House panel backs contempt for HolderNo image available
House panel backs contempt for Holder
Made popular 363 days ago in Politics
foxnews.com — A House panel voted Wednesday in favor of holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, a move that inflamed partisan rancor on Capitol Hill and sets up the possibility of legal action against the attorney general himself.

Holder has not yet been formally held in contempt of Congress. The full House would still need to approve the resolution in order for that to happen -- Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., afterward told Fox News that such a floor vote can still be avoided.

But the 23-17 party-line vote on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee marked a significant turn in lawmakers' 16-month investigation into the botched anti-gunrunning operation Fast and Furious. With the vote, Republicans on the committee signaled they had exhausted all other means to extract sought-after documents from the Justice Department -- though Democrats had insisted there was still an opportunity to sort out the mess without a contempt vote.

"We and the American people need answers sooner, not later," said Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the committee.

Issa pressed ahead with the vote Wednesday despite an eleventh-hour move by President Obama to assert executive privilege over the Fast and Furious documents at the heart of the dispute.

Preceding the vote late Wednesday afternoon was a caustic debate before the committee that spanned six hours, as Democrats accused Issa of prosecuting a "political witch hunt" and Republicans stepped up their criticism of Holder's "stonewalling" over the Fast and Furious probe. Even for Washington, the tone at the hearing was decidedly bitter and accusatory.

Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., shouted while rattling off his complaints against the Justice Department.

On the other side, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., ranking Democrat on the committee, offered an impassioned defense of the attorney general even as he and other Democrats acknowledged Fast and Furious was severely flawed.

"I don't think he's hiding a damn thing," Cummings said of Holder shortly before the contempt vote.

Democrats roundly voiced disappointment with the proceedings, describing them as politically motivated and avoidable. They pleaded with Issa to seriously consider Obama's executive privilege claim -- the first Obama has asserted -- while some said Holder was being punished for withholding internal documents he shouldn't be turning over anyway.

Republicans praised Issa for pressing ahead, describing the vote as entirely unavoidable considering the department's alleged refusal to cooperate. They frequently invoked the name of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry -- Fast and Furious-linked guns were found at the scene of Terry's murder in 2010. And Issa indicated he was waiting for a more detailed explanation from the White House, and a letter from Obama himself, before even considering changing course based on the executive privilege claim.

Issa also accused the Justice Department of trying to compel the committee to close its investigation in exchange for documents it hasn't yet seen. "I can't accept that deal. No other committee chairman would," he said.

But Cummings fired back that Holder never made such a demand -- a Justice official also refuted Issa's claim -- and said the attorney general had come to the committee in "good faith" to try and work out an agreement.

Cummings said the contempt vote has "diminished" the prestige of the panel. "For the past year, you've been holding the

Report This Post
Posted by lightdude
Add To Favorites
35 Votes
Similar Issues
3 Comments
ShareThis
What should happen to AG holder?
1. Tar and feather him.
0%
2. Boil him in oil.
0%
3. Let the vicim's family decide.
0%
4. Life in prison.
0%
5. Take ALL his money and assets and give to the victim's family.
0%
5. Resign, drop all the stupid law suits against the states and let the states laws stand to avoid prison time.
60%
7. All for starters.
40%
This is not a scientific survey, click here to learn more. Results may not total 100% due to rounding and voting descrepencies.
User Comments
lightdude
Posted 363 days ago
0 up votes, 0 down votes
Time to start getting rid of the dirtbag dumb craps in washing toon.
lastbaldeagle
Posted 363 days ago
0 up votes, 0 down votes
Cummings, Holmes-Norton, Maloney and Tierney all proved themselves to be the typical partisan jerks that make up the extreme left of the RAT party. These were the same partisans who drummed up fabricated crap on Gonzales. Rove and Ashcroft. They are hypocrites of the first order and none can stand up mentally with Issa, Chaffets and Gowdey all of whom could spot the dems 50 points in an IQ contest and beat them by a mile.
lightdude
Posted 362 days ago
0 up votes, 0 down votes
@lastbaldeagle LOL!!! AMEN.
You will have 2 minutes to edit your comment.

Add your comments