The former U.S. attorney general who personally authorized a baseless surveillance warrant against Fox News reporter James Rosen told a journalist Thursday to “shut the hell up.”
Eric Holder, who served as attorney general under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2015, chastised conservative writer Paul Sperry for pointing out that the U.S. attorney who signed the letter closing the case against former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was a big-time Democratic donor.
“Why don’t you shut the hell up,” Holder wrote on Twitter. “Your bias is showing. I bet you’ve never been a prosecutor or have any idea how DOJ works. People like you who want to use the justice system for political reasons are both dangerous and ignorant. The case was-like you-an obvious loser.”
Why don’t you shut the hell up. Your bias is showing. I bet you’ve never been a prosecutor or have any idea how DOJ works. People like you-who want to use the justice system for political reasons-are both dangerous and ignorant. The case was-like you-an obvious loser. https://t.co/MdOq8u78Yy
— Eric Holder (@EricHolder) February 19, 2020
The case against McCabe charging the former senior law enforcement official with making false statements and orchestrating unauthorized leaks to the press was closed on Friday without any indictment. Now, McCabe works for CNN as a contributor.
“Molly Gaston, the asst US Attorney who signed letter to McCabe’s lawyer informing McCabe she was closing criminal case against him, is Democrat who’s given thousands to Dems including Obama & who once worked for Dem side of House Oversight & whose mother worked for WaPo,” Sperry had written.
https://twitter.com/paulsperry_/status/1229902788009832448?s=20
While at the Obama administration, Holder had garnered a reputation as hostile to journalists, racking up more prosecutions under the Espionage Act than all of his predecessors combined. Holder later said his biggest regret in office was charging Rosen as a co-conspirator to commit espionage.
While commanding the DOJ, Holder also built reputation as one of the most polarizing figures in the administration. Due to his aggressive law-bending on behalf of Obama priorities he couldn’t get through Congress, Holder became the first attorney general to be held in contempt of Congress for both civil and criminal charges by a bipartisan vote.
Holder supervised the Justice Department as it illegally funnelled weapons to Mexican drug cartels in Operation Fast and Furious and evoked executive privilege to withold key documents from congressional lawmakers conducting an investigation. Holder joined the Justice Department as a controversial figure after having played a role in defending Chiquita for providing a State Department-designated terrorist group in Colombia with $1.7 million over six years.
