Obama 'picks ex-Clinton aide'
2008-11-19 07:59
Washington - President-elect Barack Obama reportedly has picked a former high-ranking Clinton administration aide to serve as the next attorney general, the country's top law enforcement official.
Eric Holder, a former US attorney who served as the No 2 official in the Justice Department under President Bill Clinton, would be the nation's first black attorney general. An Obama official and two Democrats in touch with the transition team confirmed on Tuesday that Holder was Obama's top choice, but the Obama official said the decision was not final. Holder did not return messages seeking comment on Tuesday.
Word of Holder's likely appointment surfaced while Washington was abuzz with reports that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former president's wife, was at the top of Obama's list to be the next secretary of state, the top US diplomat.
Obama and Hillary Clinton met at the president-elect's transition headquarters in Chicago last week. Earlier, the former first lady had been widely mentioned as a possible vice-presidential choice after Obama vanquished her in the lengthy and often bitter Democratic presidential primary.
Obama, who ran for president on a platform of change, was raising eyebrows with his heavy focus on officials from the former Clinton administration in his transition team and his consideration of them for his Cabinet. He has already named Rahm Emanuel, a key Democrat in Congress and a top White House official under Clinton, to serve as his chief of staff.
The expected appointment of Holder, who served on the search committee that settled on Delaware Senator Joe Biden as Obama's vice-presidential running mate, emerged after the president-elect's aides began canvassing senators about Holder's chances for confirmation. The Senate must confirm Cabinet secretaries by a simple majority vote.
Widely respected
In particular, the Obama aides questioned whether Holder's confirmation would be delayed because of his involvement in President Clinton's end-of-term 2001 pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich.
One person involved in the talks said the Obama team has received some assurances that, while the Rich pardon would come up during Senate hearings, the nomination likely would not be held up. All those who spoke about Holder did so on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.
On the last day of Clinton's term, Holder was asked whether the president should pardon Rich, a wealthy commodities dealer who had spent years on the run. The financier was convicted in 1983 of doing illegal oil deals with Iran while US hostages were held there, as well as tax evasion and tax fraud. Holder said he was "neutral, leaning towards favourable" on the pardon. Clinton later cited that as among the factors that persuaded him to issue the pardon.
Holder has publicly apologised for what he said was a snap decision that he should have paid more attention to. Had he taken more time to review the case, he would have advised against a pardon, he said.
Holder, 57, also a former judge and US attorney in Washington, is widely respected in legal circles and among Justice Department career lawyers. He has been on Obama's short list to be attorney general since before the election, and already has had private conversations about how he would run the department.
One of his top priorities, according to a person familiar with his thinking, is to rebuild the department's reputation after its fiercely independent image was tarnished by charges of political meddling by the White House during the Bush administration.
Private visit
For that reason, Holder has been reluctant to lobby for the attorney general's post for fear the Rich pardon would invite an explosive nomination process and further strain the department's credibility, this person said.
Also on Tuesday, the Obama daughters got a tour of their new White House residence from Jenna and Barbara Bush.
President George W Bush's twin daughters showed their rooms to Sasha, seven, and Malia, 10, as they toured the residential areas of the White House with their mother, Michelle, at the invitation of first lady Laura Bush. The Obamas spent about an hour at the mansion, said Sally McDonough, a spokesperson for Laura Bush.
Mrs Obama's mother, Marian Robinson, was also with the group.
"The first lady graciously invited Mrs Obama, her mother and the girls to visit what will be their new home," said Michelle Obama's spokesperson, Katie McCormick Lelyveld. "Of course, Mrs Obama greatly appreciated this invitation to provide an opportunity for the girls to feel at home and become comfortable in this transition process."
The visit was private, with no media coverage or photos.
- AP