"The Justice Department moved Friday to shield Attorney General Eric Holder from prosecution after the House voted to hold him in contempt of Congress.
The contempt vote technically opened the door for the House to call on the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia to bring the case before a grand jury. But because U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen works for Holder and because President Obama has already asserted executive privilege over the documents in question, some expected Holder's Justice Department to balk.
Deputy Attorney General James Cole confirmed in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner that the department in fact would not pursue prosecution. The attorney general's withholding of documents pertaining to Operation Fast and Furious, he wrote, "does not constitute a crime."
"Therefore the department will not bring the congressional contempt citation before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute the attorney general," Cole wrote, in the letter obtained by Fox News"
An operation that was designed with the purpose of painting a picture of a Mexico filled with guns obtained from the US in order to justify more restrictive firearms legislation has come to this.
After he tortuously dragged this thing out since the Autumn of 2011, and then claimed that the timing of Issa's moves and the contempt vote in the House was a political scheme to affect the election in November, Holder is being protected - his boys are planning to let the Attorney General of the United States get away with having a part in the murder of a Federal Law Enforcement Officer.
Of course, if the only murder victims had been Mexicans, Holder and Company (Now very likely to include Obama) may very well have been breathing even more easily right now - dead Mexicans would have been nothing but collateral damage. What's the difference since so many have been killed by the Cartels anyway?
Little can be cited as a better example of the Leftist mentality. They had a goal to provide justification for enacting more gun bans. To do so, they needed to show that the Cartels in the narco-state on our southern border were acquiring firearms from Americans. Having little to no evidence that this was occurring on any notable scale, they proceeded to make it happen themselves. Firearms dealers were pressured into making sales to individuals who fit the profile of straw purchasers. The purchased guns were allowed to be taken across the border and into the waiting hands of the Cartels.
No amount of dead people would be enough to cause Leftists to regret such a decision if the end result is what they wanted.
Were the Law Enforcement officials in Mexico OK with this? That did not matter as they were not told about the operation.
Obama has claimed that this falls under the domain of Executive Privilege. I have found no source that provides a reasonable argument to support this claim.
Now the United States Department of Justice is claiming that neither what Holder did nor that he failed to do (Illegally refusing to cooperate with the Congressional investigation) were crimes.
Our Republic is in dire straights. Our Supreme Court is effectively no longer a forum for appeals to threats to our freedoms, states are being targeted for removing ineligible voters from the rolls and checking illegal immigration, Obama seizes more power like a bratty kid with other's toys, and our Attorney General, the Chief Law Enforcement Officer in the nation, not only arrogantly plays the scofflaw, but gets a free pass from the Justice Department.
"The move by the Holder Justice Department, though, means Republicans are likely to take their case to civil court as they seek documents pertaining to Operation Fast and Furious -- which was already the unofficial plan. Along with the criminal contempt resolution, Republicans also passed a civil contempt measure Thursday allowing them to go to civil court to try and get an order that would compel the Obama administration to release the documents.
Issa, R-Calif., had acknowledged Thursday night that it was "very possible" the president would instruct the U.S. attorney not to prosecute Holder. He indicated Republicans would use the civil courts to get what they want.
"The House has authorized me to hire staff and legal staff who can pursue civilly through the courts to try to get a federal judge to order, separately, this discovery," he said.
Hill also told FoxNews.com that the next stop probably would be civil court, but he suggested the threat of criminal prosecution still looms. For now, the Obama administration can argue that its executive privilege claim over the documents protects Holder from the possibility of prosecution.
But if a civil court rules that claim invalid, Hill said, "then basically Justice has lost that shield." "
Obama no doubt hopes that the civil action can be delayed until after November. Judging by his administration's penchant for miring court proceedings in strategically-placed delays, he may very well find success with that move.
If a civil action fails, then the State of Arizona, in which Border Patrol Brian Terry was murdered, or the Santa Cruz County Superior Court, which has jurisdiction in the case, should issue an arrest warrant for Eric Holder. If they feel that they do not have enough evidence to charge him now, then they should subpoena him to testify before the Grand Jury of Santa Cruz County.* When Holder refuses, then they will have sufficient cause for a warrant. I for one would gladly volunteer to be sworn in by either entity and be charged with executing that warrant. Even though DC would never extradite him to face charges, the point will have been made. He will also be effectively unable to leave DC as cops throughout the nation will be salivating at the thought of detaining him in their respective states to hold him for an extradition hearing.
*I should have noted that, in order to require that Holder answer questions asked of him in a Grand Jury proceeding, he would have to be given immunity first. That part would be a disappointment, but he would have to answer every question, and truthfully so. That would force him to give up a lot of names.
*I should have noted that, in order to require that Holder answer questions asked of him in a Grand Jury proceeding, he would have to be given immunity first. That part would be a disappointment, but he would have to answer every question, and truthfully so. That would force him to give up a lot of names.
When people are faced with an seemingly impossible situation, "The thing is to get them [The soldiers] to turn their thoughts to what they mean to do, instead of to what they are likely to suffer" - Xenophon to the officers of the Greek force after their Generals had been illegally seized and killed during a truce after the battle of Cunaxa in 401 BC.
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