In a New Yorker interview with Jeffrey Toobin, President Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder announced that he plans to step down sometime this year.
It was just last November that Holder told CBS that he planned to stay on through President Obama's second term.
Given that we're talking about Eric Holder and this president, a few things come to mind in trying to figure this out.
What's changed in 3 months? And what are the angles involved? And most importantly, who benefits and how?
The first thing twe have to do is flip the telescope a bit. Because of the low key way this was announced, casually to a friendly source, a lot of people are bound to assume that this is Eric Holder's decision. In reality, while they may have worked out the details together this is almost certainly President Obama's decision, especially since just 3 months ago Holder was certain about staying on. Holder serves at the president's pleasure, and every cabinet officer submits an unsigned letter of resignation to the White House upon taking office as standard operating procedure.
There are several reason why President Obama might have wanted Holder out of the picture.
While the media still is doing a decent job of covering up for the regime, the scandals surrounding the Obama Administration are gradually heating up,and we can expect them to heat up even more as the mid terms approach. Holder has been involved with all of them except Benghazi up to his neck, especially in the cover up phase. And he is a direct path to the White House and President Obama, particularly in Fast and Furious and IRS-Gate.
In fact, as I write this, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee led by Rep. Darrell Isa is suing him for civil contempt of congress over Fast and Furious for ignoring a subpoena to obtain internal Justice Department memos the committee requested. And a federal judge has already slapped down the Department of Justice's request to have the lawsuit dismissed.A lot of this material was shielded by President Obama in the most egregious misuse of executive privilege in our history.
Now that the lawsuit is ongoing, there no real reason that Holder can give in court for not complying with the congressional subpoena except taking the Fifth ala' IRS commissioner Lois Lerner. And since this is a civil action, the court can still demand that the material be turned over, with failure to do so being subject to criminal penalties. That material may end up not looking too sanitary once it surfaces, and there's a good chance it might implicate the president, since some of it involves direct interaction between the president and his attorney general, the very basis the president used to claim executive privilege.
Holder and the president may very well have cut a deal wherein Holder chooses the time of his 'retirement' takes the flak, pleads the Fifth and keeps his mouth shut in exchange for a presidential pardon and perhaps some other considerations under the table afterwards.It's a good deal on both sides, since AG Holder has the leverage to be certain the president sticks to his end of it. After all, if Eric Holder were to open up and tell what he undoubtedly knows about this most lawless of administrations, the odds on President Obama finishing his term without being impeached plummet significantly. We're talking Watergate on steroids.
This is exactly how the Clintons dealt with Wade Hubbel and Susan McDougal...'well, you're gonna do a littel time, but if you keep your mouths shut it'll be real easy time in some white collar country club facility, as opposed to the alternative. And when it's appropriate, we'll make sure you get a presidential pardon and there will be a nice somethin' somethin' waiting for you when you get out.'
Another possibility, a remote one but still a possibility is that President Obama ordered Eric Holder to do something like destroying evidence that would have exposed him to direct criminal liability and Holder refused. At which point, the president and Holder had a sit down, Holder was informed that he was 'resigning', and they worked out the details of the actual resignation and the rewards involved for Holder keeping his mouth shut.
That scenario pretty much answers all three questions.
Or Holder seeing the writing on the wall for this administration was just offered a very lucrative partnership in a large law firm and decided to leave. Watch as the rats start jumping ship because they know the longer this second term goes on the less f a commodity for future employment is the "Obama" brand.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of what Holder's intentions are, and the reason why he is pulling the emergency ejection lever, the whole thing stinks. Types like Holder usually don't bail unless there is a really good reason for them to flee while the going is still good.
ReplyDeleteObama's legacy will be one of failure, waste and corruption. He'll probably end up making Coleman Young, Kwame Kilpatrick and Ray Nagin all look good in comparison, at least in terms of sheer magnitude...
Even rats know when to jump ship... He knows what's coming. The people are pissed & conservatives are going to take everything. It happened to Clinton then Bush & now it's O's turn. Since the administration won't fix the corruption and lawlessness the people are going to do it for them.
ReplyDeleteAnd let's get real for a minute. ... Holder is just as corrupt as O & in a lot of instances more corrupt. He would never refuse to destroy evidence. Only ethical moral people conduct themselves in that manner and Mr I'm ethical enough to investigate myself would not refuse to destroy evidence. That would be minor offenses for Holder.