Attorney General Eric Holder will face a barrage of attacks Wednesday from Republican senators who say he’s made “dramatic mistakes” on everything from paperwork to high-stakes terrorism trials.
There’s no reason to believe Holder’s job is in jeopardy, but his session before the Senate Judiciary Committee may be the toughest public hearing in his tenure as attorney general. It’s the first time he’s appeared in front of the committee since November, when he was forced to explain his since-reversed decision to try accused Sept. 11 co-conspirator Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a civilian court in New York City.
“I think there will be a wide variety of questions for Eric Holder that may or may not be pleasant for him. He’s made some dramatic mistakes, it seems to me,” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told POLITICO. “There are some real questions about his tenure. … There’s a lot of us upset about it.”
To be sure, tense congressional hearings are part of the attorney general life cycle in Washington. Holder’s recent predecessors, including Alberto Gonzales, John Ashcroft and Janet Reno, all found themselves in the cross hairs of the opposition party in Congress.
But Holder has come under fire very quickly in his 15 months as the nation’s top law enforcement official.
“I think the attorney general has been a real disappointment, particularly on national security issues,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a Judiciary Committee member. “The attorney general has gotten way out on a limb” on security issues, Cornyn said, referring to the decisions to try Mohammed in a civilian court and Mirandize the accused underwear bomb plotter. - Politico Story
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