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Holder Pushed FALN Clemency
Patterico's Pontifications —
The L.A. Times reports:
Attorney general nominee Eric H. Holder Jr. repeatedly pushed some of his subordinates at the Clinton Justice Department to drop their opposition to a controversial 1999 grant of clemency to 16 members of two violent Puerto Rican nationalist organizations, according to interviews and documents.
Details of the role played by Holder, who was deputy attorney general at the time, had not been publicly known until now. The new details are of particular interest because Republican senators have vowed to revisit ...
Why was this such a priority for Eric Holder?
Betsy's Page —
The Los Angeles Times has examined documents leading up to the 1999 pardon of 16 convicted members FALN, a Puerto Rican nationalist group responsible for multiple robberies and bombings. Apparently, Holder was actively working behind the scenes to turn over previous Justice Department recommendations against pardons. Holder instructed his staff at Justice's Office of the Pardon Attorney to effectively replace the department's original report recommending against any commutations, which had been sent to the White House in 1996, with one that favored clemency for at least half ...
Eric Holder pushed for controversial clemency
Democratic Underground Latest Breaking News —
... a spokesman for President-elect Barack Obama's transition team said Holder's actions were appropriate. President Clinton's decision to commute prison terms caused an uproar at the time. Holder was called before Congress to explain his role but declined to answer numerous questions from angry lawmakers demanding to know why the Justice Department had not sided with the FBI, federal prosecutors and other law enforcement officials, who were vehemently opposed to the grants. Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la...
How Eric Holder fixed the FALN pardons
Michelle Malkin —
The Los Angeles Times, mirabile dictu , breaks from the Obamedia pack and does some digging into Attorney General nominee Eric Holder’s past history as a political fixer for the Puerto Rican FALN terrorists (hat tip - Debra). Attorney general nominee Eric H. Holder Jr. repeatedly pushed some of his subordinates at the Clinton Justice Department to drop their opposition to a controversial 1999 grant of clemency to 16 members of two violent Puerto Rican nationalist organizations, according to interviews and documents… …President Clinton’s decision to commute prison terms ...
Oops, He Did It Again: Eric Holder’s New Pardon Controversy
Firedoglake —
... Hot off the presses, Tom Hamburger and Josh Meyer at the LA Times have an exclusive on new information detailing Obama Attorney General nominee Eric Holder's involvement in the ugly and controversial clemency grants given to members of the violent Puerto Rican terrorist groups FALN and Los Macheteros. ...
Eric Holder and the FALN Pardons:
The Volokh Conspiracy —
The LA Times reports that Eric Holder actively sought to blunt opposition to President Clinton's pardon of members of two pro-Puerto Rican independence terrorist groups. New interviews and an examination of previously undisclosed documents indicate that Holder played an active role in changing the position of the Justice Department on the commutations. Holder instructed his staff at Justice's Office of the Pardon Attorney to effectively replace the department's original report recommending against any commutations, which had been sent to the White House in 1996, with one that ...
No On Eric Holder
RedState: Conservative News and Community —
... The Los Angeles Times today reports on Eric Holder’s involvement in the commutation of prison sentences granted to convicted terrorists ...
Rocky Seas for Team Obama
Pajamas Media —
... as Sen. Arlen Specter and other Republicans prepare to delve into Holder’s involvement with the Marc Rich and Puerto Rican terrorist pardons and the Elian Gonzales affair. It’s not his legal views which are most at issue, but his character. And if Democrats and Republicans alike get the sense that Holder has played fast and loose with Justice Department guidelines,ethical standard and even with their colleagues (in his testimony during the ...
There Will Be Blood
Sound Politics —
There Will Be Blood It is the near obligation of the party opposite the President to draw some blood as the Executive's Cabinet picks move through the Senate confirmation process. No nominee need necessarily be stopped, but it is inevitable that at least one will be made to bleed. The only question is the volume drawn. From the beginning, AG nominee Eric Holder looked like a prime target for this law of averages. Count that as now virtually guaranteed. Critical coverage in the LA Times , the ...
Holder could be good AG: pardons critic
The Swamp —
... Roger Adams, the former Justice Department pardon attorney who told the Tribune/TIMES how his former boss, Eric H. Holder Jr., pressed him to soften his opposition to a controversial clemency request in 1998, said Tuesday that he would not object to Holder's confirmation as attorney general. ...
