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Furiouser and furiouser
Claiming executive privilege puts Obama in an awkward spot, defending secrecy about a botched operation
Chicago Tribune
Editorial
6/22/2012
Excerpts:
"For months, House Republicans have tried to pry documents from theU.S. Department of Justice about Operation Fast and Furious, the spectacularly botched government operation that put guns in the hands of Mexican drug cartel thugs.
And for months, the department has responded with some, but not all, of the papers.
This week the action escalated into a full-fledged constitutional clash between the White House and Congress. President Barack Obama backed Attorney GeneralEric Holder's refusal to release the documents. Obama invoked executive privilege — a move to protect the documents under the reasoning that their release could harm the president's ability to obtain candid advice from his aides.
In response, the Republican-dominated House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform voted Wednesday to recommend that Holder be held in contempt of Congress. A full House vote may come soon. And then, absent a settlement, you can expect months of political wrangling.
The White House could spare all of us a distracting and damaging battle over executive privilege — a murky principle not defined in the Constitution — if Holder would share these documents with the American people.
A brief recap of F&F: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosivesallowed guns to flow illegally into Mexico. The idea was to track the guns and snag some honchos in the Mexican drug cartels. The ATF lost track of guns that ultimately were used in crimes on both sides of the border. Most prominently, two of the guns were recovered after U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in Arizona.
Full public disclosure on F&F would have been the best way to defuse this crisis long ago: Whose idea was it? How did it go so spectacularly awry? Instead, the administration slow-walked document disclosures and invited more questions about who knew what and when. Remember what then-acting ATF director Kenneth Melson told congressional investigators last year? He said Justice was scrambling to protect its political appointees from taking the blame in the rapidly spreading scandal.
Obama's assertion of executive privilege now provokes more questions about possible White House involvement in Fast and Furious. Michael Steel, spokesman for Republican House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, said Obama's decision to insert himself into this matter "implies that White House officials were either involved in the Fast and Furious operation or the cover-up that followed."
..................................
The more administration officials stonewall, the furiouser this scandal will grow.
View the complete article at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/o...,4057316.story
My comment: Hmmmmm! Obama's HOME TOWN NEWSPAPER, the CHICAGO TRIBUNE, is now talking about possible 'White House' involvement and administration 'stonewalling' on this horrific scandal! The F&F scandal, almost totally ignored by the MSM up until now, may quickly get very interesting to a lot of folks! It's long overdue!
Claiming executive privilege puts Obama in an awkward spot, defending secrecy about a botched operation
Chicago Tribune
Editorial
6/22/2012
Excerpts:
"For months, House Republicans have tried to pry documents from theU.S. Department of Justice about Operation Fast and Furious, the spectacularly botched government operation that put guns in the hands of Mexican drug cartel thugs.
And for months, the department has responded with some, but not all, of the papers.
This week the action escalated into a full-fledged constitutional clash between the White House and Congress. President Barack Obama backed Attorney GeneralEric Holder's refusal to release the documents. Obama invoked executive privilege — a move to protect the documents under the reasoning that their release could harm the president's ability to obtain candid advice from his aides.
In response, the Republican-dominated House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform voted Wednesday to recommend that Holder be held in contempt of Congress. A full House vote may come soon. And then, absent a settlement, you can expect months of political wrangling.
The White House could spare all of us a distracting and damaging battle over executive privilege — a murky principle not defined in the Constitution — if Holder would share these documents with the American people.
A brief recap of F&F: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosivesallowed guns to flow illegally into Mexico. The idea was to track the guns and snag some honchos in the Mexican drug cartels. The ATF lost track of guns that ultimately were used in crimes on both sides of the border. Most prominently, two of the guns were recovered after U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in Arizona.
Full public disclosure on F&F would have been the best way to defuse this crisis long ago: Whose idea was it? How did it go so spectacularly awry? Instead, the administration slow-walked document disclosures and invited more questions about who knew what and when. Remember what then-acting ATF director Kenneth Melson told congressional investigators last year? He said Justice was scrambling to protect its political appointees from taking the blame in the rapidly spreading scandal.
Obama's assertion of executive privilege now provokes more questions about possible White House involvement in Fast and Furious. Michael Steel, spokesman for Republican House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, said Obama's decision to insert himself into this matter "implies that White House officials were either involved in the Fast and Furious operation or the cover-up that followed."
..................................
The more administration officials stonewall, the furiouser this scandal will grow.
View the complete article at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/o...,4057316.story
My comment: Hmmmmm! Obama's HOME TOWN NEWSPAPER, the CHICAGO TRIBUNE, is now talking about possible 'White House' involvement and administration 'stonewalling' on this horrific scandal! The F&F scandal, almost totally ignored by the MSM up until now, may quickly get very interesting to a lot of folks! It's long overdue!