When top Obama aides had to be 'separated' from school yard type fight

Washington, June 4 (ANI): US Attorney General Eric Holder and chief presidential adviser David Axelrod had to be separated after squaring up during a furious row over attempts to impose White House operatives in the justice department, according to a new book.

Author Daniel Klaidman in his book 'Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency', revealed that Holder, who heads Obama's justice department, become 'incensed' after being accused by Axelrod of complaining publicly about political interference in his office.

"That's bull****," Holder said in a confrontation after a cabinet meeting, according to author Klaidman.

"The two men stood chest to chest. It was like a school yard fight," Klaidman wrote.

According to The Telegraph, the relatively mild-mannered Axelrod is said to have told Holder, 'don't ever, ever accuse me of trying to interfere with the operations of the Justice Department', a taboo in US politics.

Klaidman said that Holder and Axelrod were separated by Valerie Jarrett, a White House adviser and confidante to Obama.

Jarrett 'pushed her way between the two men, her sense of decorum disturbed, ordering them to 'take it out of the hallway'," Klaidman wrote.

The argument is said to have erupted over attempts to add a political official to the staff of Holder, who has presided over a handful of political and public relations blunders since taking office in 2009. (ANI)