United
States Department of Justice Official Portrait
.
President Obama Asserts Executive Privilege
Backing His Embattled Attorney General Erick Holder
Over Botched Arms Smuggling Operation Fast and Furious
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
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How fast
the news can change and in just a few hours too!
.
I… like many others have been keeping up with
all this news over the botched arms
smuggling operation “Fast and
Furious”. But to the best of my knowledge, I haven’t posted anything on all
this mess and it has been going on for over a year now. That is until early
this Wednesday morning when EVERYTHING CHANGED and sent the News Media into all
kinds of a reporting frenzy.
.
What set everyone off? President Obama did when
he granted his Attorney General Eric Holder permission to assert executive
privilege to withhold documents from the Republican-Led Congressional Committee.
What a mess!!!
…
Here’s what
started the chain of events this morning…
(Deputy Attorney General James Cole sent the
following letter to Issa)
The Honorable Darrell E. Issa
Chairman
June 20, 2012
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
After you rejected the Department's recent
offers of additional accommodations, you stated that the Committee intends to
proceed with its scheduled meeting to consider a resolution citing the Attorney
General for contempt for failing to comply with the Committee's subpoena of
October 11, 2011. I write now to inform you that the President has asserted
executive privilege over the relevant post-February 4, 2011, documents.
We regret that we have arrived at this
point, after the many steps we have taken to address the Committee's concerns
and to accommodate the Committee's legitimate oversight interests regarding
Operation Fast and Furious. Although we are deeply disappointed that the
Committee appears intent on proceeding with a contempt vote, the Department
remains willing to work with the Committee to reach a mutually satisfactory
resolution of the outstanding issues…
Read Letter
in full and more HERE
……………………………
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* FOX News just
posted this up-to-date report and it starts off like this… Rep. Darrell Issa pressed ahead with a committee
vote Wednesday to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress,
despite an eleventh-hour move by President Obama to assert executive privilege
over the Fast and Furious documents at the heart of the dispute… The
announcement touched off a caustic debate on the House Oversight and Government
Reform Committee that lasted well into the afternoon, as Democrats accused Issa
of prosecuting a "political witch hunt" and Republicans stepped up
their criticism of Holder's "stonewalling" over the Fast and Furious
probe. Even for Washington, the tone at the hearing was decidedly bitter and
accusatory… The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was first
informed of the president's decision to assert executive privilege in a letter
Wednesday morning, shortly before the contempt vote was scheduled….
Read the
full report at link below…
* New York Post Opinion Columnist Michael A. Walsh writes in
part: …Issa surely feels like Charlie Brown charging the
football, with Holder as Lucy. For over a year, he’s been trying to pin down
the slippery AG, issuing one “last chance” after another, dragging Holder in
front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (on top of
Senate appearances) and firing off angry letter after angry letter… Each time,
Holder has scampered off, meeting Issa’s legitimate demands with contempt --
for the congressman, the Congress itself and the rule of law.
He
tried it again yesterday after his offer was rebuffed, calling Issa’s demands
“political gamesmanship” and cracking, “The ball’s in their court.” Um… no,
Mr. Attorney General. The ball’s in your court…
Read Walsh’s
take in full at link below…
.
………………
More to come and that’s a certain!
AubreyJ………
ROMNEY2012
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