Politics

Report: Eric Holder and David Axelrod Nearly Came to Blows During White House Argument

Klaidman Book: Axelrod and Holder Nearly Faught in White House

President Obama and Senior Adviser David Axelrod. (AP)

Another book on the Obama administration, and yet another story of a heated argument between its members.

The latest story focuses on Attorney General Eric Holder and Obama’s campaign general, David Axelrod.

According to Daniel Klaidman’s new book, “Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency,” the two were engaged in a heated argument over accusations from Axelrod that Holder was complaining publicly about the White House’s political interference in the Department of Justice (DOJ). Holder resented the charge.

The argument was specifically “over attempts to add a political official to the staff of Mr Holder,” the London Telegraph says. Axelrod is said to have invoked the name of a George W. Bush official during the fracas, reportedly saying “I’m not Karl Rove.”

Here’s how the Telegraph describes it (retelling what’s in the book):

“That’s bull****,” Mr Holder said in a confrontation after a cabinet meeting, according to author Daniel Klaidman. He writes: “The two men stood chest to chest. It was like a school yard fight”.

The relatively mild-mannered Mr Axelrod is said to have told the attorney general: “Don’t ever, ever accuse me of trying to interfere with the operations of the Justice Department”, a taboo in US politics.

In ‘Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency’, Klaidman discloses the struggles within Mr Obama’s White House at it mounted its controversial campaign against al-Qaeda.

He writes that Mr Holder and Mr Axelrod were separated by Valerie Jarrett, a White House adviser and confidante to Mr Obama. Ms Jarrett “pushed her way between the two men, her sense of decorum disturbed, ordering them to ‘take it out of the hallway’,” says Klaidman.

The Daily Caller has more details in a similar telling:

Klaidman writes that Axelrod, then Obama’s senior adviser, was “incensed” because he had heard that “Holder and his aides were spreading the word that he was trying to improperly influence the Justice Department.”

“Axelrod, who knew all too well that even the hint of White House meddling with Justice Department investigations could detonate a full-blown scandal, had been careful not to come close to that line,” Klaidman writes.

So after a Cabinet meeting ended, Axelrod apparently made a “beeline for the attorney general.”

“’Don’t ever, ever accuse me of trying to interfere with the operations of the Justice Department,’ he warned Holder after confronting him in the hallway,” according to Klaidman’s account.

“’I’m not Karl Rove,’ Axelrod added, referring to George Bush’s political consigliere, who had been accused of pressuring Justice to fire politically unpopular US attorneys.”

But Holder, Klaidman writes, didn’t take the verbal assault well: ”Holder did not appreciate being publicly dressed down by the president’s most senior political adviser.”

“Determined to stand his ground against Tammany Hall, the A.G. ripped into him in full view of other White House staffers. ‘That’s bullshit,’ he replied vehemently. The two men stood chest to chest. It was like a school yard fight back at their shared alma mater, Stuyvesant, the elite public high school for striving kids from New York City.”

But that’s not all the book reveals. It also says, according to the Caller, that Holder was so depressed in 2010 he considered quitting.

“The loss of his mother, the continuing criticism over [Khalid Sheikh Mohammed], the lashings in the press, and Holder’s sense of isolation within the administration had turned his job into a grind,” the book alleges.

“He woke up on many mornings with a knot in his stomach, not sure if he’d be able to make it through the day. … He told [his wife] Sharon [Malone] he didn’t know if he had the emotional strength to go on as attorney general. He thought seriously about returning to his Washington law firm.”

Just as before, it was Jarrett who had to step in:

“She started by gently telling him, ‘You’re my friend and I care about you. … This will not be good for you and it will not be good for your friend, the president’ … Jarrett didn’t elaborate, but she didn’t have to. Holder understood that if he quit barely two years into Obama’s first term, it would be widely assumed that he was either driven out by Tammany Hall or that he’d quit because he was disillusioned with the administration’s refusal to back him up. His exit would have become a rallying cry for the liberal base of the party and it would damage Obama politically just as the midterm elections were looming. He had to stay.”

That account of Jarrett wielding so much power in the White House would confirm what Ed Klein has written in his book, “The Amateur,” which portrays Jarrett as the political matriarch and fixer in the administration. And the argument also follows on the heels of Jodi Kantor’s book detailing a fiery Roberty Gibbs, former press secretary, cursing out First Lady Michelle Obama.

Klaidman’s book releases on Tuesday.

Comments (100)

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  • progressiveslayer
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 10:26am

    I thought it was Barrys job to come to blows.

    Report Post » progressiveslayer  
    • oneshiner
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 10:44am

      I thought that was what Newsweek said.

      Report Post »  
    • Cymry
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 12:58pm

      In barry’s case the term “blows” is a double-entendre.

      …….this is interesting too.
      http://news.investors.com/article/613291/201205311840/vetting-of-obama-must-include-college-transcripts.htm

      Report Post » Cymry  
    • lukerw
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 2:24pm

      Ah… for the old Stalinist Days… when two in opposition would result in one still alive!

      We need a Video Game… where the Dueling Code results in Changes… so you can see the affects upon the World!

      Report Post » lukerw  
    • AvengerK
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 2:50pm

      Well of course Obama‘s administration isnt’ the most politically charged in recent memory…that’s why Axelrod attended the high level “kill list” meetings. I mean…it‘s important for national security and prosecuting the war on terror that a president’s campaign adviser is present during these meetings.

      Report Post »  
    • desertspeaks
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 2:58pm

      barry and jobs in the same sentence? what are were you thinking!?!

      Report Post » desertspeaks  
  • Redmanblackdog
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 10:16am

    This is what you get when political hacks get in charge of the White House.

    With Obama in charge, the White House should be called the Pale House.

    ERIC HOLDER IS A COWARD!

    Report Post »  
  • HowardSternIsABigot
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 10:12am

    A girl stepped in between them and broke it up….haha….was it barrack?

    Report Post »  
  • 13th Imam
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 10:09am

    Seems this Whitehouse is more like a daytime soap than, lets say, a daytime soap. But in the end Eric is a Dedicated DEMOCRAT progressive operative, and gun runner and Axelrod is the same. Alinsky demands total obedience.

    Report Post » 13th Imam  
    • G-WHIZ
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 10:22am

      This is all just “theatre of the mind”, for the lemmings to go…”Oooooohhhh! They’re sooo honest!!”…NOT!

      Report Post »  
    • oneshiner
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 11:02am

      No wonder I never wasted my time with those day-time soap operas. We need more respect for America from the White House (they‘ve made everything about America’s history a joke)
      Is this the reason he wants to Fundamentally change America? making us the joke of the world,
      no more decorum obviously.

      Report Post »  
    • thibx
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 11:17am

      so is oboma and hillary clinton

      Report Post »  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 10:09am

    “Holder was so depressed in 2010 he considered quitting.” Don’t stop there Eric. I mean is life really worth living?

    Report Post » Gonzo  
    • G-WHIZ
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 10:19am

      …and there’s a hunk-a-rope inda garage…and anice tall beam…and a ladder……….. hmmmmmm..

      Report Post »  
  • BeingThere
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:51am

    Two of the most disgusting people on the planet!!!! Let them fight, although I doubt they could do much damage hitting each other with their purses!!!

    Report Post » BeingThere  
  • 2SENSEWORTH
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:49am

    Is this a black on white confrontation or white on black?

    Report Post » 2SENSEWORTH  
  • littlefish
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:39am

    Damn the Ice Bergs . . .Full Speed Ahead !

    Report Post » littlefish  
  • hillbillyinny
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:38am

    They’re failing, they’re failing–the “sky is falling,“ the ”sky is falling”. . . HA!

    Report Post »  
  • RJJinGadsden
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:38am

    Probably explains why Axelhole is running the 0bama re-election campaign from it’s Chicago HQ.

    Report Post » RJJinGadsden  
  • barber2
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:34am

    Someone needs to write a biography on Valerie Jarrett. She seems to be the spoke of the Obama wheel.

    Report Post »  
    • HKS
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:37am

      She would be Obama’s handler, she reports higher up the food chain.

      Report Post » HKS  
    • barber2
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:56am

      HKS: Would love to know who the head carnivore is ! Since these guys are still successful in hiding Obama’s school records, that seems a slim to none possibility.

      Report Post »  
    • FREDD The WILSON
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 11:58am

      I don’t as long as they continue to eat each other. Now THATs the kind of Hope and Change I like to see.

      Report Post » FREDD The WILSON  
    • banjarmon
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 1:21pm

      I too want to learn more about Jerrett!!!!

      Report Post » banjarmon  
    • Bill Rowland
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 5:06pm

      Don’t you wonder about Valarie and Fat Janet Napolitano?
      They look like they belong together. Is Valarie invited to the Gay Pride meeting at DHS?
      She is the only woman that Michelle allows around Barack without supervision. Michelle is jealous of the others.

      OMG Nov 6, 2012

      Report Post »  
  • Jezreel
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:27am

    I don’t know why Holder has not been fired a long time ago instead of all this wasted time and money. Holder is a dishonest corrupt communist working with Obama to destroy our country. I wish that the muslims would do both of them in.

    Report Post »  
  • doomytram
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:24am

    Holder has sued dozens of states, Roger Clemens, and hate crimes people. He is an injustice person. He sues to make sure more illegal aliens and dead people vote for Obama. At this point all of the dead people and illegal Mexicans in Texas, CA, and Florida couldn’t save this hapless, helpless, fraud, disastrous Barrack Hussein Oblamer.

    Report Post » doomytram  
    • NancyBee
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:38am

      His criminal actions explain those “Knots” in his stomach!

      Report Post » NancyBee  
    • Mikev5
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 11:40am

      NancyBee

      He shouldn’t have any knots if doing his job by the book correct! So what is he hiding that’s tweaking him so much?

      Report Post » Mikev5  
  • Magyar
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:21am

    Sounds like a **** and bull story meant to make us believe that things aren’t going well in the WH. The moment the Head Lice ‘n Chief took the Oath of Office, things weren’t good in the WH!

    Report Post »  
  • wrazzlin1
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:13am

    more purposefully leaked BS!! Eric Holder a bastion of justice??? Yeah riiiiight.

    Report Post »  
  • pwatkins
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:12am

    When I read the heading of this article and saw the word “blow” preferring to these two wasn’t sure what I may discover. I was thinking is this going to be about Obama and his past, maybe present habit or could it have something to do with him being the first gay president and his dealings with his righthand man….hahaha. I picture Obama slapping him rather than giving him what a real man calls a blow.

    Report Post »  
  • johnpaulkuchtajr
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:11am

    Could we please issue weapons of self defense to all members of Obama’s White House?

    If Axelrod and Holder ever square off again, I want them to be able to inflict great physical harm to each other, err, I mean, I want them to be able to defend themselves. Yep, that’s what I meant.

    Report Post »  
  • progressiveslayer
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:10am

    Hopefully Holder will be in prison soon for all his illegal activities,so you better learn how to fight old man. Nah it’s just wishful thinking on my part because attorney generals never go to prison and neither do politicians they get re-elected.

    Report Post » progressiveslayer  
  • contkmi
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:10am

    I’m not sure this is news. I would think this happens in many administrations. It‘s the president’s job to police it.

    Besides, it’s just two incompetents yelling at each other.

    Report Post » contkmi  
  • hauschild
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:08am

    Two dirt bags if there ever were.

    Report Post »  
  • POET
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:08am

    Holey Borsh ! I don’t have to read past the words “Political Officer ” to know where this is going

    Report Post » POET  
  • RepubliCorp
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:07am

    Axelrod & Holder is there any difference?

    Report Post » RepubliCorp  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:07am

    Let them fight it out; if the administration tears itself apart, all the better.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • RightPolitically
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:05am

    Axelrod is at least a reasonable person. But Holder is a RACIST IDEOLOGUE! Politically, I disagree with both of them but I wouldn’t give you two cents for CORRUPT HOLDER.

    Report Post » RightPolitically  
    • Pokerjoe
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 12:33pm

      Thats the best. I wanted to say something like that but your better than I at it. Thank you.

      Report Post »  
  • lgccac
    Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:01am

    Such class!

    Report Post »  
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