Holder contempt vote still on

By VICTORIA JONES
Talk Radio News Service

WASHINGTON – The White House counsel,Justice Department officials and aides to Speaker Boehner and Darrell Issa met Tuesday afternoon. They looked at roughly 30 documents requested by Issa as part of the ongoing investigation into Fast and Furious.

The GOP aides refused to accept  Counsel Kathy Ruemmler’s offer that the Obama administration hand over the documents in exchange for Republicans permanently dropping plans to hold a contempt vote. President Obama last week invoked executive privilege over the documents after Holder warned the White House that sharing the information with Congress would have “damaging consequences” and inhibit administration officials from holding internal deliberations.

House Democrats have conceded that some of their members might support the Republican contempt vote, in part because the NRA is urging lawmakers to vote for it. Several Democrats rely on the NRA’s endorsement in election years.

Rep. Steny Hoyer, the Democratic whip, a long time supporter of tougher gun laws, is pushing back against Republicans’ focus on the guns surrounding border patrol agent Brian Terry’s murder.

“The premise is that somehow letting these guns go across the border resulted in this tragic death. But people kill people, not guns, I’m told on a regular basis”, Hoyer said.

“The fact of the matter is this life was tragically lost because there are some criminals on both sides of the border who facilitate violent criminal behaviur.”

During the hearings, when an ATF special agent told the Oversight panel that straw purchasers should suffer stiffer penalties to discourage gun trafficking, Issa stepped in to silence him: “We’re not here to talk about proposed gun legislation.”

The contempt vote  is scheduled for Thursday in the House, the same day as the Supreme Court Obamacare ruling. Senate Republicans are keeping their distance from the House – they don’t see it as a winning issue.

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Posted by Gary on Jun 27 2012. Filed under Breaking News, Politics, Top stories, US. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.