Today, the House voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over papers subpoenaed in connection with the "Fast & Furious" arms sale program (on which see here). He is the first sitting Attorney General in US history to be held in contempt of Congress.
I certainly understand the politics of this decision, especially on a day that dominated by bad news for Republicans from the Supreme Court's ruling in the Affordable Care Act case. What I don't understand is the decision to hold Attorney General Holder in contempt for failing to turn over subpoenaed papers that his boss, President Obama, had ordered him not to turn over on a claim of Executive Privilege. Whatever one thinks of the president's decision, once it was made it seems Holder had no choice.
Juan Williams of Fox News (yes, Fox News) explains here exactly why the contempt citation is mere political theater.
It's seems this whole, let's call it "hot air affair" from the House Republicans has to do with their anethema to gun control. Looking at the facts behind the Republican chutzpah, we see a feat of logic to rival Godel.
ReplyDeleteIt seems the Republicans claim to be upset about the ATF losing track of guns to suspected gun smugglers; which resulted in the shooting/killing of an ATF agent by one of these weapons. Now they want "accountability" of the ATF's handling of the mess.
One: Since when did the Republicans care about Federal employees?
Two: Since when did the Republicans care about gun control in the U.S.?
The Sage of Wake Forest