Our 1st black attorney general?
PROSECUTED ROSTENKOWSKI | Likely to face inquiry on Clinton pardon
WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama's top choice for attorney general is Eric Holder, a former No. 2 Justice Department official in the Clinton administration.
Holder, who oversaw the prosecution of Chicago Rep. Dan Rostenkowski in the 1990s, would become the first African American to serve as the nation's chief lawyer.
(AP)
Holder successfully pursues corruption charges in the mid-1990s against Rep. Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.).
Michael Flanagan, a Republican, snatches Rosten-kowski's Northwest Side 5th Congressional District seat for 1 term in 1994.
The seat returns to Democratic hands with the election of Rod Blagojevich in 1996. Blago- jevich goes on to run for governor in 2002 and one Rahm Emanuel succeeds him in the House. Emanuel is giving up the seat, tapped by Barack Obama to be White House chief of staff.
And Obama is now poised to select for attorney general -- Eric Holder.
Lynn Sweet
An Obama official said the decision has not been finalized.
Asked on Monday whether he expected to be nominated, Holder responded in an e-mail: ''Who knows?''
A political liability for Holder is his review of Bill Clinton's controversial pardon of fugitive Marc Rich.
One person involved in talks with senators said the Obama team has received some assurances that, while the pardon would come up during Senate hearings, the nomination likely wouldn't be held up.
Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the pardon ''would be a factor to consider.''
''I wouldn't want to articulate it among the top items, but it's worthwhile to look at,'' he told reporters.
As U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Holder pursued charges against Rostenkowski after inheriting the case from a Republican predecessor.
Rostenkowski, a congressman for 36 years, pleaded guilty to mail fraud in 1996.
Holder later became deputy attorney general, the second-highest Justice Department post, and drew criticism with a decision on the last day of Clinton's term.
He was asked whether President Clinton should pardon Rich, a wealthy commodities dealer who had spent years running from tax charges.
Holder said he was ''neutral, leaning toward favorable'' on the pardon. Clinton later cited that as among the factors that persuaded him to issue the pardon.
Holder has publicly apologized for what he said was a snap decision that he should have paid more attention to.
Holder, 57, also a former judge, is widely respected among Justice Department career lawyers.
He has been on Obama's short list to be attorney general since before the election and has been one of Obama's most trusted advisers.
He was a member of the team that helped select Sen. Joe Biden as Obama's running mate.
Holder enjoys deep ties to Obama's team. His wife, an obstetrician, delivered incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's daughter.
Chicago lawyer John Schmidt was with Holder in Grant Park on election night. Schmidt greeted Holder by saying, "Well, Mr. Attorney General."
"He's terrific. I think the world of him. He has terrific personal skills," Schmidt said. "He has developed a tremendous personal relationship with the president-elect," Schmidt said.
Besides the Rostenkowski prosecution, Holder has another local tie.
In 2004, he was tapped by Gov. Blagojevich to review a Gaming Board decision about the Rosemont casino. The review quickly was called off by the governor.
AP, with Sun-Times staff reporter Abdon M. Pallasch contributing