Republicans Criticize AG Holder’s Failure to Disclose Terrorism Briefs
The Justice Department has confirmed that Attorney General Eric Holder failed to disclose during the confirmation process his work on amicus briefs in terrorism cases.
The briefs opposed President Bush’s power to declare American citizen Jose Padilla to be an enemy combatant, the New York Times reports.
Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the briefs were “unfortunately and inadvertently missed,” according to the Times and the Washington Post. Holder and several other Clinton-era Justice Department officials, including former Attorney General Janet Reno, had signed the briefs.
Several Republican lawmakers say they plan to question Holder about the omission in an oversight hearing on March 23.
Meanwhile, The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times found amicus briefs in two other cases that were not mentioned in Holder’s Senate questionnaire. The briefs concerned bias in jury selection and the timing of Miranda warnings.
