Clinton Critic Hutchinson Backs Holder for AG

Former Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.) joined a host of others, including some Republicans, in backing Eric Holder for attorney general on Monday.

In a letter, Hutchinson wrote that Holder, as deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration in the late 1990s, had supported an expansion of the independent counsel investigation into the president.

“His decision demonstrates that Mr. Holder can make the tough call even when it goes against the administration in which he serves,” Hutchinson wrote.

Hutchinson and a slew of civil rights and law enforcement groups on Monday expressed support for Holder’s nomination to become attorney general in the Obama administration. Hutchinson, a former U.S. attorney, joined another former top GOP lawyer, ex-deputy attorney general James Comey, in backing Holder.

Read Hutchinson’s letter here.