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The House of Representatives has scheduled a contempt vote for Attorney General Eric Holder for Thursday, over his refusal to release certain documents related to the Justice Department’s response to the Fast and Furious “scandal.”
Republican leaders plan to bring the issue to the floor on Thursday, meaning lawmakers likely will vote on contempt charges on the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court is slated to announce its ruling on the constitutionality of the 2010 health-care reform law.
The timing likely deprives advocates for contempt charges of the big headlines they might have received if the vote were held another day this week.
However, if the Supreme Court doesn’t take down the individual mandate, it makes it simple for House Republicans to just add the Supreme Court to the list of those in contempt of Congress. So it’s an efficiency thing, I guess.
House Oversight Committee Chair Darrell Issa continues to say that he would waive the contempt vote if Holder releases the documents related to Fast and Furious that the committee wants. Those are assumed to be communications within the Justice Department on how to respond to the Oversight Committee’s investigation. In other words, Issa wants documents about documents about a gun-walking program, which in Issa’s eyes wasn’t a straight-forward yet botched effort to track Mexican drug runners but a pretext to generate gun violence and provide a rationale for gun control. So we’re about four notches removed from reality here, in an attempt to create the appearance of scandal.
Nevertheless, I do get queasy whenever executive privilege gets invoked, especially when it comes from an Administration that can already be said to have abused official secrecy in a variety of contexts.
Nothing much is going to come of this but embarrassment. The US Attorney in DC would have to bring charges against Holder, if as expected he gets held in contempt. When Karl Rove or Bush Administration officials were held in contempt of Congress, the DC USA didn’t bother to prosecute. And having them prosecute what amounts to their boss, the Attorney General, doesn’t seem like it will happen either. There is a concept called inherent contempt, unused since 1934, where the sergeant-at-arms of the House can arrest the subject and hold them in the House jail. I don’t think the House GOP’s end goal is to arrest Eric Holder, however. It’s to loudly broadcast that they’ve held him in contempt of Congress.
And they’ll give that a go on Thursday.
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Boooo the republicans. Although maybe this will teach Obama that ‘not looking back’ only goes one way, against you. SMH
forward yet botched effort to track Mexican drug runners but a pretext to generate gun violence and provide a rationale for gun control. So we’re about four notches removed from reality here, in an attempt to create the appearance of scandal.
Really David, maybe it is you that is removed from reality on this one. see below and there has been other evidence also to show fast and spurious was an attempt to gut the 2nd amendment, so what if in the process people got killed
Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation “Fast and Furious” to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales.
PICTURES: ATF “Gunwalking” scandal timeline
In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the “big fish.” But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called “gunwalking,” and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico. Two were found at the murder scene of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.
ATF officials didn’t intend to publicly disclose their own role in letting Mexican cartels obtain the weapons, but emails show they discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called “Demand Letter 3″. That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or “long guns.” Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information.
On July 14, 2010 after ATF headquarters in Washington D.C. received an update on Fast and Furious, ATF Field Ops Assistant Director Mark Chait emailed Bill Newell, ATF’s Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of Fast and Furious:
“Bill – can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks.”
Holder ought to be held in contempt. Not necessarily for FnF, but for all the other things he’s done…or hasn’t done.
I guess I have to accept the right decision for the wrong reason.
Boxturtle (Out last 4 AG’s should ALL be charged with Obstruction of Justice!)
Not an attempt to gut the 2nd, but rather an attempt to gather more information on American gun owners likely for a DHS “predictive” database.
It’s an assualt on the 4th amendment.
Boxturtle (I’d like to see mandatory gun registration, but not via some back door)
A couple of things here.
1 – The email at the bottom of your comment does not mean that the ATF put the program together to ‘gut the 2nd amendment’. Not even close. No indication that this was ever considered by the ATF.
2 – Requiring gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles in one transaction is not ‘gut*ting* the 2nd amendment’. That type of sensationalist language does nothing to help your argument.
This program was not an attempt to ‘gut the 2nd amendment’. It was a stupid attempt by the ATF to catch some bad guys and resulted in tragedy. End of story.
Mandatory gun registration is already a requirement, I believe.
Are there any states that don’t require a federal background check to obtain a firearm?
(Except at gun shows, of course, which is a separate problem)
No, at least not in Ohio. If you buy a gun from a licensed dealer, they have to do a background check. But if i buy a gun from John, no such requirement exists. And the background check does not relate me to the weapon I’m buying, i could be buying 10. or 1. or decide not to buy at all.
So while the Government knows I’ve requested a background check, they don’t know what (if any) guns I own.
I think they REALLY want to know that for everybody. But they can’t outright go there, because the 2nd amendment crazies will declare it the first step toward confisgation. So this is kinda a back door IMO.
Not saying FnF was planned for this, I think someone just took the offered oppertunity to accomplish another government goal.
Boxturtle (Register ‘em with a test shot is what we SHOULD do)
That’s interesting. The federal background check form has spots on it for type of firearm and serial number.
I confess to knowing very little about FnF, but my limited research – via teh googler – indicates that that ATF “operation” began in 2006, which, if my failing memory serves, was *before* BHO was elected.
Sadly I live in known-CROOK, Darryl Issa’s district. Known-CROOK Issa cost ME (personally) a LOT of money over the years while he enriched and enhanced himself in various ways at MY personal expense.
The rightwingers, mostly funded by rich-shits like the Kochs, have been fomenting the Tea Partiers into panty-wads over how allegedly Barry Zero is just itching to take away all of their guns (which, amazingly, resulted in the guns and ammo industries having *record profits* all during the current depression… so surprising).
Ergo, given all of this, I have to say that I am (fwiw) beyond being *merely* cynical about anything initiated by the likes of known-THIEF Daryll Issa, esp against putative “Democrats.”
For me, this appears to be yet another Act in the Kabuki Show. Guess this Act can be titled:
Wherein known CROOKS in the putative “Republican” Party seek to fruther enrage their authoritarian minions by pretending that the blackity black black black (did I mention that he’s BLACK????) POTUS is itching to take away their guns ‘n ammo, all based on the pretext that an ATF program, which was initiated under GW Bush the Dumber, has apparently been declared some kind of “failure” under the blackity black black black (did I mention that he’s BLACK????) so-called “Democratic” POTUS. Contempt of Congress – stat!!!!!
Just saying…
HMM, REALLY. So it was just a coincidence that the same agents running f&f were also talking about how to use the sale of guns going in mexico to justify more restrictions. If you google and do some research there is other stuff on this.
As for the 2nd amendment the idea is to create more and more restrictions etc to get guns. this would have just been on step in many.
You know boxturtle when this govt starts doing the job it was meant to do and stops bailing out and stuffing the pockets of the 1%, going after whistleblowers and leaving bankers to get bigger bonus and so on, I too would be open to such discussions. Until then I don’t trust them. Call me crazy
Okay, you’re crazy. Like a fox. I don’t trust them either.
Boxturtle (no mans life, liberty, or property is ssafe when the legislature is in session -Judge Tucker)