Posted on 06/21/2012 11:30:43 AM PDT by tsowellfan
President Barack Obama had no justification to assert executive privilege in refusing to hand over documents to Congress concerning the Fast and Furious operation, says Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation.
“The assertion of executive privilege appears to be just the latest gambit to keep any of the political appointees within a highly politicized Justice Department from having to take responsibility for the serious mistakes in judgment made in this operation,” he writes in The Hill.
Fast and Furious, run by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, involved allowing U.S. weapons into the hands of Mexican criminals. The idea was to trace those weapons to Mexican drug kingpins. Instead they were found at the site of the murder of a U.S. border agent.
The operation’s mistakes “killed a U.S. agent and many Mexican citizens...
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
The tactics are obvious: Run down the clock before the elections.
Obama doesn’t even know or care what he claims is ‘privileged’!~
There is no ‘privilege log’ of the 130,000+ documents Holder hasn’t turned over. Making a ‘privilege log’ of what docs are claimed to be privileged is SOP in these disputes.
Obama is making an “open” executive privilege claim of any documents.
It’s bizarre.
He didn't do that. He refused to produce the documents without giving a legal reason for 18 months or so until the threat of contempt was imminent. To me this shows that it is nothing more than a stalling tactic. Even if the privilege doesn't apply, it will take until after the election to decide the issue. That is the only reason it was invoked.
It's mandatory in any Federal Court under the rules of procedure.
Gee Sherlock: You wouldn’t kid us would you?
Certainly a tactic but hugely wrong headed if you want to be reelected. This whole thing is going to hang around his neck like week old road kill in 90 degree heat. Not only does he stink but everyone around him comes off smelling bad. That said, what else would he be expected to do. Given his personality (disorders) its certain he wasn’t going to release anything incriminating. Now he’s just going to simmer the summer away leaving all to the lurid imaginations of his colleges, enemies and simpletons of the MSM. I think it would have been less damaging to release the facts and spin them. The press would have been more than willing to help.
You are exactly correct. If the documents are privileged, it is imperative that the privilege be claimed immediately. As another poster noted, it is necessary to create a “privilege log” identifying the document, and stating what is considered privileged about the document. Not all of the documents requested could possibly be construed as “privileged.” Therefore, there is no justifiable reason for a blanket assertion of “executive privilege” to all of the documents.
It’s clear that this is a stall tactic designed to get the administration past the November election. Don’t forget; Watergate was publicly known before the 1972 election, and Nixon still won. It was the media hounds who brought him down in his second term. Today, the media hounds are 0bama’s loyal lap dogs and will sweep this under the rug if they can.
The Republicans don’t have a viable “nuclear option” either; the House can vote Articles of Impeachment, but there is no way they get a conviction on a trial in the Harry Reid controlled Senate. Heck, he’d probably schedule the trial for right after the debate on the budget (which means never).
Rumor has it that Issa has the documents already. But if the media won’t report on it if he releases them, it does little good.
So where does that leave us? The only available remedy as I see it is the ballot box in November, and this will not be the winning issue just as Watergate was not the winning issue in 1972. The economy is the winning issue; Joe Sixpack doesn’t care about Mexicans shooting each other but he cares, and cares a lot, if we are in another Recession. He cares a lot if he has already lost his job, or is worried that he’s about to.
I think we in another recession already, and it will be officially announced in August or September. That decides 0bama’s fate, and ultimately Holder goes with him.
Just to clarify, not one but TWO Agents were killed that we know of with these weapons illegally transfered to criminals.
Everyone knows by now Brian Terry a Border Patrol Agent.
The other was ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata.
Who’s family Yesteday filed a wrongful Death Suit against the DOJ. Oh boy, Is discover gonna be fun for them. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-57457277-10391695/ice-agents-family-files-wrongful-death-claim-against-justice-dept/
By the way, anybody got the numbers of how many Mexicans were killed in Mexico as a result of Fast And Furious?
File and Vote Articles of Impeachment in the House against Obama et.al. Then the Senate has no choice but to hold a trial preferably in October. Reid and the Democrats can’t fillibuster or say anything. They have to remain silent.
Chief Justice Roberts of the Supreme Court would preside.
There are 24 Democrat seats up for election in November. Force them to make a very public vote on the High Crimes and misdemeanors of one Barack Hussein Obama.
There is no political downside to the Republicans in this matter.
NONE...
Well said!
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