Obama Invokes Executive Privilege Over Justice Department Fast And Furious Documents

June 20, 2012 | Filed under Barack Obama,Fast and Furious | Posted by

Well this is interesting. Facing a contempt of Congress vote in the House, Attorney General Eric Holder got President Obama to invoke executive privilege over Justice Department documents the House Oversight Committee had subpoenaed.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Dept says that President Barack Obama has asserted executive privilege over documents a House committee is seeking in an investigation of a flawed gun-smuggling probe.

In a letter to Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., a Justice Department official said the privilege applies to documents that explain how the department learned that there were problems with the investigation called Operation Fast and Furious.

Unanswered it how exactly executive privilege applies to cabinet departments…

The LA Times has reaction:

Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked how Obama could assert executive privilege “if there is no White House involvement?”

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner said Obama’s move “implies that White House officials were either involved in the ‘Fast and Furious’ operation or the cover-up that followed.”

“The administration has always insisted that wasn’t the case. Were they lying, or are they now bending the law to hide the truth?” Brendan Buck said.

Another great example of the “Most Transparent Administration Ever™.

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Posted by on June 20, 2012.
Filed under Barack Obama, Fast and Furious.
Kevin founded Wizbang in 2003. He still contributes occasionally and handles all the technical and design work for the site.

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  • Digg34

    You would think Obama would do as he always does and just throw him under the bus.

    • herddog505

      Not if The Bagman has made it clear that he won’t go under there alone.

    • Stan Brewer

      Barry won’t do that. Holder knows where all of the bodies are buried and he will spill the beans if he is thrown under the bus. Besides, Holder has been in the forefront to make sure that the Chicago style voters are not found out.

    • retired.military

      He needs him to cover for him with all the cheating in the upcoming election.

  • herddog505

    Can executive priviledge be invoked ex post facto? After all, the Congress has been after these documents for months. Why was executive priviledge not invoked before now?
    At any rate, this doesn’t look good for Barry. MiniTru has successfully managed to mostly ignore F&F, or dismissed it as a minor, “rogue” operation. With Barry saying that it’s covered by executive priviledge, even MiniTru won’t be able to ignore it. Further, even the dimmest reporter must ask, “What did Barry know and when did he know it?”

  • 914

    All this transparency is making me dizzy!!

  • jim_m

    From Uinted States v Nixon

    Neither the doctrine of separation of powers nor the generalized need for confidentiality of high-level communications, without more, can sustain an absolute, unqualified Presidential privilege of immunity from judicial process under all circumstances. See, e.g., 5 U. S. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 5 U. S. 177; Baker v. Carr, 369 U. S. 186, 369 U. S. 211. Absent a claim of need to protect military, diplomatic, or sensitive national security secrets, the confidentiality of Presidential communications is not significantly diminished by producing material for a criminal trial under the protected conditions of in camera inspection, and any absolute executive privilege under Art. II of the Constitution would plainly conflict with the function of the courts under the Constitution.

    One could argue that Congress’s subpoena power is greater than a District Court’s, especially when Congress is investigating government misconduct. This cuts to the heart of Congressional oversight and the balance of powers.

    There must be something very damning in those documents because this probably just sunk what little chance there was of Barry getting reelected.

    • 914

      one little gripe.. ‘reselected’! There!

    • herddog505

      jim_m – There must be something very damning in those documents because this probably just sunk what little chance there was of Barry getting reelected.

      I disagree:

      1. The witless morons who plan to vote for Barry will do so no matter what “reichwing rethuglikkkan partisan Faux News smears” come out;

      2. F&F is sufficiently hazy to most people that they don’t understand and don’t care about it, and MiniTru will take good care to see to it that it stays that way. It WON’T be “the ATF under Eric Holder forced gunshop owners to sell weapons to dodgy customers, and some of those weapons have turned up at murder scenes in Mexico”; it’ll be a “botched operation, started by the Bush administration, to track guns being smuggled into Mexico”.

      • http://wizbangblog.com/author/rodney-graves/ Rodney G. Graves

        There are a lot of indicators out there which suggest we are headed for a 1984 level landslide, and that it will bury 0bama and the Democrats.

        • herddog505

          I don’t say no to that (let us all hope that it comes to pass!), but I really don’t think that F&F will play much of a role in it.

          As I understand Barry’s reelection strategy, it’s divide and conquer: offer every democrat constituency group enough that they’ll turn out (or else terrify them into thinking that Romney will be worse than death for them) in the hope that he can nickel-and-dime his way to victory. That’s where the dimwits come in: they have to be stupid enough to be easily bought / frightened.

          Let’s all remember the woman from ’08 who declared her support for Barry because he would pay for her gas and mortgage. THAT’S the sort of person who’ll vote for him no matter what.

          • retired.military

            That is why he wont get no mreothan 45% of the vote and 200 electoral votes.

  • 914

    I so wish Barry would “invoke” executive privilege and create some G.. D…. jobs!?!

    I know his calendar is full of Tee times and fund raising but running guns to Mehico by Eric taxwithHolder to what end??

    S.O.B. Cost at least one person their life. I know it isn’t Waco but please, Impeach now before more die..

    BTW Romney. Skip all the bs pandering and focus on the hurt this clown has caused America..

    Landslide

    • jim_m

      Actually, it cost over 300 people their lives including at least one US law enforcement agent. Plus the only plausible reason for doing this was in order to back door gun control.

      I will also note with some amusement Sheila Jackson Lee going on TV today claiming that this was a Bush admin program on the same day that Holder sends a memo to Congressman Issa declaring that he “misspoke” when he made that claim.

      So Holder walks back the blame Bush excuse on the same day that 0bama invokes privilege, making dems look like fools everywhere.

      During a hearing last week, Attorney General Eric Holder claimed that
      his predecessor, then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey, had been briefed
      about gunwalking in Operation Wide Receiver. Now, the Department is
      retracting that statement and claiming Holder “inadvertently” made that
      claim to the Committee.

      http://hotair.com/archives/2012/06/20/sheila-jackson-lee-this-ff-debacle-started-under-bush/

      • 914

        I was trivilaizing the travesty. Even one is priceless! Barry should be impeeched for that nasty duck hook if nothing else..

        Holder is just a pansical little pawn in Barry’s scam..

  • 914

    Holder is in contempt! The only way he sees the bottom of the bus is if Barry duck hooks a golf ball there.

  • jim_m

    For any who doubt that the invocation of exec privilege is being done to hide serious wrong doing we should understand exactly what is being hidden:

    The documents being sought are related to

    1. Extensive retaliation against the whistleblowers.

    2. Post-Feb. 4 DOJ documents about the false Feb. 4 letter (the one claiming that no guns were walked), communications with the White House about F&F after
    Feb. 4, and other DOJ documents involving the (alleged) continuing
    cover-up after Feb. 4.

    While Fast & Furious was going on, personnel at the National Security Council in the White House received information about it, although the full extent of what they were told is not yet clear. The contempt resolution is based on a document subpoena which was issued in October 2011.

    According to Attorney General Holder, the DOJ has 140,000 documents related to Fast & Furious. Fewer than 8,000 have been provided to Congress pursuant to subpoenas. The contempt vote has been narrowed to 1,300 documents. In refusing to comply with the House subpoenas, the DOJ has refused to create a privilege log–which would identify withheld documents, and the legal reason for their being withheld.

    http://www.volokh.com/2012/06/20/is-president-obamas-assertion-of-executive-privilege-valid/
    In all the president is covering up for retaliation against whistleblowers, a violation of federal law. He is covering up a letter to Congress that was an out and out lie and opens the authors of that letter to perjury charges. He is covering up the illegal coordination of testimony of potential witnesses before congress, and he is covering up whatever the contents of the over 130,000 documents he refuses to turn over.

    This is not insignificant. It involves a serious cover up and multiple violations of federal law.

    • retired.military

      Pejury . On you mean like Bill Clinton. We saw how that went. Holder will be pardoned along with Rahm and valerie Jarret in Jan 2013 right before Obama has to leave office. (most likely dragged out by the Secret Service).

  • Commander_Chico

    Executive privilege is bullshit. There is no privilege to hide your decision making process from the American people.

    All of these theories of executive power are leading us to tyranny. Of course, none of you were complaining when Bush claimed the power to throw Americans in the stockade and torture them without trial.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay

      Executive privilege goes as far back as Thomas Jefferson. I just think Issa is massively overreaching and trying to make a name for himself. Hell, I like him when he focuses on technology issues. But this is ridiculous.

      Hell, even Boehner and Cantor are saying that he’s going too far.

      I don’t see this ending well for Republicans if the public wakes up and asks them why the hell are they focusing on Holder instead of the economy.

      • jim_m

        Yeah because the public is totally behind the president hiding behind exec privilege to cover up retaliation against whistleblowers, murder, and a presidential cover up of felonies.

        Look at my post above about what obama is claiming privilege over. It exceeds what Nixon claimed. He might have been able to weasel out of this 3 years ago, but everyone has had enough of his bs.

        • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay


          Yeah because the public is totally behind the president hiding behind exec privilege to cover up retaliation against whistleblowers, murder, and a presidential cover up of felonies.

          Right… Ongoing criminal investigations and you have Issa going on a witch hunt.

          Look, there’s plenty to go after Issa for.

          Go after him for his statement that due process is the not the same as judicial process.

          Go after him for detaining innocent people in jail.

          Hell, go after him for mandating wiretapping.

          But this? This is a political ploy in an election season.

          • jim_m

            Actually, I am not aware of any official criminal investigation because the DOJ won’t investigate its own wrongdoing in this matter.

            Face it Jay, you are hopelessly behind the curve on this issue. This has been going on for a year and a half. If Holder and 0bama didn’t want this in an election year they could have ponied up the info earlier. This comes out now because they have dragged their feet and no other reason.

          • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay

            7600 documents isn’t enough info?

            They didn’t drag their feet. It’s just a political ploy to sabotage the Obama administration. I sure hope it works because this has a huge chance of backfiring in the GOP’s face…

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Murphy/100001624276605 Ryan Murphy

            So you are saying what they did in fast and furious was all above board and proper? Really?

          • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay

            Nope. Try again at ad homs, Ryan.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Murphy/100001624276605 Ryan Murphy

            ? The legal question of what happened in f&f is ad homeneim? What color is the sky in you world?

          • jim_m

            No it’s not and here is my explanation why:
            ##################################################
            ##################################################
            ##################################################
            ##################################################
            ##################################################
            ##################################################
            ##################################################
            ##################################################
            ##################################################
            ##################################################
            ##################################################
            ##################################################
            ##################################################
            ##################################################
            ##################################################
            ##################################################
            And that is why delivering 5% of the information is insufficient to understand what is going on.

          • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay

            So let’s get this straight… Don’t talk to the officials involved in the party, but look at their documents to fuel a conspiracy theory that Obama and Holder are trying to take away people’s Second Amendment rights through the persecution of F&F.

            Wow… Just… Wow…

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Murphy/100001624276605 Ryan Murphy

        Overreaching? This is absolutely, bluntly and clearly not within the defined realm of executive privilege. It really isn’t even remotely debatable, Jay …

        • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay

          That’s funny Ryan, you’re never one to debate. You’re just one to make a snide remark and disappear into the night.

          When you can show me how Issa’s not corrupt in how he utilizes his position, I might actually believe that the issue here is about executive privilege.

          • jim_m

            Any question of Issa’s corruption is entirely irrelevant. The issue is Fast & Furious and whether or not the law was broken (it appears almost certain that it was). Nice attempt at distraction though. Perhaps you could address the actual issue for once.

          • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay

            No Jim. This is theater. Issa’s using his position to benefit himself and prevent Holder from doing his job.

            Sure, Holder is not a paragon of virture, but rather than go after the things that are even more reprehensible (judicial and due process not the same, censorship of a blog for a year, lower standards on online privacy mandate) they go after him for a drug ring that was out of his control since it started under Bush. Now they want to get more and more documents when those documents are part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

            Issa’s witchhunt does not ensure that this does not happen again. It does not ensure anything in regards to whistleblowers (funny, could have sworn you were against WBs a few weeks ago…) and it does nothing to bring back those that were killed.

            Also, unless he takes back his refusal to have Michael Mukasey testify, I remain convinced that Issa is using this merely for political gain.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Murphy/100001624276605 Ryan Murphy

            “Lets ignore the actual legal issues and concentrate on personal attacks on Issa!”|

          • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay

            “Let’s ignore facts to come up with hyperbole and reflection!”

          • jim_m

            Nice lefty talking point about political theater. Maybe when Nancy Pelosi sobers up she will give you something that works.

            I suggest going and looking at what has been going on for the last year and a half. The admin has repeatedly lied and then retracted and obstructed the investigation. It has been caught withholding documents from Congress while furnishing those documents to witnesses so they could coordinate testimony (ie witness tampering).

            The admin said that it knew nothing and then documents were produced that showed that it did know. That there is a cover up is clear. That the “official” reason for the operation is bogus is clear. If this were the Bush admin (and before you go off on that Holder already walked back the claim that this began under Bush) you would be all over it. You are just too much of a hypocrite to admit it.

          • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay


            The admin has repeatedly lied and then retracted and obstructed the investigation.

            Where? They had hearings nine times and gave over 7600 documents. They’ve complied with everything but ongoing criminal investigations. Read that again Jim. Ongoing criminal investigations Which means they’re trying to do a job that finds the bad apples and creates procedures that ensure this doesn’t happen again.

            So how come Issa hasn’t called in Bush officials to testify? Answer that one question and maybe I’ll believe you. As it stands, you’re just taking the narrow view because it suits your own biased conspiracy theories.

          • jim_m

            There is an issue and you need only go to a decent law blog (I suggest the Volokh conspiracy) to get an understanding of the actually issue. Or you can just keep getting your info from the DU and Daily Kos fever swamps and presuming that you are therefore informed.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Murphy/100001624276605 Ryan Murphy

            You thinking that Issa is corrupt, while wrong, is irrelevant. At question is: Is this a valid use of executive privilege or not .. please tell me in what way it is?

      • retired.military

        If the American public wakes up and starts asking about the economy Obama wont get 30% of the vote.

        • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay

          The economy has been doing quite well. It’s the Republican Governors that were told to be quiet about the state of the economy.

          • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

            *snicker.*

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Murphy/100001624276605 Ryan Murphy

            … now we know you are living in fantasy land. Look, even LIBERAL economists say that isn’t true, where have you been living?

          • jim_m

            The economy has been doing quite well.

            Even 0bama was smart enough to walk that one back. Jeez Jay, why don’t you trash your credibility a little more? Out of touch much?

          • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay

            Nope. I’m aware that GOP obstructionism has been causing the devastation on the economy and both sectors, but his first stimulus effectively added jobs. So let’s compare the number of jobs under Bush and Obama:

            Obama – 40 months into his presidential term, there are currently more private sector jobs in the economy than when Obama came into office.

            Private sector job creation returned in February of 2010, the 13th month of President Obama’s term. Since then, the economy has added 4.3 million private sector jobs, a 4 percent increase.

            Public sector employment is now down 608,000 workers since January 2009, a 2.7 percent decline. At the same point in President Bush’s term, public sector employment was up 3.7 percent.

            But let’s look at this from the perspective of what would have given us progress…

            The expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) to four million more American kids earned the backing of a whopping eight GOP Senators.

            Last summer, it took 50 days for President Obama to get past Republican filibusters of extended unemployment benefits and the Small Business Jobs Act. As for the DISCLOSE Act, legislation designed to limit the torrent of secret campaign cash unleashed by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, in September Republican Senators prevented it from ever coming to a vote.

            Judicial nominees hit a brick wall. Cloture processes against popular bills is at an all time high. And let’s not forget who’s responsible for the debt ceiling in the first place.

            So the economy would have done better if there were more spending. But guess what. It’s Republican obstructionism that screwed it over. I’m sure that people are finding jobs and the numbers will increase and Obama has to make that case instead of allowing it to happen. Same with FDR against the bankers, same as Truman and the 80th “Do Nothing” Congress. Same with Clinton against Newt Gingrich and his obstructionism.

            Have there been more jobs as the federal government spent more? The answer is a confirmed yes. Can you prove that the American Recovery Act didn’t allow for more jobs than before it was enacted? If so, then prove it. And for once, cite your sources.

    • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

      Well, I sure didn’t complain when Lincoln suspended habeus corpus…

  • SteveCrickmore075

    Considering the Republicans and NRA will never allow the Obama administration to have a permanent director of ATF and this operation, Fast and Furious, was initiated by the Bushies in 2006, why all the indignation by Darell Issa (R) the committee chairman who has sought these documents?

    DougJ of Balloon Juice (and their reader comments) may explain the underlying to me rather inexplicable Wizbang and wingnut animus to Holder, and Obama, especially as neither pushed very hard to investigate the Bush adminstration abuses of power.

    I don’t mean to discount the “Fast and Furious” investigation. I followed what happened in Waco in the ‘90s and I don’t doubt the potential for abuse at the ATF or other federal law enforcement agencies.
    But now much of the get-Holder stuff is just because Holder is black? The last big winger target was Van Jones. I seem to remember a few more minor things in the meantime where they went after some women who were white. Okay, and Barney Frank, but he’s gay.
    It’s always about going after black people and, maybe to a lesser extent, women and gays, isn’t it?
    I’m sure it’s all just a huge coincidence.

    • jim_m

      and this operation, Fast and Furious, was initiated by the Bushies in 2006,

      Yesterday Holder sent a letter to Issa recanting his statement that the operation began under Bush. The story that this began under Bush was a complete fabrication. Try to keep up Mr Useful Idiot.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Murphy/100001624276605 Ryan Murphy

        A statement under oath: Ie, perjury …

    • Vagabond661

      People seem to forget the attacks on Herman Cain and Clarence Thomas when trying to bolster their lame arguements.

    • Conservachef

      Sorry Steve, that RAACCCISSSTTTT! card is overdrawn. It could just be that ATF allowed guns to get into the hands of drug lords, without proper tracking, and they wound up killing people- including at least one American. Now Issa (and a lot of other people) want to get to the bottom of this and find out just who knew about it, and how much they knew.

      I am really getting tired of the “if you disagree it’s because you’re racist/sexist/blahblahblahblah” meme. It’s tired, old, and overused to the point of being impotent.

      • herddog505

        Quibble: as I understand it, ATF didn’t “allow” guns to get to the cartels: they coerced, muscled, and otherwise forced gunshop owners to sell in violation of the regs even when the owners had grave reservations about the customers.

        • Conservachef

          Herddog,

          Fair enough, I was just condensing the F&F part because I was focusing on the “racist!” claim. But yes, “allowed” isn’t the right word.

          • herddog505

            Not trying to bust your chops, but our lefty friends really don’t seem to get what happened here. They are so busy trying to “prove” RAAAAACISM that they don’t bother to wonder exactly why BATF / DOJ was ORDERING unlawful gun sales, then making no apparent effort to find out where the guns went. As a result of this operation, hundreds of people – including at least two US law enforcement agents – are dead.

            But all the lefties can focus on is that we’re RAAAAACISTS for wanting to know who’d stupid idea this was in the first place, why The Bagman has been so reluctant to answer Congress’ questions, and why Barry has decided that the whole thing is now covered under executive priviledge. If it WAS a Bush operation, one would think that Bagman and Barry would be rushing to tell us all about it: “Hey, THIS is what happened, it totally wasn’t our idea, this is who did it, when, how and why, and here are the records.”

            Instead, Bagman actually had the nerve (stupidity?) to claim that we may NEVER know who ordered this. Seriously???

          • Conservachef

            Herddog,

            I understand, no harm done.

            With Obama throwing the “executive privilege” blanket over it, I am beginning to think that it is far worse than we know.

            I would hope that there are some folks in the Romney campaign (or on the Republican side in general) that are working to distill this into something that can be used against Obama in the election. As it stands, I think it is too complicated, and with the help of a friendly press, Obama could get away with it.

    • Jwb10001

      Why is it Steve you’re not concerned with Obama and team seemingly going after brown people in Mexico, could it be your a RACIST? Your post is complete bull shit as has been pointed out Holder had to recant his claim against Bush. Besides if it’s Bush’s fault why wouldn’t they give Issa all the freakin documents he wanted. Sorry you don’t have a leg to stand on with this one.

      • jim_m

        The left has never cared about brown skinned people dieing in other countries. I guess it is because if they die elsewhere they can never vote, whereas if they die here they can.

    • retired.military

      Really!!! The race card. Boy that never gets played. That has got to be the stupidest thign you have ever said on this blog.

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Murphy/100001624276605 Ryan Murphy

        A playing of the race card is tantamount to an admission that you can’t win the argument on its merits …

  • retired.military

    Nancy Pelosi played the voter suppression (aka race ) card today. Big suprise. The left feigning outrageous indignation when they get caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Obama’s new campaign slogan “Why why we have no choice but to break the law since I cant get you to pass a law so I can do it legally:”

    • herddog505

      I don’t know whether to laugh at her or pity her. Is she lying? Does she really believe what she said? In either case, HOW? How, logically, does any of that hang together?

      • http://www.rustedsky.net JLawson

        What makes you think it has to logically hold together? Pelosi says it, that’s all that’s necessary for her sycophants to believe it utterly.

        She could insist the sky’s green and the ocean is made of golden marbles and she wouldn’t lose any credibility at all.

        • herddog505

          Sad but true.