Holder Will Keep His Hands Off Former Bush Officials

Apparently the Attorney General Designate has cut a deal with the Republicans to ensure his confirmation:

President Obama’s choice to run the Justice Department has assured senior Republican senators that he won’t prosecute intelligence officers or political appointees who were involved in the Bush administration’s policy of “enhanced interrogations.”

Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond, a Republican from Missouri and the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in an interview with The Washington Times that he will support Eric H. Holder Jr.’s nomination for Attorney General because Mr. Holder assured him privately that Mr. Obama’s Justice Department will not prosecute former Bush officials involved in the interrogations program.

Mr. Holder’s promise apparently was key to moving his nomination forward. Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 17-2 to favorably recommend Holder for the post. He is likely to be confirmed by the Senate soon.

You know what, I'm okay with that. Holder was likely to be confirmed anyway and if Bond was able to get that kind of concession out of him, all the better for the country. Prosecuting former Bush officials would not have accomplished anything useful except to send a thrill up the leg of the ACLU and the wacky left.

I just hope we can trust Holder to keep his word. It wouldn't surprise me to hear later that he's changed his tune out of the president's "concern for justice".