I just got off the phone with Joe DiGenova, the former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia who, along with his wife and fellow lawyer Victoria Toensing, signed a letter in support of Eric Holder's nomination to be attorney general. DiGenova told me he and Toensing were approached by Republican lawyer Mike Madigan about signing the letter, but they were in favor of Holder's nomination much earlier than that. "Victoria and I signed the letter, but we were supporting him before that," DiGenova told me. "Our support comes from the fact that we have known Eric for many years, that we respect him as a lawyer, and, more importantly, we are very concerned about the Justice Department. There have been too many AG's who don't understand the place. Eric is very qualified to fix it, because it is a mess. It isn't just the politicization of it, it's the career people who need supervision…We know Eric personally, and we believe him to be a superbly qualified candidate to fix the place." DiGenova added that he and Toensing also went to Capitol Hill to speak in support of Holder with Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Pat Leahy (this also happened well before the letter was sent).
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