Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. at the downtown Washington office of Covington & Burling on June 30, 2015.
Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/NLJ
From one U.S. attorney general to another, Eric Holder Jr. recently offered Jeff Sessions some leadership advice.
Holder's observations were not solicited.
On a more personal note, I know you will agree with me that it is the honor of a lifetime to lead the dedicated women and men of the Department of Justice, Holder wrote to Sessions in a letter in June, which surfaced this week in a Chicago court case against the Trump administration's immigration policies. They serve the citizens of the United States and pursue justice above all else. They swear an oath to uphold the Constitution; they do not pledge loyalty to any one man, nor any one president. I urge you not to force them to further defend the indefensible the president's inhumane and unjust executive orders.
Sessions would surely dispute Holder's characterization of President Donald Trump's executive orders as inhumane and unjust. But Sessions has publicly honored the career lawyers and staff at the Justice Department the thousands of attorneys in Washington and elsewhere who serve year to year, irrespective of the lawyer at the helm on the fifth floor of the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building.
We need to value and support and encourage the fabulous people who work there, Sessions said in February, at his swearing-in ceremony. I've worked with them over the years. I know how good they are, and their talents need to be directed at this nation's benefit in a lot of different ways.
A Justice Department spokesman did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Friday.
Holder's letter, written on behalf of the California Senate, was attached to an amicus brief California lawmakers filed in support of Chicago, which sued the Justice Department in federal court to block new policies that would withhold grant funding from the nation's so-called sanctuary cities. Some cities and states, rejecting calls from the Justice Department for help in fighting unlawful immigration, have chosen not to actively go into the community to look for undocumented residents.
In his letter to Sessions, Holder urged the attorney general not to deploy Justice Department resources to shut down a prudent and constitutional effort by our clients to prioritize the State of California's limited resources to ensure the health and safety of its residents.
Covington's participation in the Chicago case one of several immigration-related lawsuits against the Justice Department was not a surprise. The California Legislature had contracted with the firm in January for $25,000 monthly to craft policy and positions in the face of any adverse action from the Trump administration.