Townhall.com ^ | June 3, 2013 | Bob Beauprez
Even the most ardent liberal defenders of Eric Holder acknowledge that the
embattled Attorney General "is in a mess of his own making," as Dana Milbank of
the Washington
Postput it.
Under fire for his Justice Department going after AP reporters' personal
records, Holder testified in May 2013 to
Congress: "With regard to potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure
of material, that is not something that I have ever been involved in, heard of,
or would think would be a wise policy."
But, Holder was caught in a lie when the Washington
Post exposed an affidavit bearing Holder's signature naming Fox News
reporter James Rosen as a "co-conspirator" in a 2009 foreign espionage case.
Holder then went "judge shopping." Rejected by two federal judges, a
third judge finally granted Holder's covert targeted request. The DOJ
traced Rosen's movements, his calls, his personal e-mails, even his
parents' phone records.
Recognizing that Holder's actions belie his claim that targeting reporters
was "not something that I have ever been involved in," the two top ranking
members of the House Judiciary Committee have written a
letter to Holder looking for answers. Politely pointing out that the media
reports and DOJ documents uncovered in the case "appear to be at odds with your
sworn testimony before the (Judiciary) Committee," Chairman Bob Goodlatte and
James Sensenbrenner, Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Investigations, then list
a page and half of questions for which they want answers by June 5.
As the worm turns and a perjury case builds against the Attorney General, it
is worth noting that this is hardly the first time Holder has crossed the line
between truth and fiction with Congress. In fact, it started almost immediately
after he took office.
On Election Day 2008, members of the New Black Panther Party in paramilitary
garb wielded night sticks and intimidated voters at a
Philadelphia polling location with threatening racial slurs. The DOJ's
attorneys in the Voting Right Division obtained a default judgment against the
thugs in what
has been called "perhaps the most clear cut case of voter suppression and
intimidation ever." Just prior to sentencing, however, the DOJ dropped
the prosecution with barely a slap on the wrist for the Panthers.
In March 2011, Holder was questioned about his involvement in the decision by
a Congressional Committee
and said that the "decisions made in the New Black Panther Party case were
made by career attorneys in the department."
That was not true. As part of an effort to get at the truth, Judicial Watch
filed a Freedom of Information lawsuit in U.S. District Court. Among the
findings, the court
ruled that, "The documents reveal that political appointees within DOJ were
conferring about the status and resolution of the New Black Panther Party case
in the days preceding the DOJ’s dismissal of claims in that case."
J. Christian Adams, a career attorney in the Voting Rights Section of DOJ
that prosecuted the New Black Panther case testified before the U.S. Civil
Rights Commission that it was in fact Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli, an
Obama political appointee and top aid to Holder, who overruled the unanimous
recommendation for full prosecution by Adams and his colleagues.
Another lie involved the Fast and Furious scandal wherein the Administration
"walked" hundreds of highly lethal weapons into the hands of the ultra-violent
Mexican drug cartel. Some of those weapons were eventually linked to the
assassination of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
Rep.Darrell
Issa grilled Holder in a House Oversight Committee hearing in May of 2011;
"When did you first know about the program officially I believe called Fast and
Furious? To the best of your knowledge, what date?" Holder replied, "I'm not
sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the
first time over the last few weeks."
That was not true. As Sharyl
Attkisson of CBS News and many others reported, a July 2010 memo – ten
months before the Congressional hearing – to Holder from the head of the
National Drug Intelligence Center briefed the AG that through F&F "1500
firearms were then supplied to the Mexican drug trafficking cartels."
Attkisson documented at least six additional briefings between July and
November 1, 2010 to Holder about F&F including from Holder's Assistant
Attorney General Lanny Breuer.
Holder has defended himself by suggesting that he didn't understand Issa's
question, and that he meant to say a "couple months" instead of "weeks."
The President continues to stand by his man, at least publicly. "The
President thinks the Attorney General is doing a good job, and he has confidence
in the Attorney General,"according
to White House Spokesman Jay Carney.
New Black Panthers, Fast and Furious, and Rosen-Fox News – three
strikes should be enough to call Eric Holder out. Regardless of Obama's feigned
"absolute confidence" in Holder, look for a resignation by July 4.
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