First, let’s set the scenario. To recap: Eric Holder vetted the Marc Rich pardon for the Clinton White House; Scooter Libby was one of Rich’s lawyers; and Patrick Fitzgerald was one of the attorneys going after Rich. With me so far?

Now read this 2002 article, from the New York Times:

Panel Says Top Justice Dept. Aide Held Information on Rich’s Pardon

By ALISON LEIGH COWAN
Published: March 13, 2002

A forthcoming Congressional report on the last-minute pardons by President Bill Clinton says Deputy Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. was a ”willing participant in the plan to keep the Justice Department from knowing about and opposing” a pardon for Marc Rich, the financier.

The 476-page report, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, harshly criticizes the Clinton White House for its handling of the 177 pardons and commutations granted on its last day.

But the report, by the House Government Reform Committee — whose chairman is Dan Burton, the Indiana Republican who was a persistent critic of Mr. Clinton — also takes the Bush administration to task for refusing to turn over pardon-related documents that may shed light on the White House deliberations. Mr. Clinton does not oppose the release of those documents.

Just to make it clear that there are connections, here.

Why all of this is relevant is because Eric Holder’s upcoming nomination for Attorney General means that he’s poised to be Patrick Fitzgerald’s boss. President-elect Obama must have known that Holder would be controversial because of the Marc Rich pardon: surely he was also aware that Fitzgerald’s prosecution of Scooter Libby was questioned at the time about whether it was also related to the Marc Rich pardon, by both the Left and the Right. So we can only assume that this potential conflict of interest has been noted, but discounted. The problem with that is that there are two ways for resolving said conflict, and one of them involves shutting down Fitzgerald as quickly as possible.

I am not actually calling for Holder’s withdrawal from consideration for Attorney General: his confirmation hearing will be the proper venue for resolving the controversies surrounding him. But, given the potential conflict of interest here, I think that it is fair to call for the President-elect to make a statement reiterating his intent to not interfere with Mr. Fitzgerald’s ongoing – and quite bipartisan – anti-corruption campaign in President-elect Obama’s home state.