Allahpundit
Hot Air
4/8/2014
Via the DC, enjoy his peevishness while bearing in mind (a) this guy has been in criminal contempt of the House for nearly two years, with 17 Democrats having voted against him; (b) the contempt charge stems from a claim of executive privilege in refusing to turn over documents related to Operation Fast & Furious, exactly the sort of presidential secrecy that candidate Obama grumbled about vis-a-vis Bush; and (c) Holder actually lost a motion to dismiss the contempt charge in federal court last year, with the judge ruling that an unreviewable right of executive privilege would be an affront to the Constitution. Somehow, given all of that, Holder’s the one who’s ticked off here, not Gohmert.
Expect more of this before 2017, because it’s going to be a looong time before we get a final decision.
–
–
Update: Congressman refuses to question Holder, suggests he should be in jail… (video)
I’m committed to maintaining the Constitutional balance of power and the authority that this legislative branch has, and I just don’t think it’s appropriate that Mr. Holder be here. If an American citizen had not complied with one of the Justice Department’s subpoenas, they would be in jail and not sitting here in front of me, testifying.
Update 2: Attorney General Eric Holder has feisty encounter with Republican congressman (video) Attorney General Holder claims he has ‘vast amounts’ of discretion in enforcing federal law. He was dismissive of Republicans’ questioning on Capitol Hill.
…It was when Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX) addressed Attorney General Holder about the document request that the Obama administration official appeared to lose his temper. “I was fairly specific to make sure that I got the documents that the Department of Justice handed over to people convicted of supporting terrorism. They’re terrorists. We’ve given them the documents,” Gohmert said…
…“As a former judge, I’d never have asked questions of someone who’s been held in contempt. We waited ‘til the contempt was purged, and then we asked questions.”…
GOWDY: You don’t have discretion on whether to follow the law or not…
HOLDER: I disagree… (video)
…Holder believe his ‘discretion’ gives him the power to ignore the law as long as he can cite ‘resources’ as the excuse. This is exactly the argument Obama is using regarding deportation of illegals. They ignore congressional law and claim they don’t have the resources needed to fully enforce the law. In reality they are pushing their own agendas which, in this case, is trying to keep minorities out of prison even when drug amounts are severe enough that the law demands prison time.
I would add that Holder also seems fairly outmatched in this debate with Gowdy, as he confuses prosecution and sentencing. Not only does Gowdy expose Holder’s motives, he also exposes what a light weight Holder is when it comes to defending his lawlessness…
