Just Furious: House committee schedules contempt vote against US Attorney General Eric Holder
Source: cbsnews.com
CBS News has learned the House Oversight Committee will vote next week on whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. It’s the fourth time in 30 years that Congress has launched a contempt action against an executive branch member.This time, the dispute stems from Holder failing to turn over documents subpoenaed on October 12, 2011 in the Fast and Furious "gunwalking" investigation.
The Justice Department has maintained it has cooperated fully with the congressional investigation, turning over tens of thousands of documents and having Holder testify to Congress on the topic at least eight times.
However, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., says the Justice Department has refused to turn over tens of thousands of pages of documents. Those include materials created after Feb. 4, 2011, when the Justice Department wrote a letter to Congress saying no gunwalking had occurred. The Justice Department later retracted the denial.
"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," Issa wrote in an announcement of the vote to be released shortly. It will reveal the vote is scheduled for Wednesday, June 20.
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Read the full article at: cbsnews.com
Texas Sen. Cornyn calls on Eric Holder to resign as attorney general
By Maria Recio | KansasCity.com
In a riveting moment at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday morning, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, barely containing his anger, told Attorney General Eric Holder that he should resign.
Cornyn has accused Holder of misleading Congress over Operation Fast and Furious, in which federal officials let guns illegally "walk" into Mexico from Arizona with the goal of tracking them to drug cartels. Some weapons were used in violent crimes, including the slaying of a U.S. border agent.
Cornyn has also rebuked Holder for refusing to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate leaked national security information, and he has fumed over the Justice Department’s block of the Texas voter ID law this year.
During his turn to speak at the committee hearing, Cornyn did not mince words.
"You still resist coming clean about what you knew and when you knew it with regard to Operation Fast and Furious," Cornyn said. "You won’t cooperate with a legitimate congressional investigation, and you won’t hold anyone, including yourself, accountable. Your department blocks states from implementing attempts to combat voter fraud. In short, you’ve violated the public trust, in my view, by failing and refusing to perform the duties of your office.
"So, Mr. Attorney General, it’s more with sorrow than anger that I would say you leave me with no alternative but to join those who call upon you to resign your office."
Holder was even-keeled in his response.
"I don’t have any intention of resigning," he said, after calling Cornyn’s list of grievances "almost breathtaking in its inaccuracy."
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Read the full article at: kansascity.com
Video from: YouTube.com
