Some Questions for Eric Holder
The Legal Times reports that Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) is gearing up for next week's confirmation hearing for Attorney General-designate Eric Holder:
In a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday, Specter, R-Pa., said he plans to focus his inquiry on three areas: the pardon of fugitive commodities trader Marc Rich; the decision by Holder's then-boss Attorney General Janet Reno not to appoint a special prosecutor to look into Vice President Al Gore's 1996 fundraising activities; and the clemency granted to a group of Puerto Rican nationalists.
"All of these matters relate to judgment," Specter said. "They relate to whether Mr. Holder had the kind of resoluteness displayed by Attorney General Griffin Bell, by Attorney General Elliot Richardson, to say 'no' to their superiors."
Specter also said he plans to ask Holder his views on journalists' privilege, the Bush administration's surveillance policies and the Justice Department's evolving view of corporations' attorney-client privilege.
A few questions about the Second Amendment wouldn't be a bad idea either.
