The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee announced it will meet on Wednesday, Jun. 20 to consider a contempt citation for Attorney General Eric Holder. If Holder coughs up the Operation Fast and Furious documents subpoenaed by the Committee, he may narrowly avoid the citation.
If the death of border patrol agent Brian Terry wasn’t enough to convince Holder to cooperate, will the threat of a contempt citation do the trick?
Should a majority vote find that Holder is in contempt, the matter could be brought before a full House vote.
More from Chad Pergram who covers Congress for FOX News:
House panel must vote first on contempt resolution. Then moves to House floor. Holder would not be in contempt until full House votes.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 11, 2012
Rep Louie Gohmert (R-TX) said last week that the House GOP needed "new leadership" if they did not forge ahead with contempt resolution.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 11, 2012
House GOP leadership greenlighted House Oversight panel to go ahead with contempt resolution effort for Holder.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 11, 2012
Issa on #FastandFurious: Attorney General Holder has failed to meet his legal obligations pursuant to the October 12 subpoena.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 11, 2012
Issa says "the Justice Department can still stop the process of contempt" by complying with the winter supoena on #FastandFurious.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 11, 2012
Issa says they "can reach agreement on other materials & render the process of contempt unnecessary" if AG provides #FastandFurious info.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 11, 2012
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@speakerBoehner: The DoJ is out of excuses. Congress has given Attorney General Holder more than enough time to fully cooperate…
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 11, 2012
@speakerboehner: Congress will have no choice but to move forward with holding the AG in contempt for obstructing an ongoing investigation
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 11, 2012
House oversight chair @darrellissa schedules vote to hold AG Holder in contempt for #fastandfurious http://t.co/JtZSxEdS
— Kevin Smith (@KG_Smith) June 11, 2012
From Rep. Darrell Issa’s statement:
“For over a year and a half, the House Oversight Committee, with Senator Chuck Grassley, has conducted a joint investigation of reckless conduct in Operation Fast and Furious. With the support of House leadership, the Republican Conference, and even some Democratic Members who have expressed concern to the White House over the Justice Department’s failure to cooperate, this investigation has yielded significant results. The Attorney General has acknowledged that the operation was fundamentally flawed and he has committed to take steps to ensure that it does not occur again. Evidence found in applications for wiretaps shows that although senior officials were given information about reckless tactics, they still signed affirmations that they had reviewed the investigation and determined that electronic surveillance of phones was necessary.“Despite what the investigation has uncovered through whistleblowers and documents the Justice Department had tried to hide, the Committee’s work is not yet complete. Attorney General Holder has failed to meet his legal obligations pursuant to the October 12 subpoena. House leaders reiterated this failure in a May 18, 2012, letter. Specifically, the Justice Department has refused to turn over critical documents on the grounds that they show internal Department deliberations and were created after February 4, 2011 – the date Justice issued a false denial to Congress. Contempt will focus on the failure to provide these post February 4th documents.
“The Obama Administration has not asserted Executive Privilege or any other valid privilege over these materials and it is unacceptable that the Department of Justice refuses to produce them. These documents pertain to Operation Fast and Furious, the claims of whistleblowers, and why it took the Department nearly a year to retract false denials of reckless tactics. The Justice Department’s actions have obstructed the investigation. Congress has an obligation to investigate unanswered questions about attempts to smear whistleblowers, failures by Justice Department officials to be truthful and candid with the congressional investigation, and the reasons for the significant delay in acknowledging reckless conduct in Operation Fast and Furious.
“While the Justice Department can still stop the process of contempt, this will only occur through the delivery of the post February 4, 2011, documents related to Operation Fast and Furious and whistleblower accusations subpoenaed by the Committee. If the Attorney General decides to produce these subpoenaed documents, I am confident we can reach agreement on other materials and render the process of contempt unnecessary.”
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