Leahy: Rich pardon won’t haunt Holder

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
on Monday dismissed any concern that Attorney General nominee Eric Holder’s confirmation
process would be haunted by the pardon of Marc Rich.

Speaking at a press conference to praise President-elect
Barack Obama’s nominations, Leahy singled out Holder as “a longtime friend” and
an “especially fitting” choice to lead the Justice Department. He predicted
Holder’s involvement in the 2001 pardon of Rich — a fugitive commodities trader
granted clemency on President Bill Clinton’s last day in office — would play
only a minor role in the upcoming hearings.

{mosads}Leahy acknowledged that, while the topic will come up,
Holder himself had not issued the pardon, had stopped short of recommending it
and later said he regretted not taking a stronger stand against it. Leahy also
noted that he was critical of the pardon at the time.

“We all know President Clinton was going to give that
pardon,” Leahy said. “It wouldn’t have made any difference what Eric Holder or
anybody else said … I don’t think that President Clinton should have [given]
the pardon, but I don’t blame Eric Holder for that.”

Rep. Lamar Smith (Texas), the ranking Republican on the
House Judiciary Committee, is not sharing Leahy’s view.

“The nomination of Eric Holder to be attorney general is
a surprising pick for a president-elect who claims that he is bringing ‘change’
to Washington,” Smith said in a statement. “Eight years ago, Holder was at the
center of some of the most controversial pardons granted by a president in U.S.
history.”

Smith added that an attorney general “must put the
interests of justice above everything else, including the desires of the
president.”

“By assisting in the Clinton pardons, Holder acted in his
own interests, not those of the Justice community,” Smith stated. “I am deeply
concerned by this selection and urge the Senate to carefully review Mr.
Holder’s record at the Justice Department, especially his role in these
pardons.”

Leahy, a former prosecutor, said Holder’s qualifications
were far more important than the pardon issue. He noted that President Ronald
Reagan had appointed Holder to a judgeship on the Superior Court of the
District of Columbia, and he was confirmed unanimously before becoming a U.S.
attorney for the District and later deputy attorney general from 1997 to 2001.

Holder is especially worthy to lead the department, Leahy
said, because it has an image problem of having become too partisan during the
Bush administration. Leahy said Holder would take the opposite approach, taking
the necessary first steps toward repairing the damage.

“We’re finally going to take a misshapen, disturbed,
distorted Department of Justice and we’re going to have somebody to put it back
together,” Leahy said. “Eric Holder is the one person in this country who I
believe can do that.”

Leahy also emphasized Monday that he will use his Judiciary
Committee perch to continue to probe the Bush administration’s actions
regarding torture and the politicization of the Justice Department, and that he
has discussed this with both Holder and Obama.

“Torture is going to be a major issue,” he said. “I can’t
tell you how much we hurt our image abroad. We have got to change that, so all
of that will be reviewed.”

Leahy said he will decide on specific oversight hearings
once he receives the White House’s reply to a subpoena he had filed and once
the confirmations of Holder and Obama’s other appointments are finished.

He noted that the make-up of the Judiciary Committee will
need time to change, given the departures of Vice President-elect Joe Biden and
the likely additions of more Democrats and fewer Republicans.

Leahy told reporters he plans to reach out to Sen. Arlen
Specter (R-Pa.), the Judiciary Committee’s ranking member, to gauge any
concerns about Holder from GOP ranks.

Last month, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the state’s
former attorney general, said Republicans will pursue a “thorough” vetting of
Holder.

“As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I’ll have
the opportunity to get into some detail and ask him questions, and I look
forward to the confirmation process,” Cornyn said. “Everything is
open. It’s not like a judge where they can’t commit to particular views, so
there’s nothing off the table.”