Pawlenty calls on Attorney General Holder to resign
Friday, November 19, 2010 at 4:00 pm
- 9 Comments
In an interview with Hugh Hewitt at the Republican Governor’s Association convention in San Diego on Friday, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said that Attorney General Eric Holder should resign because he wasn’t able to prosecute a Guantanamo Bay prisoner effectively in civil court.
Ahmed Ghailani was acquitted of more than 280 charges earlier this week in connection to the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa. Ghailani was convicted of conspiracy and faces a sentence of 20 years to life.
Pawlenty called on Holder to resign because he doesn’t feel taking cases to federal civilian court is effective for trying those accused of terrorism.
Here are Pawlenty’s remarks:
TP: Well, I think we should all pause and make sure we understand the lessons of that. And I think President Obama made, and the Justice Department made a huge mistake in transferring that case to the civilian court. You have somebody who amongst other things, Hugh, was taken down in a ten hour firefight in Pakistan, in an al Qaeda safe house, allegedly. And you had somebody who clearly tried to kill and injure dozens or more people. And the only conviction they get out of him is relating to destruction of property. Now there’s a lot of underneath the hood of that, but the point is there is a major disconnect between that conclusion and his behavior. And the big problem in that regard was bringing that into civilian court, because of the way they couldn’t consider the other things that are under the hood.
HH: Should that end? Should that practice end?
TP: Absolutely. Yes.
HH: Okay, and should Eric Holder resign?
TP: You know, I think Eric Holder and the Justice Department made a fundamental mistake, and they put the country, almost put the country at risk, and may still have done it if they continue down this path. And I don’t think you can just stay in that position and have those kinds of outcomes.
HH: That’s a yes.
TP: Yes.
Follow Andy Birkey on Twitter9 Comments
Comment posted November 19, 2010 @ 5:53 pm
With charges like that, all you need is one conviction. And the prosecution got one conviction. 20 to life (most likely life) is the sentence.
Comment posted November 19, 2010 @ 7:52 pm
Isn’t he gone yet? Good Greif, get on with your doomed Presidential run and the public humiliation that’ll go with it and leave us alone.
Comment posted November 19, 2010 @ 10:08 pm
It was not the government that acquitted him on all those counts, it was a jury of citizens.
We are a nation of laws, and the information disallowed during the trial reflects a breakdown of the rule of law during Bush43.
I call on Governor Pawlenty to resign for failing to support the rule of law.
Comment posted November 20, 2010 @ 4:32 am
If I remember correctly, weren’t people like Pawlenty also predicting if these guys were prosecuted in civilian court on American soil, terrorists and suicide bombers would be coming out of the woodwork to bomb our cities and blow up buses and buildings left and right? I seem to remember weeks and weeks of these types of scare tactics in the news. What happened to that prediction TP?
Comment posted November 20, 2010 @ 9:50 am
So Timmy thinks evidence gained by the use of torture is okay,maybe the Gov should read up on military tribunals,evidence gained by torture is not allowed in MILITARY TRIBUNALS,so Timmy why don’t you go get waterboarded and tell us it’s not torture,
Comment posted November 20, 2010 @ 4:42 pm
I agree with Tim Pawlenty on this but for the opposite reasons.. Trust me this a FIRST! Eric Holder is an ABSOLUTE WHIMP!! The ENTIRE REPUBLICAN PARTY that put OVER 900,000 (innocent) Iraqi’s and 5,000 American Service men and women to their deaths should be ON TRIAL!! BUSH ,CHENEY, RUMSFELD, ROVE, and SCOOTER should be serving time in the Hague.. Of course “If” Timmy the Fuhrer wanted Republicans to stand TRIAL for their Crimes Against Humanity the Christian and Israeli Neo Nut BALLS wouldn’t give to his FAILED Presidential campaign…
Comment posted November 21, 2010 @ 11:31 am
I don’t suppose he’s troubled himself to check on the conviction records for military tribunals.
Comment posted November 21, 2010 @ 1:44 pm
If Timmy thinks Holder should resign for this failure why didn’t Timmy resing after the first of his many failures as governor.
Comment posted November 22, 2010 @ 3:35 pm
So… we cannot trust our military to be objective and unbiased enough to accept non-closeted gays and lesbians in the service… but they’re somehow better at doling out impartial justice than a legal system that has served us for over 220 years?
And clearly, it’s Holder’s fault that the evidence for the other charges was ruled inadmissible. After all, he didn’t go back in time and somehow stop the previous AG from authorizing the use of torture. Must be his fault. (It usually is a Democrat’s fault when s/he fails to protect the Republicans from themselves.)
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