By Jueseppi B.
CBS News) One day after the House voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to provide documents relating to the Fast and Furious gunwalking program, White House spokesperson Jay Carney said the criminal prosecution of the contempt charges will not move forward.
“The prosecution will not take place in this circumstance,” Carney said during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One en route to Colorado. He said the president’s assertion of executive privilege over the related documents makes the matter moot.
The contempt charge does not address the controversial Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Fast and Furious operation itself, which allowed more than 2,000 weapons to fall into the hands of suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels. Instead, it concerns subpoenaed documents the Justice Department is withholding from Congress that cover a period after the operation ended.
In a letter sent to the House Speaker John Boehner, Deputy Attorney General James Cole confirmed that Justice would not move forward with contempt prosecution.
“Across administrations of both political parties, the longstanding position of the Department of Justice has been and remains that we will not prosecute an Executive Branch official under the contempt of Congress statute for withholding subpoenaed documents pursuant to a presidential assertion of executive privilege,” the letter read.
The letter sighted the same justification used when the House brought contempt charges on two Bush administration officials.
Stan Brand, partner at Brand Law Group, told CBS News that attorneys general for the past three decades have interpreted the president’s use of executive privilege as both a way to protect information and a way to protect against possible criminal charges.
The Justice Department is responsible for opening a criminal contempt case. Since Holder heads that department, it was widely suspected that the department would not move forward with prosecution.
Carney offered his support of Holder, saying he will continue “his excellent work” as attorney general. Carney added that the entire proceeding is “pure politics.” This is the first time the House of Representatives has found a cabinet member in contempt.
Complete coverage of Fast and Furious
In addition to the criminal contempt charges, the House also voted on Thursday on civil contempt charges. The civil charges could head to federal court where it would go through the normal rules and procedures and could take years to litigate.
The court could rule that Holder has to comply with the House’s demands in providing the documents, comply in part or not at all.
When Democrats voted in 2008 to hold President George W. Bush’s White House counsel Harriet Miers and chief-of-staff Josh Bolton in contempt, the courts ruled on the case after Mr. Bush had already left office.
Holder has testified before Congress nine times and turned over thousands of pages of documents. But Republicans investigating the scandal say the answers to many outstanding questions could lie in tens of thousands of pages of documents the Justice Department has declined to turn over, under the claim that they’re part of the internal deliberative process or ongoing investigations.
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WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder won’t be prosecuted for being in contempt of Congress because he is insulated by President Barack Obama’s use of executive privilege, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Friday.
House Republicans voted Thursday to hold the attorney general in contempt of Congress — a historical first — for failing to provide certain documents they sought relating to the Justice Department’s botched Fast and Furious operation. The vote came after months of threats by Republicans warning they would make the dramatic move if Holder didn’t give them the documents they wanted, without condition, a process that Democrats and the administration have dismissed as a political stunt. In the end, President Barack Obama invoked executive privilege and directed Holder not to release certain documents for legal reasons. The contempt vote happened anyway.
But for all the GOP fireworks, Carney said that Holder won’t be prosecuted for the criminal charge.
“It is an established principle, dating back to the administration of President Ronald Reagan, that the Justice Department does not pursue prosecution in a contempt case when the President has asserted executive privilege,” Carney told reporters in a gaggle aboard Air Force One.
“The assertion of executive privilege makes the contempt matter moot, if you will. I mean, I’m not a lawyer, so I’m probably not using quite the precise language. But it is my understanding, and I would refer you to the Justice Department, that dating back to the administration of President Reagan that prosecutions will not take place under this, in this circumstance.”
A Justice Department spokeswoman echoed Carney’s comments and pointed to a letter that was delivered Thursday to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) outlining the same argument.
“Across administrations of both political parties, the longstanding position of the Justice Department has been and remains that we will not prosecute an Executive Branch official under the contempt of Congress statute for withholding subpoenaed documents pursuant to a presidential assertion of executive privilege,” reads the letter, signed by Deputy Attorney General James Cole.
Regardless of the Reagan-era tradition, it was already highly unlikely that Holder would have faced prosecution. The criminal charge refers the dispute to a District of Columbia U.S. attorney, who was appointed by Obama and serves under Holder, meaning he’s not likely to seek action.
The House passed a separate, civil contempt charge that authorizes the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to sue the Justice Department to try to force Holder to turn over more documents. But that effort could get tied up in court for years.
Carney again called the contempt vote “pure politics” and noted that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who led the 18-month investigation, said he had no evidence that Holder or the White House knew about the activities of Fast and Furious. Even former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who was “not a political friend” of President Bill Clinton, refused to hold Attorney General Janet Reno in contempt when some in his party wanted him to, Carney said.
Issa and House Republican leaders have “made a strategic choice to try to somehow make a political play here that I don’t really think will be effective,” Carney said. “Perhaps short of inspiring some small segment of the American electorate out there, I think it will turn off most Americans who just are sick of the political gamesmanship in Washington.”
Fast & Furious Photo Gallery:
n this Dec. 8, 2011 file photo, House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., left, shakes hands with Attorney General Eric Holder on Capitol Hill in Washington. Holder is proposing to meet with Issa by Monday to settle a dispute over Justice Department documents the congressman is demanding on a flawed gun-smuggling probe. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Attorney General Eric Holder walks through Statuary Hall to speak to reporters following his meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Attorney General Eric Holder speaks to reporters following his meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 19, 2012. Holder wants a House panel to drop plans to try to hold him in contempt of Congress, and the panel’s chairman wants more Justice Department documents regarding Operation Fast and Furious, a flawed gun-smuggling probe in Arizona. Holder and Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, met in an effort to resolve their dispute over the investigation of Fast and Furious by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that Issa chairs. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
ep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., speaks to reporters following his meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 19, 2012. Holder wants a House panel to drop plans to try to hold him in contempt of Congress, and the panel’s chairman wants more Justice Department documents regarding Operation Fast and Furious, a flawed gun-smuggling probe in Arizona. Holder and Issa met in an effort to resolve their dispute over the investigation of Fast and Furious by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that Issa chairs. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Attorney General Eric holder speaks to reporters following his meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 19, 2012. Holder wants a House panel to drop plans to try to hold him in contempt of Congress, and the panel’s chairman wants more Justice Department documents regarding Operation Fast and Furious, a flawed gun-smuggling probe in Arizona. Holder and Rep. Issa met in an effort to resolve their dispute over the investigation of Fast and Furious by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that Issa chairs.(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
he House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, led by Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., right, considers whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the ranking member, speaks at left. In a showdown with President Barack Obama’s administration, House Republicans are pressing for more Justice Department documents on the flawed gun-smuggling probe known as Operation Fast and Furious that resulted in hundreds of guns illicitly purchased in Arizona gun shops winding up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
ep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., center, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, confers with an aide as the panel considers a vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the ranking member, second from left, speaks with Rep. Carolyn Maloney, N.Y., who authored an amendment in support of Holder. In a showdown with President Barack Obama’s administration, House Republicans had pressed for more Justice Department documents on the flawed gun-smuggling probe known as Operation Fast and Furious that resulted in hundreds of guns illicitly purchased in Arizona gun shops winding up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., left, and the committee’s ranking Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., go to the House Rules Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 27, 2012, to argue procedures as the House of Representatives prepares to vote on whether Attorney General Eric Holder is in contempt of Congress because he has refused to give the Oversight Committee all the documents it wants related to Operation Fast and Furious, the flawed gun-smuggling probe involving Mexican drug cartels. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
From left, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Md., Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., Rep, Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., right, and many House Democrats walk out of the Capitol during the vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt, Thursday, June 28, 2012, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
“BARACK” The Vote
Filed under: 2012 Election, Black History, Business, Causes, Court Room/Legal, Crime, DOJ, Gun Control, Gun Violence, History, News, Opinion, Politics, POTUS Obama, The White House Tagged: | Barack Obama, Congress, Contempt of Congress, Eric Holder, George W. Bush, John Boehner, Justice Department, White House
Jueseppi B.
[...] DOJ To Congress: SUCK It Again; White House Says Holder Won’t Be Prosecuted For Contempt (theobamacrat.com) [...]
Issa and the GOP clowns really need to be prosecuted for their treachery. What they have put the Obama Administration and this county through this past 3 years is really disgusting.
The funny part of all this Fast & Furious shit is the facts. Bush started this mission, Obama stopped this mission, The GOPukes KNEW that Obama would smash this contempt shit beforehand, the Oversight Committee knew it would never go further than a contempt vote……they knew AG Holder would NOT be prosecuted. So Why? Why waste months, why waste time & cash on garbage? Why? To what purpose/gain?
Unlike Clinton, Obama had no character and business vulnerabilities. The only way to attack him is through obstruction of bills, obstruction and attacks on his team, lies and exaggeration, and cultural division. The Right can be more blatant with their actions and comments and get away with it because they are backed by a potent combination of powerful special interests and the low information white voters they perpetually dupe.
Suggestions on how to reduce them to rubble?
Getting accurate info out like you’re doing. But also, in my opinion, an important thing to do right now is continue to register as many Obama friendly voters as possible. Then hopefully Obama campaign, churches, and other groups mobilize to get all these newly registered people to the polls in the face of any voter supression in key states. I know here in North Carolina the campaign is aggressively registering voters, and my understanding is that the Dem governor killed voter supression here. Even with historic turnout in 2008, I recall only about 60% of registered voters showed at the polls. It would be nice to improve upon that number on the Obama side. The concern I have is leading up to election day what plan does the campaign have to follow up, mobilize, educate, transport newly registered and vulnerable voters to the polls in the face of Republican supression in important states?
I have faith that a man as smart as POTUS Obama, will have all the vital points of election day covered by his campaign workers. He does not strike me as one who leaves things to chance, or other people he does not personally know.