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Obama evokes memories of Watergate by invoking executive privilege
Examiner
Anthony Martin, Conservative Examiner
6/20/2012
Excerpt:
"In a move that evokes memories of the Watergate scandal of 1974, President Obama today invoked executive privilege in the Fast and Furious scandal, placing off limits the subpoenaed documents the Justice Department had been ordered to submit to Congress.
The move gives at least some legal protection to Attorney General Eric Holder in his ongoing dispute with Congress over the documents. But executive privilege will not protect him from a citation of contempt of Congress or possible criminal charges.
Obama's move to invoke executive privilege is eerily reminiscent of the conflict between Congress and the Executive Branch during the Watergate scandal that destroyed the presidency of Richard M. Nixon.
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CBS News reporter Dan Rather catapulted the Watergate scandal to the singular focus of the media when he quoted Sen. Howard Baker, who asked, "What did the president know and when did he know it?" Perhaps it is now time for the media to ask the same thing of Obama.
What did President Obama know and when did he know it?
During the Watergate hearings before Congress another controversial attorney general, John Mitchell, was also under the gun to provide documentation of facts concerning the burglary of the Democratic headquarters at the Watergate Hotel and its subsequent cover up.
Nixon eventually invoked executive privilege to prevent Congress from obtaining information concerning the cover up in particular, which involved most of the key officials of his administration, including Mitchell and top presidential advisers John Ehrlickman, H.R. Haldeman, Jeb Magruder, Charles Colson, and John Dean, among others.
Mitchell was later sentenced to prison in 1977 and served 18 months. Other Watergate figures also served jail time including Ehrlickman, Haldeman, Magruder, Colson, and Dean.
Nixon was forced to resign under the threat of impending impeachment hearings, after it became clear that he would not have the votes to survive impeachment when Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., stated that he could no longer support Nixon due to his numerous "lies."
So far Democrats in Congress have been solid in their support for Obama and Holder in the Fast and Furious scandal. That could easily change.
Early in the Watergate scandal Republicans quickly came to the defense of Nixon and formed an effective minority block in Congress against the Democratic majority, whom they portrayed as going on a witch hunt.
But as the hearings moved forward and it became clear that laws were broken and Nixon had lied to cover them up, one by one Republicans began to lose faith. And when Nixon lost the support of Goldwater, who perhaps was the most powerful Republican senator at the time, the entire administration came unraveled.
Democrats who support Obama may feel they have political cover at present to attempt to protect the president. But even in this highly partisan political atmosphere Democrats in Congress know that they are potentially vulnerable in this volatile election year which has all of the markings of the most important election in over 100 years."
....................................
View the complete article at:
http://www.examiner.com/article/obam...ive-privilege?
Examiner
Anthony Martin, Conservative Examiner
6/20/2012
Excerpt:
"In a move that evokes memories of the Watergate scandal of 1974, President Obama today invoked executive privilege in the Fast and Furious scandal, placing off limits the subpoenaed documents the Justice Department had been ordered to submit to Congress.
The move gives at least some legal protection to Attorney General Eric Holder in his ongoing dispute with Congress over the documents. But executive privilege will not protect him from a citation of contempt of Congress or possible criminal charges.
Obama's move to invoke executive privilege is eerily reminiscent of the conflict between Congress and the Executive Branch during the Watergate scandal that destroyed the presidency of Richard M. Nixon.
Advertisement
CBS News reporter Dan Rather catapulted the Watergate scandal to the singular focus of the media when he quoted Sen. Howard Baker, who asked, "What did the president know and when did he know it?" Perhaps it is now time for the media to ask the same thing of Obama.
What did President Obama know and when did he know it?
During the Watergate hearings before Congress another controversial attorney general, John Mitchell, was also under the gun to provide documentation of facts concerning the burglary of the Democratic headquarters at the Watergate Hotel and its subsequent cover up.
Nixon eventually invoked executive privilege to prevent Congress from obtaining information concerning the cover up in particular, which involved most of the key officials of his administration, including Mitchell and top presidential advisers John Ehrlickman, H.R. Haldeman, Jeb Magruder, Charles Colson, and John Dean, among others.
Mitchell was later sentenced to prison in 1977 and served 18 months. Other Watergate figures also served jail time including Ehrlickman, Haldeman, Magruder, Colson, and Dean.
Nixon was forced to resign under the threat of impending impeachment hearings, after it became clear that he would not have the votes to survive impeachment when Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., stated that he could no longer support Nixon due to his numerous "lies."
So far Democrats in Congress have been solid in their support for Obama and Holder in the Fast and Furious scandal. That could easily change.
Early in the Watergate scandal Republicans quickly came to the defense of Nixon and formed an effective minority block in Congress against the Democratic majority, whom they portrayed as going on a witch hunt.
But as the hearings moved forward and it became clear that laws were broken and Nixon had lied to cover them up, one by one Republicans began to lose faith. And when Nixon lost the support of Goldwater, who perhaps was the most powerful Republican senator at the time, the entire administration came unraveled.
Democrats who support Obama may feel they have political cover at present to attempt to protect the president. But even in this highly partisan political atmosphere Democrats in Congress know that they are potentially vulnerable in this volatile election year which has all of the markings of the most important election in over 100 years."
....................................
View the complete article at:
http://www.examiner.com/article/obam...ive-privilege?
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