Congress Getting Closer to Holding Attorney General Accountable

GOA

Your voice is resonating on Capitol Hill loud and clear!

{flike}

GOA

You may never fully realize what a tremendous difference your activism makes in Washington, D.C.

Fox News reported this week on the results of your grassroots pressure which has brought Congress to the brink of holding Attorney General Eric Holder accountable for his cover-up of Fast & Furious and for his war against the Second Amendment.

But more on this later.  First, the big news from this week is that a House committee is scheduled to vote next week on a contempt citation for Eric Holder.

This comes after two congressional committees put Holder on the “hot seat” recently, demanding that he stop the stonewalling and produce the thousands of documents which his department has continued to withhold from congressional investigators.

On Thursday of last week, the House Judiciary Committee grilled the Attorney General for several hours on many subjects, including Fast and Furious.

The chief House investigator, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), blasted Holder for his refusal to respond to several subpoenas that have demanded further documentation on Fast & Furious.  When Holder said his department had responded to the subpoenas, Issa snapped:  “No, Mr. Attorney General, you’re not a good witness.  A good witness answers the question asked.”

Holder caught in a lie

During that same hearing, Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz read out loud an email conversation between two officials in the Justice Department, who were discussing the public relations nightmare arising from guns “walking” into Mexico as a result of Operation Fast & Furious.

Holder tried to pass the email off as relating to Operation Wide Receiver, which took place during the Bush era.  “The email that you just read [referred] to Wide Receiver,” Holder said.  “It did not refer to Fast and Furious. That has to be noted for the record.”

So, Chaffetz reread key parts of the email to General Holder, noting once again the connection (in the email) between Fast & Furious and “gun walking” — which led Chaffetz to point out that, “The email says ‘Fast and Furious.’  You say it doesn’t; I’ve got it in black and white.”

Holder would not back down, however, and simply retorted:  “I’ve got superior knowledge.”

The arrogance of Holder’s statement was not lost on many in the media, including Kurt Hoffman of the Examiner. If Holder has such “superior knowledge,” Hoffman said, then why has he answered “I don’t know” so many times to questions relating to Fast & Furious.

Good point.

Another Senator calls for Holder’s resignation

Texas Republican John Cornyn called for Eric Holder’s resignation on Tuesday when Holder appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“I believe the American people deserve a chief law enforcement officer who will be independent of political influence, accountable to the law, and transparent with his dealings to the Congress,” Cornyn said.  “Unfortunately, Eric Holder has failed on all of these counts.”

Cornyn, who himself was a former attorney general for the state of Texas, became the fourth U.S. senator to call for Holder’s resignation.  He joins over 100 Representatives and two sitting governors in calling for Holder’s ouster.

Senator Cornyn scored several points in his questioning of Holder.  Among other things, Cornyn noted how Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich had written a letter in February of 2011 denying gun walking, but it wasn’t until November of last year that another Justice Department official finally admitted that letter was false.

“How do you account for the fact that the [Justice] department — for the period of time from February 2011 until November 2011 — had misled Congress about the accuracy of that allegation,” Cornyn asked.

Holder could only concede Cornyn’s point and said, “I think there’s some validity in the concern you raise.”

GOA grassroots efforts key in securing vote on contempt citation

Gun Owners of America has alerted you several times to the fact that House leaders were hesitant to bring contempt proceedings against Eric Holder.

As stated by Fox News this week:  “The Republican leadership initially hedged on fully supporting Issa’s case due to concerns that charging the attorney general in contempt in an election year could backfire.”

For this reason, GOA has spent several months ginning up the grassroots to dump thousands upon thousands of emails, letters and postcards onto their Congressmen’s desks — encouraging them to press the leadership to hold Eric Holder accountable.  These efforts eventually paid off.

Fox News reported that several House freshmen wrote to House leaders on May 18 to push for a contempt of Congress resolution against Holder.  Hours later, the House leadership (led by Speaker John Boehner) issued a stinging letter to Holder, warning that if he refuses to cooperate, the “House will act to fulfill our constitutional obligations in the coming weeks.”

In a separate statement, Boehner said that the Justice Department is now “out of excuses.”

Vote on contempt order scheduled for next week

Congressional action begins on June 20 when the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a vote on a contempt order on Eric Holder.  Of the 16 Republican members of the committee, all but seven have indicated their support for this citation.

According to The Hill newspaper, the seven Republicans are:  Justin Amash (MI), Frank Guinta (NH), Connie Mack (FL), Patrick Meehan (PA), Todd Platts (PA), Mike Turner (OH) and Tim Walberg (MI).

Gun owners in these districts should ask these Representatives to support any measure designed to hold Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.

If passed, the entire House of Representatives would then vote on the contempt order.  If the House approves the citation, then Holder could be looking at years in jail (or hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines).

Eric Holder is apparently trying to avert a vote to hold him in contempt of Congress.  Yesterday, he sent a four paragraph letter to Rep. Issa, asking for a meeting on Monday.  This appears to be nothing more than another stalling tactic on behalf of the Attorney General, but it’s possible that it could sway some Republicans to “call off the dogs.”

GOA

That’s why GOA needs to keep putting the heat on every congressional member.  You can help us continue this campaign to hold the Attorney General accountable — and to reach hundreds of thousands of gun owners nationwide — by clicking here and making a contribution to Gun Owners of America.

For contributions of $30 or more, you will receive a brand new GOA “Molon Lave” patch for free — a patch which commemorates how the Spartans responded to the Persian General at Thermopylae in 480 BC after they were ordered to lay down their weapons and live as slaves.  With a roaring voice, Leonidas, the King of the Spartans, replied:  “Molon Lave” — “Come and take them!”

Thank you so much for your help!