Al Sharpton Says He's Helping The White House Pick The Next Attorney General

The Rev. Al Sharpton said his civil rights organization, the National Action Network, is "engaged in immediate conversations" with the White House as they work to name a successor to Attorney General Eric Holder, who is set to announce his resignation Thursday afternoon.

"We are engaged in immediate conversations with the White House on deliberations over a successor whom we hope will continue in the general direction of Attorney General Holder," Sharpton said in a statement.

Sharpton praised Holder, the first African-American attorney general, as the "best" one in history when it comes to civil rights.

"The resignation of Attorney General Eric Holder is met with both pride and disappointment by the Civil Rights community," he said. "We are proud that he has been the best Attorney General on Civil Rights in U.S. history and disappointed because he leaves at a critical time when we need his continued diligence most."

According to a Politico profile in August, in the aftermath of the racially charged protests in Ferguson, Missouri, Sharpton has become Obama's "go-to man" on race issues.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether Sharpton is involved in the decision-making process for Holder's successor.

In his statement, Sharpton further urged Holder or his successor to promptly take over the investigations of both the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, whose fatal encounter with the police triggered the Ferguson protests, and the death of Eric Garner during a New York Police Department arrest in Staten Island.

"As I stood with the families of Michael Brown of Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner of Staten Island, New York, and called on the Justice Department to take over the criminal investigations of those cases …. today, we hope Attorney General Holder will authorize this before his departure or that it becomes the first order of business for his successor," Sharpton said.

Update (3:17 p.m.): Sharpton sent a statement to Business Insider clarifying that he is not involved in the "decision making." 

"We did not say we are in the decision making. We are in conversation to reach out to them to have meetings about what we want to see in a successor," said Sharpton. "I have personally spoken to Attorney General Eric Holder today to express my views that he was the best civil rights Attorney General in history."

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