Judge Denies DOJ Request to Delay Release of Fast and Furious Document List (Be Released by Oct 22)

Town Hall ^ | Sep 25, 2014 | Katie Pavlich

[Red Steel]

U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates has denied a request from the Department of Justice to delay the release of a list of Operation Fast and Furious documents being protected under President Obama's assertion of executive privilege.

The list, better known as a Vaughn index, was requested through a June 2012 FOIA filing by government watchdog Judicial Watch. When DOJ didn't respond to the FOIA request in the time required by law, Judicial Watch sued in September 2012, seeking all documents DOJ and the White House are withholding from Congress under executive privilege claims. President Obama made the assertion on June 20, 2012 just moments before Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt. In July 2014, after two years of battling for information, Judge Bates ordered the Department of Justice to release the Vaughn Index by October 1. DOJ responded by asking for a month long delay in releasing the list with a deadline of November 3, just one day before the 2014-midterm elections. That request has been denied. A short delay was granted and DOJ must produce the Vaughn index by October 22.

"The government’s arguments for even more time are unconvincing," Bates said in his ruling. "[S]eventy-five days—plus another twenty-one, based in part on Judiciary Watch’s consent—is enough time for the government to prepare the index that this Court has ordered, given that this matter has been pending for over two years. The Court will therefore extend the Department’s Vaughn index submission deadline to October 22, 2014—and no further."

"The government argues that it must devote significant numbers of attorneys to this matter if it hopes to comply with the current Vaughn index deadline ... But the Department has known about its Vaughn index obligations since July 18, 2014 ... At best, it means the Department has been slow to react to this Court’s previous Order. At worst, it means the Department has ignored that Order until now," he added.

The House Oversight Committee is also suing for the release of the Vaughn index and earlier this month U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered DOJ to produce requested information to lawmakers by November 1.

In the Vaughn index, DOJ must explain why documents have been withheld from Congress and the American people under President Obama's assertion of executive privilege. The requirements for DOJ in handling the information included in the Vaughn index are as follows:

1) identify each document withheld; (2) state the statutory exemption claimed; and (3) explain how disclosure would damage the interests protected by the claimed exemption.

“The Obama administration failed to game the courts and now will have to account for its Fast and Furious lies. Two federal courts have now rejected Eric Holder’s election-related ploy to keep this information from the American people,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement in reaction to the ruling. “This is a battle that put Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, saw Nixonian assertions of executive privilege by Barack Obama, and a hapless Congress in the face of all this lawlessness. This latest court ruling shows again that Judicial Watch’s independent investigations and lawsuits are more effective than Congress and the rest of media. We are pleased we may get some accountability for Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and hundreds of others who lost their lives as a result of Obama’s Fast and Furious program.”

[a fool in paradise]

October Surprise Surprise Surprise...

[SeaHawkFan]

Klayman and Judicial Watch parted company at least 10 years ago.

[FrdmLvr]

Release the documents by Oct. 22? Hey Bob Beckle, is this the OCTOBER SURPRISE you were talking about? ROTFLMAO!!!

[Paine in the Neck]

When does the Mexican government issue their conspiracy to murder indictments against Holder? And Obama?

[TigersEye]

That is what this judge just overruled.

[Steely Tom]

Withholding the documents under the guise of Executive Privilege is an impeachable offense.

Only for Republican presidents.

[Samurai_Jack]

they’re running the clock out. These documents will never see the light of day. EVER.

[Dqban22]

Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's Sister on Timing of Holder Resignation: "Not a Coincidence" Katie Pavlich 9/25/2014 Townhall

In light of a federal judge denying a request from the Department of Justice to delay the release of a long-sought after Fast and Furious document list, the sister of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, Kelly Terry-Willis, doesn't find the timing of Attorney General Eric Holder's resignation to be a coincidence.

"I do not find it a coincidence that Eric Holder chose now to resign after Judge Bates denied the request from the DOJ to delay the release of the Fast and Furious documents. I personally think Eric Holder was really hoping that the documents would never be made public to my family and the American people," Terry-Willis tells Townhall. "Will we ever get the accountability for my brother, Brian, Jaime Zapata and every other person who lost their lives to the guns from this horrific scandal? I don't know, but I have a serious gut feeling when we finally see what is in those documents....the dynamics of this investigation are going to change and hopefully the people involved are brought to justice. Eric Holder can run, but there will be no hiding. The truth always reveals itself."

In a separate statement put out on behalf of the Brian Terry Foundation, family spokesman Ralph Terry says Holder's resignation is welcomed.

the rest of history

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/09/25/exclusive-brian-terrys-sister-on-holders-resignation-not-a-coincidence-n1896769/print

[reefdiver]

The documents will be blacked out quite a bit is my guess.

[rawcatslyentist]

What's he skeered of?

Racky will just issue more executive orders obstructing justice.

[pepsionice]

I read something toward the election of 2012....that Holder wanted to go ahead and leave DC. The President convinced him to stay on. I think though.....he probably chose now to leave because the Senate configuration allows the President to pick another “winner”. If he waited into the spring of 2015...it doesn’t work that way. It was either now or never.

[Pajamajan]

"I see a dog just around the corner....ready to chomp on that homework. I see a car with a leaky gas tank, a rock, and a fire extinguisherwhich doesn't work. I see a Burger with papers stuffed in his pants."

I see a herd of Rinos working to make sure that nothing will come of this.

[DrDude]

Do these documents have to be produced on 10/22? It would seem likely that someone would be talking about this situation. any updates?

[Red Steel]

That’s my understanding and I always expected Holder to wait until the final seconds.

News. Holder’s deputy resigned a few days ago.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/10/16/Eric-Holder-s-Top-Deputy-Resigns-Amid-Revelation-Administration-Covered-Up-Use-Of-Fast-and-Furious-Guns-In-Phoenix-Crime

[DrDude]

Thanks. I will be following. Not much being said yet.