The Swamp offers up the republican opposition research:
As Eric Holder Faces A Nomination Hearing For Attorney General, Will He Continue To Show A Lack Of Judgment And Independence?
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Holder Played A Major Role When President Bill Clinton Offered Clemency To 16 Former Members Of FALN, A Puerto Rican Terrorist Organization:
In August 1999, President Bill Clinton Offered Clemency To 16 Former Members Of The Puerto Rican Terrorist Group The Armed Forces Of National Liberation (FALN). "The dustup began Aug. 11, when the President offered clemency to 16 former members of the FALN..." (Edward Lewine, "How Bill Chose Clemency," [New York] Daily News, 9/5/99)
FALN Was Responsible For Bombings In The 1970s And 1980s That Killed Six People. "The FALN was responsible for a wave of bombings in the late 1970s and early 1980s that left six dead, although none of those freed were tied to any deaths." (Shannon McCaffrey, "Reno: Puerto Rican Terrorists An 'Ongoing Threat'," The Associated Press, 10/20/99)
Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder Played A Major Role In The FALN Clemency Decision According To FALN Documents And Memos. "Holder, a Barbadian immigrant's son who grew up in Queens and received his law degree from Columbia, has played major roles in the probe of Democratic funny-money in the 1996 elections, the Sexgate scandal and the recommendation to President Clinton on whether to free FALN terrorists from jail. A list of FALN documents withheld from Congress shows that many memos on the FALN clemency decision went directly to Holder, while Reno's role was minimal." (Brian Blomquist, "Ailing Reno Yielding Reins Of Justice," New York Post, 12/1 5/99)
Although The FBI Opposed Clemency, Holder Supported Clemency For The FALN Members. "Although The New York Times reported that the FBI, Bureau of Prisons and U.S. state attorneys opposed clemency, Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, the Justice Department official most involved with this issue, reportedly supported clemency. 'Eric Holder told me he was recommending that,' a high-ranking official said. Ruff also supported clemency, sources said. Holder declined to comment." (Edward Lewine, "How Bill Chose Clemency," [New York] Daily News, 9/5/99)
In 1997, Holder Met With Three Members Of Congress And Made Recommendations To Them About How The FALN Members Could More Easily Be Granted Clemency. "The committee's documents show that Mr. Adams and Eric Holder, the Deputy Attorney General, met on Nov. 5, 1997, with Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, Democrat of Illinois, and Representatives Jose E. Serrano of the Bronx and Nydia M. Velazquez of Brooklyn, both Democrats, to discuss the case of the Puerto Rican inmates. According to Mr. Adams's notes, Mr. Holder told the members of Congress that because the prisoners had not applied themselves for clemency this could be taken that they were not repentant, and he suggested that a statement expressing some remorse might help. In their testimony today, both Mr. Adams and Mr. Holder declined to answer several questions about how the clemency decision was reached, citing executive priv ilege. Both said, however, that the Justice Department had acted appropriately throughout the process." (Neil A. Lewis, "Records Show Puerto Ricans Got U.S. Help With Clemency," The New York Times, 10/21/99)
Holder Played A Major Role When President Clinton Pardoned Fugitive Marc Rich In His Final Week In Office:
During His Final Week In Office, President Bill Clinton Pardoned Marc Rich, An International Financer Who In 1983 Was Indicted For Evading Nearly $50 Million In Taxes. "As one of his last official acts, Mr. Clinton released a list of almost 140 people to whom he had granted pardons, which restore civil rights like voting, or commutations, which shorten prison terms. Many of the people from the metropolitan area were white-collar criminals who had committed financial fraud or similar acts, including Marc Rich, a commodities trader wanted for evading nearly $50 million in taxes." (Edward Wong and Sherri Day, "Former Terrorist Is Among Those Pardoned Or Freed In Clinton's Final Acts In Office," The New York Times, 1/21/01)
See the confirmation hearing schedule for today here.
