The White House announced today the invoking of executive privilege in an attempt to stop the disclosure to Congress of the remaining Operation Fast and Furious documents. The House oversight committee chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has sought full disclosure of those documents for more than a year. Additionally, the statements of Attorney General Eric Holder from two occasions were retracted today. Holder had testified several times before Issa's committee, which has been in the process of considering holding the attorney general in contempt for not cooperating with the requests for full disclosure of those documents.
During the Congressional investigation of the Watergate scandal under President Nixon, the House Judiciary Committee had requested full disclosure of related documents. After Nixon asserted executive privilege to not disclose the documents, the committee began impeachment hearings. That quickly resulted in President Nixon resigning his presidency.
While it is not likely we'll see impeachment hearing beginning soon, it is very possible we will see some members of Congress making the case for starting such a process. This is the same attorney general who essentially withdrew the charges for voter intimidation against the New Black Panther Party, an act that was basically a cover-up of that scandal. This attorney general is doing everything he can to stop states from purging ineligible voters from the rolls, as well as opposing any state effort to secure the integrity of the electoral system by requiring voters prove their identity as register voters by showing a photo ID to vote. Members of Congress have already demanded the resignation of Eric Holder, who is regarded as one of the most corrupt occupants of that office.
Unfortunately, given the partisan nature of politics, the Obama administration is likely to responded to an impeachment proceeding by branding it a partisan “right-wing Republican witch hunt.” Some among the more extreme fringes of the Democrats have already suggested that about the very legitimate oversight investigations being conducted by Congressman Issa's committee.
In the meantime, so many other scandals under this administration are awaiting due investigation. The anti-terrorism leaks and the recent unconstitutional immigration policy change are among them. While many would like to see an impeachment proceeding, it's unlikely to happen. The remedy for the eventual disposition of justice on all these issues will be referendum on this administration decided by voters on election day in November.
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