By John Bresnahan,Politico
Sen Arlen Specter is doing a good job on Holder
Senate Republicans have invited the son of man killed in a 1975 Puerto Rican nationalist bombing as well as a former FBI agent who investigated two violent groups supporting Puerto Rican independence to appear at Eric Holder’s confirmation hearings.
A third GOP witness is a pro-gun rights attorney from Virginia.
These Republican witnesses signal the direction that Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.),the ranking member of the committee,will take in trying to derail or delay confirmation for Barack Obama’s attorney general pick. Specter and other top Republicans,including Karl Rove,the former top political advisor to President Bush,have raised concerns about whether Holder can be truly independent from the president.
In particular,they question Holder’s role in President Clinton’s 2001 pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich as well as Holder’s involvement in Clinton’s 1999 decision to grant clemency to 16 violent Puerto Rican nationalists.