Eric Holder

The measures that are before the Senate, the John Lewis Advancement -- Voting Rights Advancement bill, the Freedom to Vote Act, which is authored by Senator Manchin are both really good pieces of legislation that deserve a vote, that…

When you couple gerrymandering with voter suppression and the subversion of our electoral infrastructure, which is going on throughout the country under the auspices of Republican governors and legislators, the future of our democracy is…

The filibuster has to be modified or it has to be done away with. It's an arcane Senate procedure.

This is about people who were trying to stop the transfer of power in our -- in our government, people who were attacking our democracy.

I think a strong federal law mandating how the districts should be drawn is something that`s absolutely necessary.

Well, it`s unprecedented. You know, the notion is that an ex- president can invoke executive privilege and especially with regard to people who are not on his staff, like Bannon, is simply inconsistent with the law.

The Republicans are being unbelievably aggressive. They are trying to cement what they did in 2011 -- in 2021 through the redistricting process.

They will use the power that they get from gerrymandering to do the kinds of things you have just described, that abortion law. They will not do things with regard to criminal justice reform. They will not expand Medicaid.

Well, actually, Joy, in the Freedom to Vote Act, there is a ban on partisan gerrymandering.

Republicans have made themselves quite comfortable with the notion they will be a minority party that exercises majority power.

We need to have the Freedom to Vote Act. We need the John Lewis bill. We need to reconstitute the Voting Rights Act.

The Freedom to Vote Act is extremely important, because it does contain a specific ban on partisan gerrymandering.

I`m for fairness. And if the maps are drawn in a fair way, Democrats and progressives will do just fine.

I do think that if you share maps, if the public has the opportunity, as those four citizens have the ability to get up and talk about the principles that undergird the redistricting process, if you share the maps with people, they will…

Well, I`m not given up on the For the People Act yet. I mean, it can be passed and can be passed relatively quickly, relatively soon.

It depends on the state. In certain -- in most states, the state legislature will be drawing the lines in some states like in Colorado, Michigan now, Arizona, California, independent commissions will be drawing the lines.

There is not a tension between fairness and Democrats doing better. In fact, if it’s fair, Democrats will do far better. Democrats don’t have to cheat. We don’t have to gerrymander. Republicans do in order to deal with a nation that is…

Without that protection, I really fear what you’re going to see happen in states like Texas, North Carolina and Georgia, and Florida in particular, where you got Republican control of both the governorship as well as the state legislature.

I think Leader Schumer has got ideas about the process that they’re going to go through to try to convince some Senators who, at this point, seem to be more concerned about the filibuster than about our democracy.

No, I don`t think so. I mean, I`ve known Merrick for, you know, maybe 20, 30, 20, 25 years at this point. I think he is a person that is going to do things by the book. And I think he understands the enormity of what happened and the…

Those numbers should be used in a way that comes up with representative democracy in both our state legislatures as well as the United States House of Representatives.

You know, I certainly hope so. I think Leader Schumer has got ideas about the process that they're going to go through to try to convince some Senators who, at this point, seem to be more concerned about the filibuster than about our…

You know, the best way to get all of this stuff is to pass the legislation that the House has already passed and is now pending in the Senate.

I do feel a certain sense of cautious optimism that we can have a carve-out of the filibuster to allow the passage of this very important bill.

Yes. I certainly think that, you know, everybody who was involved in that matter, and, I mean, you just -- you can`t look at it. You can`t cabin (ph). You just think that January 6th is the only thing we need to be looking at. We have to…