It’s time to return Holder’s contempt
By MICHAEL A. WALSH
‘Contempt of Congress” is a pretty strong term, and one with tangible legal consequences, but how else to describe Attorney General Eric Holder’s continuing obstructionism in the burgeoning Fast and Furious scandal?
It’s been 14 months since news broke that a federal agent had been killed with weapons that Holder’s Justice Department intentionally allowed to cross the border into Mexico, with no plan on how to track them and without alerting Mexican officials. In all, the Obama administration sent thousands of guns south to the drug gangs under the misbegotten operation.
But since last May, Eric Holder has been stonewalling congressional attempts to get to the bottom of Fast and Furious — a mess hatched on his watch by Obama appointees at the office of the US attorney for Arizona and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
On Tuesday, Rep. Darrell Issa (R.-Calif) — whose House Oversight Committee is leading the congressional investigation — sent Holder another in a series of stern letters, demanding that Justice comply with committee subpoenas that it’s been pretty much ignoring since Oct. 12.
The letter was prompted by Justice’s failure to meet a Feb. 9 deadline to make witnesses available and turn over hundreds, if not thousands, of pages of internal documents. Holder’s crew requested a further extension — while publicly decrying Issa’s probe as a political witch hunt.
Of course, as Issa writes, it’s Justice’s own “delay tactics” that “have extended this investigation into a presidential-election year.” Indeed, “had the department demonstrated willingness to cooperate with this investigation from the outset — instead of attempting to cover up its own internal mismanagement — this investigation likely would have concluded” last year.
“In reality,” Issa continues, “it is the department that is playing political gotcha games, instead of allowing a co-equal branch of government to perform its constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch.
“We cannot wait any longer for the deparment’s cooperation.”
Tough words. But will there ever be more than words?
Issa’s letter still offers Holder an out: “Please specify a date by which you expect the department to produce all documents responsive to the subpoena.”
But it’s clear Holder is trying to stall through Election Day. Holder and President Obama are joined at the hip, and if Holder falls, the president is severely damaged. Were Democrats to regain control of the House, they could shut down Issa’s probe.
So what can Issa do?
As he pointedly notes in his letter, willful failure to comply with a congressional investigation is a federal misdemeanor, “punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 nor less than $100 and imprisonment in a common jail for not less than one month nor more than 12 months.”
Easier said than done. Issa’s full committee would have to approve a contempt citation and then forward it to the full (Republican-dominated) House for approval by a majority vote. After that, it goes to the US attorney for the District of Columbia, “whose duty it shall be” to take it to a grand jury. But the US attorney for DC is another Obama appointee — who reports to Holder. Think there might be more delays?
Since 1975, 10 high officials have been cited for contempt; most cases ended with negotiated agreements between the White House and Congress. Sometimes, as in the case of former Environmental Protection Agency chief Anne Gorsuch in 1982, Justice simply refuses to prosecute. The last contempt citation acted on was in 1983, against former EPA official Rita Lavelle, who got a fine and prison term for lying to Congress.
These fights don’t go quickly, so Issa and the House GOP leadership must up the ante now. Holder’s plainly not going to voluntarily comply with Issa’s subpoenas; presumably, the evidence would just be too explosive.
One approach may be to start pushing other federal agencies; in more news, a federal agent is now saying that the Homeland Security Department knew more about Fast and Furious than has been disclosed — to the extent of even blocking some gun transfers from ATF to the bad guys.
The shell game has gone on long enough. The country deserves answers — not gotcha games.
For months now, Holder has been dodging, obfuscating, withholding evidence and outright lying in his attempt to evade responsibility for the deadly program that has cost the lives of two federal agents and countless Mexican nationals.
Contempt of Congress? Contempt for the American people is more like it.
But since last May, Eric Holder has been stonewalling congressional attempts to get to the bottom of Fast and Furious — a mess hatched on his watch by Obama appointees at the office of the US attorney for Arizona and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
On Tuesday, Rep. Darrell Issa (R.-Calif) — whose House Oversight Committee is leading the congressional investigation — sent Holder another in a series of stern letters, demanding that Justice comply with committee subpoenas that it’s been pretty much ignoring since Oct. 12.
The letter was prompted by Justice’s failure to meet a Feb. 9 deadline to make witnesses available and turn over hundreds, if not thousands, of pages of internal documents. Holder’s crew requested a further extension — while publicly decrying Issa’s probe as a political witch hunt.
Of course, as Issa writes, it’s Justice’s own “delay tactics” that “have extended this investigation into a presidential-election year.” Indeed, “had the department demonstrated willingness to cooperate with this investigation from the outset — instead of attempting to cover up its own internal mismanagement — this investigation likely would have concluded” last year.
“In reality,” Issa continues, “it is the department that is playing political gotcha games, instead of allowing a co-equal branch of government to perform its constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch.
“We cannot wait any longer for the deparment’s cooperation.”
Tough words. But will there ever be more than words?
Issa’s letter still offers Holder an out: “Please specify a date by which you expect the department to produce all documents responsive to the subpoena.”
But it’s clear Holder is trying to stall through Election Day. Holder and President Obama are joined at the hip, and if Holder falls, the president is severely damaged. Were Democrats to regain control of the House, they could shut down Issa’s probe.
So what can Issa do?
As he pointedly notes in his letter, willful failure to comply with a congressional investigation is a federal misdemeanor, “punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 nor less than $100 and imprisonment in a common jail for not less than one month nor more than 12 months.”
Easier said than done. Issa’s full committee would have to approve a contempt citation and then forward it to the full (Republican-dominated) House for approval by a majority vote. After that, it goes to the US attorney for the District of Columbia, “whose duty it shall be” to take it to a grand jury. But the US attorney for DC is another Obama appointee — who reports to Holder. Think there might be more delays?
Since 1975, 10 high officials have been cited for contempt; most cases ended with negotiated agreements between the White House and Congress. Sometimes, as in the case of former Environmental Protection Agency chief Anne Gorsuch in 1982, Justice simply refuses to prosecute. The last contempt citation acted on was in 1983, against former EPA official Rita Lavelle, who got a fine and prison term for lying to Congress.
These fights don’t go quickly, so Issa and the House GOP leadership must up the ante now. Holder’s plainly not going to voluntarily comply with Issa’s subpoenas; presumably, the evidence would just be too explosive.
One approach may be to start pushing other federal agencies; in more news, a federal agent is now saying that the Homeland Security Department knew more about Fast and Furious than has been disclosed — to the extent of even blocking some gun transfers from ATF to the bad guys.
The shell game has gone on long enough. The country deserves answers — not gotcha games.
For months now, Holder has been dodging, obfuscating, withholding evidence and outright lying in his attempt to evade responsibility for the deadly program that has cost the lives of two federal agents and countless Mexican nationals.
Contempt of Congress? Contempt for the American people is more like it.
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