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    Administrator Jean's Avatar
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    Decision looms in Holder's Fast and Furious contempt case

    By William La Jeunesse
    Published September 12, 2013
    FoxNews.com

    While most of Washington has moved on, legal scholars expect a decision soon in a potentially landmark case in one of the federal government's most damaging scandals -- Operation Fast and Furious.

    Republican lawmakers, after holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for failing to turn over records they had subpoenaed, are still waiting for a judge to rule on their case.

    But they have not forgotten.

    Mexican bandits killed Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December 2010 using guns sold in a U.S. government gun-running operation known as Operation Fast and Furious. After a lengthy investigation and contentious hearings on Capitol Hill, the House of Representatives held Holder in contempt. President Obama stepped in and claimed executive privilege over the documents, but House lawyers went to a federal judge seeking to force the administration to turn over records they believe show a cover-up.

    "When you consider that the attorney general himself may very well have been complicit in knowing that was a false statement and insisting they continue to stand by it for 10 months -- you do have a serious question if Congress can fairly evaluate these individuals staying in office and staying in their jobs if in fact they can't be counted on to tell the truth," House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., told Fox News on Wednesday.

    The documents sought by the House involve communications between the White House and the Department of Justice, as well as internal reports and emails among 18 senior level DOJ officials. The documents relate almost entirely to a Feb. 4 letter in which the Justice Department denied knowing anything about the gun-running operation. That turned out to be false, and Republicans want to know who was responsible.

    The House maintains it is entitled to the materials under its constitutionally protected oversight responsibilities. The administration claims the Justice Department can withhold documents from Congress, even if Congress has issued a subpoena because, in Holder's words, "the Committee has not established that privileged documents are demonstrably critical to the responsible fulfillment of the Committee's legitimate legislative functions."

    The House vote was the first time Congress held an attorney general in contempt, and the case marked the first and only time Obama has asserted executive privilege.

    "The American people were lied to on national TV that no guns were allowed to be walked and they (the Justice Department) kept to that statement for 10 long months while the Terry family suffered questions over the loss of their son," said Issa. "Those who were involved in knowing that it was false, communicating that it was false and perpetuated that false statement need to be held accountable or at least exposed."

    Lawyers expect the judge to rule in the next three weeks. Regardless, either side is likely to appeal and those involved say it is possible the case won't be resolved until Obama has left office.

    Meanwhile, the $25 million wrongful death case brought by Terry's family also hangs in the balance. Terry was murdered in December 2010 with weapons sold by Lone Wolf, a gun store enlisted by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to sell guns to known felons.

    Two men are in custody for Terry's death, but the family also sued senior ATF officials and Lone Wolf owner Andre Howard for negligence, claiming both knew or should have known the weapons would kill.

    The agents, who are represented by lawyers paid for by the Justice Department, claim immunity while the gun store has sided with the Terry's, saying Howard was also misled by the ATF -- which falsely claimed it was tracking the guns he sold.

    "Mr. Howard was asked essentially to be an agent of ATF and DOJ with respect to these very suspicious, highly questionable, now-proven-to-be-illegal sales of weapons," said Lone Wolf attorney Bradley Jardine. "He wonders what happened to those guns just as much as they (the Terry's) do. He wants answers just as much as they do."

    The agents asked a federal judge to dismiss the case. Lawyers in the case expect a ruling in the next few months.

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...#ixzz2en5NcOeL
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    Judge to decide fate of Eric Holder’s DOJ documents in Fast and Furious contempt case

    9/13/13 | by S.H. Blannelberry
    guns.com


    Stop! It’s holder time.

    Last summer, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was cited with contempt of Congress for stonewalling investigators and failing to turn over subpoenaed DOJ documents related to the fatally-flawed gunrunning program known as Operation Fast and Furious.

    Yet, despite that citation, nothing’s really happened to Holder. The reason? Well, on one hand Holder’s got the deck stacked in his favor and, on the other, the wheels of justice grind slow.

    To explicate, as result of the citation Holder faces both criminal contempt and civil contempt charges. The criminal contempt charge was given to District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen, an Obama appointee who works under the auspices of Holder himself. It’s safe to say that this case is going nowhere fast for the very simple reason that Machen isn’t going to punish his own boss.

    However, the civil contempt charge is still in play. Not long after the contempt vote, House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging Holder’s stonewalling as well as President Obama’s invocation of executive privilege to protect those internal DOJ documents.


    U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen

    It’s the civil lawsuit that a judge is expected to rule on in the next three weeks, as Fox News reported.

    If the judge rules in favor of Issa, then Holder will be compelled to comply with investigators. He will be forced to turn over documents that may help shed light on the operation in addition to answering specific questions about a DOJ letter that flat-out denied the gunrunning tactics used in Fast and Furious.

    “[T]he allegation … that ATF ‘sanctioned’ or otherwise knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to straw purchasers who then transported them to Mexico – is false,” said a Feb. 4, 2011, letter written by former Assistant U.S. Attorney General Ronald Weich and addressed to Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley.

    Clearly that was a lie. And Congressional investigators want to know why the DOJ lied and when exactly Holder learned about the operation.

    “When you consider that the attorney general himself may very well have been complicit in knowing that was a false statement and insisting they continue to stand by it for 10 months — you do have a serious question if Congress can fairly evaluate these individuals staying in office and staying in their jobs if in fact they can’t be counted on to tell the truth,” Issa told Fox News on Wednesday.



    Though, regardless of how the judge rules on the case, each side is likely to appeal the ruling, which will further prolong the process and delay any action civil against Holder or the Obama administration. Experts predict that both Holder and Obama will be out of office before this thing is finally settled.

    Meanwhile, the body count continues to rise. Mexican authorities estimate that as many as 211 people were murdered with guns linked to Fast and Furious. That estimate does not include slain U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry who was fatally shot by cartel operatives in 2010, near the U.S.-Mexico border. At least one firearm linked to Fast and Furious was found at the scene. Terry’s untimely death is what sparked the congressional probe.

    “The American people were lied to on national TV that no guns were allowed to be walked and they (the Justice Department) kept to that statement for 10 long months while the Terry family suffered questions over the loss of their son,” said Issa.

    “Those who were involved in knowing that it was false, communicating that it was false and perpetuated that false statement need to be held accountable or at least exposed,” he added.

    http://www.guns.com/2013/09/13/judge...pt-case-video/
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  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jean View Post
    By William La Jeunesse
    Published September 12, 2013
    FoxNews.com

    While most of Washington has moved on, legal scholars expect a decision soon in a potentially landmark case in one of the federal government's most damaging scandals -- Operation Fast and Furious.

    Republican lawmakers, after holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for failing to turn over records they had subpoenaed, are still waiting for a judge to rule on their case.

    But they have not forgotten.

    Mexican bandits killed Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December 2010 using guns sold in a U.S. government gun-running operation known as Operation Fast and Furious. After a lengthy investigation and contentious hearings on Capitol Hill, the House of Representatives held Holder in contempt. President Obama stepped in and claimed executive privilege over the documents, but House lawyers went to a federal judge seeking to force the administration to turn over records they believe show a cover-up.

    "When you consider that the attorney general himself may very well have been complicit in knowing that was a false statement and insisting they continue to stand by it for 10 months -- you do have a serious question if Congress can fairly evaluate these individuals staying in office and staying in their jobs if in fact they can't be counted on to tell the truth," House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., told Fox News on Wednesday.

    The documents sought by the House involve communications between the White House and the Department of Justice, as well as internal reports and emails among 18 senior level DOJ officials. The documents relate almost entirely to a Feb. 4 letter in which the Justice Department denied knowing anything about the gun-running operation. That turned out to be false, and Republicans want to know who was responsible.

    The House maintains it is entitled to the materials under its constitutionally protected oversight responsibilities. The administration claims the Justice Department can withhold documents from Congress, even if Congress has issued a subpoena because, in Holder's words, "the Committee has not established that privileged documents are demonstrably critical to the responsible fulfillment of the Committee's legitimate legislative functions."

    The House vote was the first time Congress held an attorney general in contempt, and the case marked the first and only time Obama has asserted executive privilege.

    "The American people were lied to on national TV that no guns were allowed to be walked and they (the Justice Department) kept to that statement for 10 long months while the Terry family suffered questions over the loss of their son," said Issa. "Those who were involved in knowing that it was false, communicating that it was false and perpetuated that false statement need to be held accountable or at least exposed."

    Lawyers expect the judge to rule in the next three weeks. Regardless, either side is likely to appeal and those involved say it is possible the case won't be resolved until Obama has left office.

    Meanwhile, the $25 million wrongful death case brought by Terry's family also hangs in the balance. Terry was murdered in December 2010 with weapons sold by Lone Wolf, a gun store enlisted by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to sell guns to known felons.

    Two men are in custody for Terry's death, but the family also sued senior ATF officials and Lone Wolf owner Andre Howard for negligence, claiming both knew or should have known the weapons would kill.

    The agents, who are represented by lawyers paid for by the Justice Department, claim immunity while the gun store has sided with the Terry's, saying Howard was also misled by the ATF -- which falsely claimed it was tracking the guns he sold.

    "Mr. Howard was asked essentially to be an agent of ATF and DOJ with respect to these very suspicious, highly questionable, now-proven-to-be-illegal sales of weapons," said Lone Wolf attorney Bradley Jardine. "He wonders what happened to those guns just as much as they (the Terry's) do. He wants answers just as much as they do."

    The agents asked a federal judge to dismiss the case. Lawyers in the case expect a ruling in the next few months.

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...#ixzz2en5NcOeL

    Another violation never to forget..oh excuse me "scandal" to never forget!!!!


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