Collin Anderson of the Washington Free Beacon documents a significant disconnect between former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and his current law firm.
Former attorney general Eric Holder rallied behind Columbia University’s student protesters on Thursday as the New York Police Department swooped in and tried to clear the campus green of disruptive protesters acting in violation of university policy.
Holder, a Columbia College and Columbia Law School graduate, said in a tweet on Thursday that campus “unrest” is fueled by “legitimate concerns about Gaza” and described congressional hearings about the explosion of campus anti-Semitism in the wake of Oct. 7 as “irresponsible-unproductive-witch hunt-political hearings.”
Holder’s defense of the Columbia protesters, who were violating of university policy and shouting anti-Semitic slogans including “Globalize the intifada” and “NYPD, KKK, IDF, you’re all the same,” does not square with his law firm Covington & Burling’s decision late last year to sign a letter, along with dozens of white shoe firms, expressing zero-tolerance for the disruptive, anti-Semitic protests taking place on college and law school campuses across the country.
“As employers who recruit from each of your law schools, we look to you to ensure your students who hope to join our firms after graduation are prepared to be an active part of workplace communities that have zero tolerance policies for any form of discrimination or harassment, much less the kind that has been taking place on some law school campuses,” the letter stated.
Chants calling for “the death of Jews and the elimination of the state of Israel,” Covington and other firms said, are “anti-Semitic activities” that “would not be tolerated at any of our firms.”
A team of Covington lawyers led by partner Dana Remus also represented Columbia and helped prepare Columbia president Minouche Shafik for her appearance before a House panel last week, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Neither Holder nor a spokesman for Covington & Burling responded to a request for comment. The White House, however, issued a statement on Sunday condemning the protests that have engulfed the Columbia campus.
