Getting ‘Furious’ with Holder: GOPs Unload, Get Few Answers at Hearing
Attorney General Eric Holder tangled with a handful of Republicans over Operation Fast and Furious and Florida voter rolls at a hotly anticipated House Judiciary Committee hearing today.
Holder plowed through four hours of testimony before the panel, peppering his responses to lawmakers’ queries with multiple “I don’t knows” and falling similarly short in other responses.
The attorney general, for example, couldn’t remember offhand when Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was killed by a Fast and Furious gun.
“I think Agent Terry was killed on December 10th or 14th, I believe, of December,” Holder said in response to Chairman Lamar Smith’s (R-Texas) line of questioning. Terry was shot on Dec. 14, 2010, and died on Dec. 15.
Smith went into the hearing having released an April report detailing what he saw as multiple failings of Holder’s tenure, from Fast and Furious to refusing to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court.
“Neglecting to enforce or defend the laws enacted by Congress is another violation of the administration’s constitutional obligation to the American people,” Smith said. “Under this president, the Justice Department has engaged in a pattern of selective enforcement of the law in order to advance its own partisan agenda.”
“The administration’s actions aren’t just wrong. They are arrogant, undemocratic, and an insult to the rule of law,” Smith added.
Like a boxer winding up for a prize fight, the anticipation was thick for Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), a member of the Judiciary panel, to confront Holder, who was before the committee for his regular Justice Department oversight appearance.
Two days ago, Issa fired off a biting letter to Holder, rebuking him for misleading congressional investigators even as six wiretap applications in the gun-walking scandal showed “shocking” involvement by Justice officials.
“I’ve sent you a number of letters. Senator Grassley sent you a number of letters. You mentioned in your opening statement the speaker’s letter. The speaker did not limit the scope of the subpoenas you’re under an obligation to respond to. He simply asked you for response to two key areas. He did not revoke any subpoenas. However, you implied that we were working together, when, in fact, since May 18, nothing — nothing has come from your department, not one shred of paper,” Issa began with Holder today.
“I want to ask you, first of all today, have you and your attorneys produced internally the materials responsive to the subpoenas?”
“We believe that we have responded to the subpoenas…” Holder began.
“No, Mr. Attorney General, you’re not a good witness. A good witness answers the question asked,” Issa interrupted. “…Have you taken the time to look up our subpoena and find out what material you have responsive to it, or have you simply invented a privilege that doesn’t exist?’”
“We’ve looked at 240 custodians. We have processed millions of electronic and viewed over 140,000 documents and produced to you about 7,600,” Holder said.
“Look, I don’t want to hear about the 7,600,” Issa retorted, at which point Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) interjected with a parliamentary inquiry to the chairman, prompting Issa to fire “the lady is out of order” in her direction.
“Isn’t it true, Mr. Attorney General, that you have not produced a log of materials withheld, even though our investigators have asked for it?” Issa continued.
“I know that — I’m not sure about that. I know that the…” Holder began.
“OK, I’m sure you didn’t, so let’s move on.”
Issa presented the wiretap applications “which we did not subpoena but which were given to us by a furious group of whistleblowers that are tired of your stonewalling” that indicate administration officials were aware of Fast and Furious tactics.
“I have read them, and I disagree with the conclusion you’ve just reached,” Holder said.
Over a line of questioning regarding departmental responsibility for reviewing the wiretap applications, Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.) broke in to ask for regular order.
“I’m in the middle of a question,” Issa said.
“He hasn’t asked the question,” Conyers protested to the chairman.
“I’m halfway through it, if you’ll quit interrupting,” Issa said, trying to proceed as the leading Democrat on the panel kept interjecting.
“I can say that what has happened in connection with Fast and Furious was done in the same way as wiretap applications were done under the previous administration in Wide Receiver,” Holder said, referring to a 2006 ATF gun-walking operation.
Before proceeding to the next lawmaker, Conyers interjected again to ask Smith to chide the panel for being too rough with Holder.
“I think that the previous questioning was the first note of hostility and interruption of the witness that I think has been uncharacteristic of what we’ve been doing here so far today,” Conyers said. “And I’d like to ask the chair to admonish all the witnesses from here on out to please try to — all the members from here on out to please allow the witness to finish his answers.”
“You know, I appreciate that there was hostility between the attorney general and myself,” Issa responded. “I would hope that the ranking member would understand that in fact most of it was produced by the fact that I have a great many questions and a relatively little period of time in which to get answers and that, for a year and a half, my committee, through subpoenas and interrogatories, has been attempting to get answers for which this witness has basically said he asserts a privilege.”
“With all due respect to Chairman Issa, he says there’s hostility between us,” Holder said. “I don’t feel that. …I’m not feeling hostile at all. I’m pretty calm. I’m OK.”
Holder’s stonewalling is infuriating.
His naked lying pizzes me off more than Obama’s, I look at this man’s smug, smirking lying face and I see the face of a small hate filled disgusting little man.
I can almost understand Holder’s stonewalling this and any other committee that throw tough questions at him. After all he’s trying to protect his ass and his job – a natural reaction to these ‘attacks’ (no doubt Holder’s take on this situation) by the Republicans. What I can’t understand is the blatant help Holder is getting from the Democrats on these committees. When do the interdictive actions these morons are practicing on Holder’s behalf constitute contempt of congress? Can a congress-critter be held in contempt of themselves? They should be. I’ve never seen such blatant action on the part of a Republican in committee work trying to interfere with another committee member.
Is anyone beside me drawing a parallel to Richard Nixon? Executive privilege does not extent its safety net to cover crimes committed. We learned that in spades thanks to Nixon and he was president – Holder is only a cabinet member.
I wonder when they’ll start warming up the paper shredders. Don’t put it past them – they act as if they are free to do whatever they wish in order to carry out their agenda. If there isn’t jail time for these perps I will take it upon myself to harass my Republican Congressman – Doc Hastings until something is done.
I’m getting increasingly tired of these SOB’s trying to rout justice and get Holder’s butt out of the fire he’s put himself into. The best message will be for us to vote these a-holes out of office. Their understanding of what America is about is so warped as to be unrecognizable by those of us in fly-over land. The Democrats know what happened in Wisconsin – and that their butts (including the biggest one – in the WH) are on the line yet they continue as if nothing happened. I just cannot believe the idiotic stance they take.
KT the dems on the committee are circling their tribal wagons around Holder. It is a disingenuous low brow action that is the antithesis reason. Sickening and soulless. Holder and Obama have set back race relations by decades because most thoughtful people realize that Holder’s “people” are blind and full of cowardly ignorance.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee
This nut, wack job PopEyes eating slime bag is tops on the list. Along with her other screeching BBA’s like Waters and that fraud big cowboy hat in Florida. They disgust me and make a mockery out of the office they hold…having been elected purely on racist terms by racist people that share one think in common….skin color.
I’d say “race relations” are non existent these days and 50 years of concessions and AA gimmes have been and are, thoroughly trashed.
“What we have here….is failure to communicate.”
Seems the thing that came to my mind was Spicoli talking to Mr Hand:
Jeff Spicoli: Hey, you’re ripping my card.
Mr. Hand: Yes.
Jeff Spicoli: Hey bud, what’s your problem?
Mr. Hand: No problem at all. I think you know where the front office is.
Jeff Spicoli: [stunned] You d*ck!
At least, that’s the way I hope it’ll end. Holder has been playing smart-ass for some time now. Not sure if it’s because he’s just arrogant, doesn’t think he has to answer any “stupid honky’s” questions, or believes he’s truly smarter than anyone else there and doesn’t think anyone sees the obvious. Or maybe all three.
Honestly, when I was a kid, I never thought I’d see the day when there were so many sophomoric petulant children in our government. The level and frequency of this childishness is truly staggering.
I am, however glad that Issa got “all up in it” on Holder. Holder no doubt is cloistered with people who are more than happy to lick his shoes and tell him he’s being treated unfairly. Such is the derangement of the national socialist left. However, I personally believe that Holder is dangerously close to having his court mutiny on him. By letting all the focus level on himself, there are few who are willing to take a fall for someone so flagrantly belligerent.
It’s all so predictable with this piece of human debris. This guy has been a race baiting water carrier for a very long time going back to his pardon of Mark Rich while he was in the Clinton justice department. His “cowards” statement in 2009 and his decision to deep six the Black Panthers prosecution shows just what a despicable political weasel Holder is.
The House needs to hold this guy in contempt. His failure to produce is enough for the House to move forward. The next administration needs to investigate him and prosecute him when his finger prints are found on the Fast and Furious cover up. Holder belongs in a federal lock up.
I don’t know whether or not the House will hold him in contempt, but I sure so.
He is contemptible, pure and simple.
His masterpiece was stating that emails and memos using the term “Operation Fast and Furious” had nothing to do with… Operation Fast and Furious.
Even Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius, wouldn’t be dumb enough to say something like that.
Yosemite Sam, maybe.
(I’m trying to avoid calling Holder a lying sack of s#!t, if you were wondering. Normally, I try to be more polite, but as Bugs once said, “Right now I’m too mad….”)
clear ether
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Bugs also used to say “What a Maroon!”, which is obviously how Holder views congress and the American people.
Not to mention his disdain for the Mexican people as he can’t even be bothered to inform himself of the number of Mexicans who lost their lives because they were shot with one of these guns.
Of course, that’s the whole point. They, Eric Holder, et al, devised themselves a plan to make it look as though America’s guns were killing Mexicans and that it was because of the “bitter clingers” that this was so. There is NO DOUBT that had their plan worked as intended, Holder (et al) would have been trumpeting from the mountaintop the “horrible waste of life” and “reckless abandonment” in order for citizens to have gun rights.
But from the unexpected consequences drawer, when rummaging around in it and bringing up the tragic loss of life from the other side of the “intended” argument, Holder is coming up with hands full of nothing.
We have all had moments in our lives when either ourselves or someone we knew was caught red-handed. Holder is and his attitude and behavior are right out of the child’s playbook to deflect, not answer questions, lie, try to change the subject. I remember one such instance when I was a child and my grandfather let me try every trick in the book. With each attempt, he patiently listened and when I was done with my contrivance of a tale, he would explain to me the deficiencies in my report and then ice it with, “And so, here we are, with the truth still the truth. It cannot be ignored for it will always be there. Your stories and lies will vanish but the truth will remain, always.”
Funny how it didn’t impress me then at the age of six but that I never forgot it. Also funny is that there are people like Holder, and I’ve run into many like him who think that because they are in such a high position that they are beyond reproach. That they are above the rules and that they cannot and should not be questioned on anything.
I regret having to see such a dysfunctional assemblage of persons on our government. It’s gone beyond simple lying; It’s malice aforethought. Intentional, arrogant, vile. All for the purpose of setting the stage for a lie.
Makes you wonder what their moral center really is. Or if they have one at all or if it’s just an angry little pustule of tar in their gut that oozes a foul stench. Anger is the left’s biggest commodity and the real hell is that they focus it arbitrarily and randomly, thinking that it has some sense to it.
“That they are above the rules and that they cannot and should not be questioned on anything.”
And why wouldn’t they think they’re not “royalty”…princes and princesses in the DC monarchy of 535 special people with special perks and privileges. “Rights” that are not shared with the peasant class. Accommodations in pay, travel expense, office staff, nepotism, insider sharing of financial opportunities. The gift of separate retirement packages, opting out of SS while demanding that we partake of it. The observation that once they go into government as “paupers” they come out after 30 years as millionaires. How does that happen in government anyway?
Take the Rangles and Franks who write the tax and banking laws…then ignore them and rob the treasury only to get a slap on the wrist and an itty bitty sound bite of a “reprimand” from their thieving colleagues? Yet keep their jobs. Who said that Congress should be a lifetime career? Never forget Cynthia McKenny…”Don’t you know who I am”
This country needs a major, major reset and a citizen revolt. It’s long damn overdue.
Why can,t they have this guy arrested for contempt of congress? Isn,t the Sargent at arms, in a position to be able to detain Holder for lying under oath. Or hasn’t,t he been swarn in to testify? And if not , why not? Isn,t there any way to hold this man responsible for any of this at all. Calling Mark Levn! Calling Mark Levn! Where are you I,ll be listening to nite, for am answer,
Two words, Gus: Affirmative action.
Affirmative action does not excuse this native born Bahamian from answering questions asked by the representatives of his boss, the American people.
The day that we see Holder doing the perp walk will be the same day that Obama goes transparent. Those odds are long.
Good news folks. When Obama goes out the door for good in January of 2013, Holder goes out the door right along with him! God that gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling!
Yes – and Holder will be strolling out with a full presidential pardon in his back pocket. Which means he’ll keep his law license – hack that he is.
Doesn’t that thought just piss you off? It does me.
No, I don’t think the Pres can save Holder’s license to practice. Different jurisdictions.
You are correct – sort of. If Holder is never convicted of a crime he could still receive a presidential pardon. This protects him from prosecution even if charges haven’t yet been brought. Ford gave Nixon one and Nixon had not been charged or convicted of any crimes. If Holder is not convicted of a crime he keeps his law license. If convicted then pardoned he loses his license.
Here is my impossible dream: Holder, Obama, and Hillary are booted out of office in January. A Mexican court indicts them on a conspiracy to commit murder charge (300 counts), they are extradited to Mexico, tried, convicted and spend the rest of their sorry lives in a Mexican prison (with or without an American presidential pardon). Not gonna happen, I know, but I can dream!
If I remember correctly, Obama volunteered his license before being charged with fraud; so he no longer is allowed to practice law, as well as is his wife.
How can obama pardon this lying sack of s*it, when he himself is a fraud and, not allowed to practice law?
Obviously time to put him in the Comfy Chair.
This natural born burgerfliiper is a national embarrassment to the United States of America.
Don’t you wish that we were the same as Britain and France as far as their time to change the presidenteee! They loose they leave the place, period! Obama will have over 2 months to do his damage to the country and the white house. He needs to be out right after November 7th. I can just see his supporters (occupy etc) storming the white house and damaging all the precious history in there.
Just imagine having the shredding machine concession in DC come November.
…and don’t you wish you’d kept the Constitutional Monarchy that Britain has had since 1649. It means you don’t have a President, you don’t have to have a multi-million dollar election every four years or so and you have some-one overseeing your “Parliament” with the power to prorogue it if they deviate from the parliamentary process. Queen Elizabeth II has just celebrated 60 years of this governance and devoted duty to her people in the UK and the 54 Commonwealth countries. She hasn’t had to seek re-election because it is a job-for-life but not a sinecure!
The reason we don’t have a parliamentary government is that the Founding Fathers knew that it meant whoever had a majority in the legislature got to pick the prime minister. Who would then be a rubber stamp for whatever that majority wanted to do to the peasantry.
Having lived under such a system, they had no intention of perpetuating it. In the system they created, an oppressive single-party rule can be short-circuited by a single election, as we did in 2010. In the parliamentary system, all too often the system resists any and all attempts at change from the electorate.
By the way, the Soviet Union had a parliamentary system, too. And a one-party state.
The progressives over here have dreamed of replacing our present system with a parliamentary one for decades, and not because they admire the British monarchy. They see it as the route to absolute power, forever.
We’re not big enough damned fools to let them have that much power. Which is why they hate our Constitution as much as they do.
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But he knows where all the bodies are buried and 0b0z0 can’t get rid of him. There is no way he is going out before the other puppet.
Just impeach him already.
I beg to differ… I think charges and a dual trial would be better..
They’ve gone off the criminal rails here, which makes Watergate look like square whiteygate.
He’s out of order, she’s of order, the whole thing’s out of freakin order!!!!!! That’s how they have to deal with Jugears and his Merry Bros.
I wonder what the procedure is to go for impeaching Holder? I think it’s too late in the game for a Federal Prosecutor to be of much good, but I’ll bet there is more than enough evidence to get Holder on purjury to Congress. I think Issa should go for it. What does he have to lose? He can’t be concerned about Congress’ poll numbers because they stink already. Maybe the poll numbers would go up if Congress showed that it could do something of value, like root out evil and corruption in the Obama administration. Issa should roll the dice and go directly after Holder to impeach him. Obama may also just force him out of office because of the upcoming election, which would be a huge victory for Issa.
Article I, Section 3, para. 6: “The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath of Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.” Article II section 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for and Conviction of Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
An impeachment for Holder can be arranged in the Senate right after Reid finishes a budget.
An impeachment for Holder can be arranged in the Senate right after Reid finishes a budget.
Issa’s support from party ‘leadership’ has been lukewarm at best. Put politely, the chances are poor that any have the cojones needed to go after Holder directly in any manner, least of all impeachment.
Holder’s testimony today was impressive. It provided a small glimpse into the complexity and sophistication of his DOJ. They obviously use code level phrases in emails and likely break room gossip to discuss code word programs but intentionally use the wrong name or phrase. That is a slick security procedure right there. Given that level of craft he may have exposed his department as the true authors of flame. I hope the (other) bad guys do not pick up on Mr. Holder’s crack high tech. procedures.
Everyone read Erik Larson,s *In the Garden of Beasts*, it will welcome you into the alternative universe Mr. Holder ascribes to morally and intrinsically. You don,t even have to listen closely, he makes the same sneering contempt filled braying noises that came out of Herman Goring and Joseph Goebbels.
Jackson Lee, Conyers, Cummings, oy vey!
Maxine Waters wanted to attend but she’s too busy crying, ‘racism’ to an Ethics panel on the West Coast.
Divisive CBC, AA, EEO, racial quotas etc., have proven to be such an utter failure that even the ousted Sarkozy, Merkel and Cameron stead as such!
Why the f uck are we still using this B S ?
I liken it to the Chicago Cubs using the same modus operandi, HOPING to one day ‘luck’ into their 1st World Series win.
A majority of spineless pols and the aforementioned ‘reparation’ groups above see ONLY color. For they don’t seek an accord or resolution but ‘diplomatic immunity’ to all those brown-black melanin. Sickening.
11 + years into the 21st Century and the WEEEAAK stonewalling by this proven to be POS 15 + years ago is still walking amongst the law abiding citizenry?
Even worse Holder’s continued method playing God to the HUNDREDS of LIVES on 2 countries he’s insofar responsible for have taken..
I needn’t mention AZ, AL’s immigration bills, the DoJ’s threatening to remove federal aid to the MCSO nor FL’s voter I.D. and DoJ hamstringing the Zimmerman/ Martin case etc.,
Are your lights on? Holder has no interest in stopping voter fraud. Voter fraud favors Dims and he knows it.
Holder is an absolute scum bag and a disgrace. He should be arrested for a long list of abuses of his office. However when Obama gets tossed, Holder goes too.Then we will need to fire all of US attornies throughouot the USA and start purging the Justice Departments Civil Rights division and other leftists radicals that have now become an entrenched obstacle within this radicalized department. Such is the work before us. Cleaning out the stables!
Holder said that documents directly referencing “Fast and Furious” were not referencing Fast and Furious, the gun running operation.
This Inspector General he keeps referencing, a woman who has been “investigating” for over a year, is a Holder sycophant and clone. That so called investigation is meaningless.
If Speaker John Boehner and next in line Eric Cantor don’t have the cojones to issue a Contempt of Congress citation against Eric Holder with the next 2 weeks, I’m moving to Cuba, where there is more intelligence and more “justice”.
The intro to this article makes the author, Bridget Johnson, look like a…. the nicest word I can come up with as I’m typing this, is ‘dummy.’
The two listed ideas: that Holder doesn’t know about the ‘gunwalking,’ and that he has an valid opinion about voter ID: don’t have anything whatsoever to do with each other.
Fine, Holder sounds like he was sleepwalking through that interview, but really what does gunrunning have to do with voter ID?
There is another way of looking at this dance Holder and Issa are doing without concluding that Issa is a wimp.
Holder is safe for now and he knows it. The last thing Romney and House and Senate Republicans want or need now, five months out, is an impeachment proceeding and the resultant political storm that will draw attention away from Obama’s failures and Romney’s sales pitch. I’d guess that Holder is laughing at Issa and hoping that he takes the bait. Maybe he is even frustrated that his stonewalling has not resulted in some action against him.
So, call Issa and Pubbie leaders spineless cowards who are letting a corrupt Attorney General walk all over them; or call them canny pols who see the trap Holder is setting for Romney and refuse to walk into it.
He should be indited for accessory to murder and charged accordingly.
The support Holder is getting from “his people” is the reason we should NEVER have allowed Congressional districts to be so gerrymandered. There is NOT ONE MEMBER of the Congressional Black Caucus who truly is qualified to be a U.S. Representative. Given the incredibly low talent requirements necessary, as demonstrated by most Dem bulb reps, that is a damned serious insult.
In a just world, Holder would be indicted for treason, tried, convicted, sentenced to death and hung. He doesn’t deserve the honor of a firing squad.
Anyone who thinks Derbyshire was wrong would have a tough time arguing their case after this goat-roping.