Holder's Next 'Chapter'? Ex-AG signals possible run for office, trashes Nunes memo
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Former Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters on Wednesday that he hasn't ruled out a run for political office, during a D.C. breakfast where he also took swipes at the controversial ‘Nunes memo’ on alleged surveillance abuse during the Obama administration.
During a Christian Science Monitor Newsmaker breakfast, the Obama-era attorney general said he would make a decision by the end of the year on whether there may be "another chapter" in his government service.
Holder has kept a high political profile since leaving the Obama administration, advising California on Trump administration legal challenges and diving into the debate over the gerrymandering of congressional districts. Holder opened his remarks Wednesday with the latter subject, saying he "sat down with President Obama" for a few hours recently to discuss ways to combat gerrymandering – which Holder sees as an obstacle to getting African-Americans to the ballot box.
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Meanwhile, Holder slammed the memo commissioned by Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., that alleged problems with how a surveillance warrant was obtained for a Trump associate in 2016. Holder called the memo "inaccurate in a number of ways" and added that he hoped the “Schiff memo” would be released, a reference to Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff’s rebuttal.
He mocked the Trump White House for saying it wants to hear from the DOJ and FBI before releasing the Schiff memo. “Really? Did you do that with the Nunes memo? In spite of the fact the DOJ called it extremely reckless?" Holder said, referring to the "rare" statement the FBI made in opposition to releasing the Nunes memo.
"You didn't listen to them then, but now you will listen? It will be interesting to see how that works out," he said.
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Holder also touched on the ongoing Russia collusion probe.
Fox News' John Roberts has reported that lawyers close to President Trump are counseling him to avoid an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Holder said that's "a determination that he and his lawyers will make," adding that Trump could use the Fifth Amendment, "which would be fatal for any other politician, but he said he can shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not suffer the consequences."
Holder also commented on former FBI Director James Comey, who frequently trolls the Trump administration on Twitter, but was criticized by Hillary Clinton and her allies for announcing the reopening of her email probe in the closing days of the 2016 race.
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Holder called Comey, "a good man who made a wrong decision in the way he dealt with the end of the Hillary Clinton inquiry."