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Aaron Blake

Senior political reporter, writing for The Fix

October 10

For the second time this week, a leading Democratic voice is proposing that the party pursue a meaner, more combative approach with this one going so far as to allude to metaphorical violence.

During a campaign swing in McDonough, Ga., on Sunday, former attorney general Eric Holder notes former first lady Michelle Obamas high-minded 2016 slogan, When they go low, we go high. Then he makes clear he disagrees.

No, no, Holder says. When they go low, we kick 'em. Thats what this new Democratic Party is about."

Several minutes later, Holder clarifies that hes not advocating anything illicit.

"When I say we, you know, We kick em, I dont mean we do anything inappropriate. We dont do anything illegal, Holder said. But we got to be tough, and we have to fight for the very things that [civil rights leaders] John Lewis, Martin Luther King, Whitney Young you know, all those folks gave to us.

The former Obama administration official and potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate was in the state to campaign for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams and others. His comments surfaced just after 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton suggested that Democrats cant afford to be civil with Republicans if they want to retake power.

In his comments, Holder noted that he and his wife are close with Michelle Obama and former president Barack Obama. I love her, Holder assured. She and my wife are like really tight, which really scares me and Barack.

Democrats as a party have struggled with just how much to adopt the kind of tactics employed by President Trump and Republicans such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Trump has regularly alluded to and even egged on potential violence at his rallies and encouraged crowds to chant that his political opponents should be locked up.

Democratic leaders earlier this year balked when Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) suggested that Democrats should effectively harass Trump administration officials in public. Clintons and Holders comments, though, suggest that even establishment Democrats are warming to a more confrontational approach. Well see whether theyre comfortable with the way Holder phrased it.

Update: Republicans are denouncing Holders comments. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel likened them to Clintons and Waterss.

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), meanwhile, pleaded with Democrats to think twice, citing his wifes personal experience.

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Eric Holder: When they go low, we kick them. Thats what ...

Former Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that Democrats need to be as tough as Republicans to win more elections.

Michelle [Obama] always says When they go low, we go high. No. No. When they go low, we kick them, he said as the crowd cheered.

Mr. Holders comments came as he was speaking at an event to promote Stacy Abrams, the Democrat nominee for Georgias gubernatorial race.

Mr. Holder stressed that this New Democratic Party is proud as hell and has to be willing to fight.

The reality is if we dont win, people that are less committed, less idealistic, less imbued with the values that make this nation really great will run this country, Mr. Holder said.

He said that if Ms. Abrams was elected governor it would send a message to President Trump and the nation to reject negativism and all the racial games theyre trying to play.

Republican Sen. Cory Gardner pushed back against Mr. Holders comments on Twitter, relating it to the violent threats aimed at his wife and other Republican colleagues especially in the last few weeks.

This is not who we are, Mr. Gardner, Colorado Republican, tweeted.

On Tuesday, former secretary of state and presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said that civility can start again when Democrats retake control in Congress.

You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, she said in an interview.

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Eric Holder: 'When they go low, we kick them' - Washington ...

Alternative Titles:Eric Himpton Holder, Jr.

Eric Holder, in full Eric Himpton Holder, Jr., (born January 21, 1951, New York, New York, U.S.), American lawyer who was the first African American to serve as U.S. attorney general (200915).

Holder grew up in Queens, New York, and attended the prestigious Stuyvesant High School before enrolling at Columbia University. After graduating with a degree in American history (1973), he remained at Columbia to complete a law degree (1976). In 1976 Holder joined the U.S. Justice Departments public integrity office, where he prosecuted cases involving government corruption. U.S. Pres. Ronald Reagan nominated him to be a superior court judge for the District of Columbia in 1988, and during his tenure he presided over civil and criminal cases in one of the countrys busiest court systems.

In 1993 Pres. Bill Clinton nominated Holder to serve as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Confirmed by the Senate later that year, he became the first African American to head the countrys largest U.S. attorneys office. Holder made community outreach a priority, establishing a domestic violence task force and forging partnerships with local law enforcement and civic groups. He also worked to reduce gun crime. In 1997 Holder was named deputy attorney general, the second highest official at the Justice Department. The post gave him the opportunity to expand on the initiatives that he had launched as U.S. attorney. He stressed the importance of citizen involvement in the legal process, and his Lawyers for One America project encouraged diversity within the legal profession. After leaving office in 2001, he joined a law firm in Washington, D.C. In November 2008 President-elect Barack Obama selected Holder to serve as attorney general, and he was confirmed (7521) by the Senate in February 2009.

During his term in office, Holder broke with the precedent established by the administration of Pres. George W. Bush and advocated civilian, rather than military, trials for terrorism suspects. This recommendation met with resistance from Republican lawmakers, who introduced a measure that prohibited the transfer of prisoners from the Guantnamo Bay detention centre to the United States for such trials. Holders Justice Department initiated an investigation of the New Orleans police department, spurred by accusations of police misconduct in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The result was the preparation of a consent decree that would place the department under federal oversight. Holder once again clashed with Republican legislators in the wake of Operation Fast and Furious, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigation of gun trafficking on the U.S.-Mexico border from late 2009 to early 2011. After Holder failed to respond to a congressional subpoena of documents relating to the operation, and in spite of an assertion of executive privilege by Obama, the Republican-led House voted in June 2012 to find Holder in contempt of Congress. The vote marked the first time that a sitting member of the cabinet had been cited for contempt.

In September 2014 it was announced that Holder would be stepping down as attorney general. He was succeeded by Loretta Lynch in April 2015. Holder subsequently returned to private practice, but he remained involved in politics and was especially noted for his opposition to gerrymandering. In 2017 he became chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

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Eric Holder | Biography & Facts | Britannica.com

9/11/2018 8:20 AM PDT

EXCLUSIVE

Oscar De La Hoya's political aspirations aren't exactly being met with thunderous applause in D.C. -- where former Attorney General Eric Holder sucked the air out of the boxer's Presidential plans.

Remember, Oscar came on "TMZ Live" on Monday and said he was launching an exploratory team to see if he could get the support he needs to make a serious run for the White House.

Oscar said he's dead serious about running for Prez -- and feels that if Trump could do it, why not him?

Fast-forward to Holder ... who could hardly believe we used the words "De La Hoya" and "President" in the same sentence.

"Oscar De La Hoya? I think he's be a better fighter than he could be a President," Holder said.

It gets better -- watch Holder's reaction when we bring up Donald Trump. He didn't have an official comment -- but his reaction said all you need to know.

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Former AG Eric Holder Shades Oscar De La Hoya, Forget ...

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, of Covington & Burling. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM.

Four months after MichaelBrown was killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri, in the summer of 2014, as the countrys racial tensions reached a boiling point, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder visited the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta to talk about the divide between law enforcement and communities of color. As he spoke to a room overflowing with concerned citizens, he was interrupted by a group of young protesters chanting, No justice, no peace.

As the commotion dwindled, he warned against those who might view their action in a negative light.

It is through that level of involvement, that level of concernand, I hope, a level of perseverance and commitmentthat change ultimately will come, he said.

It was a remarkable moment of honesty in the eyes of Sally Yates, then the U.S. attorney in Atlanta and soon to be Holders deputy attorney general.

That was Eric instinctually knowing and speaking what he really believed, she says. It was a healing moment.

It was classic Eric, according to Zachary Carter, corporation counsel for New York City and the former U.S. attorney in Queens.

The reason why people are willing to follow him, to walk through walls for him, is because he honors their viewpoints, Carter says.

Holder has been inspiring that level of confidence since his early days in the then newly formed public integrity section of the Department of Justice and throughout a career on the bench, in private practice at Covington & Burling, and at the highest levels of the government. His frank assessment of the criminal justice systems role in the mass incarceration of generations of black and Latino men, Carter says, has inspired prosecutors across the country to reconsider their priorities. It was an approach informed by his time spent as a judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 1988 to 1993, during the height of the crack epidemic, Yates says.

He saw how the wheels of justice were grinding there, and how an approach of enforcement only, of just sending people to prison, wasnt going to make our communities as safe as they could be or should be, she says.

Holder sees a theme running through his career, an unending search for justice and equality. It was there in his time at the DOJ, and its still there in the work hes done sincethe report for Uber Technologies Inc. on its issues with gender equality and workplace harassment, say, or helping Airbnb address racial bias.

I get to do things that are consistent with what I think lawyers should be doing as change agents, while at the same time being a contributing member of a great firm, Holder says.

Perhaps Holders greatest contribution, as Jim Cole of Sidley Austin, Holders deputy attorney general from 2011 to 2015, sees it, is his career-long pursuit of voting rights for every American. Holders first priority as attorney general was the rejuvenation and reinvigoration of the Civil Rights Division, Cole says, and he is now chair of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, focused on eliminating partisan gerrymandering.

Holder wants his career to be a reflection of the special responsibility lawyers have, their unique capacity for involvement in the life of the country.

Id like to think that through the entirety of my work Ive had a positive impact on the lives of people and made our system more fair and more just and our nation more equitable, Holder says.

And hes not done yet. Beyond everything hes doing right now to continue his public service, a possible presidential campaign looms. He has said hes interested and will consider running.

I dont think hes finished crafting his legacy, Yates says. Hes still got more lifetime.

Advice to young lawyers:Young lawyers should not be cowed by their inexperience or their youth. Young lawyers have the capacity to be responsible for great change, however many years theyve been a lawyer, whatever their age. If you look back at the Founding Fathers, they were, except for Ben Franklin, exceedingly young. These young guys decided to take on the mightiest empire in the world at that time and formed the nation that now exists.

Email: bseal@alm.com

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Lifetime Achiever: Eric Holder, Covington & Burling | The ...