Newsweek and CNN reported yesterday that President-elect Barack Obama has asked Eric Holder, a deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration, to be the attorney general. Holder, a member of the ACS Board of Directors, has been on Obama’s short list for the slot, according to the news weekly. Holder was a keynote speaker at this year’s ACS national convention. During his speech before the ACS gathering, Holder said he United States must reverse “the disastrous course” set by the Bush administration in fighting terrorism by shuttering the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

“Our needlessly abusive and unlawful practices in the ‘War on Terror’ have diminished our standing in the world community and made us less, rather than more safe,” Holder told the ACS audience on June 13. “For the sake or our safety and security, and because it is the right thing to do, the next president must move immediately to reclaim America’s standing in the world as a nation that cherishes and protects individual freedom and basic human rights.”

Video of Holder’s address is available here.

Newsweek reported that Holder “still has to undergo a formal ‘vetting’ review by the Obama transition team before the selection is final and is publicly announced ….”

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