"A Public Servant's Private Stint Is At Issue" from the NY Times reports that Barack Obama's Attorney General nominee who is up for confirmation this Thursday may get a grilling from Republicans on his past as a defense lawyer for such issues as Michael Vick and the NFL during the dogfighting scandal, Rod Blagojevich and Chiquita banana.
This is all atop questions about his dealings in the Marc Rich pardon, the Elian Gonzalez deportation and FALN. All of this has made some uneasy over someone who seems too eager to potentially be sympathetic to corrupting influences.
"10 Things You Didn't Know About Eric Holder" - US News
"Eric Holder pushed for controversial clemency" from the Los Angeles Times
"ERIC HOLDER, CHIQUITA & THE AND COLOMBIA DEATH SQUADS"
Michelle Malkin weighs in...
Mr. Holder, now President-elect Barack Obama’s pick for attorney general, made his name publicly during a quarter-century in government service, first as a corruption prosecutor, then as a judge, and finally as the second-ranking official in the Clinton Justice Department. But it is as a power lawyer in Washington over the last eight years that Mr. Holder, 57, has made his wealth, as well as a reputation as a legal fixer for clients in crisis.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is to begin confirmation hearings on Mr. Holder
on Thursday, and if he is confirmed he will take over at the Justice Department with perhaps the most extensive private practice of any attorney general in modern times. Colleagues and admirers see his impressive range of work as a sign of a lawyer who has seen the law from all sides.
But some Republicans plan to press Mr. Holder about what they view as the potential conflicts of interest posed by his client list and how he would go about deciding whether to bow out of issues that come before him involving past clients, staff members said. Others question how his corporate ties would affect his work at the Justice Department.
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