Fast and Furious scandal

US House holds Atty General Eric Holder in contempt
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Holder is being disingenuous at best. He was willing to show Issa's committee the documents he said would fulfill the subpoena, as long as the contempt proceedings were stopped (sounds like a bribe), but when Issa didn't take the bait--and I wouldn't have agreed to that deal either, sight unseen--Holder whipped out a letter declaring that the very documents he just been willing to give were now protected by "executive privilege". If nothing is being covered up, then why take such extreme measures to protect documents that you were willing to reveal in one breath, but have to be "protected" in the next breath?

Holder and Issa are both being disingenuous at best. Crap happens on both sides of this political equation. Makes it balance.

(Reuters) - Perhaps as significant as the contempt citation Congress issued to Attorney General Eric Holder is the likelihood Republicans will also go to court to enforce a congressional demand for documents - a tactic pursued only twice before in U.S. history.

The Republican-led House of Representatives voted on Thursday to find Holder, the country's top law enforcement officer, in contempt of Congress for withholding documents in a botched gun-running sting operation on the U.S.-Mexico border.

In a second vote, the House gave itself the authority to go to court to get the documents.

That will put a spotlight not only on Holder but also on his boss, President Barack Obama, who has insisted he can withhold the documents under executive privilege.

LINK
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Darrell Issa Puts Details of Secret Wiretap Applications in Congressional Record
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Darrell Edward Issa is the U.S. Representative for California's 49th congressional district, serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was formerly a CEO of Directed Electronics, the Vista, California-based manufacturer of automobile security and convenience products. His district consists of portions of southern Riverside County and northern San Diego County. Since January 2011, he has served as Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Issa is a self-made millionaire with a net worth estimated at as much as $450 million, making him the wealthiest currently-serving member of Congress.

He is very popular here and should always have the majority vote of his constituents. So resigning is not an option for him.
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Can you say Richard Nixon? Can you say Watergate?

Justice Department shields Holder from prosecution after contempt vote
The Justice Department moved Friday to shield Attorney General Eric Holder from prosecution after the House voted to hold him in contempt of Congress.

The contempt vote technically opened the door for the House to call on the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia to bring the case before a grand jury. But because U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen works for Holder and because President Obama has already asserted executive privilege over the documents in question, some expected Holder's Justice Department to balk.

Deputy Attorney General James Cole confirmed in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner that the department in fact would not pursue prosecution. The attorney general's withholding of documents pertaining to Operation Fast and Furious, he wrote, "does not constitute a crime."

"Therefore the department will not bring the congressional contempt citation before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute the attorney general," Cole wrote, in the letter obtained by Fox News.