Holder: My Race May Play Role in Lousy Relations With Congress

Eric Holder's relations with Congress over his six years as attorney general have generally ranged from bad to awful—remember when the House held him in contempt?—and he tells Mike Allen of Politico that he thinks his race played some role in that. “There have been times when I thought that’s at least a piece of it,” he says, though he adds that "the primary motivator has probably been political in nature" and that “it’s hard to say—you know, hard to look into people’s minds, you know, their hearts.” Other snippets:

• Civil rights cases: Holder says he hopes before he leaves to make it easier to bring federal civil rights charges. The burden of proof is now so high that such cases rarely materialize, as seen in the Trayvon Martin and Ferguson deaths. (The latter isn't official yet.)

• Recommended book: He thinks all Americans should read The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
• Trayvon's parents: Holder plans to write them a letter. "The dignity with which they have carried themselves—the determination that has been generated in them to make something positive out of the tragedy that they have had to endure—has created in me a great deal of admiration for them.”

Click to read the full interview. (More Eric Holder stories.)