Holder’s Justice Department has been quick to jump on the bandwagon of politically popular prosecutions, sometimes with disastrous results. The indictment of former senator John Edwards on campaign-finance charges stemming from an extramarital affair should never have gone forward, many attorneys believe. Edwards prevailed in court. A sexy “sting” case alleging that business executives had paid bribes to sell weapons to Gabon proved a flop and led to two mistrials.

The criminal prosecutions of BP executives involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill drew political applause, but they have been a legal mess. A judge threw out much of the indictment of BP executive David Rainey last month because of insufficient evidence, and criminal cases against two BP rig supervisors also look shaky.

Part of the attorney general’s job is clearing political obstacles to allow effective law enforcement. Here, too, many attorneys fault Holder. A classic example was the plan to prosecute 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian court in New York. Holder made what many regard as the right decision to try the case there. But he hadn’t done the necessary political groundwork among New York and national politicians, and when a political firestorm ignited, he reversed his decision.

“Feckless” is the word one disappointed Washington legal insider uses to describe this and other Holder decisions.