Eric Holder's Day of Reckoning ...
... May be coming soon thanks to House Republicans. Here's how Politico reports it:
Republicans have a new ultimatum: If Eric Holder doesn’t deliver a trove of Fast and Furious documents to Capitol Hill by mid-June, the House will vote to hold him in contempt of Congress.
A contempt vote would not only represent a dramatic escalation in the long-running investigation into the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal, it would be a crowd-pleaser for conservatives who believe GOP leaders have been dragging their feet on the aggressive push from Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the lead investigator, to bring a contempt vote on Holder.
The feet-dragging, in case you're wondering, has owed to election-year anxieties:
A contempt resolution — especially spearheaded by Issa — could be viewed as overly political, coming a mere five months before Election Day. But Republicans in states like Arizona, Texas and South Carolina have been questioned constantly by constituents — thanks to heavy coverage by conservative media outlets — about the GOP investigation.
Perhaps years in exile from the Beltway have dulled my strategic insights, but anxieties about a showdown with Holder generating blowback come November strike me as too clever by half. It's not as if congressional Republicans are embarked on some wild-eyed, thinly-sourced exercise in character assassination, whereby they're trying to establish that Eric Holder murdered Vince Foster just prior to forging Barack Obama's Hawaiian birth certificate.
The Attorney General of the United States and his subordinates in the Justice Department have consistently obstructed efforts by the United States Congress to determine the extent to which incompetence on the behalf of the Executive Branch contributed to the death of innocents, including at least one American citizen. Declaring such conduct unbecoming of the nation's highest law enforcement official is not the sort of task that requires consulting the polls.
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Comments:
Jun '10
Re: Eric Holder's Day of Reckoning ...
The only thing I can figure out is that Republican strategists must be concluding (and I don't know if it's fantasy or focus grouped) that any challenge to Holder's conclusion that he has supplied sufficient information is just racist enough to present an electoral problem.
Like you, I think they're wrong. But, although the (R)'s seem appropriately pointed during the hearings, when they later say what practical steps are going to be taken, there seems to be way too much "Yea, we're gonna do it! Yes, sir, right away...Comin' right up...Gonna get right on those charges..."
Two. For some reason ICE agent Jaime Zapata regularly gets left out.
May '10
Re: Eric Holder's Day of Reckoning ...
This is precisely the reason that they shouldn't have dragged their feet in the first place. They are now dealing with a problem of their own creation. Problems postponed don't go away, they grow.
Jul '11
Re: Eric Holder's Day of Reckoning ...
1) Holder has called in every chip he owns and he owns a lot.
2) This may well go nowhere based on bribes and threats. I hope not.
3) Holder has lied, deceived, bribed, obfuscated and delayed his way through this like a cobra in the grass. He is the worst person as AG ever, bar none. He is also incredibly dangerous.
4) If this goes unpunished there will be a few real pissed off nut bags.
Dec '10
Re: Eric Holder's Day of Reckoning ...
Hmm. I think this discussion would benefit with some mention of Paul Mirengoff's post on Powerline.
The June date and the "trove" Troy quotes about look quite different when compared to:
"...Previously, Holder was to face a Memorial Day deadline for coughing up the documents. Now, a letter sent to Holder last Friday gives him until mid-June."
and, "...Moreover, the scope of the documents demanded has been scaled back. Previously, a draft contempt resolution had insisted on the production of 22 sets of documents. But according to Politico, the latest letter demands just two sets: all communication after Feb. 4, 2011, when DOJ indisputably misled Congress on the Fast and Furious program, and information disclosing who planned the operation."
Eric Holder may be "Reckoning" that his stall-tactics have achieved quite a bit!
Jul '11
Re: Eric Holder's Day of Reckoning ...
Holder is counting on the fact that getting enough GOP support has proven to be difficult. 8 Republicans of the committee have not agreed to proceed yet. Those are the ones I believe who have been either threatened or bribed, although Justin Amash just joined today.
Edited on May 23, 2012 at 11:27pmNov '11
Re: Eric Holder's Day of Reckoning ...
Well, at least one Ricochet contributor agrees with me. Maybe I'm not such a crazy conspiracy theorist after all.
Jan '11
Re: Eric Holder's Day of Reckoning ...
It would be racist to investigate Holder.
Apr '11
Re: Eric Holder's Day of Reckoning ...
It strikes me as a wonderful thing, if only for forcing the media to cover Fast And Furious. God bless Issa, who has been simply marvelous on this.
Jul '11
Re: Eric Holder's Day of Reckoning ...
Does it strike anyone as odd that this article about a potentially treasonous AG gets single digit comments while Peter Robinson's hideous Moobs picture a couple up just keeps going. Sigh.
Feb '12
Re: Eric Holder's Day of Reckoning ...
Not really "day of reckoning". Why should Holder care about a contempt citing? His offense is already public information. The press won't change its attitude (neither conservative blogs nor liberal TV). In fact, liberal TV will just call the House racist and partisan. The only reason, as with CLinton's impeachment, is that it is the House's duty.
Apr '11
Re: Eric Holder's Day of Reckoning ...
I don't believe many people think Holder treasonous. Terrible priorities and misguided views, some of which have led to the deaths of Americans, but lots of people have views that would lead to the deaths of some Americans if they were given the power to enact them; I know I do (you can't cut entitlements without more loss of life than has resulted from F&F). Likewise, his corruption and cronyism don't arise to the level of treason. The New Black Panthers are not a foreign power.
Jul '11
Re: Eric Holder's Day of Reckoning ...
If he is the one who ordered/approved this operation in order to weaken the second amendment doesn't that qualify? To some that amendment guarantees the others. It is my contention that Holder approved of this fiasco in addition to the obvious coverup.