Ex- Attorney General Eric Holder has returned to his old stomping grounds at Covington & Burling after more than six years with President Barack Obama’s administration. “I hope to help them make strategic decisions when coming to the intersection of business, law, and even worldwide relations”. He also ruled out the possibility of being nominated to the Supreme Court, saying that if Hillary Clinton were elected president and offered him a spot, he would politely decline.
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Holder suspects that he would be snubbed by many public institutions anyway, he said, because of his aggressive stance on certain issues, such as corporate and financial fraud, that threaten the agenda of certain establishments.
He worked at the firm from 2001 until 2009, when he became attorney general. “I couldn’t be happier to rejoin the firm and to have the opportunity once again to work with its exceptional lawyers and staff, for whom I have such high regard”, Mr. Holder said.
Holder will be based in Washington and will focus on complex investigations and litigation.
Holder is the third longest-serving attorney general in American history and the first black person to hold the post. He also ran into another controversy when he chose to try the September 11 defendants in a courthouse near the site of the twin Towers.
Speaking of social action, Holder was asked about his views on the Confederate flag controversy following the Charleston shooting: “I’m always kind of amused when I hear at least some people say that it’s about heritage”.
Earlier he was credited with creating the “too big to jail” designation, though a year ago he said “there is no such thing as “too big to jail””.
“I greatly enjoyed my career in public service, and I’ll stay involved in political life in some form or fashion, but in terms of my own career, I think this is my last stop”, he said. The USA Department of Justice levied record fines against banks during his tenure, including multiple multibillion-dollar sanctions against a significant Covington & Burling client, J.P. Morgan Chase JPM, -0.51%.
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When he stepped down last April as the country’s top law-enforcement official, he indicated he wanted to take a cross-country drive to decompress.
