After months of dithering, the House is finally taking action against Eric Holder. Holder has simply stonewalled Congress, refusing to turn over documents subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee and refusing to take legal actions to prevent the disclosure, such as claiming the documents are protected by privilege.
From CBS News:
CBS News has learned the House Oversight Committee will vote next week on whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. It's the fourth time in 30 years that Congress has launched a contempt action against an executive branch member.
This time, the dispute stems from Holder failing to turn over documents subpoenaed on October 12, 2011 in the Fast and Furious "gunwalking" investigation.
The Justice Department has maintained it has cooperated fully with the congressional investigation, turning over tens of thousands of documents and having Holder testify to Congress on the topic at least eight times.
However, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., says the Justice Department has refused to turn over tens of thousands of pages of documents. Those include materials created after Feb. 4, 2011, when the Justice Department wrote a letter to Congress saying no gunwalking had occurred. The Justice Department later retracted the denial.
"The Obama Administration has not asserted Executive Privilege or any other valid privilege over these materials and it is unacceptable that the Department of Justice refuses to produce them. These documents pertain to Operation Fast and Furious, the claims of whistleblowers, and why it took the Department nearly a year to retract false denials of reckless tactics," Issa wrote in an announcement of the vote to be released shortly. It will reveal the vote is scheduled for Wednesday, June 20.
There is even better news. Perhaps it is simply an election year or perhaps John Boehner is finally getting the message. It looks like he is hauling down his freshly laundered white flag of surrender and is supporting this move.
From the Hill:
The action has been contemplated for weeks, and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) threw his support behind the politically-sensitive move in a statement on Monday.
“The Justice Department is out of excuses,” Boehner said. “Either the Justice Department turns over the information requested, or Congress will have no choice but to move forward with holding the Attorney General in contempt for obstructing an ongoing investigation.”
Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) also weighed in with his support.
"Assuming Attorney General Holder continues to stonewall, we will have no choice but to hold him in contempt for his failure to provide the documents necessary to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again," Cantor said.
Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Republicans on his panel argue Holder has failed to hand over documents related to the gun-tracking operation.
In Operation Fast and Furious, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartel operations in the hope of tracking them to wanted criminals and them making big arrests.
If there is no other reason to make certain the House stays in Republican hands this fall, it would be to make certain this investigation continues. If Nancy Pelosi were to ascend back to the Speaker’s chair, you can be certain this investigation would die an immediate death.
The Obama Regime believes it is above the law. It needs a reality check quickly and the House of Representatives is the only body today that can deliver that check.
Tags: and, barack, darryl, eric, fast, furious, holder, issa, obama
Permalink Reply by Marcia Wood on Judson, this is great news. Boehner and Cantor were running backwards on this because they didn't want to ruffle any feathers during an election year.
Permalink Reply by Vern Shotwell on Which is exactly the wrong reaction, particularly during an election year.
Expose all of the sleazy dirt possible. Hope that this circus can be maintained right up to the election!
(In my humble opinion.)
Permalink Reply by Thomas Angle on Agree
Permalink Reply by Kathy Hamm on It's about time Holder is held in contempt!
Permalink Reply by Laura on So what happens and what will change if Eric Holder is held in contempt?
Permalink Reply by Nancy on 
. . .unfortunately, don't think anything will happen to him before the election!
And what took Bonehead Boehner so long to throw his support behind this?
Permalink Reply by Thomas Angle on They want to string it out until after the election. Then they will drop the dog and pony show hoping will will forget by the time the next election rolls around.
Permalink Reply by Roni Smith on I agree. I will not vote for him unless Holder and Obama are Outed.
Permalink Reply by Stacie Addison on CBS News reporting real news? Boehner and Cantor appearing to be doing their job? Did I wake up in the right universe today?
Permalink Reply by Thomas Angle on Nah, they are just playing there game again. Sooner or later they will give in like they always do. They just need the votes and money right now.
Permalink Reply by Julia A. Berry on What an encouraging sign this is!!
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