Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama has selected Washington lawyer Eric Holder to be the next U.S. attorney general, Newsweek magazine reported.

Holder, who served as deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration and has been a federal prosecutor, a judge, and a U.S. attorney, would be the nation's first black U.S. attorney general. Holder, a partner at the Washington law firm of Covington & Burling, co-chaired the effort to screen candidates to be Obama's vice presidential running mate.

Obama offered the job to Holder, 57, and he has agreed to head the Justice Department in the new administration, said Newsweek, citing cited two unnamed legal sources close to Obama's transition team.

Holder overcame initial reluctance to accept the nomination because of the possibility that Senate confirmation hearings would revive questions about why he didn't protest plans by President Bill Clinton to pardon fugitive financier Marc Rich before Clinton left office, Newsweek said.

In 2001, Holder was questioned by a House committee that investigated the pardon. Holder and Obama aides concluded that the controversy over the Rich pardon would not be an obstacle to his confirmation, Newsweek said.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Rowley at jarowley@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 18, 2008 15:40 EST