Finally: Federal Judge threatens to hold IRS Commissioner in contempt for failing to produce Lerner emails...

Go get'em judge. 

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced that U.S District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan today threatened to hold the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department attorneys in contempt of court after the IRS failed to produce status reports and newly recovered emails of Lois Lerner, former director of the Exempt Organizations Unit of the IRS, as he had ordered on July 1, 2015.
During the a status hearing today, Sullivan warned that the failure to follow his order was serious and the IRS and Justice Department’s excuses for not following his July 1 order were “indefensible, ridiculous, and absurd.”  He asked the IRS’ Justice Department lawyer Geoffrey Klimas, “Why didn’t the IRS comply” with his court order and “why shouldn’t the Court hold the Commissioner of the IRS in contempt.”  Judge Sullivan referenced his contempt findings against Justice Department prosecutors in the prosecution of late Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) and reminded the Justice Department attorney he had the ability to detain him for contempt.  Warning he would tolerate no further disregard of his orders, Judge Sullivan said, “I will haul into court the IRS Commissioner to hold him personally into contempt.”
After the hearing, Judge Sullivan issued the following “minute order”:

At the July 29, 2015 status hearing, the Government agreed that the Court’s July 1, 2015 oral order from the bench was clear and enforceable.  Nonetheless, the Government reasoned it inappropriate to file a motion for reconsideration until a written order was issued.  As expressed at the hearing, the Government’s reasoning is nonsensical.  Officers of the Court who fail to comply with Court orders will be held in contempt.  Also, in the event of non-compliance with future Court orders, the Commissioner of the IRS and others shall be directed to show cause as to why they should not be held in contempt of Court.  The Court’s July 1, 2015 ruling from the bench stands: (1) the Government shall produce relevant documents every Monday; (2) the Government’s document production shall be accompanied by a status report that indicates (a) whether TIGTA has turned over any new documents to the IRS, (b) if so, the number of documents, and (c) a timeframe for the IRSs production of those documents. Signed by Judge Emmet G. Sullivan on July 29, 2015.

Obvious: Obama's DOJ will not prosecute Lois Lerner for contempt of Congress.

I bet they are privately give her attagirls...

Via Politico:

The Justice Department will not seek criminal contempt charges against former IRS official Lois Lerner, the central figure in a scandal that erupted over whether the tax agency improperly targeted conservative political groups.
Ronald Machen, the former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in a seven-page letter this week that he would not bring a criminal case to a grand jury over Lerner’s refusal to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in March 2014. The House approved a criminal contempt resolution against Lerner in May 2014, and Machen’s office has been reviewing the issue since then.

Boehner fails to find a pair: Rules out House arresting Lois Lerner...

This is the least shocking story of the day. Boehner doesn't have the balls to have the House arrest Lois Lerner for contempt and Eric Holder will never do it. That leaves the contempt vote as a toothless show vote to placate the base. Boehner can go back to working on his tan and golf game now.

Via The Hill:

The House has held Lois Lerner in contempt, but it won’t use its power to place the former IRS official under arrest, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said on Sunday.

Under a precedent affirmed by the Supreme Court, each chamber of Congress can authorize its sergeant-at-arms to detain individuals it holds in contempt. But Boehner said on "Fox News Sunday" that he has no interest in doing that with Lerner, whom the House last week voted to hold in contempt over her refusal to testify about her role in the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups.

“I’m not sure we want to go down that path,” Boehner said. “It’s never been used,” he said of the provision allowing Congress to arrest individuals and place them in the Capitol jail. The Senate has in fact used that power, but not in the last 80 years. “I’m not sure that it’s an appropriate way to go about this,” Boehner said.

Lois Lerner’s Lawyer: Holding Her In Contempt of Congress Would Be “Un-American” or Something…

“Un-American” is when you use the power of the IRS and other government agencies to target someone because you don't agree with them politically. Lois Lerner is likely the one who is “Un-American.”

Via WSJ:

A lawyer representing former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner is requesting a chance to plead her case against a planned House vote to hold her in contempt of Congress.

On Friday, Majority Leader Eric Cantor said in a memo to members that the House of Representatives would vote in May to hold Ms. Lerner in contempt of Congress over her refusal to testify before a congressional committee about IRS targeting of conservative groups. Ms. Lerner headed the division that handled the groups’ applications for tax-exempt status, and is at the center of congressional investigations.

Ms. Lerner has twice declined to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, citing her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. GOP lawmakers argue that she waived her privilege by making a statement at the first hearing, professing her innocence of any wrongdoing.

They were further angered when it became known that Ms. Lerner gave a lengthy interview to the Justice Department about the matter. The committee approved a contempt resolution concerning Ms. Lerner earlier this month.

Ms. Lerner’s lawyer, William Taylor III, said on Monday in a letter to GOP leaders that holding Ms. Lerner in contempt of Congress “would not only be unfair and, indeed, un-American, it would be flatly inconsistent with the Fifth Amendment as interpreted by the Supreme Court.”

Eric Holder to Rep. Louis Gohmert - "You don't want to go there, buddy!" (video)

Rep. Gohmert go a round over Holder's contempt of Congress.

Heartache: Holder has no respect for Republicans who voted him in contempt...

Much of America has no respect for Eric Holder...



Via ABC News:

From ABC’s Chris Good, Pierre Thomas, Jason Ryan, Jack Cloherty, and Jack Date:
Attorney General Eric Holder shrugged off the House’s move to hold him in contempt last year because he didn’t respect the votes by those who chose to do so.

In a wide-ranging, exclusive interview Wednesday, ABC News’ Pierre Thomas asked Holder how he reacted when House Republicans voted with 17 Democrats to hold him in contempt of Congress last June over ATF’s “Fast and Furious” gun scandal.

“It’s something that I think was unfortunate,” Holder said. “I think it’s a result of this kind of partisan sport that I think we engage in here in Washington far too often.”
Holder said the votes it didn’t bother him, considering who cast them.

“But I have to tell you that for me to really be affected by what happened, I’d have to have respect for the people who voted in that way,” Holder told ABC News. “And I didn’t, so it didn’t have that huge an impact on me.”

Shocker: Holder's Justice Department Refuses To prosecute Eric Holder For Contempt Of Congress

If you didn't see this one coming, you weren't looking...

Via WaPo:

The Justice Department has told House leaders that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s decision to withhold certain documents about a flawed gun operation from Congress is not a crime and he will not be prosecuted for contempt of Congress.

Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole explained the decision, which was expected, in a letter to House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). The letter was released publicly Friday, just over a week after President Obama invoked executive privilege to withhold the documents.

Eric Holder Gets a Spanking. House Votes Him in Civil and Criminal Contempt

Eric Holder is the first sitting member of an administration to be voted in contempt of Congress. All he had to do was turn over some documents.

Via the Washington Times:

The House on Thursday cited Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. for contempt of Congress in a historic vote weighted with political significance, though it does little to break the stalemate over his decision to withhold documents over the Justice Department’s actions in a botched gun-walking operation.

The 255-67 vote amounted to a political spanking for Mr. Holder and President Obama, and 17 Democrats joined with Republicans in demanding the documents be released. Most Democrats, however, walked out in protest of the vote.

It marks the first time an attorney general has been held in contempt by a chamber.

Talks between Obama administration and House Republicans break down. Holder contempt vote on schedule.

"The only people who don't want to disclose the truth are people with something to hide."

There is no other conclusion than Obama and Holder are hiding something very damaging in these documents. The number demanded by the House to hold off a contempt vote was winnowed down to only 1700...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Obama administration officials and House Republican staff members have met but failed to resolve a document dispute that could lead to a precedent-setting contempt of Congress vote Thursday against Attorney General Eric Holder.

A House Republican official, not authorized to be quoted by name, said Tuesday that White House and Justice Department representatives showed the GOP staff 30 documents related to the botched Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation.

The GOP official said the administration also promised to provide hundreds of pages of documents, but only if the House Republicans would stop the contempt effort and end their investigation. The offer was rejected.

Keep on reading…

Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer admits some Democrats will vote to hold Eric Holder in contempt of Congress

Thursday Eric Holder will secure his place in the history books as the first Attorney General to be held in contempt of Congress. The NRA is scoring this vote...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Now that the politically potent National Rifle Association is keeping score, some Democrats may join House Republicans if there’s a vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress in a dispute over documents related to a botched gun-tracking operation.

The chief Democratic House head counter, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, declined to tell reporters how many defections he expected, but acknowledged that some in his party would consider heeding the NRA’s call for a “yes” vote.

The gun owners association injected itself last week into the stalemate over Justice Department documents demanded by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The NRA said it supports the contempt resolution and will keep a record of how members vote.

House Oversight Committee Holds Eric Holder In Contempt of Congress, Full House Vote Scheduled For Next Week

After the House contempt vote passes, we can move on to a grand jury indictment...

WASHINGTON, DC — House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) issued the following statement after the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee approved a resolution holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for his refusal to turn over subpoenaed documents related to the Fast & Furious operation:

“Despite being given multiple opportunities to provide the documents necessary for Congress’ investigation into Fast and Furious, Attorney General Holder continues to stonewall. Today, the Administration took the extraordinary step of exerting executive privilege over documents that the Attorney General had already agreed to provide to Congress. Fast and Furious was a reckless operation that led to the death of an American border agent, and the American people deserve to know the facts to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. While we had hoped it would not come to this, unless the Attorney General reevaluates his choice and supplies the promised documents, the House will vote to hold him in contempt next week. If, however, Attorney General Holder produces these documents prior to the scheduled vote, we will give the Oversight Committee an opportunity to review in hopes of resolving this issue.”

Holder stalls, Republicans plan to hold contempt vote today

Rep. Darrell Issa and AG Eric Holder meet yesterday afternoon. Holder failed to turn over anymore documents. Instead, he wanted Issa and House Republicans to settle for some lame briefings. That is a no pass. Unless Holder turns over documents this morning, it looks like the contempt vote will go forward. It doesn't appear Holder was seriously trying to resolve the issue. Republicans have claimed they will get as many as 30+ Democrats to vote with them to hold Holder in contempt. This whole charade by Eric Holder is an attempt to provide cover for Democrats to vote against the contempt charge.

Via Politico:

House Republicans are charging head first into their most direct conflict with President Barack Obama’s administration over the extent of executive branch power, as they prepare to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress on Wednesday.

Holder and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) failed to reach an agreement on what documents the administration would fork over to help Republicans investigate the Fast and Furious program, a joint Justice Department-Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives operation that put guns into the hands of Mexican cartels.

The two sides remained at loggerheads Tuesday evening, after a 20-minute huddle in Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s third-floor Capitol suite. Holder later called Issa’s position “political gamesmanship” and not a true attempt to resolve the dispute.

After the session, Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said no deal was in hand and Wednesday’s vote would move forward, barring a last-minute reversal.

Good News: House Republicans to Hold Contempt of Congress Vote on Holder's Obstruction of Fast and Furious Investigation

It's about time.

(CBS News) — House Republicans investigating the Fast and Furious scandal have gotten the go-ahead by their party leaders to pursue a contempt citation against Attorney General Eric Holder, senior congressional aides told CBS News. The resolution will accuse Holder and his Justice Department of obstructing the congressional probe into the allegations that the government let thousands of weapons fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

The citation would attempt to force Holder to turn over tens of thousands of pages documents related to the probe, which has entered its second year.

For months, congressional Republicans probing ATF’s Fast and Furious “Gunwalker” scandal — led by California Republican Darrell Issa, have been investigating a contempt citation.

They’ve worked quietly behind the scenes to build support among fellow Republicans, since it could ultimately face a full House vote. CBS News has confirmed that House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, has given Rep. Issa, who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the go-ahead to proceed. A 48-page long draft contempt resolution is being prepared.

Keep on reading…

Priceless: Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) threatening to hold Eric Holder in contempt of Congress

Do it!

(Politico) — House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) threatened Tuesday to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress if the Justice Department did not provide certain documents in response to the committee’s subpoena.

In a letter to Holder, Issa wrote that “this committee will have no alternative but to move forward with proceedings to hold you in contempt of Congress” if Holder and the DOJ didn’t produce documents they demanded relating to the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal.
Holder has until Thursday, Feb. 9. to comply, according to Issa.

Issa accused the Justice Department of trying to “obstruct our investigation and deceive the public” by withholding documents.
“Your actions lead us to conclude that the department is actively engaged in a cover-up,” he said in a four-page letter.

New Orleans judge rules Obama administration in contempt over drilling ban

After the Gulf oil spill, the Obama administration instituted a drilling ban. The ban was overturned by the courts, but team Obama soon re-instituted another ban. The Obama administration clearly has contempt for laws and court ruling they disagree with.

The Obama Administration acted in contempt by continuing its deepwater-drilling moratorium after the policy was struck down, a New Orleans judge ruled.

Interior Department regulators acted with “determined disregard” by lifting and reinstituting a series of policy changes that restricted offshore drilling, following the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, U.S. District Judge, Martin Feldman of New Orleans ruled yesterday.

“Each step the government took following the court’s imposition of a preliminary injunction showcases its defiance,” Feldman said in the ruling.

“Such dismissive conduct, viewed in tandem with the re-imposition of a second blanket and substantively identical moratorium, and in light of the national importance of this case, provide this court with clear and convincing evidence of the government’s contempt,” Feldman said.

Read more at Bloomberg.