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Holder to resign as Attorney General

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United States Attorney General Eric Holder Jr., the first African American to hold the position who announced his resignation, effective as soon as he is officially replaced, said that while his time in public services is coming to an end, he will keep trying to make the United States and its justice system better. “I will never leave the work,” Holder said. “I will continue to serve and try to find ways to make our nation even more true to its founding ideals.”

President Barack Obama praised Holder and noted that his service in the Justice Department under six presidents, has consistently “shown a deep and abiding fidelity to one of our most cherished ideals as a people: and that is equal justice under the law.”

Obama also noted that Holder’s department prosecuted hundreds of terror cases, “rooted out corruption and fought violent crime,” tackled financial fraud and “attacks on the Voting Rights Act” and helped to reduce the crime rate and incarceration rate by 10 percent over the last six years. “Eric has done a superb job,” Obama said. “I just want to say thank you.”

The president said Holder told him that he thought six years was a pretty good run. “I imagine his family agrees,” Obama added.

Holder, who has been the only attorney general in Obama’s administration, also thanked the president for giving him “the greatest honor of my professional life. We have made real the visions that you and I have always shared,” Holder said, referring to Obama, who was standing alongside him.

“There has been no greater ally in the fight for justice, civil rights, equal rights, and voting rights than Attorney General Holder,” said civil rights activist Myrlie Evers. “As a fierce consequential defender of the right to vote, the Attorney General has worked tirelessly to ensure that every American has the right, the ability and the opportunity to cast their vote and let their voice be heard.”

She continued, “Attorney General Holder never shied away from the issues that greatly affect us all. From lobbying Congress to reduce prison sentences for non-violent drug offenders, to cracking down on abuse by police departments and to working to ease racial tension throughout the United States, the attorney general was always there ready to correct injustices and offer common sense reforms to better our nation.

“I am honored to call the attorney general a friend, and have had the distinct pleasure of working very closely with him throughout his tenure as AG and prior to his appointment,” added Evers.

Rep. John Conyers, (D-New York) added this: “Attorney General Eric Holder has delivered the utmost distinguished service during his tenure in the Obama Administration. As the first African American to serve as Attorney General, (he) has shown vigorous dedication to the American people and advancing civil rights for all.

As the fourth longest serving attorney general in U.S. history, his devotion to the pursuit of justice is unparalleled and has comforted the nation during great times of turmoil. I appreciate that he will remain in his post until a successor is named. I wish him well in all his future endeavors and thank him for his tireless efforts over the past six years and more.”

Speculation about replacements for Holder have included:

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick: A close friend of President Obama, Patrick is not running for re-election in November. He has long been mentioned as a possible replacement for Holder. Patrick said Thursday that attorney general is “an enormously important job but it’s not one for me right now.”

Donald Verrilli: Currently U.S. solicitor general, argues the administration’s legal positions before the Supreme Court. Verrilli previously served as deputy counsel to Obama and was an associate deputy attorney general at the Justice Department.

Kamala Harris: The California attorney general has long been mentioned as a possible candidate for U.S. Senate or governor. She is the first female, first African American and first Asian American attorney general in the state.

Kathryn Ruemmler: She departed as White House counsel last year. Obama told the New York Times that he deeply valued Ruemmler for “her smarts, her judgment and her wit.” She held the role as principal associate deputy attorney general— the third highest ranking post in the department.

Preet Bharara: As U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Bharara prosecutes some of the nation’s high-profile terrorism and Wall Street cases.

Loretta Lynch: As U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Lynch is the top federal prosecutor for Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island.

Amy Klobuchar: The senior senator from Minnesota was the Hennepin County attorney prior to her Senate election.

Janet Napolitano: The former Homeland Security secretary and governor was Arizona’s attorney general from 1999 to 2002.

Holder was sworn in as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States on Feb. 3, 2009. Prior to that, he served as deputy attorney general, nominated to that post in 1997 by President Bill Clinton. He was also the first African American in that position. Before that, the New York City native was U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, and in 1988, was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to become an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

Growing up in the “The Big Apple,” Holder attended public schools and graduated from Stuyvesant High School where he earned a Regents Scholarship. He attended Columbia College, majored in American History, and graduated in 1973. He subsequently graduated from Columbia Law School in 1976.

While in law school, Holder clerked at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. Upon graduating, he moved to Washington and joined the Department of Justice as part of the Attorney General’s Honors Program. He was assigned to the newly formed Public Integrity Section in 1976 and was tasked to investigate and prosecute official corruption on the local, state and federal levels.

Prior to becoming attorney general, Holder was a litigation partner at Covington and Burling LLP in Washington.

Holder currently lives in Washington with his wife, physician Dr. Sharon Malone, and their three children.

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