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Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) could face up to five years in federal prison for obstructing a Congressional proceeding. On Wednesday, Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) and five Subcommittee Chairmen on the committee sent a letter to Ranking Member Cummings demanding an explanation for his staff’s queries from the IRS, why the Minority hid these efforts from the Majority, and why the Ranking Member denied such actions by his staff at a February Subcommittee hearing: “Although you have previously denied that your staff made inquiries to the IRS about conservative organization True the Vote that may have led to additional...

The Health and Human Services Department told House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa that it won’t turn over documents related to the security of the Healthcare.gov website because it can’t trust him to keep secret information that could give hackers a roadmap to wreak havoc on the system. Issa has issued a subpoena to MITRE, a government contractor, to turn over unredacted copies of security-testing documents by noon Friday. At issue are website development plans MITRE drafted for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which is under HHS. Already, Issa has been given access to the...

The lead congressman investigating HealthCare.gov’s dismal performance during its first two months online ratcheted up the executive-congressional conflict on Wednesday, accusing Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of criminal obstruction of his investigation. The dispute centers around a letter the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent to a contractor that worked on the online health insurance marketplace, directing it not to turn over correspondence and other documents to congressional investigators and stating CMS would manage any congressional inquiries. That letter amounted to “criminal obstruction” of a congressional investigation,” according to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell...

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, charged HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius with “criminal obstruction” of the committee’s Obamacare investigation. Issa released a press release earlier today. NextGov.com reported: The lead congressman investigating HealthCare.gov’s dismal performance during its first two months online ratcheted up the executive-congressional conflict on Wednesday, accusing Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of criminal obstruction of his investigation. The dispute centers around a letter the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent to a contractor that worked on the online health insurance marketplace, directing it not to turn...

On Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa sent a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, angrily telling her that HHS’ attempts to block contractors from giving information to Congress on Obamacare was a violation of law. On December 6, HHS told Creative Computing Solutions, Inc. not to give information to the Oversight Committee, stating, “If you receive a request for this information from Congress, CMS will respond directly to the requestor[.]”

Eighteen current or former Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials have been indicted in five separate criminal cases in connection with a wide-ranging investigation into allegations of abuse and misconduct inside L.A. County jails. The four grand jury indictments unsealed Monday and one criminal complaint allege that deputies beat jail inmates and visitors without justification, unjustly detained people and conspired to obstruct a federal investigation into misconduct at the Men's Central Jail. Sixteen of the defendants were arrested Monday and are expected to be arraigned this afternoon in federal court.

“This singular event,” Benghazi, the terrorist attack in Libya that killed four Americans, Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, who worked under contract with the CIA, and Sean Smith, on September 11, 2012, “will be repeated unless the United States recognizes and responds to the threats we face around the world.” So says the 46-page Republican interim Benghazi report that was made public on April 23. In it, as is arguably always the case with the Clintons, we learn that the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apparently has obstructed justice—again.

The cover up is worse than the original crime. When the president conspires with others in government to lie to the American people and claim "national security" as a defense, the congress has a duty and precedent to get to the truth. Lying to the America people and ordering subordinates to lie in a cover up attempt is historically recognized as high crimes and treason and IS definitely an impeachable offense. When the president of the United States commits high crimes and treason and then lies to the American people and conspires to hide it from congressional investigators and claims...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) says he will be introducing new rules for how the Senate conducts business if Democrats control both Houses and the Presidency after the November elections. Reid’s target is the cloture vote required to cut off debate. Under current rules it takes only 41 senators to block cloture. “Right now it’s kind of a moot point because even if we could silence GOP obstructionists in the Senate whatever we pass can still be thwarted by the GOP-controlled House,” Reid pointed out. “But if Democrats controlled both Houses and the Presidency eliminating a senate minority’s ability...

The blunders and delays in declaring the winner and allocation of delegates are looking more than coincidental - the more frequently occur. They all benefit Mitt Romney. video)

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge said today that baseball slugger Barry Bonds must serve 30 days house arrest for obstructing justice during a federal investigation into his alleged use of steroids. Bonds sat stoically as U.S. District Judge Susan Illston told baseball's home run king that he had avoided prison but must spend one month in his two-acre Beverly Hills estate, two years on probation, serve 250 hours of community service and pay a $4,000 fine. A jury convicted Bonds in April of answering questions about steroids with rambling stories in an attempt to mislead a grand jury investigation...

“Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice” Senate Judiciary Committee Full Committee View a webcast of this hearing DATE: November 8, 2011 TIME: 10:00 AM ROOM: Dirksen 226 OFFICIAL HEARING NOTICE / WITNESS LIST: October 31, 2011 NOTICE OF COMMITTEE HEARING The Senate Committee on the Judiciary has scheduled a hearing entitled “Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice” for Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. By order of the Chairman. Witness List Hearing before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary On Tuesday, November 8, 2011 Dirksen Senate Office Building,...

The new acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced a major shake-up of his agency Wednesday and urged Washington insiders to “calm down” about the latest revelations surrounding a controversial ATF gun operation. B. Todd Jones said calm is needed as he begins rebuilding the beleaguered agency, including shuffling top personnel. He made his comments as his boss, Attorney General Eric J. Holder Jr., came under fire this week from Republican lawmakers, with one calling for a special counsel to investigate Holder’s role in the Fast and Furious gun-trafficking operation.

WASHINGTON (KGO) -- Two top executives at bankrupt Solyndra have invoked their Fifth Amendment rights and refused to answer questions at a House hearing Friday. The Solyndra executives have sent letters to the House Energy and Commerce committee, saying they will invoke their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.

Nearly half of the federal government’s firefighting air tankers are siting idle at a California airport, grounded by the Obama administration...

That didn’t take long. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) said they were expanding their probe into a troubled anti-gun-trafficking program, two days after the Justice Department announced a shake-up of officials who oversaw the program. Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) (AP Photo by Harry Hamburg) In a letter Thursday to Ann Scheel, the acting U.S. Attorney in Phoenix, Messrs. Grassley and Issa essentially put the Arizona district office on notice, saying its role “in the genesis and implementation of this case is striking.” They sought extensive documents – emails, memos, notes and the like...

(WASHINGTON) House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) today released the following statement regarding Department of Justice personnel changes involving Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley: "While the reckless disregard for safety that took place in Operation Fast and Furious certainly merits changes within the Department of Justice, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee will continue its investigation to ensure that blame isn't offloaded on just a few individuals for a matter that involved much higher levels of the Justice Department. There are still many questions to...

Sources say ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson is being moved out of the top job at the Bureau. It's not yet publicly known where he would go, but sources inside the Justice Department believe one option is a transfer to a position at Department of Justice headquarters. The Justice Department had no immediate comment, and did not confirm the move. Melson's move would be another in a number of high-level personnel shifts, as the Inspector General continues investigating the so-called gunwalker scandal at the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. ATF promotes "Fast and Furious" supervisors...