districting maps in areas where they think unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering has taken place.

Politicians are picking their voters, Mr. Holder said. If we have these reform measures in place where you have nonpartisan commissions who will draw the lines in 2021, I think thats the best thing.

He specifically criticized President Trumps Attorney General Jeff Sessions for pushing to ask whether someone is a citizen on the U.S. Census, suggesting its another way to suppress the immigrant community.

There is really no need to have that on there, Mr. Holder said. This is an effort to suppress the vote.

He said Americas democracy is under attack, and so is the notion of one person, one vote.

We can look at the way in which the rule of law is under attack in regards to the Russia investigation, he said.

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Eric Holder hints at 2020 presidential run with important …

Speculation about a potential presidential run for former Attorney General Eric Holder has heated up after he announced he would speak at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics annual Politics & Eggs, an event that many former candidates once attended.

A press release from Holders officer announced Wednesday that on June 1, the Obama administration official would be the featured guest speaker at the annual breakfast event.

According to the press release, the Politics & Eggs series is a forum for presidential candidates, political leaders, and other political analysts and commentators as they visit New Hampshire, home of the nation's first presidential primaries.

A number of former presidential hopefuls attended the event in the past, including President Donald Trump, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio,The Hill reported.

The same day that news broke of his trip to New Hampshire, Al Sharpton also alluded to a presidential bid for Holder while introducing him at the National Action Networks Annual National Convention in New York.

YOU RUN THE DAMN JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: HOLDER SAYS SESSIONS MUST HAVE THE GUTS TO SAY NO TO TRUMP

Some folks are talking about a guy called Eric who might run for president, he said. Im just saying what Im hearing. I wouldnt put him on the spot with a run Eric, run. I wouldnt do that.

Earlier this week, Holder himself seemed to hint at the likelihood of a run during an interview with MSNBCS All in With Chris Hayes.

When asked if he was considering it, Holder replied Im thinking about it but Ive not made any determinations.

Fox News Peter Doocey contributed to this report.

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Eric Holder hints at 2020 presidential run with important ...