James Cole

[Stinky The Clown]

On the positive side: a rational stand on civilian courts instead of military tribunals

On the negative side: AIG

So ..... was there no one with his ability, his stance on military tribunals, his creds, but minus the AIG connection, available?

Why him?

:shrug:

[monmouth]

1. Friend of Holder...'nuff said...lol. n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. LONG time friend of Holder.

and the AIG thing smells to high heaven.

HuffPo says this about Cole's role in AIG:
"Cole and his high-powered law firm, Bryan Cave, were paid $20 million by AIG as part of negotiated settlements with the Justice Department, Securities and Exchange Commission, and former NY State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, over bid-rigging charges and accounting irregularities involving the insurance giant.

During his time at AIG, the firm dangerously ramped up its sale of credit-default swaps (essentially insurance) to investment banks, essentially betting big that the housing market wouldn't collapse. Those risky moves were undertaken at AIG's Financial Products division -- the head of which, Joseph Cassano, dubbed "The Man Who Crashed The World" by Vanity Fair's Michael Lewis, was investigated by federal prosecutors who declined to bring criminal charges in the end.

But Cole became more complacent over time, not effectively overseeing the firm, allowing AIG officials to review his quarterly reports to the SEC and declining to monitor AIG-FP despite increasing signs that that division was veering out of control, claim these former employees. This despite the fact that AIG-FP admitted committing securities fraud in 2004, only avoiding criminal prosecution after paying an $80 million fine and installing Cole as an independent monitor.

"It was either incompetence, negligence or fraud and I have nothing to indicate that it was fraud," says the ex-staffer. "


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/23/james-cole-obamas-justice_n_800740.html

[BzaDem]

3. Honestly, many around here should be jumping for joy at the Cole appointment.

"The attorney general is not a member of the military fighting a war -- he is a prosecutor fighting crime. For all the rhetoric about war, the Sept. 11 attacks were criminal acts of terrorism against a civilian population, much like the terrorist acts of Timothy McVeigh in blowing up the federal building in Oklahoma City, or of Omar Abdel-Rahman in the first effort to blow up the World Trade Center. The criminals responsible for these horrible acts were successfully tried and convicted under our criminal justice system, without the need for special procedures that altered traditional due process rights.

Our country has faced many forms of devastating crime, including the scourge of the drug trade, the reign of organized crime, and countless acts of rape, child abuse, and murder. The acts of Sept. 11 were horrible, but so are these other things."

--snip--

That's why he was opposed so strenuously by Republicans.

If people here aren't happy about Cole's appointment, they should probably expect nothing but disappointment in the future from any government.

[Stinky The Clown]

4. Did you miss the question in the OP?

Are his creds - apart from his AIG taint - so unique that he is the only one who can do this job? The *only* one?