House Republicans investigating the Fast and Furious scandal have gotten the go-ahead by their party leaders to pursue a contempt citation against Attorney General Eric Holder, senior congressional aides told CBS News. The resolution will accuse Holder and his Justice Department of obstructing the congressional probe into the allegations that the government let thousands of weapons fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.
The citation would attempt to force Holder to turn over tens of thousands of pages documents related to the probe, which has entered its second year.
For months, congressional Republicans probing ATF's Fast and Furious "Gunwalker" scandal - led by California Republican Darrell Issa, have been investigating a contempt citation. They've worked quietly behind the scenes to build support among fellow Republicans, since it could ultimately face a full House vote. CBS News has confirmed that House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, has given Rep. Issa, who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the go-ahead to proceed. A 48-page long draft contempt resolution is being prepared.
How does a contempt proceeding against the executive branch work?
Both Democrats and Republicans have used it, but rarely. After former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten refused to comply with congressional subpoenas on the George W. Bush administration firing of U.S. attorneys in 2008, the Democrat-led House voted to hold them in contempt.
The House then went to a federal district court seeking a declaratory judgment and injunction ordering Miers and Bolten to comply with the subpoenas. The district court ruled in favor of the House, the ruling was subsequently stayed, and a compromise was reached.
Under President Clinton, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee voted to hold Attorney General Janet Reno in contempt over documents regarding campaign finance law violations.
In the case of Holder and Fast and Furious, the Oversight Committee's contempt resolution would eventually have a full House vote and, if passed, Congress could seek enforcement through federal courts. Passage of the resolution itself could, however, encourage the Justice Department to comply even without a court order.
On Friday, it was reported by the L.A. Times that Republican House leaders had drafted a proposed contempt of Congress citation against Holder, alleging he and the Justice Department have “obstructed and slowed” the Congressional investigation into the Fast and Furious gun-walking operation.
The Justice Department told POLITICO on Friday that it strongly disputed the notion that it wasn’t complying with the Congressional subpoena, pointing out that it has regularly sent documents to Congressional investigators and had provided officials for hearings, briefings and interviews. A Justice Department spokesperson further noted that Attorney General Holder has testified on the issue of Fast and Furious at least seven times in the past year.
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), also a member of the Oversight Committee, threatened Thursday that if Holder didn’t fully respond to the subpoena by Memorial Day on May 28th, the contempt of Congress proceedings would begin and the Justice Department could see a cut in funding.
In January, Issa wrote a letter to Holder, saying “this committee will have no alternative but to move forward with proceedings to hold you in contempt of Congress” if Holder and the DOJ didn’t produce documents they demanded relating to the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal.
In February, the Oversight Committee chairman escalated the threat further, asking the Justice Department to designate an individual to “serve as a conduit for dealing with the contempt proceedings, should the department continue to ignore the committee’s subpoena.”
Chaffetz said that despite the urgent nature of the situation the Justice Department has not fully complied with the questions of Congressional investigators.
“You have a dead U.S. Border Patrol Agent, you have thousands of weapons that were knowingly given out by the Department of Justice to the bad guys. We gave them to the criminals. We have nearly 300 dead in Mexico and a host of questions that that the Department of Justice has never, ever answered,” said the Utah Republican.
Under the Fast and Furious program, weapons were allowed to be illegally purchased in hopes of tracking gun traffickers and drug cartel leaders. But the ATF, which operates within the Justice Department, lost track of these firearms, and many were allowed to cross into Mexico.
Firearms linked to the operation were later found to have been involved in the December 2010 shooting death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, bringing the operation to public attention.
The citation would attempt to force Holder to turn over tens of thousands of pages documents related to the probe, which has entered its second year.
For months, congressional Republicans probing ATF's Fast and Furious "Gunwalker" scandal - led by California Republican Darrell Issa, have been investigating a contempt citation. They've worked quietly behind the scenes to build support among fellow Republicans, since it could ultimately face a full House vote. CBS News has confirmed that House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, has given Rep. Issa, who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the go-ahead to proceed. A 48-page long draft contempt resolution is being prepared.
Both Democrats and Republicans have used it, but rarely. After former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten refused to comply with congressional subpoenas on the George W. Bush administration firing of U.S. attorneys in 2008, the Democrat-led House voted to hold them in contempt.
The House then went to a federal district court seeking a declaratory judgment and injunction ordering Miers and Bolten to comply with the subpoenas. The district court ruled in favor of the House, the ruling was subsequently stayed, and a compromise was reached.
Under President Clinton, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee voted to hold Attorney General Janet Reno in contempt over documents regarding campaign finance law violations.
In the case of Holder and Fast and Furious, the Oversight Committee's contempt resolution would eventually have a full House vote and, if passed, Congress could seek enforcement through federal courts. Passage of the resolution itself could, however, encourage the Justice Department to comply even without a court order.
On Friday, it was reported by the L.A. Times that Republican House leaders had drafted a proposed contempt of Congress citation against Holder, alleging he and the Justice Department have “obstructed and slowed” the Congressional investigation into the Fast and Furious gun-walking operation.
The Justice Department told POLITICO on Friday that it strongly disputed the notion that it wasn’t complying with the Congressional subpoena, pointing out that it has regularly sent documents to Congressional investigators and had provided officials for hearings, briefings and interviews. A Justice Department spokesperson further noted that Attorney General Holder has testified on the issue of Fast and Furious at least seven times in the past year.
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), also a member of the Oversight Committee, threatened Thursday that if Holder didn’t fully respond to the subpoena by Memorial Day on May 28th, the contempt of Congress proceedings would begin and the Justice Department could see a cut in funding.
In January, Issa wrote a letter to Holder, saying “this committee will have no alternative but to move forward with proceedings to hold you in contempt of Congress” if Holder and the DOJ didn’t produce documents they demanded relating to the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal.
In February, the Oversight Committee chairman escalated the threat further, asking the Justice Department to designate an individual to “serve as a conduit for dealing with the contempt proceedings, should the department continue to ignore the committee’s subpoena.”
“You have a dead U.S. Border Patrol Agent, you have thousands of weapons that were knowingly given out by the Department of Justice to the bad guys. We gave them to the criminals. We have nearly 300 dead in Mexico and a host of questions that that the Department of Justice has never, ever answered,” said the Utah Republican.
Under the Fast and Furious program, weapons were allowed to be illegally purchased in hopes of tracking gun traffickers and drug cartel leaders. But the ATF, which operates within the Justice Department, lost track of these firearms, and many were allowed to cross into Mexico.
Firearms linked to the operation were later found to have been involved in the December 2010 shooting death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, bringing the operation to public attention.
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