NWV News - Eric Holder has habit of lying under oath, claim critics

ERIC HOLDER HAS HABIT OF LYING UNDER OATH, CLAIM CRITICS

By NWV News writer Jim Kouri
Posted 1:00 AM Eastern
October 9, 2011
© 2011 NewsWithViews.com

But this isn't the first time Holder's honesty has come into question. Even before taking office, Holder may have hid information from lawmakers

GOP lawmakers are calling for a special counsel to determine whether Attorney General Eric Holder perjured himself during his testimony regarding "Operation Fast and Furious."

On Monday, October 3, House GOP members wrote a letter to the Attorney General requesting a special counsel (a/k/a special prosecutor) be appointed due to the failure of the Obama Administration to provide answers to House committees investigating suspected malfeasance.

But this isn't the first time Holder's honesty has come into question. Even before taking office, Holder may have hid information from lawmakers, according to observers.

In the past, Justice Department officials have admitted that when members of the U.S. Senate -- including Judiciary Committee members -- were considering the nomination of Eric Holder as President Obama's attorney general in 2009, he failed to disclose all of the legal briefs he had written or signed from his time in private practice especially those briefs that are pertinent to his current positions and views during the so-called war on terrorism.

The issue of Holder's past legal papers came up after some Republicans asked why lawyers who had previously done legal work for terror detainees now had jobs in the Justice Department, something President Barack Obama successfully avoided discussing, and something conveniently overlooked by a Justice Department now saturated with Holder colleagues whose work records show they defended terrorism suspects and 'Gitmo' detainees.

Attorney General Eric Holder didn't tell the Senate Judiciary Committee about at least six Supreme Court Amicus briefs he prepared or supported, his office acknowledged in a letter Friday, including two urging the Court to reject the Bush administration's attempt to try Jose Padilla as an enemy combatant.

"It has come to our attention that some but not all briefs submitted to the Supreme Court by or on behalf of Attorney General Holder as counselor Amicus were supplied to the Committee in the course of his confirmation process last year. We regret the omission," Assistant Attorney General Ronald Welch wrote to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy. Sen. Leahy, who has his own problems with honesty dating back to the days of the cold war, did not have his committee will take any action against Justice Department executives and attorneys or against Holder.

For example, Attorney General Eric Holder didn't tell the Senate Judiciary Committee about at least six Supreme Court amicus briefs he prepared or supported, his office acknowledged in a letter last Friday, including two urging the Court to reject the Bush administration's attempt to try Jose Padilla as an enemy combatant.

While Holder and Obama can count on the support and loyalty of the majority of Senators and congressmen, some conservative lawmakers are not ignoring the AG's suspected duplicitous behavior.

"I am deeply concerned by Attorney General Holder's failure to disclose to the Judiciary Committee his third-party brief in support of Jose Padilla's Supreme Court case," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, the committee's top Republican. " Not only was the Attorney General required to provide the brief as part of his confirmation but the opinions expressed in it go to the heart of his responsibilities in matters of national security. This is an extremely serious matter and the attorney general will have to address it."

"From the start, Holder seemed more interested in pursuing American patriots who oppose abortion, big government program and gun control, than in capturing illegal alien gangs, terrorists and Marxist radicals who are open about their willingness to destroy the United States," said political strategist Mike Baker.

According to Baker, the Attorney General and the President of the United States view conservatives and Libertarians as the real enemy instead of the radicals who seek the destruction of America and its Constitution.

While President Barack Obama claims that he sees American intelligence, homeland security and law enforcement systems working together seamlessly, he's claimed he wants the professionals in these areas to collect, share, integrate, analyze and act on intelligence "as quickly and effectively as possible to save innocent lives, not just most of the time, but all of the time," he said. "That's what the American people deserve. As president, that's exactly what I will demand."

But not everyone believes the president is serious about intelligence gathering and analysis during a time of war.. Some security experts believe that it wasn't the intelligence people who failed in the prelude to the Christmas Day attempted airline bombing, but a clear lack of leadership.

"You have a Homeland Security Secretary who believes returning war veterans are extremists and an Attorney General who's biting at the bit to prosecute intelligence agents," said former NYPD detective and US Marine intelligence officer Mike Snopes said in June 2010.

"And when they get caught with their pants down, right away they blame the people -- the intelligence community -- whom they denigrate with their usual vitriol," he added.

What most Americans do not know is that Eric Holder may have personal reasons for wanting to prosecute foreign terrorists -- some of whom were captured on the battlefield in foreign countries -- in the U.S. federal court system. When asked about his motives for not allowing the military justice system to try Gitmo detainees, Holder and his supporters blame President George W. Bush's failure to try Gitmo terrorists in the so-called military tribunals.

However, the real reason there were so few military trials was that lawyers were continuously working to derail the military courts martial by challenging them in the civilian courts. And far too many of those lawyers are now working for Holder at the Justice Department.

In fact, during the Bush Administration, Holder's law firm, Covington & Burling, provided pro-bono services for about 20 of the enemy combatants held at Gitmo. In lawsuits Holder and his firm brought against the American people, Covington contributed more than 3,000 hours of free, top-flight legal assistance to these violent terrorists.

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"From a political standpoint, Holder reserves his vitriol and passionate opposition for US intelligence officers and those law enforcement leaders who fight terrorists, or police commanders who are tough on criminal aliens," said Mike Baker.

"Yet, Obama and Holder appear to enjoy immunity from any investigative journalism by the elite media, including questions regarding Holder's ties to defending enemies of the United States in the past," he added.