June 15th 2012

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was again on the proverbial hot seat this week as investigations into the infamous "Fast and Furious" gun-walking scandal continue.

While a standoff in the investigation over providing subpoenaed information drags on, earlier this week, Holder suggested that he was willing to make "compromises." In response, on Wednesday House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, (R-Calif.) opened the door to negotiating with Holder, asking the AG to make the committee an offer, so that he might potentially avoid a contempt of Congress vote that is scheduled for next Wednesday, June 20.

On Thursday, in a letter to Rep. Issa, Holder indicated his willingness to partially comply with the subpoena. In what he called "an extraordinary accommodation," Holder agreed to provide some additional documents, but said that other documents remained, "outside the scope of the committee's interest in the inappropriate tactics used in Fast and Furious."

The question remains as to whether Holder now sees no other alternative but to comply, or if he is merely continuing to stonewall in an effort to delay the contempt vote, and perhaps even stall the process until after November's election.

According to a Thursday FoxNews.com article, Issa's office said that Holder's letter "only seems to indicate a willingness to offer a selective telling" of key events and that the chairman is still asking the Justice Department to explain "how it is prepared to alter its opposition to producing subpoenaed documents."

That doesn't sound much like compromise.

New calls for Holder to resign were also heard this week, as U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) called for Holder's resignation during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday morning.

"Mr. Attorney General, it is more with sorrow than regret and anger that I would say you leave me no alternative but to join those who have called upon you to resign your office," said Cornyn. "Americans deserve an Attorney General who'll be honest with them. They deserve an Attorney General who'll uphold the basic standards of political independence and accountability. You've proven time and time again that, sadly, you're unwilling to do so."

"It is my sincere hope that President Obama will replace you with someone who is up to that challenge," Cornyn concluded.

Echoing Cornyn's concerns in an interview with former Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee, U. S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) noted, "Well if he doesn't cooperate with the Congress on this Fast and Furious, where one of our agents was killed because of the stupidity of this administration, then he ought to step down. He's basically a nice man, but by gosh he's been so partisan in that job that I'm very concerned about him and tend to support Sen. Cornyn and others who think that he ought to retire."

Of course, NRA also continues its call for Attorney General Holder to resign over his Justice Department's unwillingness to fully account for this disastrous operation.



http://www.nraila.org/legislation/federal-legislation/2012/holder-offers-a-compromised-compromise.aspx