Gunrunner: Darrell Issa moves forward with contempt charges against Eric Holder, will hold vote on June 20th
After an investigation which has lasted over a year and a half, and despite Eric Holder’s attempt to stonewall the investigation, Darrell Issa is finally moving forward with contempt charges against Eric Holder. The Oversight Committee will vote on June 20th on whether of not to hold Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress and send the charges to the Congress for a full vote on the floor.
And contrary to the earlier reports which speculated that not only was John Boehner not willing to support this action but was working to slow down Darrell Issa’s investigation due to a pending deal between he and Eric Holder, John Boehner has given his blessing to this action:
The Justice Department is out of excuses,” Mr. Boehner said in a statement Monday morning. “Either the Justice Department turns over the information requested, or Congress will have no choice but to move forward with holding the Attorney General in contempt for obstructing an ongoing investigation
With a Republican majority in the Oversight Committee is appears all but certain that contempt charges will be brought against Eric Holder and the resolution will be brought to the floor for a full vote, but how will that vote turn out? We have no way of knowing at this point, but Darrell Issa believes he will have the support of at least 31 Democrats:
The real question is, we’re opening up the data that we have to all the members, so as they start reading specifics of what we know was known and was hidden from Congress, and what we’d like to know and been denied, how many of the Democrats will vote with us,” Issa said after speaking at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York. “I expect we’ll have about 31 Democrats with us
Darrell Issa has been very careful in bringing these charges against Eric Holder, threatening him several times before backing down–probably because he just didn’t have enough evidence–but that all changed last week when a whistleblower provided him with some of the documents Eric Holder had been unwilling to relinquish. These documents tied a top level Department of Injustice official–who reported to Eric Holder on a daily basis–to the deadly scandal and an emboldened Darrell Issa began ratcheting up the rhetoric because he finally had the proof he needed.
Even though these documents clearly mentioned Fast and Furious Eric Holder claimed under oath that the documents didn’t refer to THAT Fast and Furious but rather something else. He is clearly lying at this point and now Darrell Issa is turning up the pressure on the president to step in while comparing Fast and Furious to the Iran/Contra scandal:
I would hope that the president would second-guess the man that he says he has full faith and confidence in, and tell him that it’s time to deliver reasonable documents
This is like Iran Contra, like Watergate, and other embarrassments over the years,” Issa said. “The major embarrassment is the delay in being honest and open about it. It’s not about something really dumb got done. Dumb things happen in government. But when the GSA did dumb things, once it became public we saw a pretty quick change, certainly Secret Service we saw an even quicker change
Darrell Issa hit the nail on the head when he brings up the Secret Service scandal: The Obama regime acted swiftly in regards to the Secret Service scandal and people were held accountable almost immediately, yet supposedly the Department of Injustice has been conducting an internal investigation on Fast and Furious for over one year and they haven’t made any headway–it is quite suspicious indeed.
Darrell Issa has documents which show the Department of Injustice was involved in Fast and Furious, and in fact the agency was debating the political fallout from the scandal and discussing ways to spin the scandal to make it less damaging, and yet Eric Holder is still denying this is what the emails contained and the president is still standing by his man.
Why is Barack Obama so unwilling to throw Eric Holder under the bus, and why is Eric Holder remaining defiant in light of these recent documents? I think the answer is obvious–Eric Holder is likely protecting someone, and that person is Barack Obama himself.
The media has gone out of its way for the most part to ignore this brewing scandal but with contempt charges looming against the top law enforcement agent in the nation it seems unlikely that the media will be able to ignore the story much longer. This will bring the scandal into the homes of many Americans who are unaware of this scandal simply because they rely on the mainstream media for their news. This now has the potential of blowing up in the face of Eric Holder and becoming a political nightmare for the president , but with hundreds of dead Mexicans as well as two dead Americans political fallout should be the least of their concerns.
America's Watchtower 
I guess I am wondering what they will bring out ahead of the 20th to diffuse the situation! We always have another issue that comes out when they are trying to downplay what would surely be a major issue. I am thinking of the “Friday night document dump”, as they say. Wish this was before the 20th, that is too much time to put their heads together and come up with something. As for Boehner, maybe he has seen the light and figures he best go along with the plan or lose his Speaker position. This has gone on for WAY too long. If they wanted to cooperate this would have been dealt with a long time ago, SO, we know they do not want to.
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I am sure there will be some distraction before the 20th because that is the way the media rolls, but sooner or later the media will be forced to cover it, right? At least I hope so anyway.
This has dragged on too long, but now that we are in the election cycle at least it can be used to our benefit. That is, as long as Romney has the guts to make it an issue, but I am not sure he does.
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Steve, I assume the contempt charhe requires the approval of both Houses. Is that correct? I’ll be surprised if he can get enough Democrats to go along. I will hope for the best because those that died because of this outrage deseve something from our government.
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Jim, I assumed that as well, but have only heard reference to The House and not The Senate. If it requires The Senate then we have a problem, because Harry Reid will never let it pass there.
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I am not sure how it works either Jim because I have never seen this before but Lou is right, so far it is only the House we are reading about here. If the House holds him in contempt I am not sure what happens next.
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Just looked it up Jim, only the offended chamber is involved, so this wouldn’t go to the Senate.
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This is lengthy, but appears that it can be just The House involved.
Inherent Contempt
Under this process, the procedure for holding a person in contempt involves only the chamber concerned. Following a contempt citation, the person cited is arrested by the Sergeant-at-Arms for the House or Senate, brought to the floor of the chamber, held to answer charges by the presiding officer, and then subjected to punishment as the chamber may dictate (usually imprisonment for punishment reasons, imprisonment for coercive effect, or release from the contempt citation).
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Statutory Proceedings
Following a contempt citation, the presiding officer of the chamber is instructed to refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia;[9] according to the law it is the “duty” of the U.S. Attorney to refer the matter to a grand jury for action.
The criminal offense of “contempt of Congress” sets the penalty at not less than one month nor more than twelve months in jail and a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000.[10]
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Civil Procedures
Senate Rules authorize the Senate to direct the Senate Legal Counsel to file a civil action against any private individual found in contempt. Upon motion by the Senate, the federal district court issues another order for a person to comply with Senate process. If the subject then refuses to comply with the Court’s order, the person may be cited for contempt of court and may incur sanctions imposed by the Court. The process has been used at least six times; but the civil procedure can only be used against Executive branch officials “in certain limited circumstances.
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/c…
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Thanks Lou, it looks like this could get very interesting and very soon.
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I honestly don’t know where this is all going to go at this point, but I did have a good laugh when I read the “Update 5:38 p.m. ET” referring to the letter from Deputy Attorney General James Cole to Issa today. It reminded me of this story: http://www.whistleblower.org/blog/31-2010/1311-deputy-attorney-general-james-cole-involved-in-fast-a-furious-whistleblower-cover-up
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Yeah, the charges are premature….right! I think the time for talking is over and Cole can complain all he wants but at some point Issa has to take action, and this is that time. I don’t know where it is going either but it is about to get very interesting.
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It is way past time for action. The reason I was laughing is that James Cole, who is “trying to be helpful” is part of the investigation.
Click to access DEI_Grassley_Holder.pdf
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DOJ does not pass the smell test. Having said that, I smell a political trap for Repub.
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I don’t blame you for being leary, the Democrats have beaten Boehner at every turn to this point, but I just don’t see how they can wiggle out of this one.
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It’s been coming for a while. but I think we all know that this is going to be spun by the administration and the media to cover for the administration. That, and it will be portrayed as an attempt to derail the POTUS in an election year.
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That is an undeniable fact. All we can do is say “No, it isn’t. Here are the facts.” and hold our heads up.
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There is no doubt the Democrats will try to spin this as an election year ploy but if Holder had complied with the subpoena in the first place this would already be over.Hopefully the Republicans can do a good job of mentioning this fact.
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I still think the criminals (Holder and Obama) and staff will push this to the very limit – even to the point of being “late” for the Monday apt and having some “back door” conversation to spare those POS’s the embarrassment of going full tilt on facts that even Wasserman-Schultz won’t be able to spin. So, Holder will eventually get the bus treatment to spare the Imposter in Chief and the entire Marxist Democratic party from loosing their ONLY candidate in the election. Just MHO.
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I think you are right, Holder will hold on as long as he can but sooner or later Obama will have to throw him under the bus. If there is any room under there next to his grandmother and Jeremiah Wright, that is.
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Reblogged this on Cmblake6's Weblog and commented:
Whether to hold him in contempt? How about taking him out and executing him for treason?
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Oh, and this is reblogged at mine.
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Thank you!
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It is good! Check my latest.
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I will be right over!
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Perhaps the final chaper is about to begin. I bet they cut a deal though, I just cannot bring myself to trust Boehner. Thanks for keeping with it. You can soon writet a book!
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B, that AG Holder is wanting to “meet” with the guys sends up a red flag to me. He knows he is in a bad place to be and hopes a little handed out will work. Boehner will take what he can get and call it even, well, that is my opinion, anyway. He doesn’t want to stir up anything and even a little from AG Holder will be good enough for him, i have a feeling. The question is, why NOW? What has leaked to AG Holder that he wants to talk now???
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What does holder have on Boehner?
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Exactly!
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Issa and Boehner turned down Holder’s request for a meeting so I am still holding out hope Boehner doesn’t fold, but I won’t be surprised if he does.
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I understand how you feel about Boehner, I won’t be surprised if he cuts come kind of deal. I hope not because it seems like they have him on the ropes.
Katie Pavlich beat me to the book though. 🙂
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Goodness knows there is no better example of someone needing this than Holder. It is just too bad it took this long. Even if Obama gets re-elected in November and the Republicans are able to keep this going, Holder could stall until next Summer I bet.
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Holder is starting to feel the heat, I think, and I hope he is on borrowed time at this point. I can see him hanging on and if Obama gets reelected he will feel no pressure to step down.
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Well, he did dump his minister when the going got rough. He might just dump him if it gets any hotter.
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And his grandmother as well!
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