Gunrunner: Is Darrell Issa moving forward with Contempt charges against Eric Holder?

  I have to admit I was pretty disheartened when I read the news last week that Darrell Issa had given Eric Holder an indefinite extension to comply with his subpoena on Operation Fast and Furious because it sounded like the fix was in and was not going to be held accountable in the deadly scandal.

  But then earlier today Darrell Issa sent this letter to Eric Holder which the Daily Caller describes as a “major step toward holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress” and needless to say my spirits were lifted. I have read the letter and I have to say I don’t see anything in it which I would consider a major step towards holding Eric Holder in contempt, apparently the Daily Caller is referring to this line in the letter:

We cannot wait any longer for the Department’s cooperation. As such, please specify a date by which you expect the Department to produce  all documents responsive to the subpoena. In addition, please specify a  Department representative who will interface with the Committee for production  purposes. This individual should also serve as the conduit for dealing  with the contempt proceedings, should the Department continue to ignore the  Committee’s subpoena.

  I suppose Darrell Issa’s suggestion that the “Justice” Department name an individual to deal with the contempt proceedings is an indication that Darrell Issa does intend to move forward with contempt charges, but he still hasn’t given Eric Holder a new date for compliance. The letter is an indication, however, that Darrell Issa isn’t going to stop this investigation anytime soon so maybe the rumored deal struck between John Boehner and the “Justice” Department is just that–a rumor.

  Darrell Issa also laughed at the notion that his Oversight Committee was playing politics in an election year by reminding the “Justice” Department that if it had cooperated with his investigation in the first place the investigation wouldn’t have been dragged into an election year.

It is ironic that while the Department’s delay tactics have extended this  investigation into a presidential election year, you have had the audacity to  characterize it as an attempt at ‘headline-grabbing Washington ‘gotcha’ games  and cynical political point scoring
 Had the Department demonstrated willingness to cooperate with this investigation  from the outset — instead of attempting to cover up its own internal  mismanagement — this investigation likely would have concluded well before the  end of 2011. In reality, it is the Department that is playing political gotcha  games, instead of allowing a co-equal branch of government to perform its  constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch

  But now we are in an election year and maybe Darrell Issa has decided to let Eric Holder take his time before filing contempt charges to turn this into a campaign issue, and who can blame him? Eric Holder decided to stonewall this investigation from the get go, perhaps Darrell Issa is turning the tables on Eric Holder and has decided to play the same game.

  It was Eric Holder’s indignation and arrogance which led him to believe he was beyond reproach in the first place, and which has delayed the process for a full year and thrust this controversy into an election year, and it could be these two traits which end up bringing him down right before the election.