Contempt Vote Tomorrow

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

Last week the Congressional Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted 23 to 17 (down party lines) to hold to hold US Attorney General Eric Holder in Contempt of Congress for attempting to Obstruct thier ivestigation into the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry who was killed by a rifle registered to the US Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (BATFE).

It has since been revealed that BATFE Agents along the Arizona/Mexico Border had been providing weapons to the Signolla Drug Cartel. I posted about the story when initially broke here.

Holder initially denied any knowledge of of the policy, and later defended it as simply the continuation of a Bush-era program called "Operation Wide Reciever". He has since withdrawn those statements. Holder has not yet been formally held in contempt of Congress. The full House still needs to approve the resolution in order for that to happen. But President Obama has elected to support Holder by asserting executive privilege over the documents subpoenaed by the Oversight Committee.

This raises some interesting questions...

Actual lawyers feel free to corrct me, but as I understand it executive privilege allows the president to withhold documents and other materials that would reveal advisory opinions and recommendations by which governmental policies are formulated. By invoking executive privilege Obama and Holder are essentially admitting that "allowing" guns into Mexico was a policy descision.

Cynics have theorized that this was an effort to justify increased Gun-Control and Federal intervention in southern states. Others see it as simply stupidity and negligence. But what the question I find truly fascinating is "Why has the Obama adminisration chosen to make a stand here?"

I've been expecting Holder to get the boot for a couple of years now but it still hasn't happened. Historically Obama has been willing to sever ties with people who's association has become a liability. Holder is becoming a massive target for the Right and seems to rate an indifferent shrug from the left, so why protect him?

I have a few theories which (in order of increasing cynicism) are...

1: Holder and Obama are friends and Obama is genuinely prepared to risk his own reputation to protect him.

2: Obama doesn't think the charges will stick and sees this as an opprotunity to fuck over a Republican-lead investigation.

3: In relation to #3 Obama and Holder have bought into thier own hype and actually believe that nobody cares about violence in Mexico, they just hate black people.

4: The subpoenaed documents include information that could implicate Obama in wrong doing.

5: Holder has dirt on Obama and is blackmailing him.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Comments

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

You forgot:

6. Obama is defending his people, regardless of wrongdoing.

All Presidents back up their staffers. It looks a lot worse to everyone in their party when they don't, and throwing them under the bus could be a lot worse for his reputation than defending him. Nobody wants to work for someone who is willing to discard them so easily. By not invoking executive privilege, Obama would actually be taking a pretty sharp detour from history.

Whether or not it's right is up for debate, but at least it's consistent.

[cheezyfish.livejournal.com]

I don't blame Obama for invoking executive privilege. I actually would have expected him to. It might turn out that he was just trying back up his staff, or it might turn out that he is also covering his own ass (in my view a less likely scenario). However, I don't think it will stand up in court if it comes to that.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

I do think his resorting to Nixon's pet tool to cover up anything he did at the very least shows that he's not averse to irony. In a worse sense it shows that Obama is really in a way a bad candidate who's been saved by facing worse ones.

[cheezyfish.livejournal.com]

We don't know if Obama did anything wrong at this point. I think its very possible that there is no wrong doing at all by either Obama or Holder, though it at the very least raises the question as to why not release the documents to avoid the contempt vote?

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

For the same reason the government never wants to release any sensitive documents. Granted, I think they should, but for them it's a matter of principle.

[cheezyfish.livejournal.com]

I think at this point, the cats out of the bag. Just need to bleep out a few names and places and times where necessary.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

We didn't know that with Nixon, either, but thanks to him other Presidents do have it rougher.

[cheezyfish.livejournal.com]

I consider that a good thing. *added to my list of good things Nixon did*

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Obama signed the NDAA, he backed down over closing Guantanamo because Congress wouldn't hear of it, he has presided over more raids on state medical marijuana than George W Bush. Obama is center-right, making him at best a moderate improvement over Republicans.

[cheezyfish.livejournal.com]

also, I think that is basically #1

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

The risking his reputation thing is what I don't agree with. All of his points have this partisan twinge to them.

[cheezyfish.livejournal.com]

Well, if he is supporting his staffer even though he was in the wrong and knows it, I would say that he is risking his reputation, no? What would you think of Obama if he was trying to cover up a crime in his administration? I think a lot of Americans would go WTF?

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

The pivotal question is who is he risking his reputation to? We're not talking about the electorate here, but the people in the government. Throwing Holder, and subsequently the entire CIA under the bus also has serious ramifications to a Presidency. It could also be seen as an anti-military and even anti-security move. I mean there's so many ways this could damage his reputation both ways, but to assume it only damages it one way? Come on.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

In other words, Obama is not as despicable as Dick Nixon.

[cheezyfish.livejournal.com]

His number one accomplishment?

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Who? Obama or Nixon?

[cheezyfish.livejournal.com]

Obama

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Getting elected in the first place was his greatest feat to date. Staying in office will also mark another significant achievement.

[cheezyfish.livejournal.com]

let me rephrase that "His number one accomplishment as President"

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Let's see, there's comprehensive health care and closing Gitmo.

Oops! You're looking for an accomplishment. How about resisting pressure to extend the presence of combat troops in Iraq?