The House Oversight Committee is considering a contempt measure against Attorney General Eric Holder over documents sought by the panel investigating the botched gun-running sting called Operation Fast and Furious. On Wednesday, President Barack Obama entered the dispute by asserting executive privilege over the documents sought by committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-California.
Here are the issues around the dispute:
Q: What is a contempt citation?
A: Congress can vote to hold a congressional witness in contempt of Congress if it considers the witness to be obstructing its ability to carry out its constitutional powers. For a person to be held in contempt, Congress must vote on a contempt citation in committee.
The process involves a series of legal maneuvers including the president’s ability to assert executive privilege, as he did in this case, which has historically made executive branch officials immune from criminal prosecution.
Q: Why is a contempt citation being considered against Holder?
A: Issa may hold Holder in contempt for failing to hand over all of the documents relating to Operation Fast and Furious, the botched Justice Department sting operation linked to the death of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry and a number of Mexican citizens from some of the 2,000 weapons that fell into the hands of Mexican drug gangs.
Q: When is the last time an executive branch official faced a contempt citation?
A: Although this is the first time an attorney general has faced a potential contempt citation, other executive branch officials have been held in contempt of Congress.
Most recently, George W. Bush White House Counsel Harriet Miers and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten were held in contempt of Congress despite Bush asserting executive privilege in their case. During the vote in early 2008, a large number of Republicans walked out in protest of what they saw as a partisan vote.
Miers and Bolten were accused of failing to cooperate in a congressional investigation into the mass firings of U.S. attorneys and allegations that the White House was using the Justice Department for political aims. Their citations marked the first time White House officials had been found in contempt of Congress.
Q: What happens next?
A: If the committee votes to cite Holder for contempt, it will go to the full House for a vote.
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forget contempt...impeach him!
I agree. Holder has refused to investigate voter intimidation by the New Black Panther Party, refused to cooperate with the investigation of Fast and Furious-time to impeach him.
Obama and Holder should both be convicted as accessories to the murder of Brian Terry, and the 300 + innocent Mexicans, who were slaughtered as a result of Fast and Furious. Now, Obama is using his position to cover up his guilt.
NOBODY is above the law. Obama and Holder should both be thrown in prison !!!
He's not an elected official; you can't IMPEACH him!
This is different than previous contempt charges. A United States Federal employee and many civilians have been killed because of this messed up program and the President is trying to keep Congress from looking into what happened. Worse than Watergate!
Is it less than George Bush's crime's. How many Americans have died in wars via lies of the Bush administration? I count thousands.
A contempt finding is meaningless. The dept of justice is the enforcer, and its the dept of justice AG thats in trouble. With a President shielding him....
A waste of time...
The Attorney General lied... facts will indicate even Obama knew about FF. Wouldn't it have been easier to admit a mistake and move on? We need to demand moral leadership...we teach our children to tell the truth even when it makes you look bad and the reason for this applies even to the President of the United States and certenly the Nations top law enforecment officer...eric holder, one lie leades to another and nothing good EVER comes of it. Throw them out of office and demand adult leadership!
This is all politics Issa always had disdain for this President and you can see it in his face. They do not have respect for the highest law enforcement officer and I am appalled that he called him a liar. They have just gone too far in trying to hurt President Obama but they had better be careful that this stuff does not backfire on them in the election.
These white men feel that their power has been taken from them in the white house with all the crookedness that they have done for years in running the country this is why you see all of this distraction. There main focus should be on trying to fix the economy it is a waste of time while people are still hurting and trying to find jobs.
They all need to be voted out because they have done absolutely nothing but said "NO'.
If this "Fast and Furious" program that resulted of killing of a border patrol agent was created by the Republican White House and the Republican U.S. Attorney General, the Democrats would be screaming like WILD FIRE all over the country just like Watergate issue or worst!
It WAS created by the Republicans .... it ran from 2006 to 2011. As with everything else about the Bush disaster this is being thrown on Obama's lap while the GOP shouts 'hot potato'.
agree. impeach Bush, and throw all the neocons in jail – a fate they so richly deserve!
Usurper Obama is the one going to prison
it's time to arrest Holder, and usurper Obama
A black man is more powerful than all the neocons in Congress put together, that must really chap their hides! LOL
Sal: we're still waiting for Bush to try and leave the country. He's wanted on several war crimes warrants abroad and would have to be held for trial if he does leave. same goes for Cheney... and the beat goes on...
@ guesswho22,147 countries and counting that have signed indictments against Bush,Cheney,Rumsfield and others on human rights violations,Pres.Obama has been protecting him since he left office,the Netherlands and the Hague are waiting,just waiting for Bush and his arrogence to slip up,then he's toast,can anyone say "presidencial execution",thats what he and the rest deserve,innocent men and women's blood is on his hands and theirs because of lies,deceptions,you republicans should be proud of him,intelligent people aren't!!!
Obama is a liar, a Muslim and anyone that supports him should be deported or shot for treason!
Nice troll. Not taking the bait, though.
It can't be true that you are a Democrat. But, is it true that you are from Texas?
Texass Democrat, you're definitely from Texass. But you're not now, nor have you ever been a Democrat.
@Hwy9,everything is big in Texas,that goes for ignorence also,Bush was from there ,maybe they're sisters or something...He's also just a wanne be democrate,a DINO,remember them,there everywhere!!
You forgot to say the Trump favorite...He's not an American.
The “Fox/Newsmax Effect” relies on these six steps to create national controversy in order to manipulate the viewer’s opinion.
1. The first step of creating the “Fox/Newsmax Effect” is to have Conservative activists introduce a lie to the public.
2. The next step Fox/Newsmax News devotes massive coverage to the story presented.
3. From here Fox/Newsmax News goes on to attack other news outlets for not covering the story.
4. Given that these outlets want to remain creditable, they too start reporting the story introduced by Conservative activists.
5. Now that it seems that Fox/Newsmax News was first to the story they are praised by news critics and pundits for their media coverage on the topic.
6. The last step, which is the conclusion to all of this, is that the story dies off after the damage has been done.
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
SOURCE: Natzi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels
You're obviously delusional
whats this got to do with Holder?
They are still going to get him on contempt. HE was the one that wrote a letter to the Pres. REQUESTING that the papers be shielded under "privledge". Well, IMO, the act of writing the letter/requesting the pres., IS CONTEMPT. He should go down. People were killed due to this BOTCHED US government "sting". SOMEONE needs to pay/stand up for this mess!!!! If no one stands up, then someone goes down involuntarily. HOLDER in this case.
Riiiiight, because no member of the armed forces has ever died while doing his job for the US government before this.
Artificial outrage.
Republicans make me want to throw up.
when is the movie coming out ?
your statement, consider what Bush/Cheney just did, is beyond laughable. That's why Republicans must be thrown out of office this time around. Bye bye... as the nation becomes mobilized to vote out of pure disgust over the GOP
Obummer must go and all the other slugs that have their noses up his rear!
Smoke and mirrors people and we fall for it every time. VOTE them all out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Darrell Issa is a catagory-5 political hatchet-man!
He made it evident from the day he took chairmanship of The House Oversite Committee that he intended to use that committee to bludgeon members of the Obama administration at every opportunity.
Mr. Issa is a wealthy, power-hungry, arrogant political thug and as a Californian, I am embarrassed to have him representing our state.
I don't care about the politics of this, but I hate to tell ya that this was a "bothced" operation as Holder has admitted. All US citizens should want to know what happened and if our officials lied under oath it should be unacceptable to all of us. If you pay taxes, you are a stake holder in this. If nothing was done wrong, prove it and I will be satisfied. If not, carry out the legal process.
Obama and Holder should both be convicted as accessories to the murder of Brian Terry, and the 300 + innocent Mexicans, who were slaughtered as a result of Fast and Furious. Now, Obama is using his position to cover up his guilt.
NOBODY is above the law. Obama and Holder should both be thrown in prison !!!
In 2007, Polesi and her folks did the samething for a non-sense contempt citation to attoenry general Miers and Bolten.... what did you say. In that case: their is no harms to US government, i.e. there was NO death, wweapon tranffered.....
No look at this one: couple thousand Mexican death, a DEA death, and more than 2000 branch new weapons had illegally sold to drug cartels...... Are you saying: this operation is an attempt to boost the economic or whatelse in your mind.