Hot Topics at Holder Hearings

By CJP | January 16, 2009

Today on Capitol Hill, the Senate Judiciary Committee finished its hearings on Eric Holder to be Attorney General.  CJP was your johnny on-the-spot, and here’s what we can tell you:

• Holder made lots of news, telling the senators:
  • Waterboarding is torture and therefore illegal;
  • Guantanomo Bay will be closed, although he didn’t say when;
  • Military tribunals need to be revamped.

He also said:

• He mostly supports the FISA wiretapping program, and will review it to see how it’s working;
• He would not commit to prosecuting Bush administration officials, saying you don’t want to jail people for policy differences;
• His work on the Marc Rich pardon was a “mistake,” mentioning that he never checked with Rich’s prosecutors, nor acquainted himself with the charges against Rich.  D’oh!

Even though Holder was billed as the most vulnerable cabinet nominee, nothing happened in the hearings that would prevent his nomination.  Want to see for yourselves?  Check out the whole thing at C-SPAN.org.

Topics: Senate, The Cabinet

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