King: Holder should resign for criticizing Gitmo prisoner trial reversal

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee suggested that Attorney General Eric Holder should resign after criticizing Congress for interfering with the trial venues for the detainees at Guantánamo.

Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) said Tuesday that Holder should resign if he's so against trying the suspects before a military commission.

“Maybe Eric Holder wants to live in a dictatorship, we don’t," King said in an interview with Fox News. "If he feels so strongly about it [...] and this is such an issue of conscious for him, then Eric Holder should resign. If he feels this strongly he should resign on principle. It would do him good, it would certainly do us good. It would do the country good."

Holder announced Monday the Justice Department would try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, and other suspects involved in the attacks before a military commission rather than in civilian court.

During his announcement Holder blamed Congress for the reversal of Obama administration policy, saying the lawmakers weren't as informed about the suspects as he is. Additionally, Holder said the policy reversal was a result of Congress blocking a transfer of Guantánamo Bay prisoners to a United States prison.

King and other Republicans praised the decision after Holder's announcement. On Monday, King said the decision was "another vindication of President Bush’s detention policies by the Obama administration."

During his presidential campaign, President Obama was an outspoken critic of the trying the suspects in military commissions, and advocated for trying the suspects in a civilian court.