WASHINGTON, June 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was
released today by the Republican National Committee:
(LOGO: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080519/RNCLOGO)
Today, The Politico Reported That Eric Holder Has Become An Obama
National Security Adviser:
Eric Holder Has Joined Obama's "Senior Working Group On National
Security." (Mike Allen, "Politico Playbook," The Politico, 6/18/08)
NOTE: Eric Holder Is Also A Member Of Obama's Vice Presidential Vetting
Committee. "Obama recently began looking in earnest, asking Caroline
Kennedy, daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy; former Deputy
Attorney General Eric Holder, and Jim Johnson, the former Fannie Mae CEO,
to start the vice presidential vetting along with a tight circle of
advisers." (Libby Quaid, "Veep Hunt Tops Summer To-Do List For Obama,
McCain," The Associated Press, 6/7/08)
As Deputy Attorney General, Holder Supported Clemency For Former FALN
Members:
In August 1999, President Bill Clinton Offered Clemency To 16 Former
Members Of The Puerto Rican Terrorist Group The Armed Forces Of National
Liberation (FALN). "As the furor over President Clinton's recent clemency
offer to 16 militant Puerto Rican nationalists continues, new evidence
suggests the timing of the decision might have had more to do with the 1998
impeachment proceedings than with the First Lady's New York Senate
campaign, as critics have charged. The White House also badly misjudged the
repercussions of the decision on both sides of the clemency question.
Though most of the critics have been the President's political enemies and
police injured in FALN terrorist acts, restrictions placed on the clemency
also have angered many in the Puerto Rican community and made it hard for
the prisoners to accept the deal. Lawyers for the FALN members have
denounced the Clinton offer as unfair. 'I don't think the President
understood the reaction that Puerto Ricans would have on all sides of the
issue,' said Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-Brooklyn). The dustup began Aug. 11,
when the President offered clemency to 16 former members of the FALN, the
Spanish acronym for Armed Forces of National Liberation, which was linked
to about 130 bombings that killed six and injured dozens from 1974 to 1983.
The presidential offer was the culmination of a six-year campaign that
began in 1993, when a Chicago lawyer filed clemency petitions for 17
imprisoned FALN members." (Edward Lewine, "How Bill Chose Clemency," [New
York] Daily News, 9/5/99)
Holder Played A Major Role In The FALN Clemency Decision, According To
FALN Documents And Memos. "Holder, a Barbadian immigrant's son who grew up
in Queens and received his law degree from Columbia, has played major roles
in the probe of Democratic funny-money in the 1996 elections, the Sexgate
scandal and the recommendation to President Clinton on whether to free FALN
terrorists from jail. A list of FALN documents withheld from Congress shows
that many memos on the FALN clemency decision went directly to Holder,
while Reno's role was minimal." (Brian Blomquist, "Ailing Reno Yielding
Reins Of Justice," New York Post, 12/15/99)
Although The FBI Opposed Clemency, Holder Supported Clemency For The
FALN Members. "Although The New York Times reported that the FBI, Bureau of
Prisons and U.S. state attorneys opposed clemency, Deputy Attorney General
Eric Holder, the Justice Department official most involved with this issue,
reportedly supported clemency. 'Eric Holder told me he was recommending
that,' a high-ranking official said. Ruff also supported clemency, sources
said. Holder declined to comment." (Edward Lewine, "How Bill Chose
Clemency," [New York] Daily News, 9/5/99)
In 1997, Holder Met With Three Members Of Congress And Made
Recommendations To Them About How The FALN Members Could More Easily Be
Granted Clemency. "The committee's documents show that Mr. Adams and Eric
Holder, the Deputy Attorney General, met on Nov. 5, 1997, with
Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, Democrat of Illinois, and Representatives
Jose E. Serrano of the Bronx and Nydia M. Velazquez of Brooklyn, both
Democrats, to discuss the case of the Puerto Rican inmates. According to
Mr. Adams's notes, Mr. Holder told the members of Congress that because the
prisoners had not applied themselves for clemency this could be taken that
they were not repentant, and he suggested that a statement expressing some
remorse might help. In their testimony today, both Mr. Adams and Mr. Holder
declined to answer several questions about how the clemency decision was
reached, citing executive privilege. Both said, however, that the Justice
Department had acted appropriately throughout the process." (Neil A. Lewis,
"Records Show Puerto Ricans Got U.S. Help With Clemency," The New York
Times, 10/21/99)
A Subsequent Clinton Administration Justice Department Report
Identified The Group As An "Ongoing Threat." "The Puerto Rican nationalist
group FALN, 16 of whose members were pardoned by President Clinton in
August, poses an 'ongoing threat' to national security, according to a
September report by Attorney General Janet Reno released yesterday during a
combative Senate hearing on the clemency decision." (David A. Vise and
Lorraine Adams, "FALN A Threat, Reno Says," The Washington Post, 10/21/99)
Holder Was Involved In The Last-Minute Pardon Of "Fugitive Financier"
Marc Rich:
Holder Played A "Key Role" In The Pardoning Of Marc Rich. "Now Obama
needs to turn his attention to another member of that committee - Eric
Holder, a former No. 2 in the Clinton Justice Department who played a key
role in processing the infamous last-minute pardon of the notorious
tax-cheat fugitive Marc Rich." (Editorial, "Obama's Bus," New York Post,
6/12/08)
"Holder, One Of Two Remaining Members Of Obama's Vice Presidential
Search Committee, Was Always Expected To Be A Lightning Rod." (Jonathan
Weisman, "Next On The GOP List: Eric Holder," The Washington Post's "The
Trail" Blog, blog.washingtonpost.com, 6/12/08)
Holder Reviewed The Pardon Of "Fugitive Financier" Rich. "The criticism
Thursday centered on Obama adviser Eric H. Holder Jr., who is scrutinizing
candidates to be the Democratic presumptive presidential nominee's running
mate. As deputy attorney general under President Clinton, Mr. Holder
reviewed the last-minute pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich." (Jim
McElhatton, "GOP Hits Another Obama Adviser," The Washington Times,
6/13/08)
Holder "Waved Through" Rich's Pardon In The Final Days Of The Clinton
Administration. "As Bill Clinton's deputy attorney general, he was the
gatekeeper for presidential pardons. Most famously, he waved through the
pardon for fugitive financier Marc Rich in the waning days of the Clinton
White House." (Jonathan Weisman, "Next On The GOP List: Eric Holder," The
Washington Post's "The Trail" Blog, blog.washingtonpost.com, 6/12/08)
"Charged With 51 Counts Of Fraud, Tax Evasion And Illegally Trading
With Iran, Mr. Rich Fled To Switzerland In 1983 But Won A Pardon From Mr.
Clinton In 2001." (Jim McElhatton, "GOP Hits Another Obama Adviser," The
Washington Times, 6/13/08)
Documents Emerged Which Indicated That Holder Had Recommended Former
White House Counsel Jack Quinn To Rich, And "Gave Substantive Advice To
Quinn Along The Way." "Two days later, documents in support of the pardon
were sent by Jack Quinn to Eric Holder. It was Holder who had originally
recommended Quinn to one of Rich's advisers, although he claims that he did
not know the identity of the client. And he gave substantive advice to
Quinn along the way. According to Quinn's notes that were produced to
Congress, Holder told Quinn to take the pardon application 'straight to the
White House' because 'the timing is good.' ... When Holder received the
Rich materials, he did no independent research to determine their veracity
and appears to have barely reviewed them." (Dick Morris and Eileen McGann,
Op-Ed, "Obama's VP Search Mistake," New York Post, 6/5/08)
Holder Conducted No Independent Research To Scrutinize Quinn's Request
On Behalf Of Rich. "When Holder received the Rich materials, he did no
independent research to determine their veracity and appears to have barely
reviewed them. ... [H]e never took the time to check anything and simply
told the White House that he was 'neutral to positive' on the pardons."
(Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, Op-Ed, "Obama's VP Search Mistake," New
York Post, 6/5/08)
"Neither Clinton Nor Holder Ever Consulted With The Pardon Attorney."
(Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, Op-Ed, "Obama's VP Search Mistake," New
York Post, 6/5/08)
"Officials At The U.S. Attorney's Office In New York Were
Understandably Infuriated When They Learned About The Pardon And Accused
Rich Of Deliberating Bypassing Their Office." (Dick Morris and Eileen
McGann, Op-Ed, "Obama's VP Search Mistake," New York Post, 6/5/08)
"In 2002, A Congressional Committee Reported That Holder Was A 'Willing
Participant In The Plan To Keep The Justice Department From Knowing About
And Opposing' The Rich Pardon." (Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, Op-Ed,
"Obama's VP Search Mistake," New York Post, 6/5/08)
The Wall Street Journal: "As Deputy Attorney General in the Clinton
Administration, he played a role in the Marc Rich pardon that also deserves
to be fully vetted - all the more so if Mr. Holder is on the short list to
be Mr. Obama's Attorney General." (Editorial, "Ex-Friends Of Barack," The
Wall Street Journal, 6/12/08)
Holder Also Engaged In Lobbying For A Controversial Company:
In 2002, Eric Holder Lobbied On Behalf Of Global Crossing After The
Company Had Accumulated Nearly $12 Million In Debt. "Smelling blood in the
water, Republicans now plan to pounce on another member of Obama's
veep-selection committee, former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, for
his lobbying on behalf of telecom giant Global Crossing. Holder lobbied for
the company, which underwent one of the largest bankruptcies in American
history after racking up nearly $12 million in debt, as it emerged from
bankruptcy in 2002, Senate lobbying disclosure documents reveal." (Charles
Hurt and Geoff Earle, "O's Veep Hunter Quits," New York Post, 6/12/08)
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SOURCE Republican National Committee
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