Obama invokes Executive Privilege after long stall by Holder
Can Holder & Co. stall beyond the election?
I’m playing catch up on this, because I had to attend to some things this morning (let the conspiracy theories begin!).
At the request of Eric Holder and the Justice Department, Obama invoked Executive Privilege to shield documents the House committee investigating Fast and Furious has been seeking for over a year.
It’s the old one-two stall.
First Holder pretends he will cooperate, but doesn’t. Then he stalls with negotiations. Then he stalls some more by promising to cooperate again, but doesn’t. Then, when his back is up against the wall because a vote is scheduled to hold him in contempt, he runs to Obama for some legal protection, which will result in the matter being thrown into the courts for more delay.
As with most things damaging to Obama, all they care about is pushing the bad news off until after the election.
What all this means, of course, is that Holder has been withholding documents responsive to the House subpoena which have not been turned over. So he has not complied with the House subpoena, since it only was today that he obtained the protection of an Executive Privilege claim from the White House.
Darrell Issa and his Republican committee members deserve a medal. Keep pushing.
+218-2
Comments
Barking moonbats covers the entire Dim political spectrumt. I had to put my reading glasses on to see that your link referred to FORMER Speaker Pelosi.
She has always hit all the low notes – shrill, conniving, ranting, unctious, nitwit, …. tyrannical.
AND you can count on the race card being flopped like it was a Texas Hold ‘Em tourney all week in Las Vegas…!!!
Good times, I tells you…
WASHINGTON, DC — House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) issued the following statement after the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee approved a resolution holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for his refusal to turn over subpoenaed documents related to the Fast & Furious operation:
“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.”
No grass growing under these guys…
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/06/20/house-speaker-boehner-threatens-full-house-contempt-vote-for-ag-holder/
wow. just when you think you have it all figured out, people still surprise you. I never expected to read those tweets nor thought either of those representatives would take it to Obama like that.
I wonder if it will play out like this:
step 1. House leaders try to negotiate with Obama and Holder. Obama tells them to go pound sand because (a) he is President, (b) they are Republicans, (c) the papers implicate the White House in a very bad way, and (d) Holder has a lot of dirt on Obama and is not going under the bus alone.
step 2. House passes the contempt resolution and refers the criminal charge to……the US Department of Justice. Who refuses to prosecute the charge because of Executive Privilege. Basically the administration tells the House to go pound sand again.
step 3. Scenario one–Boehner cries a little bit and then says never mind. scenario two–House passes a resolution for a special prosecutor (can they do that??) to prosecute the contempt of congress charge. More scenarios?
basically, the EP cover wasn’t to stop the committee from passing the resolution, it was to threaten the GOP leaders with impotence if they dared to pass the resolution in the full House.
Does this make sense or am I just off my rocker?
Well…like most of us…BOTH! Another option is a civil lawsuit with a member of Congress authorized to stand for that branch, naming Holder as Defendant.
So definitely a stall past the election. And given the reasonable reluctance to prosecute members of the previous administration, it would mean Holder and whoever Holder was working with in the White House would get off. I could live with that–just be gone so the country can get to work on digging out from the hole the insane clown posse has dug us into.
But bear in mind that these things take on a life and momentum of their own.
I would NOT be surprised if somebody squirted out of this is a bombshell to share.
Remember, compared to this, Watergate was just a prank.
What happens next… per Allahpundit at Hot Air, anyway:
“What happens if the House votes yes? Three possibilities, according to CQ. One: The House could, er, have Holder arrested. Doubtful. Two, as noted in the Hill piece: Boehner and Issa could ask the DOJ to prosecute Holder. Since Holder runs the DOJ, let’s call that one doubtful too. Three: The House could file a civil lawsuit against Holder demanding the documents, at which point he and O would assert executive privilege and off we’d go to federal court for a constitutional battle over separation of powers. I would guess that you’ll see some sort of deal at that point since both sides will be leery of an adverse outcome. Obama doesn’t want a court ruling dropped on him in the last few months before the election compelling him to turn over damaging documents and the GOP doesn’t want to hand O a talking point about that damned obstructionist do-nothing Republican Congress sabotaging his progressive gunrunning scheme, etc, especially while Romney’s trying to get a word in edgewise about the misery of Obamanomics.”
http://hotair.com/archives/2012/06/20/breaking-issas-house-committee-votes-to-hold-holder-in-contempt/
https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-levin/executive-privilege-and-how-the-house-should-move-forward-legally/10150866576635946
I would consider that a MUST READ primer. Not to say each word was gospel, but I damn sure is a good launching pad.
In the law, a “privilege log” is mandatory, just FYI. In my jurisdiction, you can’t “object” on an issue of privilege. You have to assert the privilege, and support it in a log for the court to rule upon.
Well, see? You’re smarter than me. I wanted to check Levin’s take on this too, but I sat in my pick up listening to him on Sirius radio. Nice sunset though.
Is he stealing Nixon’s playbook?
Now that is a great plot device for a set of columns–Obama talking to the ghost of Nixon.
Does Team Obama know they are in such horrible campaign trouble that ANY distraction is better than NO distraction????
Is Obama/Holder creating this huge distraction only to pull out the October document dump…all of the documents they have denied……. and it shows nothing consequential???
We have seen it before….Obama milked and milked the birth certificate distraction until an opportune time ……. and then “Oh, why didn’t you say you wanted to see my birth certificate, here it is”
He’s dumb………. dumb like a fox.
Hold him in contempt and send it to the Supremes.
I have this mental image of all the talking heads at NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, etc. cloistered away from the hired folk asking each other in desperate whispers, “what the f**k is Fast & Furious?”
Wow.
Just viewed the clip to get the 1972 feeling & went to my little box of favourite momentos .
Now I have my little 70s neo pink badge “NIXON NOW MORE THAN EVER” & have settled in to read all 100 comments.
I remember the day in 79 I bought it for 50cents . Since then I have ditched a genuine Mao cap because it was unflattering (& hot with a plastic inner band ) & kept this badge.
There was something about it -like saying -hang on -this IS important. So today i am happy to have been right about ditching the cap & keeping the badge.
I remember the summer of 1974. I still have the Washington Post from that day in August. I remember watching his speech on television the night before. Can you imagine what Nixon could have gotten away with if the press treated him like they have treated Obama over the past 3 1/2 years? It would probably look a lot like it does now…
One of the major differences is that Joe Biden isn’t as smart or as honest as Spiro T. Agnew…
Also remember that the Watergate coverup fell apart in just a few short weeks.
Obama may be able to stretch this out for a bit longer thank Nixon because the press will be his champion and ally to the bitter end. (Why do I have visions of Hitler and Goebbels in the bunker until the bitter end?) But eventually, the truth will come out because maintaining a conspiracy is simply too bloody difficult to do over the long run. (With apologies to all you “Area 51″ buffs out there.)
When our long national nightmare (a 40th anniversary nod to Watergate) ends next January 20, I hope one of Pres. Romney’s first acts is to re-name the DOJ HQ in DC after Brian Terry—publicly!
FR in SC:
I think that is a capital idea!
The Brian Terry Department of Justice
Thus, we’d never forget that Pres Obama and Attny Gen Holder were indicted and found guilty of accessory to murder!
[...] it came down to the wire today, Obama stepped in and invoked executive privilege, essentially using the power of the presidency to block the [...]
Holder is still in contempt of Congress for his attitude towards the members as well as the way he spoke to them and pushing past the deadlines presented in the numerous subpoenas he was given. The paperwork would only serve to show if he is guilty of purgery.
I want to know what Sandra Fluke thinks.
Question for the legal minds out there: If it is true, as reported, that the Mexican Government had no knowledge of or involvement in F&F doesn’t F&F constitute an Act of War?
Seems to me that we flattened Afghanistan (further) over their simply harboring some people that ultimately flew planes into our buildings. Here we have the US government providing arms to outlaws in Mexico, said arms being used to kill bunches of Mexican citizens. Seems a hostile act to me.
Carney just spent a press conference lying through his teeth.
If what he said were true about the Bush admin., and it is NOT, then Obama would be doing another “gutsy call” Snoopy dance.
I think it’s time for us to play the race card. We got about 300 dead Mexicans, here. Aren’t they important?