In His First Interview Since Contempt Vote, Holder Says Republicans Targeting Him Over Voter Suppression

In his first interview since being held in contempt of Congress, Eric Holder says that’s he’s being attacked because of his work to end voter suppression. He also says that he’s being used as a proxy for President Obama. Meaning,since Republicans can’t get to Obama, they view Holder as the next best thing.

From The Washington Post:

In his first interview since Thursday’s vote, Holder said lawmakers have used an investigation of a botched gun-tracking operation as a way to seek retribution against the Justice Department for its policies on a host of issues, including immigration, voting rights and gay marriage. He said the chairman of the committee leading the inquiry, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), is engaging in political theater as the Justice Department tries to focus on public safety.

“I’ve been doing all of these things all the time Darrell Issa and his band have been nipping at my heels,” a defiant Holder said. “They’ve been nipping, but I’ve been walking.”

The attorney general has long been a lightning rod for Republican lawmakers’ anger toward the Obama administration. But Holder said the debate over documents related to the gun operation, known as “Fast and Furious” — along with the National Rifle Association’s attempts to make it an electoral issue — have made matters worse.

“I’ve become a symbol of what they don’t like about the positions this Justice Department has taken,” he said. “I am also a proxy for the president in an election year. You have to be exceedingly naive to think that vote was about . . . documents.”

Holder also said that this controversy has not caused him to consider retiring and that,  in fact, it has only made him more determined.

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