Posted on 04/08/2014 4:32:16 AM PDT by markomalley
Attorney General Eric Holder testified on Friday that the Justice Department (DOJ) never intended to stop the Louisiana school voucher program, despite his agency’s lawsuit that requested a permanent injunction against school choice scholarships.
Under questioning before a House appropriations subcommittee, Rep. Andy Harris (R., Md.) got into a heated exchange after asking Holder if the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division was responsible for the lawsuit “against” the state’s scholarship program, which allows students to flee failing schools.
“You buy into a premise that’s not correct,” Holder said. “That was not the division that was doing anything of that nature in Louisiana.”
“We were seeking to get from the state of Louisiana information about their voucher program,” he said. “[We] never, ever took the position that we were against vouchers.”
Harris questioned further. “Is that the division that went to court in Louisiana to ask for that information?” he said. “These are not complicated questions, Mr. Attorney General.”
“What I was saying is that we never sought to do anything with the voucher program as much as to get information—and which a federal judge ultimately agreed with us,” Holder said. “And we worked out something with the state. It’s a talking point that Gov. [Bobby] Jindal and others—I guess you—think makes good political fodder, but it’s totally inconsistent with the fact.”
Harris disputed that characterization of his efforts.
“I actually care about the education of children as Gov. Jindal does,” Harris said. “Mr. Attorney General you used federal money to go into a state court to try to hinder, hamper, disable a school voucher program—the majority of which goes to minority students. So I’m just going to take issue with your characterization of a talking point because we shouldn’t use children, especially minority children—you can shake your head all you want, maybe you disagree that we shouldn’t use minority children as wedges.”
Holder again repeated that the DOJ took “no position with regard to the voucher program.”
“We only sought information about how the program was being run and how it affected a longstanding statewide anti-discrimination settlement that had been in place for years,” he said.
(video at link)
However, the DOJ did request a permanent injunction against the program last August, which would have required all vouchers to be pre-approved by a federal judge.
The first line of the lawsuit said that the DOJ wanted to put a stop to “any” vouchers:
The United States asks this Court to permanently enjoin the State of Louisiana from awarding any school vouchers (‘vouchers’ or ‘scholarships’) to students attending school in districts operating under federal desegregation orders unless and until the state receives authorization from the appropriate federal court overseeing the applicable desegregation case.
The DOJ ultimately dropped its injunction request, but still insisted on federal oversight of the program that Jindal warned could kill the program through red tape.
Jindal said he hoped Holder was under oath when he said the DOJ was not trying to stop the program.
“If filing a lawsuit isn’t taking a position on an issue, I don’t know what is,” he said in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon.
“Eric Holder and the Department of Justice are trying to impede children who haven’t had access to a great education from getting the chance to go to better schools,” Jindal said. “In Louisiana, we refuse to accept that any child should be forced to be trapped in a failing school.”
The American Federation for Children also responded to Holder’s comments, which were under oath, saying that the attorney general is trying to “rewrite history.”
“Under his direction, the DOJ attempted to block students from obtaining access to Louisiana’s popular and effective voucher program,” said Kevin Chavous, executive counsel to the American Federation for Children. “But, now recognizing his testimony [Friday], Attorney General Holder should amend DOJ’s filing with the federal court in Louisiana to reflect his support of the Louisiana Scholarship Program.”
“Further, based on the attorney general’s testimony, it is reasonable to expect that DOJ will make no future efforts to try to enjoin these school choice programs because the attorney general said that was not his intent,” he said.
Holder is a liar, like the Tyrant, and lying to Congress
means nothing to him.
The Tyrant and he KNOW they are docile as their slaves.
Yeah, riiiggggght. The Obama Regime view of the law and fact is that it is what they say it is when they say it. Tomorrow it might be a different reality when they say it.
If you like your voucher program, you can keep your voucher program...Period.
What’s interesting here is that Holder feels compelled to PERJURE himself on this subject.
That means, even if the media won’t report it, someone is getting the word out to these minority communities that it is the Obama Administration that wants to shut down this program.
It is a sign of major progress on our side, but the BIG QUESTION is whether we’re able to recognize that.
Is there any reason that this reprobate isn’t behind bars already?
Democrats — masters of the Jedi mind trick...
Like Harry Reid’s recent ‘I didn’t say what I said’ proclamation. Doesn’t matter if you confront ‘em with a video or audio recording of them saying it. They’re not guilty.
Disgraceful.
He’s already ben held in contempt of Congress, why would anyone believe him now? He’s a gun runner for the drug cartels, who then use the guns to kill our Border Patrol agents.
Holder is an ignorant, blatant liar, same as his Muslim boss, and, I think, disturbed in other ways.
Why was Scooter Libby sent to jail for misleading Congress in testimony during the Valerie Plame fiasco, when Obama and Holder and Clapper lie to Congress with impunity and are still running around free?
The Right (notice I didn’t say Republicans) needs to take this Holder/DeBlasio PROOF that Dems don’t want to help minority children and BEAT THEM OVER THE HEAD WITH IT.
One of the few good things about the Obamadork “administration” is that he places the felons at the top of the heap where we could keep track of them (if we only had a free press).
And, of course, the Holderdork is the top t*rd of the heap...with bazillions of infected liberal flies buzzing around him trying to get a taste of the cr*p.
“You buy into a premise that’s not correct””
One would think that he is channeling Ayn Rand. Creep!!!!!
He portrays himself as the most misunderstood person on the planet but I guess it’s a common and bad habit of liberals.
“Why was Scooter Libby sent to jail for misleading Congress in testimony during the Valerie Plame fiasco, when Obama and Holder and Clapper lie to Congress with impunity and are still running around free?”
Why isn’t Jon Corzine prosecuted for stealing billions of dollars from customers at MF Global? Why is the GOP silent about George Soros, Jon Corzine, and Brian Roberts (Comcast CEO) while the Democrats constantly demonize the wealthy Koch brothers?
Add to the list of liars - Janet Napolitano, Kathleen Sebelius, Lois Lerner, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Leon Panetta, Hillary Clinton.
Mitch McConnell, Eric Kantor, John Boehner, John McCain and Lindsay Graham are cut from the same cloth. The only difference between them and the Democrats is they are not as noisy (with the exception of McCain).
The entire New York, Boston, Washington region is an elitist cesspool of immoral men and women who lie, cheat, steal, rape, pillage, and murder to feather their own nest. The corruption is endemic and reform will only occur by bringing down the system or when the nation is conquered by its enemies.
Your link to the Washington Free Beacon article is to an article about school vouchers in Louisiana and not the gun control issue. Or at least, I couldn’t find anything in the article about Holder’s gun control efforts.
You might want to post a corrected link. Thanks.
testified on Friday that the Justice Department (DOJ) never intended to stop the Louisiana school voucher program, despite his agency’s lawsuit that requested a permanent injunction against school choice scholarships.
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