Justice Department Extortion Racket-5

"Chiquita was facing the prospect of federal charges for paying protection money to Columbian terrorists to safeguard its banana crops, and the company needed help. It turned to Eric Holder, an elite Washington lawyer well versed in the ways of the Justice Department. 'We were in an extraordinarily difficult position,' James Thompson, recalled last week. As a former prosecutor, Holder 'carries a level of credibility with him, and that's a valuable commodity,' he said. ... But it is as a power lawyer in Washington the past eight years that Holder, 57, has made his wealth, as well as a reputation as a legal fixer for clients in crisis. ...But some Republicans plan to press Holder about what they view as the potential conflicts of interest posed by his client list and how he would go about deciding whether to bow out of issues that come before him involving past clients, staff members said. ... 'We've had eight years of an administration that has turned a blind eye to corporate criminals', said Terry Collingsworth, a Washington lawyer who is suing Chiquita over the Columbian protection money and is facing Holder in the case. 'We need someone with his level of experience and cachet to clean up the Justice Department. Yet I do have a concern, and I sure hope that he doesn't carry over his corporate defense practice into his approach to the job and how he handles these types of cases.' ... Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, sharply questioned Holder's character and political independence in a speech last week on the Senate floor. ... 'Covington & Burling is a very prominent, prestigious firm,' Specter said", my emphasis, Eric Lichtblau at the Houston Chronicle, 11 January 2009.

"Valuable commodity", hmm. "Legal fixer", hmm. No one with Holder's background will "clean up the Justice Department". Holder is what we don't need. Obama could have made a worse choice: Mary Jo White.