Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday that he found it `` frustrating '' that the Justice Department has n't been able to carry out criminal prosecutions of executives whose risky banking practices blamed for the global financial crisis . As Holder wraps up nearly six years at the helm of the Justice Department , the attorney general has drawn criticism for his department 's record on white collar crime . Holder frustrated no person went on trial for financial crisis . Some critics say the department failed by not bringing charges as a deterrent against shoddy practices on Wall Street . Some fault him for instead extracting billion dollar settlements from the world 's biggest banks . Holder has defended the department 's record saying the settlements are one way to prod shareholder to hold management more accountable . Still , in an exclusive interview with CNN on Monday , Holder acknowledged that the lack of criminal prosecutions of executives `` is something that is frustrating . '' `` The American people should understand we looked at those matters , tried to come up with ways in which we could hold people and institutions accountable , '' Holder told CNN . `` We have prosecuted certain institutions . We have gotten record amounts of money in and we 've used that money for appropriate remedial measures so that people can stay in their houses , have their mortgages reduced . So a lot of good has come from our efforts in that regard . '' Holder noted that he has called for Congress to change federal law to encourage white collar whistleblowers from inside Wall Street to help the Justice Department bring cases . Holder 'cautiously optimistic ' on legal pot . There are , he said , `` a number of measures that I think Congress might change so that the prosecution of these kinds of cases is not as difficult as they are . '' Here are other things we learned from the interview : . 1 . There are `` about a dozen '' American jihadists in Syria and Iraq . That , at least , is `` our estimate now , '' Holder said . He said the government has `` dozens of investigations that are underway about other people who have either gone or are planning to go . '' `` So this is something that is a priority for us on -- at the Justice Department and at the FBI , working in conjunction with our U.S. attorneys , where we 're trying to engage in preventive activities as well , '' he said . 2 . He wo n't write a book critical of Obama while the president 's in office . Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta criticized Obama 's decision-making ability , especially in entanglements such as Syria , in a recently-published book . Holder said Panetta 's comments were `` unfortunate '' -- and that he should have waited . `` Frankly , I do n't think it 's something that a former cabinet member should do while the president he served is still in office , '' Holder said . `` That 's not something that I would even consider doing . '' 3 . He 's disappointed that gun control measures have n't become law . Holder said he takes it `` personally as a failure '' that Congress did n't react to shootings like the one in Newtown , Connecticut , by changing U.S. gun laws . `` The inability to pass reasonable gun safety laws after the Newtown massacre is something that weighs heavily on my mind , '' Holder said . 4 . But he counts gay rights and voting rights efforts as important successes . He listed knocking down the `` final vestiges of discrimination '' on those issues among the first of `` a whole variety of things that I 'm really proud of the people of this Justice Department and the way they 've done them over the past six years . '' Also on that list : Criminal justice reforms ; record settlements with financial institutions ; and `` the work we 've done in the national security sphere . '' 5 . Holder is watching Missouri before making a decision on charges in the Michael Brown shooting . He said if Darren Wilson , the officer who shot and killed Brown in Ferguson , is n't indicted , he 'd first want to see whether Missouri 's efforts were `` adequate . '' `` I think what we 'll have to do , as we always do in a civil rights investigation from a federal perspective , is look at what the state has done and then make a determination as to whether or not the state investigation was adequate , '' Holder said .
Holder sat down for an interview with CNN Monday . The attorney general said he was "disappointed" by the decision to drop charges against former CIA Director David Petraeus and FBI director Robert Mueller. : Lack of financial criminal prosecutions is `` frustrating '' Holder also spoke about gun control and American jihadists in Syria and Iraq .