During his appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder became noticeably angry when asked about the controversy over Justice Department employees who represented Guantanamo Bay detainees before joining the Obama administration. Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, who last year asked Holder for the names of those lawyers and the detainees whom they represented, said he still has not received a complete answer from Holder. Grassley seemed irritated that the Justice Department had confirmed to Fox News the names of some of those lawyers while not responding fully to the Judiciary Committee. “My inquiry seeks to understand who is advising you on these decisions, given the serious impact these issues have on our national security,” Grassley said. So he asked a “very simple yes or no question” — would Holder supply the information?

No, said the attorney general. “With all due respect, senator, and I know that your request comes from what I would call a good place, yours was an honorable request,” Holder began. “There has been has been an attempt to take the names of people who represented Guantanamo detainees and to drag their reputations through the mud. There were reprehensible ads used to question their patriotism.”