Issa blinks

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

For nearly a year now, House Oversight Committee Chair Darrell Issa (R=CA) and Attorney General Eric Holder have locked horns over Operation Fast and Furious.  Throughout this time we have seen heated exchanges between the two during Congressional hearings, watched the DOJ’s narrative change more than once, and wondered why Holder has thus far been allowed to dictate the speed at which the committee can investigate him.

As of late, when Holder dug in and simply refused to the turn over the documents the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed, the contest between he and Issa turned into nothing less than a battle of wills. And Issa upped the ante when he drew a line in the sand and gave Holder until 5 pm on February 9th to comply with the subpoenas or face charges of contempt of congress.

And so they squared off, and for any of you who wondered which man would blink first the answer has been revealed—Issa blinked, and gave Holder & Co. a time extension for turning over the documents.

Keep in mind, that throughout the time the back and forth has been taking place, the DOJ has given the House Oversight Committee just 6,000 documents, but they’ve provided their internal IG with 80,000 plus. The bottom line: time hasn’t been the issue, rather, the refusal to comply has. Nevertheless, Issa has given in and provided Holder with more time anyway. And to make matters worse, as of today the extension has no time limit on it.

So as it stands, Holder has from now till the cows come home to play it his way.

http://biggovernment.com/awrhawkins/2012/02/11/fast-and-furious-rep-darrell-issa-blinks-no-contempt-charges-for-holder/

Unless this is a strategy to drag this out until the general election I'm not happy.

[Eupher]

http://biggovernment.com/awrhawkins/2012/02/11/fast-and-furious-rep-darrell-issa-blinks-no-contempt-charges-for-holder/

Unless this is a strategy to drag this out until the general election I'm not happy.

Well, of course it's a strategy to delay it till the elections. What else could it be?

I guess this means you're unhappy.

I wonder how much Issa was paid to back off? Or what kind of dirt they dug up on him?

[Chris_]

Issa Signals Contempt Proceedings Against Holder Over Fast And Furious

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa signaled Tuesday that his committee will "move forward with the contempt proces against Attorney General Eric Holder unless the Justice Department commits to "providing, at a minimum, a detailed description of documents it is withholding" from his committee in the course of their investigation into ATF's Operation Fast and Furious.

TPM

Well.  I guess we'll see how this turns out.

[Eupher]

TPM

Well.  I guess we'll see how this turns out.

Looks to me like Issa was bitchslapped, so now he's demanding the documents that he demanded before. 

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

TPM

Well.  I guess we'll see how this turns out.

I hope to be wrong.

It will be good to be wrong.

I will gladly bathe in the warm, lapping waves of my wrongness.

[Chris_]

Issa’s letter still offers Holder an out: “Please specify a date by which you expect the department to produce all documents responsive to the subpoena.”

But it’s clear Holder is trying to stall through Election Day. Holder and President Obama are joined at the hip, and if Holder falls, the president is severely damaged. Were Democrats to regain control of the House, they could shut down Issa’s probe.

So what can Issa do?

As he pointedly notes in his letter, willful failure to comply with a congressional investigation is a federal misdemeanor, “punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 nor less than $100 and imprisonment in a common jail for not less than one month nor more than 12 months.”

Easier said than done. Issa’s full committee would have to approve a contempt citation and then forward it to the full (Republican-dominated) House for approval by a majority vote. After that, it goes to the US attorney for the District of Columbia, “whose duty it shall be” to take it to a grand jury. But the US attorney for DC is another Obama appointee — who reports to Holder. Think there might be more delays?

New York Post

*sigh* 

[Lacarnut]

Congress has so many chicken shit Republican wimps that will not stand up to Obama and the Democraps it is pathetic. Issa should have started the ball rolling on the contempt charges. Nothing may come of it but it would show that the Repubs. have a little backbone in them.