Posted on 07/02/2012 8:04:22 AM PDT by marktwain
GOP House Speaker John Boehner said Sunday the chamber will likely file a lawsuit to compel the Justice Department to release more documents related to the investigation into the federal governments Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation.
Boehner, R-Ohio, said the suit could be filed within the next several weeks, following the GOP-led House approving two resolutions Thursday that put Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to provide additional documents to congressional investigators.
"The American people have a right to know what happened," Boehner said on CBS's Face the Nation.
The criminal contempt resolution opened the door for the House to call on the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia to bring the case before a grand jury. But Deputy Attorney General James Cole told Boehner in a letter Friday that the agency would not prosecute, saying Holder failing to release the documents "does not constitute a crime."
However, the second, civil contempt resolution grants the House the ability to ask a court to compel the Justice Department to hand over the documents.
President Obama has already asserted executive privilege over the documents in question.
The votes follow a 16-month investigation led by GOP Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew said on "Fox News Sunday" that the Justice Departments decision not to prosecute Holder was based on a Reagan administration memo and that the Houses continued efforts are political and a fishing expedition.
The non-defunct Operation Fast and Furious was run out of an Arizona field office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is under the Justice Department.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Gunwalker / Murdergate ping.
Several weeks= in government time is 3-4 years.
WTF does “will likely...” mean? You are or you aren’t! Boehner is such a pu$$ie!
Forget the suit, march the POS out of the DOJ and toss him in the congression jail for contempt till he produces the documents. For starters, I would put the jail inside the lion cage at the DC zoo.
Do you think the documents are still available?
Three weeks? Give me a break, I am not an attorney but I could write that suit in ten minutes:
Subpeona delivered to Holder on X date.
Holder provided some documents, refused the rest.
Committee demanded the documents forthwith.
His Excellency claimed executive privilege thereby establishing the existance of documents.
House had more discussions with both principals, the executive privilege ass and his minion. No resolution.
File now for compulsion.
Sounds good to me. Holder needs that smart a$$ smirk slapped off his face by his new cellmate.
Just take your sweet time Boehner.
JUstice delayed is Justice denied.. or sumthin’.
I think Issa and Boehner alread have most of the documents. It is very difficult to “scrub” documents in this digital age. They just want the document “officially” to make prosecution easier. Also, if documents exist that the Justice Department does not supply, they can be cited for obstruction of justice.
Boehner will never follow through.
Hey Boner, Christmas is coming... why not wait until then?
When you still get nothing and Holder laughs at you, you can have a good cry.
You're soooo MEAN!
Why is it going to take weeks to get this filed? It could be done by this afternoon if they were serious. What are they in delay mode for? What are they waiting for? Delaying enough to let this slide under the radar come November or what?
“Boehner, R-Ohio, said the suit could be filed within the next several weeks”
Right after he has a good cry over it. Why not just file the lawsuit this week for God’s sake?
I could easily believe that there are several good reasons to time the lawsuit. The wait may bring in more whistleblowers, it may help educate the public. It appears that Issa and Boehner are doing better at this than they have been given credit for.
I’m good with Issa. Boehner I don’t trust farther than I can throw him. He sleeps with his finger in the wind.
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