Jun 20, 2012

Executive Privilege Evoked

President Obama asserted executive privilege over documents related to the “Fast and Furious” operation Wednesday as a House panel moved to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt for failing to cooperate with a related congressional inquiry.
[...]
Sharing the “Fast and Furious” documents “would raise substantial separation of powers concerns and potentially create an imbalance in the relationship” between Congress and the White House, Holder wrote in a letter to Obama delivered late Tuesday.

Ah, the executive privilege. Like taking the 5th. You're not coming out and admitting you're guilty - but it sure as hell implies that you're guilty.

So, either Holder lied, and held to those lies for about a year - and was about to get called on it - or there's an even deeper cover up on who authorized it, who knew about it, who gave the order, and the cover up of all that stuff. Or there's even more? Maybe it's their entire plan to use Fast and Furious to start a campaign to tarnish the Second Amendment in his second term?

And let's review this a little more - How can you evoke Executive Privilege if it's about confidential communications? The very definition: The principle that members of the executive branch of government cannot legally be forced to disclose their confidential communications when such disclosure would adversely affect the operations or procedures of the executive branch.1 How much, and how far down the rabbit hole does this go? Did the White House become actively involved in the sending and loosing thousands of weapons to the worst violent offenders in Mexico, to have them used against Federal Boarder Agents and in thousands of Mexican murders? (Hey, don't tell this story to all those illegal kids that you just gave free passes too - they might get upset and not vote - or worse, vote Republican!) Gosh, imagine if they were doing that in Chicago?

Guess we'll have to hear about it in about 10 years, well after Mr. Transparency - er - Obama is out of the White House. Maybe Mr. Holder will write a book and be interviewed on 60 Minutes? Maybe John Stewart - if he's still around then.

A quick recap on Executive Privilege:
Nixon: A few guys wiretapping a hotel room. No one died.
Clinton: Got a B.J. from an intern the same age as his daughter. Didn't want to talk about it.
Bush/Cheney: Energy Policy meeting with Dick's fraternity brothers. No one from the Sierra Club was invited.
Obama: [Allegedly] Sent thousands of deadly weapons to Mexican drug lords to make the NRA look bad. Lots of people died.

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