WASHINGTON, June 20 (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional panel
voted on Wednesday to charge Attorney General Eric Holder with
contempt of Congress after the Obama administration invoked
executive privilege for the first time since coming to office,
withholding some documents related to a failed gun-running
investigation.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives'
Oversight and Government Reform Committee, on a party-line vote,
decided to cite the nation's top law enforcement officer in
connection with the operation, code-named "Fast and Furious."
The move set up a new confrontation between Democratic President
Barack Obama and Congress.
Republican House leaders said they would schedule a vote in
the full House next week on the contempt charge. House Speaker
John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor said if the
requested documents were submitted before that vote, it would
provide an opportunity to resolve the issue.
In theory, an official charged with contempt could be
punished with a fine or jail, but no one expects it to come to
that. Weeks or months of controversy feeding into the
presidential election campaign is the more likely result.
Republicans were already taking advantage of the moment to
portray the president as a participant in a cover-up, just as
congressional Democrats did when they fought with President
George W. Bush over that administration's refusal to turn over
documents relating to the dismissal of a group of federal
prosecutors.
"Until now, everyone believed that the decisions regarding
'Fast and Furious were confined to the Department of Justice,"
said Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner.
He added, "The White House decision to invoke executive
privilege implies that White House officials were either
involved in the Fast and Furious operation or the cover-up that
followed."
Presidents since Richard Nixon have claimed executive
privilege to protect internal documents and conversations in
similar disputes with Congress with varying results, as the
courts have never given presidents any absolute authority to
defy subpoenas from Congress.
Even before the vote, the White House criticized the panel
chaired by conservative Representative Darrell Issa.
"Instead of creating jobs or strengthening the middle-class,
congressional Republicans are spending their time on a
politically-motivated, taxpayer-funded election-year fishing
expedition," White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer
said.
Issa and other Republicans on the panel accused the Justice
Department that Holder heads of stonewalling and trying to
protect its political appointees from potentially embarrassing
revelations about the botched gun-running probe.
"The frustration of this committee in not getting documents
for a year and a half must be satisfied today," Issa said.
The "Fast and Furious" operation was meant to help federal
law enforcement agents follow the flow of guns from Arizona into
Mexico, where they were thought to fall into the hands of
violent Mexican drug cartels. A similar operation was conducted
during Bush's administration.
U.S. agents lost track of many of the weapons, which later
were involved in crimes, including the shooting death of U.S.
Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. Fast and Furious ran from late
2009 until early 2011.
Word of the fumbled operation prompted Congress to
investigate the Obama administration's handling of it.
Historically, Congress has had considerable difficulty
enforcing contempt citations and has ultimately relied on
negotiated settlements following protracted litigation to get
the information it has sought.
Obama and congressional Republicans have battled since
January 2011, over everything from budget and tax policy to
healthcare, immigration and keeping basic government services
running.
Relations between Obama and Republicans in Congress are
expected to worsen as the Nov. 6 presidential and congressional
elections approach.
(Reporting by Donna Smith and Richard Cowan; Additional
reporting by James Vicini, Drew Singer and Laura MacInnis)
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