A judge has ruled in favor of the House Oversight Committee in its fight with Eric Holder and the Justice Department over Fast and Furious documents.
In her decision, United States District Judge Amy Berman Jackson wrote:
The fact that this case arises out of a dispute between two branches of government does not make it non-justiciable; Supreme Court precedent establishes that the third branch has an equally fundamental role to play, and that judges not only may, but sometimes must, exercise their responsibility to interpret the Constitution and determine whether another branch has exceeded its power. In the Court’s view, endorsing the proposition that the executive may assert an unreviewable right to withhold materials from the legislature would offend the Constitution more than undertaking to resolve the specific dispute that has been presented here.
Holder had stonewalled on the release of Fast and Furious documents for months, asking President Obama to assert executive privilege. The House then voted to hold the attorney general in contempt. That didn’t produce the documents that have been subpoenaed, though.
Great news. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was shot and killed near the Arizona/Mexico border in December 2010, and answers are long overdue.
Related:
Calls for Holder to resign coming in Fast and Furious
Your choice, Eric Holder: Comply with Fast and Furious subpoena by Jun. 20 or face contempt citation
Judge denies DOJ’s motion to dismiss subpoena in Fast and Furious case
