Why eric holder contempt

In the contempt proceedings, the Judiciary Committee, then led by Rep. John Conyers D-Mich. Negotiations continued during that time, and the Bush administration made several concessions, including informal interviews with White House advisers. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who was then a member of House leadership, also privately urged against the contempt vote on political grounds, delaying it. In the Holder contempt proceedings, Issa issued subpoenas in October.

Since then, the DOJ produced more than 7, pages of documents but withheld a far larger universe of at least 80, pages of documents. At an eleventh-hour meeting in the Capitol to stave off the committee vote for the next day, Holder told Issa that if he proceeded with contempt, his cooperation would cease entirely, Republicans said.

Not really -- Justice can't point to a single instance of a major boss the operation took down. But as one might imagine, the ATF was unable to keep track of all of the guns. In fact, the agency managed to lose track of some 2, guns. Those weapons were later connected to various violent crimes. Most notably, two were found at the scene after a Border Patrol agent named Brian Terry was killed in a firefight on December 10, with suspected illegal immigrants in Arizona it's unclear whether one of the guns fired the bullet that killed him.

Reports following that murder revealed that the guns had been part of a tracking operation. Not really. In early , the Justice Department wrote in a letter to Congress that no guns had been intentionally allowed to "walk," which it says was based on statements from ATF officials.

That letter was retracted when it became clear that it was wrong. There's now a consensus that the operation was botched, but two questions remain. Second, has there been an attempt to mislead Congress about the operation through a cover-up?

On the first question, the department insists that only the ATF's Phoenix office approved the sting. At some point, however, the U. Attorney in Phoenix became aware, as did the acting director of the ATF. Both were forced to resign in August after Issa uncovered emails showing they'd been briefed.

Justice says it's not trying to cover anything up, noting that it has turned over 7, documents and that Holder has testified before Congress nine times about Fast and Furious. A letter Friday from the Justice Department to House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, who led the investigation that brought the contempt charge against Holder, explained that "across administrations of both political parties, the longstanding position of the Department of Justice has been and remains that we will not prosecute" in such a circumstance.

Mica calls for Holder resignation. More Videos Mica calls for Holder resignation House holds Holder in contempt Dems decry contempt vote's 'skunktivity' White House spokesman Jay Carney said the same thing Friday, saying "it is an established principle, dating back to the administration of President Ronald Reagan, that the Justice Department does not pursue prosecution in a contempt case when the president has asserted executive privilege.

Fast and Furious investigation started with agent's death. This Congress will be out of office and Obama may be out of office. If they wind up going to court, it will actually be to the great detriment of the House's oversight role. And all of this will occur as the details of Fast and Furious are subject to greater scrutiny. Katerine Eban of Fortune reported Wednesday that instead of intentionally allowing guns to walk, the ATF's Phoenix office was instead paralyzed by incompetence, internal conflicts and weak gun laws that allowed smugglers to move freely.

Though, in at least one case, an ATF agent reportedly used taxpayer money to buy pistols for a weapons trafficker. Such disclosures could be one of Holder's primary defenses if a civil suit goes forward. If failures over gun-walking was isolated to Phoenix, then Holder is insulated. But if documents reveal that Holder knew about the plan or perhaps e-mails by Holder in the early days of the scandal's disclosure , then he -- or at the least, his job -- could be in trouble.

Now, that doesn't mean we won't see any documents arising out of a civil suit.