Ted Poe

Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday said that he hasn't read Arizona's recently adopted anti-illegal immigration law that has generated sharp criticism from the Administration he represents.

In a Department of Justice oversight hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Ted Poe (R-Tex.) said to Holder, "I understand that you may file a lawsuit against the law. Seems to me the Administration ought to be enforcing border security and immigration laws and not challenge them, and that the Administration is on the wrong side of the American people."

Poe then asked Holder point blank, "Have you read the Arizona law?"

Given the Administration's stated antipathy towards this legislation, the response from its Attorney General is sure to shock many Americans on both sides of the aisle (video follows with partial transcript and commentary): 

On Wednesday’s CBS "Early Show," co-host Harry Smith introduced a segment on a woman alleging she was sexually assaulted by Halliburton employees in Iraq and declared, "Halliburton, the company with $2 billion in Iraq contracts, once again is accused of joining the U.S. government in covering up a terrible crime by some employees." What does Smith mean by "once again"? Exactly when has the U.S. government covered up "a terrible crime" previously? How does Smith know there is a cover up now?

Smith talked to Republican Congressman, Ted Poe, the Texas woman’s representative who is pushing for an investigation of the charges. Smith asked Poe: "what is the status of the investigation, or is there one?" Poe responded, "We've contacted the Attorney General and the Justice Department, to find out what has been done, why aren't these people being prosecuted, bring them to justice."