U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the leading candidate in the Democratic primary race for the U.S. Senate nomination, is supporting U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s plan to hold  civil and criminal investigations of BP for the oil spill in the Gulf.

"Launching a civil and criminal investigation of BP's role in the Deepwater Horizon tragedy is the right thing to do,” said Meek.

Meek took the opportunity to rip into his political opponents. “But, the fact that this investigation is even necessary should be a wake up call to those who gave Big Oil a free pass before the spill,” said Meek. “The 'Drill, Baby, Drill' crowd told us we had nothing to fear and that we could 'drill here, drill now, safely and effectively.' They told us that drilling should be sped up and that regulations should be loosened. Here, in Florida, they wanted to drill just a few miles away from our beaches. Imagine if an oil rig malfunctioned 10 miles away from Florida beaches."