Eric Holder

I agree with you, Mr. Chairman, waterboarding is torture.

The notion that the Justice Department would ever take into account a person's political affiliation or political beliefs in making hiring decisions is antithetical to everything that the Department stands for.

I never thought I would see that a President would act in direct defiance of Federal law by authorizing warrantless NSA surveillance of American citizens. This disrespect for the law is not only wrong, it is destructive in our struggle…

I will use every available tactic to defeat our adversaries.

I think that given all that I have described that what the President did was reasonable.

I never told him go straight to the White House with that pardon application.

It was something that I think is not typical of the way in which I have conducted myself as a careful thoughtful lawyer.

We have a responsibility to the system.

I think it is a model and I think it is something that we should experiment with in other parts of the country.

the Department of Justice first and foremost represents the people of the United States. Not any one President, not any political party, but the people.

the Department of Justice would continue to aggressively enforce the law against the forms of Internet gambling that DOJ considers illegal.

Congressional oversight of Justice Department activities is obviously very important, and I will respect Congress' role.

There are certain things that the President has the constitutional right, authority to do that the legislative branch cannot impinge upon.

Antitrust enforcement will be something that we will devote a lot of attention to.

I will pledge to us to maintain it.

Yes, I will make that pledge. It is important that these OLC opinions, which are so important, as you describe, that they truly reflect what the law is, that they reflect our values.

I think that the legislation that you described, that you worked on with Senator Kennedy, is admirable.

I would be glad to do that, Senator.

I think that the report will be an important tool, an important assessment tool for us to find out how these statutes have been working.

One of the things that has always worried me is that a disproportionate share of what is a national problem is borne by the States along our Southern border.

I tend to think that I would probably view that case in a different way in a post-9/11 world.

There is an exclusivity provision in the FISA Act that essentially says, as Congress has expressed, this is the exclusive way in which that kind of surveillance should occur.

Yes, I think the FISA law, it is a good statute, and it has an exclusivity provision that seems to me to be pretty clear.

the place where we ought to be, and that would be what I would be working towards.

I have never said anything other than that. I appeared before two congressional committees and said nothing but that.