After grilling him, Specter backs Holder

Sen. Arlen Specter (R., Pa.) said yesterday that he will vote to confirm Eric H. Holder Jr. as attorney general, after weeks of questioning the judgment of President Obama's nominee for the top U.S. law-enforcement job.

Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee - and Holder's toughest Senate critic - announced his support on the eve of the committee's scheduled vote this morning on the nomination.

Specter had raised questions about Holder's role in several cases as the No. 2 Justice Department official during the Clinton administration. In particular, he said Holder showed questionable judgment in the 2001 pardon of Marc Rich, a major Democratic donor and federal fugitive, as well as a grant of clemency to members of a Puerto Rican extremist group.

Those issues were outweighed by Holder's entire record as a judge, as a U.S. attorney and at Justice, as well as his concession that he erred in abetting the Rich pardon, Specter said. The senator also said he was swayed by endorsements of Holder by former FBI Director Louis Freeh and onetime Transportation Secretary William Coleman.

"Mr. Holder is entitled to the benefit of the doubt in the context of his excellent record," Specter said at a news conference.

The Judiciary Committee had been scheduled to vote on the nomination last week, but Republicans forced a delay. Some senators were concerned that Bush administration officials involved in the harsh interrogation of suspected terrorists could be prosecuted.

That question arose when Holder testified that he considered "waterboarding," or simulated drowning, torture. Obama issued an executive order last week barring the CIA from using the practice.

Specter said Holder told him during a private meeting Thursday that officials who participated in interrogations while relying on a valid legal opinion would generally not face charges.