By Daniel Klaidman, Newsweek
Holder is preparing to launch probe of Bush Administration
Now,sitting at his kitchen table in jeans and a gray polo shirt,as his 11-year-old son,Buddy,dashes in and out of the room,Holder is reflecting on his own role. He doesn’t dwell on the fact that he’s the country’s first black attorney general. He is focused instead on the tension that the best of his predecessors have confronted:how does one faithfully serve both the law and the president?
Alone among cabinet officers,attorneys general are partisan appointees expected to rise above partisanship. All struggle to find a happy medium between loyalty and independence. Few succeed. At one extreme looms Alberto Gonzales,who allowed the Justice Department to be run like Tammany Hall. At the other is Janet Reno,whose righteousness and folksy eccentricities marginalized her within the Clinton administration. Lean too far one way and you corrupt the office,too far the other way and you render yourself impotent. Mindful of history,Holder is trying to get the balance right. “You have the responsibility of enforcing the nation’s laws,and you have to be seen as neutral,detached,and nonpartisan in that effort,”Holder says. “But the reality of being A.G. is that I’m also part of the president’s team. I want the president to succeed;I campaigned for him. I share his world view and values.”
These are not just the philosophical musings of a new attorney general. Holder,58,may be on the verge of asserting his independence in a profound way. Four knowledgeable sources tell NEWSWEEK that he is now leaning toward appointing a prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration’s brutal interrogation practices,something the president has been reluctant to do.