Posted on 11/14/2013 2:54:41 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
A rump group of House Republicans are tired of waiting for answers from Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. — they want him impeached and will formally introduce their charges Thursday.
As Roll Call previously reported, a small group of GOP lawmakers have been drafting articles of impeachment for Holder over a string of controversies, including a Department of Justice refusal to turn over documents related to Operation Fast and Furious, a refusal to uphold certain laws — namely the Defense of Marriage Act, the Controlled Substances Act and the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 — and a refusal to prosecute IRS officials who accessed tax records of political donors and candidates without authorization. The articles of impeachment also charge that Holder provided false testimony to Congress — a “clear violation” of law.
Texas Republican Pete Olson, who is leading the charge behind the Holder articles of impeachment, said this wasn’t a decision he took lightly.
“Since the House voted in 2012 to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt, the pattern of disregard for the rule of law and refusal to be forthright has continued,” Olson said in a statement to CQ Roll Call. “The American people deserve answers and accountability. If the Attorney General refuses to provide answers, then Congress must take action.”
Olson told CQ Roll Call that he would be dropping the articles of impeachment Thursday. On Wednesday, he released a five-page white paper explaining the four articles of impeachment against Holder.
Article I of the impeachment proceedings claims that Holder “engaged in a pattern of conduct incompatible with the trust and confidence placed in him” by refusing to comply with a subpoena issued by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee for documents related to “a legitimate congressional investigation into Operation Fast and Furious by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms that put thousands of illegally-purchased weapons into the hands of cartel leaders, ultimately resulting in the death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry on December 14, 2010.”
“The Justice Department deliberately withheld documents, preventing the Committee from performing its constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch,” the white paper said, noting that any person who “willfully makes default” of a congressional subpoena is in violation of federal law.
President Barack Obama exercised executive privilege over those documents, but that does not satisfy the group.
“Despite the President’s dubious claim of executive privilege, Attorney General Holder violated federal law by failing to turn over lawfully subpoenaed documents requested by Congress,” the section-by-section analysis of the impeachment proceedings claims.
Article II of the proceedings charges that Holder violated his oath of office by refusing to enforce certain laws that the Obama administration, for various reasons, decided not to enforce, including the Defense of Marriage Act, which the administration deemed unconstitutional.
“If the Administration wants to change the law, it should ask Congress to amend it. Only the Supreme Court can deem laws unconstitutional,” the white paper said.
Article III also charges that Holder violated his oath of office, this time by “refusing to prosecute individuals involved in the Internal Revenue Service scandal of unauthorized disclosure of tax records belonging to political donors.”
Finally, Article IV claims Holder “provided false testimony to the House Judiciary Committee” regarding the potential prosecution of a member of the news media, Fox News correspondent James Rosen, using the Espionage Act.
“Attorney General Holder knew that the Justice Department was investigating James Rosen as a co-conspirator in alleged violations of the Espionage Act as early as June 2009. Under the Privacy Protection Act, journalists cannot be investigated in order to obtain information about a third party. The fact that there was a search warrant carried out on James Rosen means that the Justice Department either intended to prosecute him, or the Justice Department clearly violated the Privacy Protection Act,” the white paper said.
Olson is joined by 10 other Republicans — five of whom are also from Texas — in co-sponsoring the articles of impeachment:
Rep. Phil Roe of Tennessee
Rep. Ted Yoho of Florida
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia
Rep. Larry Bucshon of Indiana
Rep. Blake Farenthold of Texas
Rep. Randy Weber of Texas
Rep. Roger Williams of Texas
Rep. Bill Flores of Texas
Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas
Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota
A “rump” group?
Interesting choice of words...
That’s racist!
Noble, but I doubt this impeachment will go anywhere.. at least until and unless Republicans control both Houses.
Translation of this article:
Obamacare is a bigger disaster than the Marxists planned for.
Obama needs a distraction to stop his plummeting polls.
Democrat Senators need a distraction to stop THEIR plummeting polls and win in 2014.
So Valerie Jarrett called McCain/Boehner and said: ‘We need a distraction. Holder is ready to retire. Go ahead and (finally) take Step 1 towards impeaching Holder. We’ll alert the MSM and they’ll make a big commotion about it. If this sideshow doesn’t distract voters from Obamacare canceling their insurance policy, then we’ll think of another sideshow.’
I see it differently.
These scandals are being pushed out of view.
This will keep them highlighted along with the Democrat’s Obamacare Fraud.
We should take none of the Left’s dirty laundry off the line! PERIOD!
Keep all these scandals flapping loudly in the malfeasance Obamabreeze.
sorry ... wicki
A rump legislature is a legislature formed of part, usually a minority, of the legislators originally elected or appointed to office.
The word "rump" normally refers to the back end of an animal; its use meaning "remnant" was first recorded in the context of the 17th century Rump Parliament in England. Since 1649, the term "rump parliament" has been used to refer to any parliament left over after the true parliament has formally dissolved.
In the United States in the 19th century, upon the secession of Virginia from the union on April, 27 1861, anti-secessionist legislators convened a rump legislature and formed a pro-Union reformed government which claimed to represent all of Virginia. This reformed government authorized the creation of the state of Kanawha, later renamed West Virginia. By contrast, the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China between 1951 and 1991, having been relocated from Nanking to Taipei when the country lost its mainland in late 1949, contained members originally elected from mainland constituencies who could not be replaced. The pre-reform Legislative Yuan was nevertheless widely regarded as a rump legislature, controlling only a fraction of the territory it claimed to represent.
Rump group? Rear guard perhaps?
I’m with you. It’s time to talk about impeachments. I think the best thing we could have about now is actions that stop HOR members from being able to join gangs of.... or talk about compromise. We can’t have the dems chipping away at Republican unity.
Rump is used correctly, but why not “faction?”
Rump also means “backside” or “ass.” I believe that that is why the author was trying to imply... “A group of Republican a-holes...”
Yeah...but it gets the dims attention.....since they are enamored with "backsides"
Thanks Cincinatus’ Wife.
the fact that some articles point above Holder makes this a clear warning shot at you know who.
And don’t forget Heinlein using the phrase in “Starship Troopers” - the army had to form a “rump battalion” out of shattered remnants of other units.
This was a deliberate choice of words, as they knew that people would associate “rump” with “ass”.
Shoulda been ALL.
Methinks that THAT is our problem, here.
Holder is without doubt a POS, but they are only going after one of the flunkies when it is the leader that needs impeachment.
Obama and his merry band of incompetents have practically destroyed us . Not that we weren’t headed in a bad direction before, but he is the icing on the cake.
Ok, so the “impeachment” paers go through, who’s gonna push it hard enough to make it happen?
The next question is why the hell aren’t the Repubs doing the same for odumbo? If ANYONE needs impeaching it’s him.
You are right. The target of any impeachment should be Obama.
“My guess would be that this will get buried in committee. Even if that were to happen, Holder stands on notice that, should control of the Senate change after 2014, he may be facing a very unpleasant ordeal.”
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