Showing posts with label contempt of Congress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contempt of Congress. Show all posts

Monday, August 13, 2012

Issa Confirms Civil Lawsuit To Be Filed Against Eric Holder

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) confirmed last night by Twitter that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will be filing their civil lawsuit against Attorney General Eric Holder in US District Court today. The suit is being brought to force Holder to turn over the subpoenaed documents that he and the Justice Department have been withholding.



Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News first reported that the lawsuit was to be filed yesterday afternoon.
The contempt vote had two possible tracks for enforcement: criminal and civil. But shortly after the House vote, the Department of Justice announced it would not pursue a criminal case against its own Attorney General and did not believe any crime had been committed. The civil lawsuit expected to be filed Monday would ask a federal judge to order the Justice Department to turn over the documents.
Matt Boyle of The Daily Caller has more here.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Bar Ethics Complaint Against Holder Makes Fox News

The formal ethics complaint filed with the DC Bar by Mike Vanderboegh and David Codrea got some airtime today on Fox News.



William LaJeunesse of Fox discussed the complaint with Brian Darling of the Heritage Foundation and Michael Frisch of Georgetown Law Center. Frisch was formerly senior assistant bar counsel to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. As might be expected, they differed in the seriousness of the ethics complaint and how it would be treated by the DC Bar.

Darling, who is a Senior Fellow for Government Studies at Heritage, thought the complaint was on solid ground. However, he didn't expect them to take it up until next year.
"It is clearly a reasonable basis for a complaint against Eric Holder to say 'you are in charge of the Justice Department, the Justice Department is refusing to produce documents that were subpoenaed by Congress and as a result you were held in contempt to Congress not once, but twice'," he said.
Frisch, who is an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown, didn't think the DC Bar would take the complaint seriously and would likely dismiss it.
"Because this particular complaint is written as if the attorney general had already been convicted of a crime, I think it will likely be rejected on its face," said Michael Frisch, former member of the D.C. Bar Counsel and current Georgetown Law School professor.
Frisch goes on to add that the DC Bar has the option of deferring any action until such time as a parallel proceeding such as a civil proceeding is completed.

Mike and David fired a shot across the bow and it was a brilliant strategic move. Whether it is squashed or not by the DC Bar is actually irrelevant because it has kept the issue of Holder and contempt alive in the mainstream media.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

FoxNews Sunday On Fast And Furious

In a web-only roundtable discussion, Chris Wallace discusses the contempt citation for Attorney General Eric Holder with Brit Hume of Fox, Liz Marlantes of the Christian Science Monitor, Shannon Bream of Fox, and Charles Lane of the Washington Post.

Brit Hume says of Holder that "he is damaged goods" but that Obama won't ditch him before the election. Prior to saying this, Hume goes over some of the characteristics that most Attorneys General share including being above the fray, being respected by members of both parties, and being seen as non-political as much as they can be. He says that Holder doesn't share these characteristics.

Liz Marlantes of the Christian Science Monitor buys into the Fortune Magazine story. As such, I dismissed everything else she had to say.

Shannon Bream isn't much better but did make a somewhat insightful comment when she said that for those just learning of Operation Fast and Furious, this will seem political and a witch hunt. To which, Chris Wallace brought up the near mainstream media blackout on the scandal until Obama invoked executive privilege. He is correct. With the exception of CBS's Sharyl Attkisson and Fox's William LaJeunesse, the mainstream media ignored the story.

Finally, Charles Lane doesn't think the contempt citation will leave a lasting taint on Holder. I think he'll be found wrong on this.


Delusional

Former Speaker and current House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is delusional. In this clip from today's Meet the Press, she insists to David Gregory that the Republican leadership brought the contempt charges for Attorney General Eric Holder merely as payback. The payback is for what she calls "voter suppression" (sic) or what the rest of us call requiring voters to present identification showing that they are who they say they are.

No mention is made of the deaths of Federal law enforcement agents Brian Terry or Jaime Zapata nor is any mention made of the deaths of an estimated 300 Mexican nationals.

As I said in the headline, delusional.


Friday, June 29, 2012

Well, This Is A Shock...Not

The Department of Justice announced today that they will not prosecute Attorney General Eric Holder. I know that is a shock to everyone that they won't prosecute their own boss. I guess they have forgotten that they took an oath not to Eric Holder and not to Barack Obama but to the Constitution.


Sorry Heath, This Doesn't Cut It

Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC) is usually a reliable vote on Second Amendment issues and is one of the leaders of the Blue Dog Democrats. He decided not to run for re-election earlier this year. His Chief of Staff, Hayden Rogers, is the Democratic nominee for the seat and was endorsed in the primary by the NRA-PVF. Rogers will face the winner of the Republican run-off primary.

Yesterday, Shuler was one of the 67 no votes on H. Res. 711 which is the contempt citation for Attorney General Eric Holder. He released this to press explaining his vote.
“Today the House of Representatives proved once again that dysfunction and partisanship rule the day. The vote to hold Attorney General Holder in Contempt of Congress after the Department of Justice released the requested information demonstrates that Congress has lost touch. While I strongly believe that the Department of Justice should fully cooperate with Congress to ensure transparency in the “Fast and Furious” operation, this motion lacks an enforcement mechanism to make it anything more than politically motivated. Further, I am disappointed that though an agreement could have been reached, the Majority has opted to use this vote as a fundraising mechanism to rally the base. It is no wonder I have opted to retire.”
I'm sorry but I have to raise the BS flag on this. The Department of Justice did NOT release the requested information prior to the vote. The DOJ has given the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approximately 7,600 documents out of an estimated 140,000 (or even larger 250,000 documents according to some sources). If Mr. Shuler considers this releasing the requested information, he is sorely mistaken.

If there is a problem with the enforcement mechanism, it is only because a) the US Attorney for the District of Columbia is a Democrat and b) the Republican leadership does not want to use their inherent contempt power to arrest Holder.

As to his impending retirement, with four years in the NFL and six in Congress, we should all be so lucky to get the retirement checks he'll be getting for 10 years of work.

So, Heath, this BS Flag is for you!

BS Flag gif

Grassley On Contempt Vote

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) had this to say about the House finding Attorney General Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress.
The House of Representatives today voted to enforce a subpoena to obtain records on Operation Fast and Furious by holding the U.S. attorney general in contempt of Congress. Sen. Chuck Grassley began investigating the circumstances of the death of border patrol agent Brian Terry 18 months ago after whistleblowers came to him with concerns. Grassley made the following comment on the House action.

“When a person dies in service to his country, and his own government may have contributed to his death, covered up evidence about the circumstances, or both, the survivors’ families and the American people have a right to know the truth. That was the case with Pat Tillman, and it’s the case with Brian Terry. The government should own up to any policies and practices that led to the harm of Mexican citizens as well. Those who don’t seem to want the truth or accountability default to accusations of political motivation against those seeking answers. Remember, the Justice Department insisted there was no gun-walking, then retracted that statement and reversed itself. The Justice Department is proven unreliable on this topic. The only way to try to get an accurate, complete account of what happened to Agent Terry and why is to obtain every possible record and account of the facts. We can only draw fair, informed conclusions from the complete facts. The fulfillment of the House’s pursuit of complete records from the Justice Department is necessary. Without it, we might never know what happened to Agent Terry. That can’t stand.”

Wayne LaPierre On The Contempt Vote

Wayne LaPierre of the NRA spoke with Ginny Simone and Cam Edwards of NRA News about the vote to find Attorney General Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress. Among the topics he touched upon were the claim that this was all the NRA's doing, the Fortune Magazine article by Katherine Eban, and the mainstream media's response to Operation Fast and Furious.


Comment Of The Day

Dave Hardy at Of Arms and the Law blog has an interesting post about the contempt proceedings for Attorney General Eric Holder. Though not used since 1934, the House could send its Sergeant-at-Arms out to arrest Holder and then have the trial in the Capitol.

One of his commenters has this to say:

Holding Holder in contempt of Congress. Well deserved.

Obama claiming executive privilege over documents he denies ever seeing. Astonishing.

Holder having his arrogant perjurious ass thrown in the Capitol jail. Priceless.

Though the House could legitimately do this, I tend to agree with Sebastian that Speaker Boehner would never have the cojones to do this.  I have been sorely tempted more than once to send him a set of these.

CCRKBA On The Vote For Contempt

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms issued statement last night saying that the vote to find Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress was "necessary for justice to be served."

The full statement is below:
BELLEVUE, WA – The historic 255-67 vote by the House of Representatives to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for refusing to provide documents relating to the investigation of Operation Fast and Furious was “necessary for justice to be served,” the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said.

Holder repeatedly did not comply with a subpoena issued last October by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Instead, he successfully appealed to President Barack Obama to claim executive privilege at the last minute in an attempt to shield the documents from Congressional review.

“As the highest ranking law enforcement officer in the nation, the attorney general is not above the law,” CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb declared. “It should not have come to this. Eric Holder should have complied with the subpoena. If he had cooperated fully with the Fast and Furious investigation from the outset, none of this would have been necessary and he knows it.

“The only conceivable reason that Holder and the Obama administration do not want to turn these documents over,” he said, “is that they contain damning evidence of either incompetence or complicity, or both.

“We are disappointed, but not surprised,” Gottlieb continued, “that Holder’s Democrat cheerleaders tried to portray this as a witch hunt, and tried to blame the Bush administration, but their arguments do not wash. This is about the rule of law and finding the truth about a horribly mis-managed gun trafficking operation, the murder of an American Border Patrol agent and what appears to have been a cover-up by the Department of Justice.”

CCRKBA had urged gun owners to contact their congressional representatives in support of the contempt vote.

“We are proud,” Gottlieb noted, “of the 17 Democrats who joined the Republican majority on this vote. This was not about partisanship, but accountability and transparency. Fast and Furious has a body count, and so long as people provide cover to the attorney general, the blood is on their hands.”

Thursday, June 28, 2012

In Contempt, Contemptible, and Highly Contemptible

Holder - In Contempt of Congress







The Noes - Contemptible




Baldwin

Barber

Berkley

Berman

Bishop (NY)

Blumenauer

Bonamici

Braley (IA)

Capps

Cohen

Connolly (VA)

Cooper

Costello

Courtney

Cuellar

DeFazio

DeLauro

Deutch

Dicks

Dingell

Doggett

Eshoo

Farr

Green, Gene

Heinrich

Higgins

Himes

Hirono

Holden

Holt

Langevin

Larsen (WA)

LaTourette

Loebsack

Lofgren, Zoe

Luján

Lynch

McDermott

McNerney

Michaud

Miller (NC)

Miller, George

Moran

Murphy (CT)

Nadler

Pastor (AZ)

Perlmutter

Quigley

Rigell

Rothman (NJ)

Ryan (OH)

Sanchez, Loretta

Schrader

Schwartz

Sherman

Shuler

Slaughter

Smith (WA)

Speier

Sutton

Thompson (CA)

Tierney

Tsongas

Visclosky

Wasserman Schultz

Waxman

Welch



The Walk-Outs - Highly Contemptible







Ackerman

Andrews

Baca

Bass (CA)

Becerra

Bishop (GA)

Brady (PA)

Brown (FL)

Butterfield

Capuano

Cardoza

Carnahan

Carney

Carson (IN)

Castor (FL)

Chu

Cicilline

Clarke (MI)

Clarke (NY)

Clay

Cleaver

Clyburn

Conyers

Costa

Crowley

Cummings

Davis (CA)

Davis (IL)

DeGette

Doyle

Edwards

Ellison

Engel

Fattah

Filner

Frank (MA)

Fudge

Garamendi

Gonzalez

Green, Al

Grijalva

Gutierrez

Hahn

Hanabusa

Hastings (FL)

Hinchey

Hinojosa

Honda

Hoyer

Israel

Jackson (IL)

Jackson Lee (TX)

Johnson (GA)

Johnson, E. B.

Kaptur

Keating

Kildee

Kucinich

Larson (CT)

Lee (CA)

Levin

Lewis (GA)

Lowey

Maloney

Markey

Matsui

McCarthy (NY)

McCollum

McGovern

Meeks

Moore

Napolitano

Neal

Olver

Pallone

Pascrell

Pelosi

Peters

Pingree (ME)

Polis

Price (NC)

Rangel

Reyes

Richardson

Richmond

Roybal-Allard

Ruppersberger

Rush

Sánchez, Linda T.

Sarbanes

Schakowsky

Schiff

Scott (VA)

Scott, David

Serrano

Sewell

Sires

Stark

Thompson (MS)

Tonko

Towns

Van Hollen

Velázquez

Waters

Watt

Wilson (FL)

Woolsey

Yarmuth




From The Highly Reputable Al Gore Network

The Al Gore Network - or as it is more properly known, Current TV - ran with the 11th hour "Empire Strikes Back" article by Katherine Eban of Fortune Magazine which stated gunwalking never intentionally happened. It appeared on The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur.





I suggest just skimming through the video as it is enough to make one puke. However, the gun prohibitionists were Tweeting the link to this like crazy last night as if it were the gospel truth. I guess when you are grasping for straws....

Mike Vanderboegh had this to say about the Fortune Magazine story and its author Katherine Eban:
There was much excitement at MSNBC today about a CNN/Fortune magazine hit piece on John Dodson entitled: The truth about the Fast and Furious scandal. We've known this was coming for a while. The author, a long-time Clintonista contacted every body she thought she could milk for dirt on John starting sometime last October. She was given access to internal ATF documents, all selectively arranged to make the case which Katie Pavlich subjects to some deconstruction here: Fortune Magazine Tries to Tell The "Truth" About Fast and Furious, Fails Miserably

Of course you have to give the Evil Empire credit, they timed the release beautifully. I grew concerned earlier today when I was told that wavering Dems were having the article waved under their noses and were being warned that "it was all a lie so don't vote for contempt." However, my sources on and near the Hill dismissed the reports, saying no one believed that it would get any traction. Said one, "They waited too long. If they had done this six-months ago, they might have crafted an alternate storyline, but then the Committee could have had the time to debunk it as well." Another said, "This won't survive the publication of the contempt Report tomorrow."
One thing I do wonder is whether Katherine Eban was given access to documents that have been withheld from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. I wouldn't put it past this DOJ to do something like that.

House Resolution 706

House Resolution 706, if passed, authorizes the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to initiate or intervene in judicial proceedings to enforce its subpoenas in its investigation of Operation Fast and Furious.

 H. Res. 708 from the Rules Committee sets the ground rules for the debate on H. Res. 706 and will limit debate to 50 minutes equally divided, allows no points of order, and will only accept one motion to refer it back to committee. The last part also states that only Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) is allowed to make that motion. This resolution from the Rules Committee also allows for consideration of the report from the Oversight Committee, House Report 112-546, that would find Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress.

H. Res. 706 states:
H. RES. 706

Authorizing the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to initiate or intervene in judicial proceedings to enforce certain subpoenas.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 26, 2012

Mr. ISSA submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules

RESOLUTION

Authorizing the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to initiate or intervene in judicial proceedings to enforce certain subpoenas.

Resolved, That the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is authorized to initiate or intervene in judicial proceedings in any Federal court of competent jurisdiction, on behalf of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to seek declaratory judgments affirming the duty of Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, to comply with any subpoena that is a subject of the resolution accompanying House Report 112-546 issued to him by the Committee as part of its investigation into the United States Department of Justice operation known as `Fast and Furious' and related matters, and to seek appropriate ancillary relief, including injunctive relief.

Sec. 2. The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform shall report as soon as practicable to the House with respect to any judicial proceedings which it initiates or in which it intervenes pursuant to this resolution.

Sec. 3. The Office of General Counsel of the House of Representatives shall, at the authorization of the Speaker, represent the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in any litigation pursuant to this resolution. In giving that authorization, the Speaker shall consult with the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group established pursuant to clause 8 of rule II.
House Report 112-546 is the 270 page report that outlines the case against Eric Holder and is the recommendation that he be found in Contempt of Congress. The Executive Summary of the report states:
The Department of Justice has refused to comply with congressional subpoenas related to Operation Fast and Furious, an Administration initiative that allowed around two thousand firearms to fall into the hands of drug cartels and may have led to the death of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent. The consequences of the lack of judgment that permitted such an operation to occur are tragic.

The Department's refusal to work with Congress to ensure that it has fully complied with the Committee's efforts to compel the production of documents and information related to this controversy is inexcusable and cannot stand. Those responsible for allowing Fast and Furious to proceed and those who are preventing the truth about the operation from coming out must be held accountable for their actions.

Having exhausted all available options in obtaining compliance, the Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee recommends that Congress find the Attorney General in contempt for his failure to comply with the subpoena issued to him.

Quote Of The Day

Today is the day that the House of Representatives will probably vote to find Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. It is also the day in which the Supreme Court will issue its ruling on the validity of ObamaCare. Jim Shepherd of The Outdoor Wire is calling this Big Thursday. With regard to Holder and the mainstream media's play on his role in Project Gunwalker, he had this to say:
The "spinning" on that is already underway. Mainstream media is characterizing the fight between the Justice Department and the House committee charged with oversight of that agency as a test of the lobbying prowess of the "gun lobby" (that's the NRA, Gun Owners of America, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and they myriad of other local and state organizations).

It decidedly is not. Sorry, it's just not, and no amount of spinning will make that wish come true. It's an investigation into possible criminal wrongdoing by officials who swore an oath to enforce our laws, not selectively ignore or violate them with impunity.

Mainstream media just refuses to accept that, and refuses to let their viewers, readers or listeners hear it reported as such. Instead, it's been diminished and characterized as just another political cat fight.

It's not about ideology. It's not about guns. It is not a liberal/conservative, black/white or red/blue debate. It's about justice - for all- including the people supposed to be equally enforcing the law.

Maybe that's why some people are nervous at the thought of laws being equally enforced.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Contempt Vote On Holder Will Be Bi-Partisan

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has expressed his belief a number of times that the vote to find Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress will be bi-partisan. He is correct.

Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT), who represents parts of Salt Lake City and all of eastern Utah, confirmed to the Salt Lake Tribune yesterday that he will be voting to find Holder in contempt.
Matheson, D-Utah, announced his position Tuesday, joining House Republicans, such as Utah Reps. Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz, who have railed against Holder’s reaction to the congressional probe into the Justice Department’s "Fast and Furious" operation. One of the lost guns was later used in the murder of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

"It just compounds the tragedy when both sides play politics instead of releasing the facts. The Terry family, the public and Congress deserve answers," Matheson said. "Sadly, it seems that it will take holding the attorney general in contempt to communicate that evasiveness is unacceptable."
Matheson faces a strong challenge this fall from Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love in the newly formed 4th District. Love has attracted a lot of attention (and money) as she is conservative, Republican, and African-American. If Love is elected, she will become the first black Republican woman in Congress.

UPDATE: There is also this from House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) who says that there will be Democrats voting to find Holder in contempt because the NRA is scoring the vote. Thanks to Mike Vanderboegh for this link.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Gun Rights Organizations React To Contempt Resolution

The National Rifle Association and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms have both released statements backing the actions of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on a contempt citation for Eric Holder.


From the NRA-ILA:
Fairfax, Va. – The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform passed a resolution recommending that the House find Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. in contempt of Congress by a 23 to 17 vote.

“The NRA fully supports this contempt resolution,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director of NRA's Institute for Legislative Action. “The American people – including millions of NRA members and tens of millions of NRA supporters – deserve the truth, and we will support any effort that leads us to that truth.”

The Committee’s report thoroughly details the immediate reasons for the resolution: the Justice Department’s open defiance of legitimate demands for documents that are needed for oversight and investigation of one of the most disastrous episodes in the history of federal law enforcement.

Since taking office, Attorney General Holder has seized on the deadly violence in Mexico to promote more gun control. He perpetuated the lie that “90 percent” of firearms used in Mexican crime come from the U.S. and he called for resurrecting the 1994 Clinton gun ban; and to justify the illegal multiple sales reporting scheme, which amounts to gun registration for honest Americans who buy long guns in southwest border states.

There is little doubt that the White House used the Fast and Furious program to advance its gun control agenda. The White House actively sought information from the operation to support its plan to demand reporting of multiple rifle sales by the nearly 9,000 federally licensed firearm dealers in border states.

“The NRA’s support of this resolution was not undertaken lightly. Eric Holder and the Justice Department owe it to the American people to produce the truth,” concluded Cox.

A letter to Chairman Issa from Chris Cox can be found here: http://nraila.org/media/7733622/cc-letter-to-issa.pdf

From the CCRKBA:
BELLEVUE, WA – President Obama’s claim of executive privilege to prevent Congressional access to documents relating to Operation Fast and Furious smacks of monumental hypocrisy and looks like an attempt to cover blood on the administration’s hands, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

It did not prevent the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from voting 23-17 to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.

“In a March 2007 interview with Larry King on CNN, then-Senator Barack Obama complained about a ‘tendency’ on the part of the Bush administration to ‘hide behind executive privilege’,” CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb recalled. “Now we must find out what is in those documents that the White House wants to hide from the American public.”

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has been investigating Fast and Furious since March 2011. Guns linked to the operation are also linked to the murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, and untold numbers of Mexican citizens.

“Today’s action by the White House creates the strong suspicion that the Obama administration is trying to hide from the fact that they have blood on their hands,” Gottlieb observed. “That’s not rhetoric; we’re talking about the deaths of countless Mexican citizens and especially a dead federal officer. Fast and Furious has given us a verifiable body count.

“There is evidence that those involved in Fast and Furious thought it could bolster calls for additional gun control,” Gottlieb said. “If that’s accurate, it demonstrates a callousness that goes beyond the limits of human decency. It is imperative that that the American public knows all the facts of this case prior to the election. The people responsible for this disaster must be held accountable, and that will not happen so long as the administration continues to stonewall, and hiding behind executive privilege suggests that Holder and the president have no intention of coming clean.”

House Republican Leadership Schedule Contempt Vote

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) released a statement yesterday that the vote on the contempt citation for Attorney General Eric Holder will be held next week. The resolution to find Holder in contempt has been amended to reflect the claim of executive privilege and may be amended more before the final vote.
“Despite being given multiple opportunities to provide the documents necessary for Congress’ investigation into Fast and Furious, Attorney General Holder continues to stonewall. Today, the Administration took the extraordinary step of exerting executive privilege over documents that the Attorney General had already agreed to provide to Congress. Fast and Furious was a reckless operation that led to the death of an American border agent, and the American people deserve to know the facts to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. While we had hoped it would not come to this, unless the Attorney General reevaluates his choice and supplies the promised documents, the House will vote to hold him in contempt next week. If, however, Attorney General Holder produces these documents prior to the scheduled vote, we will give the Oversight Committee an opportunity to review in hopes of resolving this issue.”

Issa Interview After The Contempt Vote

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) was the lead guest on Fox's On the Record with Greta van Sustern last night. He discussed in detail the contempt citation for Attorney General Eric Holder, the executive privilege claim, and other items related to Operation Fast and Furious.

Of note was that Issa was not notified of President Obama's decision to claim executive privilege on the subpoenaed materials until about 10 minutes before the 10am meeting was to begin. It came to him in an 8-page document from the Attorney General's office. As to the claim of executive privilege itself, Issa said the White House was either trying to create an executive privilege that doesn't exist or that has a loosely held meaning.


Wednesday, June 20, 2012

23-17

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee just voted 23 in favor and 17 opposed to send the contempt citation of Eric Holder to the full House of Representatives. They voted, as expected, along party lines.

As a reminder, it only takes one house of Congress to vote in favor of a contempt citation.

Epic Rant

Rep. Trey Gowdy was in fine form this morning at the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's business meeting to discuss the contempt citation for Attorney General Eric Holder. His summation of the case against Holder was excellent and was forceful.

You knew it was going to be good when you saw the slight glimmer of a smile on Chairman Darrell Issa's face when he recognized Gowdy.