Obama Grants Holder Executive Privilege on 'Fast and Furious' Documents

[Chris_]

President Obama has granted an 11th-hour request by Attorney General Eric Holder to exert executive privilege over Fast and Furious documents, a last-minute maneuver that appears unlikely to head off a contempt vote against Holder by Republicans in the House.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is expected to forge ahead with its meeting on the contempt resolution anyway.

House Republicans appear to be charging ahead with a high-drama contempt vote against Eric Holder, after GOP Rep. Darrell Issa said the attorney generally failed to produce the documents he requested for the probe into the Justice Department's botched Fast and Furious operation.

Fox News

[Chris_]

**** these Chicago thugs... these ******* dirtbags need to go to jail for this shit.

[Bad Dog]

President Obama has granted an 11th-hour request by Attorney General Eric Holder to exert executive privilege over Fast and Furious documents, a last-minute maneuver that appears unlikely to head off a contempt vote against Holder by Republicans in the House.

Fox News

(best Gomer Pyle voice) Surprise...Surprise.

Does this mean they can hold ABM in contempt too?

[txradioguy]

**** these Chicago thugs... these ******* dirtbags need to go to jail for this shit.

^ what you said.

Not surprised that "the most transparent administration in history" would pull a stunt like this.

All it proves is Holder...and possibly Obama are in it up to their ears where F&F are concerned.

[BlueStateSaint]

Holder will go to prison for it--sometime in the spring of next year.

[Bad Dog]

Holder will go to prison for it--sometime in the spring of next year.

From your lips to Boner's (sic) ears.  Good luck with that.

[Eupher]

This pretty much confirms, at least to me, my thoughts on Barry's realization that he will not be reelected in November.

The political cost of this bullshit is reminiscent of Tricky Dick's arrogance back during Watergate, and the absolute hell that Dick Cheney took when he exerted executive privilege against revealing with whom he had his meetings regarding the energy industry.

I'm sure there are other examples, but this is a key issue in Barry's reelection campaign.

He's going through the motions and he's adding money to the DNC's coffers (though not as much as they'd hoped and planned for) with every AF1 trip he takes.

But Barry does not want to be reelected (he's lazy), and he's not afraid to cash in his political chips in a vain attempt to show loyalty to his suckass minions like Holder.

The only thing is, the Repubs in Congress ain't bluffing. They're holding Aces and Eights - the proverbial Dead Man's Hand.

Barry - start packin' your shit. Yer gonna do the duffle-bag drag outta my White House.  

[Bad Dog]

This pretty much confirms, at least to me, my thoughts on Barry's realization that he will not be reelected in November.

The political cost of this bullshit is reminiscent of Tricky Dick's arrogance back during Watergate, and the absolute hell that Dick Cheney took when he exerted executive privilege against revealing with whom he had his meetings regarding the energy industry.

I'm sure there are other examples, but this is a key issue in Barry's reelection campaign.

He's going through the motions and he's adding money to the DNC's coffers (though not as much as they'd hoped and planned for) with every AF1 trip he takes.

But Barry does not want to be reelected (he's lazy), and he's not afraid to cash in his political chips in a vain attempt to show loyalty to his suckass minions like Holder.

The only thing is, the Repubs in Congress ain't bluffing. They're holding Aces and Eights - the proverbial Dead Man's Hand.

Barry - start packin' your shit. Yer gonna do the duffle-bag drag outta my White House.  

Makes me nervous he'll pull a Tricky Dick & we'll have to deal with HillBilly in Nov.

[txradioguy]

After Holder made the request to Obama via letter on Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General James Cole wrote to Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., on Wednesday informing him that the president has granted the request.

"We regret that we have arrived at this point, after the many steps we have taken to address the committee's concerns and to accommodate the committee's legitimate oversight interests regarding Operation Fast and Furious," Cole wrote. "Although we are deeply disappointed that the committee appears intent on proceeding with a contempt vote, the department remains willing to work with the committee to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution of the outstanding issues."

Obama's decision pertains to documents from February 2011 and afterward examining how Justice officials learned about the Fast and Furious probe.

Holder, in his letter to Obama, said those documents pertain to the "deliberative process" on how to respond to congressional and media inquiries.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/20/house-republicans-tee-up-imminent-contempt-vote-against-holder/

[NHSparky]

And if Bush had done this in similar circumstances...yeah, I know.  Different pres__ent, different rules.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Title's a little misleading, since the President can't 'grnt executive privilege,' but the OP does clarify that Obama granted Holder's request that he claim executive privilege.

This is a very peculiar stance to take, since such as it is, the law on executive privilege (Mostly established by Dem Congresses against GOP Presidents) is pretty clear that it only applies to top-level executive actions where the White House itself is directly involved in national policy decisions, not to the executive departments, nor to decisions about how to frustrate the other two branches, nor conceal criminal behavior.  At the same time, the whole Administration claim up to now is that the entire operation was entirely conceived and run by lower levels of the Justice Department, without even the head of that department being involved until after the SHTF.

This is both a resounding Constitutional Scholar Fail, and a startlingly abrupt contradiction of DOJ's defense position up to this point.

[BlueStateSaint]

Title's a little misleading, since the President can't 'grnt executive privilege,' but the OP does clarify that Obama granted Holder's request that he claim executive privilege.

This is a very peculiar stance to take, since such as it is, the law on executive privilege (Mostly established by Dem Congresses against GOP Presidents) is pretty clear that it only applies to top-level executive actions where the White House itself is directly involved in national policy decisions, not to the executive departments, nor to decisions about how to frustrate the other two branches, nor conceal criminal behavior.  At the same time, the whole Administration claim up to now is that the entire operation was entirely conceived and run by lower levels of the Justice Department, without even the head of that department being involved until after the SHTF.

This is both a resounding Constitutional Scholar Fail, and a startlingly abrupt contradiction of DOJ's defense position up to this point.

The reason can only be this:  There is stuff in those documents that will both 1) Tie Holder to illegal activities in the execution of F&F, and 2) Tie Obama to Holder.

[Eupher]

Title's a little misleading, since the President can't 'grnt executive privilege,' but the OP does clarify that Obama granted Holder's request that he claim executive privilege.

This is a very peculiar stance to take, since such as it is, the law on executive privilege (Mostly established by Dem Congresses against GOP Presidents) is pretty clear that it only applies to top-level executive actions where the White House itself is directly involved in national policy decisions, not to the executive departments, nor to decisions about how to frustrate the other two branches, nor conceal criminal behavior.  At the same time, the whole Administration claim up to now is that the entire operation was entirely conceived and run by lower levels of the Justice Department, without even the head of that department being involved until after the SHTF.

This is both a resounding Constitutional Scholar Fail, and a startlingly abrupt contradiction of DOJ's defense position up to this point.

I'm not so sure that Barry doesn't realize that he's grasping at straws and defending the indefensible. I think he's deliberately going down this road to evident self-destruction in a complete attempt to obfuscate, deflect, and otherwise stick a finger in Issa's eye. He knows the SHTF from a political capital perspective and he's fine with that.

At the end of the day, however, the documents won't be released. And that's the key issue.

[Bad Dog]

NEWS FLASH!!! Justice Dept purchases 500 top of the line shredders.  Just kidding (they already have them)

[cavegal]

I am thinking these 'documents' have long been shredded.  

[txradioguy]

And if Bush had done this in similar circumstances...yeah, I know.  Different pres__ent, different rules.

Funny you should mention that Sparky...

CNN’S LARRY KING: “Do you favor executive privilege or should Karl Rove and others in that like position be forced to testify before the House or Senate?

OBAMA: “Well, you know, I think we’ll — we’ll determine over the next several weeks how this administration responds to the very appropriate call by Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, to have these individuals come in and testify. You know, there’s been a tendency on the part of this administration to — to try to hide behind executive privilege every time there’s something a little shaky that’s taking place. And I think, you know, the administration would be best served by coming clean on this. There doesn’t seem to be any national security issues involved with the U.S. attorney question. There doesn’t seem to be any justification for not offering up some clear, plausible rationale for why these — these U.S. attorneys were targeted when, by all assessments, they were doing an outstanding job. I think the American people deserve to know what was going on there.”

SOURCE: CNN’s “Larry King Tonight,” 3/20/2007

http://dailycaller.com/2012/06/20/flashback-2007-obama-attacked-trying-to-hide-behind-executive-privilege/#ixzz1yLVdhIW7

[Chris_]

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpwYh9TD6Nc[/youtube]
****in' dumbass.

So tired of this guy.

[Rebel]

#Constitutional crisis

[Kyle Ricky]

This is Obama's Watergate. I hope he goes down in flames over this.

On another note: The liberals are all calling this a which hunt, and blaming it all on Bush.

[Rebel]

This is Obama's Watergate. I hope he goes down in flames over this.

On another note: The liberals are all calling this a which hunt, and blaming it all on Bush.

This is 1000 times worse than Watergate. This is turning into a constitutional crisis.

[dutch508]

Barry had his sticky little hands all over this, that much is clear. I am waitign for his whorship to say on national TV, "I am not a crook."

[Chris_]

Nobody died because of Watergate.

[Kyle Ricky]

This is 1000 times worse than Watergate. This is turning into a constitutional crisis.

You mean that peace of paper that Obama claims to know, but yet ignores at every turn?

Nobody died because of Watergate.

Yes, this is true.

[Kimberly]

Title's a little misleading, since the President can't 'grnt executive privilege,' but the OP does clarify that Obama granted Holder's request that he claim executive privilege.

This is a very peculiar stance to take, since such as it is, the law on executive privilege (Mostly established by Dem Congresses against GOP Presidents) is pretty clear that it only applies to top-level executive actions where the White House itself is directly involved in national policy decisions, not to the executive departments, nor to decisions about how to frustrate the other two branches, nor conceal criminal behavior.  At the same time, the whole Administration claim up to now is that the entire operation was entirely conceived and run by lower levels of the Justice Department, without even the head of that department being involved until after the SHTF.

This is both a resounding Constitutional Scholar Fail, and a startlingly abrupt contradiction of DOJ's defense position up to this point.

Thanks for explaining this. So is this pretty much an admission that the administration is involved in this? They can't claim privilege if they weren't involved? Boy, I can't wait for Carney's press conference today. Hopefully someone asks some tough questions.

[txradioguy]

This is Obama's Watergate. I hope he goes down in flames over this.

On another note: The liberals are all calling this a which hunt, and blaming it all on Bush.

They can try to blame Bush...but they'll fail.

Andy McCarthy did a piece for national Review explaining the difference between the two...including that F&F started in 2009.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/282606/fast-furious-was-bushs-fault-andrew-c-mccarthy