Sunday Reflection: Have We Changed Yet?
By: Byron York, Examiner Contributor
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November 22, 2008
I spent several years of the Clinton administration writing about one scandal or controversy after another.
There was, of course, the Whitewater affair and the fight over the independent counsel, Kenneth Starr. There was the Lewinsky matter. Travelgate. The bitter controversy over Elian Gonzalez. The furor over Bill Clinton's last-minute pardons. And more.
It seems like so long ago. So why am I suddenly hitting the search feature on my laptop ten times a day, looking for old articles? Why am I looking for names like Eric Holder, Gregory Craig, Rahm Emanuel, and John Podesta?
Because change has come to America.
As president-elect, Barack Obama faced a dilemma. Too many times to count during the campaign, he promised voters change. We've had it with the old Washington ways, he said. It's time for something different.
But now that he's the incoming president and has to fill about 3,000 of the top jobs in the executive branch, to whom is he looking? To experienced Democratic hands. And what was the last administration in which Democrats got experience running the executive branch? Well, of course.
That's how you get Bill Clinton's old White House chief of staff (John Podesta) as the new transition chief. And you get Clinton's old senior adviser (Rahm Emanuel) as the new White House chief of staff.
And you get Clinton's old impeachment lawyer (Greg Craig) as the new White House counsel. And you get Clinton's old deputy attorney general (Eric Holder) as the new attorney general.
Now, Obama is free to choose whomever he wants. And three of those four positions require no Senate confirmation. But if the president-elect nominates Holder to be attorney general, we will at least get to review Holder's Clinton administration record in the course of confirmation hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
A Holder confirmation could raise issues not just about Holder's qualifications but also about why we should take a close look at the Clinton administration veterans who will serve on Team Obama.
Back in the primaries, Obama argued that we should not return to the Clinton years. There was a reason he said that. And we'll see some of them in Holder's hearings.
Start with Holder's role in the Marc Rich pardon. Holder was the number-two official at the Justice Department in those chaotic last days of the Clinton administration.
Holder's buddy Jack Quinn -- a former Clinton White House counsel -- was representing Rich. Everybody knew that Justice Department prosecutors, who do not look kindly on non-remorseful felons who flee the country rather than face justice -- would not approve of a pardon. When Quinn inquired about what strategy would be best for Rich, Holder told him to avoid the Justice Department.
How do we know that? During the negotiations, Quinn sent an e-mail to the Rich legal team. "Spoke to [Holder] last evening," Quinn told his colleagues. "He says go straight to WH. Also says timing is good. We should get in soon."
And darned if they didn't. When Clinton's last day in office dawned, Rich had his pardon. Let's just say it wasn't Eric Holder's finest hour.
Then there's Holder's role in the Elian Gonzalez affair. After the young Cuban boy was recovered at sea, his mother having died in an attempt to reach the United States, Holder and attorney general Janet Reno tried hard to reunite the boy with his father, who said he wanted the boy back but did not trouble himself to travel to the United States during the months-long controversy.
Shortly before U.S. agents took Elian into custody at gunpoint, the late Tim Russert asked Holder, "You wouldn't send a SWAT team in the dark of night to kidnap the child, in effect?"
"No," Holder answered. "We don't expect anything like that to happen."
Later, after the Department did just that, Russert asked why the change. "I'm not sure I'd call it a dramatic change," Holder answered. "We waited 'til five in the morning, just before dawn."
Let's just say that wasn't Eric Holder's finest hour, either.
And by the way -- do you know how Holder and the Clinton Justice Department created the legal grounds to seize the child? Turns out they got immigration authorities to revoke the custody that had been awarded to Elian's great-uncle.
Then they declared Elian an illegal alien and issued an arrest warrant for him. Then, using their arrest warrant, they asked a judge for a search warrant so they could enter the Gonzalez house. Then, after grabbing the boy, the declared him legal again.
And you worried that the Obama administration might not have what it takes to crack down on illegal immigration.
There are other Holder issues that might come up in confirmation. What, for example, was he doing while the Reno Justice Department was stonewalling on the Clinton campaign finance scandal?
Now, I don't think any of this is going to stop Holder from getting the job, should Obama nominate him. Republicans have always argued that the president should be able to have pretty much whoever he wants to serve in the administration.
And besides, who cares what Republicans think? With at least 58 senators, and possibly as many as 60 by January, Democrats can pretty much do what they want. And they will want to confirm Obama's nominees.
So look for Holder to be a prominent part of the strange mix of change and Clinton restoration that will be the Obama administration.
Back in December of last year, candidate Barack Obama said, "The real gamble in this election is playing the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expecting a different result."
So what different result are we to expect this time?
Examiner contributor Byron York covers the White House for National Review.
