Why Eric Holder is Hiding His Record of Defending Terrorists

Its a time-honored tradition,starting way before President Obama took office. Politicians break bad or embarrassing news (for them) late on a Friday afternoon or even better on a Saturday Night (like Van Jones' resignation). The hope is the story will get very little play from reporters on their way home from a tough week, or from the weekend shift. The hope is that the Sunday News shows have already been booked to cover other topics and by Monday it will be old news.

That's what Eric Holder did this past Friday.

Justice Department officials have admitted that when members of the U.S. Senate—including Judiciary Committee members—were considering the nomination of Eric Holder as President Obama’s attorney general last year, he failed to disclose all of the legal briefs he had written or signed from his time in private practice especially those briefs that are pertinent to his current positions and views during the so-called war on terrorism. 

“Holder has now decided to be open and transparent with the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding his lapse remembering to turn over copies of his legal filings, including Amicus briefs on behalf of detained terrorists and enemy combatants,” said Mike Baker, political strategist and private practice attorney.


“Holder also used the oldest trick in the book: he made his official statement on a Friday afternoon during a busy news cycle,” Baker said.


“As part of Holder’s confirmation process, a list of legal briefs to the committee was turned over to senate staffers,” he said. And the list turned over to the Senate Judiciary Committee did not include filings in about seven cases.

But there is more lack of transparency:

The issue of Holder’s past legal papers came up after some Republicans asked why lawyers who had previously done legal work for terror detainees now had jobs in the Justice Department, something President Barack Obama successfully avoided discussing, and something conveniently overlooked by a Justice Department now saturated with Holder colleagues whose work records show they defended terrorism suspects and ‘Gitmo’ detainees.


Attorney General Eric Holder didn’t tell the Senate Judiciary Committee about at least six Supreme Court Amicus briefs he prepared or supported, his office acknowledged in a letter Friday, including two urging the Court to reject the Bush administration’s attempt to try Jose Padilla as an enemy combatant.


“It has come to our attention that some but not all briefs submitted to the Supreme Court by or on behalf of Attorney General Holder as counselor Amicus were supplied to the Committee in the course of his confirmation process last year. We regret the omission,” Assistant Attorney General Ronald Welch wrote to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy. Sen. Leahy, who has his own problems with honesty dating back to the days of the cold war, has not indicated his committee will take any action against Justice Department executives and attorneys.


For example, Attorney General Eric Holder didn’t tell the Senate Judiciary Committee about at least six Supreme Court amicus briefs he prepared or supported, his office acknowledged in a letter Friday, including two urging the Court to reject the Bush administration’s attempt to try Jose Padilla as an enemy combatant.

What is Eric Holder hiding?  After all, we knew all about his affinity for terrorists before he was was confirmed.

In 1999, Eric Holder helped arrange Bill Clinton pardons for 16 unrepentant members of FALN who had been convicted of “a variety of charges that included conspiracy, sedition, violation of the Hobbes Act (extortion by force, violence or fear), armed robbery and illegal possession of weapons and explosives—including large quantities of C-4 plastic explosive, dynamite and huge caches of ammunition.”

Maybe what Holder is afraid of is the fact that his Padilla case foreshadowed his decision to try the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed 9/11 case in civilian courts.  That was the real reason he hid the information from the Senate, he didn't want his bias toward moving the trials to the US known before he was confirmed.

“I am deeply concerned by Attorney General Holder’s failure to disclose to the Judiciary Committee his third-party brief in support of Jose Padilla’s Supreme Court case,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions, the committee’s top Republican. “ Not only was the Attorney General required to provide the brief as part of his confirmation, but the opinions expressed in it go to the heart of his responsibilities in matters of national security. This is an extremely serious matter and the attorney general will have to address it.”

Yes indeed he may have to address it but even if he does you may not hear about it because the mainstream media hasn't covered any of Holders lack of transparency.