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Does someone at White House want Eric Holder gone?

An anonymous source in The New York Times says the White House is displeased by Attorney General Eric Holder's tin ear for scandal. It could be seen as a gentle nudge toward the door.

Is somebody at the White House trying to push Attorney General Eric Holder out? As in, out of his job, into the private sector?

That鈥檚 one reading of a that鈥檚 still got people in D.C. buzzing.

First off, we鈥檒l say that no one currently in the administration is quoted in the piece as saying anything like 鈥淗older should quit to save us grief.鈥� But an unnamed 鈥淒emocratic former official鈥� does say that, pretty much.

鈥淭he White House is apoplectic about him, and has been for a long time,鈥� says this anonymous source of Mr. Holder.

One of the administration鈥檚 main complaints about the attorney general is that he 鈥渄oes not manage or foresee problems,鈥� adds this source.

This is hearsay, right? The Times reporter hasn鈥檛 actually heard anybody in the White House express those views 鈥� only a secondary source who claims to have heard them expressed. That weakens the case, as any lawyer will tell you.

But anonymous carping through the media is a time-honored Washington way of easing out officials who have become a liability. It鈥檚 supposed to give said official a hint without anyone directly telling them. That way, there鈥檚 deniability. The White House can say the person is stepping down of their own accord.

And Holder has definitely been producing some bad headlines for the Obama team. In particular, many Republicans and some Democrats charge that Holder may have committed perjury by telling Congress under oath that he鈥檇 never heard of any 鈥減otential prosecution鈥� of reporters under the Espionage Act, when he鈥檇 signed off on a Justice Department warrant for the communications records of Fox News reporter James Rosen that named the journalist as an espionage co-conspirator.

鈥淚 think he鈥檚 taken actions that demand explanation,鈥� said Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona on CBS's 鈥淔ace the Nation.鈥�

Lots of Democrats say all this talk is blowing things way out of proportion. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D) of Maryland pointed out over the weekend that Mr. Rosen hasn鈥檛 been prosecuted. The real target of the warrant was Rosen鈥檚 source in the government, said Representative Van Hollen.

鈥淚t is often the practice in cases where you have investigations that you target somebody for the purpose of gathering information with never having any intention of prosecuting them,鈥� Van Hollen said on 鈥淔ox News Sunday.鈥�

President Obama still has Holder鈥檚 back, say administration officials for the record. Firing him now, or pushing him out, would be just giving in to partisan critics, in this view. And the AG has powerful personal defenders in the West Wing, including special assistant to the president Valerie Jarrett.

But Holder鈥檚 longtime critics prefer to see the New York Times story as the precursor to an internal campaign to ease Holder out.

鈥淎ssuming this is a smoke signal from the White House, it indicates that Barack Obama won鈥檛 ask Holder to leave.... However, it鈥檚 a big hint that the West Wing won鈥檛 be too engaged in defending him and would like to see him leave on his own,鈥� writes Ed Morrissey on the conservative Hot Air! website. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not quite a shove, at least not yet, but it鈥檚 certainly a nudge.鈥�