Political Heavyweights Line Up for Holder Hearing

A star-studded lineup of political heavyweights from both parties will appear Thursday to support Eric Holder’s nomination as Attorney General.

The updated witness list for the 9:30 hearing on President-elect Obama’s nominee to head the Justice Department shows a witness list from a variety of political backgrounds, though only a few have been summoned by the minority Republicans on the Judiciary Committee.

Former Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Bush administration Homeland Security advisor Frances Townsend, and former FBI Director Louis Freeh will all appear Thursday, some before Holder speaks, and some after.

Some Republicans have trained their focus on Holder as the one appointment of Obama at which they will intend to take aim.

Minority spokesman Chris Gindlesperger said that the minority called only three witnesses: former FBI agent Richard Hahn, 2nd Amendment scholar Christopher Halbrook, and the son of a victim of a group Holder represented.