Thursday, April 10, 2014

From a man who stated he wasn't going to prosecute black people.


By: Tal Kopan
April 10, 2014 06:23 AM EDT
Attorney General Eric Holder strayed from prepared remarks to slam the way he was “treated” by a House committee the day before, calling it evidence of “ugly and divisive” civil rights challenges facing him and President Barack Obama
Speaking to the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network at its annual convention in New York on Wednesday, Holder talked about the state of civil rights today and brought up a House committee hearing Tuesday that grew contentious, according to video from Mediaite and reports from outlets including Capital New York.
“The last five years have been defined by significant strides and by lasting reforms even in the face, even in the face of unprecedented, unwarranted, ugly and divisive adversity,” Holder said. “If you don’t believe that, you look at the way — forget about me, forget about me. You look at the way the attorney general of the United States was treated yesterday by a House committee — has nothing to do with me, forget that. What attorney general has ever had to deal with that kind of treatment? What president has ever had to deal with that kind of treatment?”
(PHOTOS: Civil Rights Summit)
According to the text of his remarks posted by the Justice Department, Holder was improvising:
“The last five years have been defined by significant strides and lasting reforms — even in the face of unprecedented adversity. Last summer, after a narrowly split but divided Supreme Court struck down a key part of the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965, my colleagues and I took action,” the prepared remarks said.
(Also on POLITICO: Obama pushes voting rights in Texas)
Holder faced a testy House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Tuesday, during which the attorney general engaged in a heated back-and-forth with Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), who brought up the House holding Holder in contempt, and Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) wouldn’t question Holder because, the lawmaker implied, he should be in jail.
Gohmert, for his part, said Wednesday that his beef with Holder is not personal.

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