Constitutional Showdown: DOJ Threatens to Defy Congressional Demands for Fast and Furious Documents

Yesterday the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform issued yet another demand for documents, this time going to the unprecedented step of threatening Attorney General Eric Holder with Contempt charges should he again defy Congress (PDF). The highlights of the Committee's demands revolve around the Justice Department's fabrications, delays and denials, many of which appear to involve false testimony. In short, Holder has until 4 February 2012 to avoid a Contempt of Congress charge.






CNN reports this evening that the DOJ is ignoring those threats and claiming it can't produce any documents in time (this, after literally years of requests).

...the Justice Department late Wednesday sent a sharp letter to Issa rejecting his demands from a day earlier for documents by a next-week deadline... Issa is threatening the attorney general with contempt of Congress if DOJ fails to deliver.

The exchange of stinging letters the past two days caps weeks of maneuvering by both sides in advance of the anticipated Holder appearance Thursday before Issa's House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The Justice Department [claimed] Issa's letter showed "significant misunderstanding both of the documents we recently produced and of the Department's position on the issues you raise."

The Justice Department response Wednesday rejected Issa's February 9, 2012, deadline to produce all demanded documents. Cole called the deadline "impossible" to meet because of the broad scope of the request... He did not directly refer to the threat of a contempt charge by Issa.

The political battle has been raging for more than a year, following the discovery that two of the "fast and furious" weapons that had gone missing in Mexico in the botched sting were discovered at the scene of the killing of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry in Arizona.

This, my friends, could precipitate a true Constitutional crisis. The DOJ's lawless behavior is unacceptable no matter which political party is in power.

Liberals who ignore this flagrant criminality do so at their own peril. Because Democrats will not always control the Executive Branch.