Eric Holder

We have a responsibility to the system.

I will pledge to do that.

What he did is deplorable.

We have to make sure that people are given...due process.

I thought that the President's determination was a reasonable one, given the fact that there was--that these people had served really extended periods of time in jail.

The Civil Rights Division is unique. It is, in some ways, the conscience of the Justice Department.

It is my intention to devote a huge amount of time looking at the Civil Rights Division and restoring that Division.

I will make them available, always with the presumption that, you know, transparency is the best thing.

She never did, throughout her too short life. In a career in public service that began in the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice and ended as an advocate for environmental justice, she showed me the meaning of courage and…

The attempt to politicize the Department will not be tolerated, should I become Attorney General of the United States.

Actions after 9/11 were excessive and unlawful.

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.

There is a false choice, I think, that is often presented, so I would look forward to working with you and the other members of the Committee in trying to make sure that we have good, effective laws that are consistent with our values.

No, I do not see that in the FISA statute.

In the ball game that we call our judicial system, the Supreme Court gets to be the umpire.

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

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 think we want to leave our options open.

I would expect that I would be able to support that.

Yes, I will, Senator. The collection of that evidence is, I think, critical for crime solving.

Some of these enhanced techniques do not necessarily produce good intelligence.

Should I become Attorney General, that would be my attention, to give it the resources that I have.

I will work to make that assessment. I will be more than glad to come back to this Committee and share with you what I have found.

The President, as I have said, is not above the law, has a constitutional obligation to follow the law and execute the laws that this Congress passes.

Well, one of the things I am going to have to do is to become more familiar with what happened that led to the implementation of these policies.