Ethics

Not An Impeachment, But This Will Do

This isn't the first time I've run that headline, but now it's becoming a reality.

This isn't the blowjob impeachment the Republicans were hoping for, but House Oversight Chairman Darrell "Witch Hunt" Issa held a vote of contempt for Attorney General Eric Holder in the House Oversight Committee today.

Contempt passed along party lines by a vote of 23 to 17.

It's now up to Speaker of the House John Boehner to pass a resolution of contempt among the entire House of Representatives, which he says he will do next week unless Eric Holder cooperates with Issa's witch hunt committee.

Eric Holder has cooperated however, testifying before congress 9 separate times and handing over thousands of documents. Regardless, the Republicans want to hold him responsible for a program that began under former President George W. Bush and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in 2006. Eric Holder ended the program after it was brought to his attention and initiated an investigation.

There is absolutely no basis for this partisan witch hunt or the vote of contempt. It's a high-tech lynching of the Attorney General.

I don't believe this will earn the Republicans anything other than their own vote of contempt held by independent voters.

We're 10 days away from student interest rate loans doubling. Congress, and more specifically the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, still hasn't passed the transportation bill which covers millions of jobs. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives still hasn't signed off on a renewal of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) because it grants existing protections to immigrants, Native American tribes, and members of the LGBT community. And just today, Eric Cantor (R-VA) put a hold on the farm bill because he wants time to assess the political situation. You know, because cooperating might look bad for them.

We're in a lame-duck session of congress that will be used as an example by which to judge all future lame-duck sessions, and the Republicans are busy trying to tie a noose around Eric Holder's neck.

This isn't the 90s and this isn't a blowjob in the oval office. Most Americans have no damn idea what any of this is about. This will only be seen as a distraction.

Adding... here's video of the last time Holder tried to testify.

Update... the Department of Justice has issued a response.

“Unfortunately, Chairman Issa has rejected all of these efforts to reach a reasonable accommodation. Instead, he has chosen to use his authority to take an extraordinary, unprecedented and entirely unnecessary action, intended to provoke an avoidable conflict between Congress and the Executive Branch. This divisive action does not help us fix the problems that led to this operation or previous ones and it does nothing to make any of our law enforcement agents safer. It's an election-year tactic intended to distract attention -- and, as a result -- has deflected critical resources from fulfilling what remains my top priority at the Department of Justice: Protecting the American people.

“Simply put, any claims that the Justice Department has been unresponsive to requests for information are untrue. From the beginning, Chairman Issa and certain members of the Committee have made unsubstantiated allegations first, then scrambled for facts to try to justify them later. That might make for good political theater, but it does little to uncover the truth or address the problems associated with this operation and prior ones dating back to the previous Administration.