The Obama administration told a U.S. House panel that the president is asserting executive privilege and refusing to turn over documents sought by lawmakers related to a U.S. law enforcement gun operation.
The Justice Department described President Barack Obama’s position in a letter today to Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican, who is chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The panel is scheduled to vote today over whether Attorney General Eric Holder should be held in contempt of Congress for failing to provide documents sought by Issa’s panel. The Justice Department says it already has provided more than 7,600 pages of documents.
Issa, as the committee meeting began, said Obama’s move was an “untimely assertion” that “falls short of any reason to delay today’s proceedings.”
The contempt vote would be the latest escalation in a standoff that began last year between Republican lawmakers and Holder over Fast and Furious, a law enforcement operation involving the sale of guns that ended up at crime scenes in Mexico.
Executive privilege is a principle that says the executive branch can’t be forced by the legislative branch to disclose confidential communications when they would harm operations.
‘Sensitive’ Activities
Documents responsive to the House panel’s subpoena relate to “sensitive law enforcement activities, including ongoing criminal investigations and prosecutions,” said Deputy Attorney General James Cole in the letter to Issa.
This is the first time Obama has invoked executive privilege, according to the White House.
Former President George W. Bush invoked executive privilege six times during his presidency, according to a White House statement.
Bush asserted executive privilege to block release of documents and testimony under oath by then White House counsel Harriet Miers and other top aides on the administration’s firing in 2006 of nine federal prosecutors. Under a deal later brokered by the Obama administration, the aides, including Bush political adviser Karl Rove, gave testimony in private.
After learning of the tactics used in Fast and Furious, Holder asked the Justice Department’s inspector general to look into the matter. That probe continues. The department expects that report will help officials “understand how these mistakes occurred and to ensure that they do not occur again,” Cole said in the letter.
