Eric Holder at border and airport, as well as in intelligence operations. During his confirmation hearings, Holder agreed with Senator Patrick Leahy (Democrat, Vermont) that a technique used by U.S. interrogators under the George W. Bush administration known as waterboarding is torture. Consequently, Senate Republicans delayed the confirmation vote on Holder though Senate Democrats accused them of applying a double standard. He has been critical of "enhanced interrogation techniques" and the NSA warrantless surveillance program, accusing the Bush administration of a "disrespect for the rule of law... [that is] not only wrong, it is destructive in our struggle against terrorism." Holder has
Eric Holder Congressional Post Office scandal. Later, he was Deputy Attorney General of the United States and worked at the law firm of Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. He was senior legal advisor to Barack Obama during Obama's presidential campaign and one of three members of Obama's vice-presidential selection committee. During the Fast and Furious investigation, he became the only cabinet member in U.S. history to be held in contempt of Congress. He was succeeded by Loretta Lynch on April 27, 2015. Eric Himpton Holder Jr. was born in The Bronx, New York, to parents with roots in Barbados. Holder's father,