This and other controversial pardons and commutations occurred while Holder was in charge of the department's Office of the Pardon Attorney, which reviews requests for pardons and commutations and passes along recommendations to the White House.
Pardon Attorney Roger Adams felt strongly that the department should be on record as opposing a commutation for Vignali, in concurrence with the prosecutors who had convicted him. Holder's failure to sign the Pardon Office's recommendation against clemency meant it went to the White House with the signature of a civil servant, giving the rejection recommendation less weight.
A 2002 congressional report by a Republican-led committee described Holder's handling of the matter -- including his failure to follow the Justice Department's usual process by signing the recommendation -- as "disturbing."
It criticized Holder for "refusing to go on the record against a commutation the president apparently wanted to grant and the president's own brother-in-law supported."
The report suggested that Holder did so to please his superiors in the White House while trying to maintain his credibility as a prosecutor serious about law and order.
"Carlos Vignali satisfies none of the appropriate grounds for commutation identified in Justice Department regulations," according to the report.
Holder's signature on the recommendation was not required, the report noted. But the referral came at a time when the White House was complaining to Justice Department officials about receiving too many clemency applications with recommendations that they be denied.
"Apparently, he didn't want to sign any more pardon denials," Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), the chairman of the House investigative committee, said at the time. "He was the deputy attorney general, and he didn't want to sign a memo opposing a pardon of a major drug dealer. Why?"
An Obama transition official, Stephanie Cutter, said Thursday: "Dan Burton's allegations are false. In his distinguished career in public service, Eric Holder has earned the support of prosecutors, law enforcement officials, and leaders of both parties because of his record of integrity."
A second official with the Obama transition team said that Holder "doesn't have any great recollection of this. It's one of a million documents that went past his desk. We would love to give a detailed response, but this is an 8-year-old case and we are trying to put together the facts."
