Politics

Senate Democrat Manchin: Holder should consider resigning

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West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said Attorney General Eric Holder should consider resigning in an interview released Friday and airing on Bloomberg TV over the weekend.

“Let me just say that — that any public official — no matter whether it be the attorney general or anybody in public office – whenever you feel that you have lost your effectiveness or may be losing your effectiveness to the detriment of the job that you do, even though you’re a good, honest, sincere, hardworking person, you have to evaluate that and make a decision,” Manchin said of his confidence in Holder during an interview on “Political Capital with Al Hunt.”

“And I think we’re at the time now where decisions have to be made,” he added.

Holder has come under fire in recent weeks over news that the Department of Justice had seized Associated Press phone records and investigated Fox News reporter James Rosen over leaks for a story about North Korea.

“I just think that basically, in light of what is going on in the country, and everybody looking at it, it might be the most well intended person with the best of intentions, but if they’re not being effective and they’re not being received, how effective is it and how good is it for the — for the country?” Manchin said.

Thursday White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett told HuffPost Live host Marc Lamont Hill that Holder “will be in his position for quite a while.”

“Eric never loses sight of what he’s there for,” the Huffington Post quoted Jarrett. “He’s there to be the chief lawyer for the United States of America and to make sure that all of our rights are protected.”

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