Think Eric Holder is eager to exit the Justice Department? Think again.
Eric Holder and his wife, Sharon Malone, at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner (Getty)
Buzz has been growing that the Attorney General may intend to stick around if his friend, President Barack Obama, is re-elected. The seemingly embattled Holder actually likes his job quite a bit, people familiar with his thinking have told Main Justice. Duties other officials might find grinding — all those European Union ministerial meetings, speeches and U.S. Attorney installations and the like – are actually fun for him, the people say. Previous indications that he was considering departing after the election at the urging of his wife, Sharon Malone, may no longer be operative (assuming Obama wins.)
The Washington Post’s Al Kamen today fueled the rumors by suggesting that Holder might stay at least until next July in a putative second Obama administration. That would keep him in office for the 50th anniversary celebration of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Not only is civil rights enforcement one of Holder’s top priorities, the landmark legislation has extra resonance for the Attorney General. He is the brother-in-law of the late Vivian Malone Jones, who in 1963 enrolled at the University of Alabama against the orders of segregationist Gov. George C. Wallace. She became the first black person to graduate from the university and later went on to a career at the Justice Department.
So, after being ripped apart by conservatives over his abandoned plan to try suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in federal court; being called a reverse racist by a Texas congressman; and being held in contempt of Congress for failing to hand over documents related to the botched Fast and Furious gun investigation — what more fun could Holder possibly be having?
Well, if Mitt Romney wins in November, the party for Holder will definitely be over.
