Was the House Right to Hold Eric Holder in Contempt? >
Eric Holder Is Defying the Law by Resisting Subpoena
The attorney general thinks he is above the law
July 3, 2012
Should the House have held Eric Holder in contempt? The question is not whether they should have; the question is why they did not do it earlier.
Despite the attempts by the Democrats to spin this into something it is not, the contempt is very straightforward: Darryl Issa's committee issued a subpoena for documents relating to the Fast and Furious scandal. Congress, like the courts, has subpoena power. A subpoena is simply an order to appear at a certain date at a certain time to give testimony. A subpoena can also command someone to bring items or documents with them for their testimony. This is what has been happening in the House of Representatives.
When someone receives a subpoena, they can either comply or challenge the subpoena on certain legal grounds or claim the documents are privileged. What they cannot do is ignore the subpoena and that is what Holder did. For months, Holder has ignored the subpoena. When Darryl Issa asked if the documents had been assembled within the Justice Department, Holder refused to answer. In short, he was thumbing his nose at the committee.
[Check out our editorial cartoons on President Obama.]
Contempt is what is called a remedial power. If you fail to comply with a subpoena, you can be jailed until you do comply. You can also be jailed for contempt as a separate offense. Not shockingly, the most corrupt administration since the Nixon administration quickly announced after the contempt vote that it would not prosecute Eric Holder for contempt.
The problem here is that the Obama Regime believes it is above the law. Eric Holder went off to Disney World the day the House voted on holding him in contempt.
Doesn't that send a message? The only thing missing was Holder's extended middle finger pointed towards Congress and Darryl Issa. Holder should be jailed for contempt. He is not simply disagreeing with Congress. He is acting in defiance of the law.
The only good news here is that we will have a new attorney eneral in January and hopefully a Romney administration will be willing to give Fast and Furious the investigation it needs and the prosecution many in the Obama Regime deserve.
- Join the debate on Facebook.
- Follow U.S. News Debate Club on Twitter.
- Check out U.S. News Weekly: an insider's guide to politics and policy.
- Other Arguments
-
#210511
Yes — The American people deserve to know more about Operation Fast and Furious
CHRIS COX, Executive Director of the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action
-
#317157
No — The House should be focusing on stopping illegal arms sales in Mexico, not Eric Holder
ADAM SCHIFF, Democratic U.S. Representative from California
-
#410151
No — Congress is trying to distract the Department of Justice from enforcing civil and labor rights
HILARY O. SHELTON, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy for the NAACP
