Multiple Choice Question: Which Washington, DC, law firm did Eric Holder just recently join:
A. The same one where he was a partner for 8 years before becoming Attorney General.
B. A law firm that represents all of the nation’s biggest banks.
C. The law firm that kept a corner office empty and waiting for him while he served as AG.
D. The law firm where 5 of his former deputies at Department of Justice landed before him?
E. All of the above.
If you’re unsure, check out David Dayen’s post at Salon: Why Eric Holder’s new job in an insult to the American public. Actually, check out Dayen’s post anyhow. I loved Dayen’s summation:
Whether inside or outside government, Holder remained the same cautious corporate lawyer, determined not to mess up future employment opportunities. As Deputy Attorney General under Bill Clinton in 1999, he wrote the infamous “collateral consequences” memo, arguing that prosecutors should take what might happen to ordinary workers into account when they decide to charge large corporations (of course, that doesn’t explain why DoJ doesn’t charge corporate officers). Then he went to work for corporations who used that memo as a shield. Then he rotated back to DoJ, where his actions on financial fraud spawned the phrase “too big to jail.” Now he’s back to aiding corporate executives on the other side of the negotiating table.
…
Corporate law firms love to hire people with personal knowledge of the rules and how to get around them, and relationships with those who remain inside government. A plum white-collar defense position is a final payback to regulators and law enforcement officials who don’t get too out of line and keep the tender fannies of corporate titans out of prison. As long as they play ball and prove their future worth, they can cash in. I’d wish Eric Holder good luck, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t need it.
So, after eight years of supposedly pursuing legal action against the country’s largest banks, Eric Holder will have an equity interest in a firm that is paid millions in fees by those banks. And it barely even makes the news.
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I will continue here:
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/wal-mart-pleads-guilty-federal-environmental-crimes-admits-civil-violations-and-will-pay-more
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-signs-agreement-city-west-columbia-sc-ensure-civic-access-people
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2011/06/fair-sentencing-act.html
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-finds-pennsylvania-state-prison-s-use-solitary-confinement-violates-rights
Shall I continue? Honestly, Bob…I thought better of you. Steve never surprises…
Really? Because it’s just SO much easier to focus on the one thing and “forget” all the rest or ignore them and label them not important. For shame.
https://www.impartial-review.com/stories/romney-backers-paid-millions-in-discrimination-lawsuits-against-hispanics
2)http://krebscycle.tumblr.com/post/51912884114/that-hopey-changey-thing-at-the-department-of
3)http://www.salon.com/2011/05/30/justice_department_civil_rights_police/
It’s a pretty big thing, though, don’t you think?
No. I don’t think. These “hair on fire” issues that Dayen talks about…the banks …were perfectly LEGAL! It’s not alright…it was wrong, but that’s not the fault of Eric Holder. This was going on long before Holder became AG. He is a private citizen now. He committed himself to public service at the DoJ and did a damn fine job. ( I put up links to things that most people would not know or care to know because banksters weren’t all frog marched) I really expected more from your critique of this half ass, opinionated piece from Dayen. Wonder if Steve knows he’s just supposed the thoughts and words of a flaming lefty liberal in Dayen?
Cheri, I don’t care from where the truth comes. I have never said that leftists don’t speak the truth sometimes. The truth is where you find it. I was never a fan of Eric Holder and am not surprised at the path he took in and out of Government and arriving at a job like he has. You are a fan of his and are willing to overlook the contradictions in his personal moral standards represented by the choices he has made.
I am not singling him out, he is typical of our political class whose “convictions” are ultimately on sale to the highest bidder. That includes both parties.
You read none of those links..did you?
No, Cheri, I did not read any of the links. I didn’t think they were pertinent to the point about Eric Holder taking a job where he will now defend the same people he was once charged with prosecuting.
So, it’s a small thing?
This posting, Bob, is one of the reasons I admire you. You are generally open minded and intellectually honest as this message demonstrates. I have heard no other Democrat (or Republican, for that matter) point out the obvious conflict of interest that is accepted as the norm in Washington. You demonstrate that it is possible to be a committed Democrat and still be honest. I wish more people would follow your lead.