| For Immediate Release Jan 22, 2001 |
Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172 |
Holder At Center of Clinton-Gore Justice Department Corruption Bob Novak: �(Holder�s) retention by Bush, no matter how brief, is not a good sign.� (Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest law firm that investigates and prosecutes public corruption, expressed �disbelief� that President George W. Bush is allowing Clinton-Gore Justice Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder to act as interim Attorney General until John Ashcroft is confirmed. Ultimate confirmation of Ashcroft by the full U.S. Senate will take several weeks, if not months. Respected columnist Robert Novak also criticized today the choice of Holder in his syndicated column. See �Bush�s first challenges,� Chicago Sun-Times, January 22, 2001. (Click here) As Janet Reno�s Deputy, Eric Holder was responsible for much of the infamous corruption at the Clinton-Gore Justice Department, including the illegal and violent raid on the Gonzalez family home in Miami (for which he is one of the defendants in Judicial Watch�s lawsuit on behalf of those beaten, gassed, and threatened in the raid), the suppression of Chinagate investigations (of which he was personally in charge), and Justice�s coverup of the sale of Clinton-Gore Commerce Department trade mission seats in exchange for campaign contributions. Holder, in his confirmation hearings before Sen. Orrin Hatch, falsely denied, under oath, that he was involved in the Judicial Watch lawsuit which uncovered the Commerce Department trade mission scandal. In fact, he had personally signed many of the false pleadings presented to a federal court judge in the case. (This case also uncovered John Huang which, according to Fox News, �got the ball rolling� on Chinagate.) �In addition to disinfecting the Oval Office, the Bush Administration should clean out the Justice Department by immediately firing every Clinton-Gore appointee, as well as those corrupted �career� attorneys who participated in the on-going cover-ups,� stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman. �When it comes to fighting corruption, the Bush team has been inexcusably AWOL. To allow Janet Reno�s �hatchet man,� Eric Holder, to remain at Justice is not only irresponsible and naive, but an affront to justice,� said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. | |