Ex-Attorney General Eric Holder squares off against three Texas Supreme Court justices

The first U.S. attorney general in history to be held in criminal and civil contempt by Congress has targeted Republican justices on the Texas Supreme Court, arguing Republicans are racist and Democrats need to be in control of redistricting.

In 2017, former Attorney General Eric Holder, with support from former president Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, created the National Democratic Redistricting Committee to execute “a comprehensive redistricting strategy that included shifting the balance of power away from total Republican control of redistricting.”

In Texas, Holder’s redistricting effort is targeting three incumbent Texas Supreme Court justices on the ballot in November: Jimmy Blacklock, John Devine and Jane Bland. He’s endorsed their challengers: DaSean Jones, Christine Weems, and Bonnie Lee Goldstein.

The Texas Supreme Court is the highest court in the state that rules on civil cases. Every general election, three seats are on the ballot.

“This year, Texans have the opportunity to challenge the status quo at the ballot box and begin to forge a new chapter for their justice system. For too long, a majority on the Texas Supreme Court, driven more by ideology than impartiality, has issued disastrous decisions that have caused real harm to the people,” Holder said.

The NDRC is also targeting seven state legislatures across the country; one governorship; four state supreme courts and one state ballot initiative. It’s raised nearly $1.5 million for its efforts, as of July 15 campaign finance filings.

Holder, who served under Obama, was the first attorney general in U.S. history to be held in criminal contempt by Congress. In June, Attorney General Merrick Garland was the second.

Holder’s tenure was marked by controversy, including arguing in 2009, "in things racial we have always been and … continue to be … essentially a nation of cowards.”

In 2009, a Department of Justice Fast and Furious operation resulted in numerous deaths, including of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, prompting an extensive joint congressional investigation. The DOJ’s “strategy for combatting Mexican Cartels” involved a “gun walking scheme” of illegal straw purchases of 1,500 firearms that ended up in the possession of cartels, the investigation, led by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-IA, and U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-CA, found.

Holder denied any wrongdoing and denied knowing about the operation until early 2011, telling Congress, "I have no recollection of knowing about 'Fast and Furious' or of hearing its name prior to the public controversy about it."

He and the DOJ refused to turn over documents related to the failed operation. In 2012, 17 Democrats joined Republicans to hold him in criminal contempt; 20 Democrats joined to hold him in civil contempt and the House sued the DOJ to get the records.

In 2014, Holder resigned, denying he was forced out, after multiple members of Congress called for his resignation. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, maintained, "Eric Holder is the most divisive U.S. Attorney General in modern history, and has eroded more confidence in our legal system than any Attorney General before him through abuse of his office and failure to uphold the values of our Constitution.”

Ten years later, critics argue he’s still divisive, pointing to the NRDC’s claim that “Republicans seized control of the redistricting process to create an artificial political advantage for themselves, gerrymandering their way to power in Congress and state legislatures by disenfranchising voters, especially Democrats and people of color.”

The NRDC says, “the 2021-2022 redistricting cycle was a success due to that comprehensive strategy. … Thanks to our efforts to elect Democrats and support redistricting reforms, Republicans started this redistricting process with 20 percent less control than they had the prior decade.”

In Harris County, Democratic-controlled redistricting ensured total Democratic control. It also disenfranchised more than one million voters, a lawsuit alleged. Because of the county’s staggered voting system, voters in one precinct won’t be able to vote for six years.

In response to Holder’s efforts, Justice Blacklock told The Center Square, “Eric Holder apparently wants judges who will not follow the laws passed by our legislature if he doesn't like those laws. He seems to want judges that will amend our constitution by judicial decree rather than allowing the people of Texas to amend their constitution if they choose to, but that's not how this works, and he should know that.

“A judge's job is to follow the law passed by the legislature, not to change the law. A judge's job is to follow the constitution, not to change it. The legislature can change the laws that it has passed, and the people of Texas can change the constitution but that's not a judge's job.”

Blacklock also said the approach was insulting to justices. “The premise of his effort is he seems to think if he gets judges in place who have a ‘D’ next to their name that they will rule for Democrats and redistricting litigation in the future,” Blacklock said. “That is an insult to the justices who are currently on the court and the Democrat judges who are running against us because it suggests that a judge's job is to deliver results for a political party and that is absolutely not a judge's job.

“That is not what anybody on the Texas Supreme Court is doing. Our job is to apply the law fairly and equally for all Texans regardless of who they are, regardless of their background, regardless of their political party. The court's job is to deliver equal justice for everybody.”