Landmark – House Panel Says Attorney General Is In Contempt of Congress
This is awkward…
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted along party lines, 23-17 to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.
For Eric Holder to be formally held in contempt of Congress, the full House has to approve that resolution. Voting could be as early as next week, barring some kind of settlement.
The Cause of The Investigation
The panel has been frustrated for sixteen months, investigating Operation Fast and Furious.
There is broad agreement that the U.S. government used Fast and Furious to deliberately sell thousands of guns to arms dealers connected to leaders of Mexican drug cartels.
It seems the drug dealers used those guns to kill people.
One of the victims was U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, murdered in 2010. A Fast and Furious gun was found at the scene.
Complications
On Feb. 4, 2011, the Department of Justice issued a letter claiming the U.S. did not knowingly help smuggle guns to Mexico, including those found where Terry was killed. That letter was retracted.
The Attorney General has made other statements to the committee, retracting some of those positions, as well.
The A.G.’s ambiguous testimony has spurred chairman Rep. Issa, R-Calif. to demand full disclosure of Fast and Furious documents.
Yet Holder holds them, still.
Escalating the entire issue, President Obama suddenly claimed executive privilege over the documents just minutes before the committee assembled.
This will be messy.