Attorney General: Aaron Swartz Case Was a ‘Good Use of Prosecutorial Discretion’

[jsr]

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/03/holder-swartz-case/

Attorney General: Aaron Swartz Case Was a ‘Good Use of Prosecutorial Discretion’
By David Kravets

Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday said the suicide death of internet activist Aaron Swartz was a “tragedy,” but the hacking case against the 26-year-old was “a good use of prosecutorial discretion.”

Holder, the nation’s top prosecutor, is the highest-ranking member of the President Barack Obama administration to defend the indictment and prosecution of the former director of Demand Progress, who committed suicide in January as his April trial approached. Holder’s comments come seven weeks after Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, whose office was prosecuting Swartz, said the authorities’ actions were “appropriate in bringing and handling this case.”

The attorney general was testifying at a Justice Department oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary committee and was facing terse questioning from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).

Cornyn said the prosecution was based on “prosecutorial zeal” and “I would say even misconduct.”

[theaocp]

1. Holder is an embarrassment

to this country and should be fucking fired, post haste. Like yesterday, dammit.

[Baitball Blogger]

2. Never saw that one coming.

[MotherPetrie]

3. And this is the primary law upholder of the Obama administration

[Downwinder]

7. I would say the legal cover for the administration.

He was the same as a corporate attorney.

[Laurian]

4. Holder gets on my very last nerve. I was utterly

disgusted when it was announced he was staying for a second term. Just think of all that could be accomplished with strong, committed, progressive Attorney General.

[avaistheone1]

5. Disgusting!

[joelz]

6. To my way of thinking

this is just as appropriate as allowing Mexican drug cartels to launder dirty money through the U.S. financial system, and working with Saudi Arabian banks linked to terror groups. At times, the drug traffickers deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, in a single day, into just one account—using boxes specifically designed to slide neatly under HSBC’s teller windows. And the bank ignored warnings from regulators to beef up its controls, and Holder laid no criminal charges. than the secret drone laws this guy is a bad joke

[Dawson Leery]

8. It was prosecutorial misconduct.

[frylock]

9. i'm sure holder is very proud to display Aaron Swartz's pelt as a trophy