Obama Taps Clinton Vet for Attorney General

According to multiple reports, Barack Obama has settled on Eric Holder as his attorney general. So who is he? Holder has been a deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration, a U.S. attorney, a judge, a prominent Washington lawyer and one of the advisers responsible for Obama’s VP vetting. He would be the first black attorney general and happens to rock a fairly impressive mustache.

AP via Google:

Washington attorney Eric Holder is President-elect Barack Obama’s top choice to be the next attorney general and aides have gone so far as to ask senators whether he would be confirmed, an Obama official and people close to the matter said Tuesday.

Holder, a former U.S. attorney who served as the No. 2 official in the Justice Department under President Bill Clinton, would be the nation’s first black attorney general.

An Obama official and two Democrats in touch with the transition team confirmed that Holder is Obama’s top choice but the Obama official said the decision has not been finalized.

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AP photo / Susan Walsh

Former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, 57, is widely respected in legal circles and among Justice Department career lawyers.