Over the last two days several GOP insiders who are decidedly conservative and who are distressed over the direction the leadership is taking the Party have stated that the Republican establishment is "too spineless" to go after Obama on the Fast and Furious scandal.
"Boehner doesn't have the guts to go after him," stated one insider.
The statement was made in answer to a question as to why the Republican leadership in the House seems reticent about pursuing broad-based investigations into Project Gunwalker (Operation Fast and Furious), in spite of the fact that Darrell Issa's committee has uncovered enough information on Obama and the entire top tier of the Administration to merit those investigations.
Issa's committee is limited in scope, as are all committees in the House and Senate. Congressional observers say that in order to accomplish a broad-based investigation that will result in definite dire consequences for the perpetrators of the scandal, Speaker John Boehner will need to push other House committees to launch their own investigations, such as the House Judiciary Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and others.
Judiciary has oversight of Eric Holder and the Justice Department. Foreign Affairs has oversight over Hillary Clinton and the State Department.
But Boehner has shown no willingness whatsoever to take this path. In addition, the Speaker has resisted efforts to use the Office of the House Sergeant at Arms to serve as the legal team for Issa in an effort to insure that any special prosecutor selected to delve into the scandal will not come from the Department of Justice--a main target of the investigation.
In the Senate, the explanation for the foot-dragging is clear. Democrats control the chamber, despite their efforts of late to portray the entire Congress as 'Republican' in order to give themselves some distance from the fact that the public exhibits little trust for the body. In spite of Senator Charles Grassley's efforts on the Senate Judiciary Committee to fully investigate Gunwalker, the Iowa Republican has been thwarted on every hand by committee chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, and other Democrats who have shown no interest in pursuing the matter.
Given that the Senate is under Democrat control, the common assumption has been that there is little that Issa can actually do in the House to move the investigation forward. While there is much truth, ultimately, in that assumption, there is, however, much more that can be done in the House provided Speaker Boehner gets on board.
First, Boehner can bring the Gunwalker scandal to the forefront of the attention of the media by publicly stating in a special news conference that the House will use every means possible within its power to investigate the matter. Such a move would send D.C. spinning on its heels.
Second, Boehner can urge the House Judiciary Committee and other pertinent committees to begin to utilize all of their resources to launch their own investigations.
Third, Boehner can announce that any evidence suggesting illegal activity that is discovered in those investigations will be prosecuted by the Office of the House Sergeant at Arms, thus bypassing a DOJ lawyer investigating the DOJ.
GOP insiders say he won't do it. "He doesn't have the stomach for turning Washington upside down to get to the bottom of this," said one operative.
If this is the case, there is a course of action available to conservative Republicans who wish to see justice done--an effort to remove Boehner and replace him with someone who will not hesitate to pursue a course of justice in this scandal that has become the largest in U.S. history.
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