Posted on 05/22/2012 10:44:09 AM PDT by neverdem
Republicans have a new ultimatum: If Eric Holder doesn’t deliver a trove of Fast and Furious documents to Capitol Hill by mid-June, the House will vote to hold him in contempt of Congress. A contempt vote would not only represent a dramatic escalation in the long-running investigation into the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal, it would be a crowd-pleaser for conservatives who believe GOP leaders have been dragging their feet on the aggressive push from Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the lead investigator, to bring a contempt vote on Holder. The new plan was devised after Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) sent a letter — with Issa — to Holder late last week requesting documents to show who developed the botched Mexican gun-walking program. They also want to know why Justice Department officials misled Congress at the outset of the congressional investigation. The three top House Republicans did not set a specific deadline for a response but said that if the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which Issa chairs, doesn’t get the information it subpoenaed last October, “the House will act to fulfill our constitutional obligations in the coming weeks.” But Republicans have backup plans, too. If Justice complies only partially with the Issa subpoena, leadership will send a contempt referral to DOJ, accusing the agency of obstructing a congressional investigation, although no prosecutorial action is likely from that move. And if the Obama administration fully complies with the new, pared-back document request, Issa’s panel will be tasked with poring through the documents and drawing up a public report, according to several aides with knowledge of the planning. Boehner’s office declined to comment directly on the plan. “As the speaker has said, the Department of Justice needs to be held accountable, and all options are on the table,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner. The Department of Justice simply thinks Issa is more interested in confrontation than cooperation. Deputy Attorney General James Cole sent a letter to Issa last week, warning that a contempt vote would cause “damage … to relations between the executive and legislative branches,” noting the volume of material that’s already been provided to Issa’s committee. They’ve also offered to meet with Republicans on the Hill to help them narrow the range of documents they’re seeking. And DOJ pointed to letters from law enforcement officials — including Philadelphia Police Chief Charles Ramsey — urging the committee to avoid a contempt fight. The aggressive stance by House GOP leaders signals that leadership sees plenty of political upside to going after Holder in a very public way during an election year. Boehner and his top lieutenants were skittish about the Holder contempt issue at first because they had no clear Democratic support. Issa’s contempt resolution, which he released to the press and fellow lawmakers, requested 22 sets of documents. But the GOP letter with Issa seeks just two sets of documents: all communication after Feb. 4, 2011, when DOJ misled Congress on the Fast and Furious program, and information disclosing who planned the operation. Friday’s letter gives Justice one last opportunity to produce documents. A battle over a contempt resolution targeting Holder would be a key moment for Issa. His committee has spent the better part of the 112th Congress on Fast and Furious, run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the DOJ. Members of the committee talk about the investigation at events in their districts — and some lawmakers have gotten heat back home for the House’s inability to force Holder to comply with a subpoena. Issa’s staff — which he hoped to use to illustrate waste and fraud throughout the federal government — has been completely consumed with this investigation.
Yet the politics of this issue are tricky for House Republicans. A contempt resolution — especially spearheaded by Issa — could be viewed as overly political, coming a mere five months before Election Day. But Republicans in states like Arizona, Texas and South Carolina have been questioned constantly by constituents — thanks to heavy coverage by conservative media outlets — about the GOP investigation. Former Rep. Tom Davis, the Virginia Republican who chaired the Oversight Committee during the last GOP majority, said that the move shouldn’t be read as a swipe at Holder. He also didn’t see any political fallout from pursuing Holder directly over Fast and Furious. “I don’t think there’s any downside,” Davis said in an interview Monday. “It’s a regular order issue. These are documents that the committee ought to properly have, and what’s the remedy?” There are other avenues being explored among Republican lawmakers and aides if the leadership is not aggressive enough on the high-profile probe. Should leadership get cold feet in pushing contempt, there’s chatter that some Republicans could file a discharge petition to force the resolution out of Issa’s committee and onto the House floor. That would be a sign of certain turmoil within the House Republican Conference. There has also been discussion of creating a new select committee to investigate the Fast and Furious program. But that would run into headwind from Issa, who has shepherded the probe for months and doesn’t want to see it snatched from his control. Other options, including a vote on a “no confidence” resolution aimed at Holder, pushed by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), also have only limited support in leadership, GOP sources said. There is precedent for pushing through a contempt resolution aimed at a sitting attorney general, although such cases are relatively rare. In 1998, the then-Government Reform and Oversight Committee voted to hold Attorney General Janet Reno in contempt over her refusal to turn over documents related to a campaign finance investigation. The measure never reached the House floor. In 2008, House Democrats pushed through a contempt resolution targeted at top Bush White House officials, including Karl Rove, over the firings of U.S. attorneys. A criminal referral went nowhere as DOJ refused to enforce it, but the House Judiciary Committee sued the White House. The two sides eventually worked out a deal to avoid an unwanted precedent in the long-running battle between the presidency and Capitol Hill over the extent of Congress’s investigative authority.
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© 2012 POLITICO LLC |
“STOP! or I’ll say STOP again!”
” My feeling is that Boehner is desperately looking for some loophole that he can let 0dumb0 & Holder off the hook for Fast & Furious, the gun running, and the murder of DEA Brian Terry. “
Boehner is afraid to deal with this, or any type of controversy, period!
“the House will vote to hold him in contempt of Congress”
Whoa... and after that, they’re going to smack him with a wet noodle. I’ll bet Holder is just shaking in his boots.”
What a joke..
Just freakin’ do it. and quit all this BS talking!
Everyone here wants instant gratification but it doesn’t work like that. People don’t remember that it was over 13 months from the time the story broke and the first indictment in Watergate and that was with a media full court press.
“As the speaker has said, the Department of Justice needs to be held accountable, and all options are on the table,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner.
If all options are on the table...
I say start with shock and awe, and progress upward
from there.
Holder should be in Leavenworth by now.
Nope- they have pictures and video of Boehner
crying like a baby over nothing...
wait.. never mind he does that in every interview
with the MSM-
HE is weak- but a good old GOP boy and
wants to work with his Demon counterparts
Someday.....pigs will grow wings and fly.
Likewise, someday we’ll have Republicans in Congress grow a pair of testicles.
Someday.....pigs will grow wings and fly.
Likewise, someday we’ll have Republicans in Congress grow a pair of testicles.
Nope, not with this ol boy. The difference here is the seriousness of the crime. As far as I'm concerned, comparing Watergate to F&F is like comparing a firecracker to a live grenade!
I was comparing the workings of Congress to the workings of Congress.
Point taken. I just wasn't looking at it that way.
Maybe if someone could show that DoJ and ATF employees play baseball and take steroids in their free time we could light a fire under Congress.
...or if we're trying to pass 'Stimulus'. Remember, Speaker Pelosi educated us to the fact that every month the stimulus didn't pass, 500 million Americans were losing their jobs!
LMAO!!!
Serious remarks from out LEADERS! Scary ain't it?
I pray that the rule of law, not men prevail.
If not, it is the responsibility of every citizen to take up arms, and hold the government of this Republic accountable...
...if not, the Republic can not stand by definition, according to the Founding Fathers, and the Declaration of Independence.
5.56mm
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