Thursday, January 15, 2015

BREAKTHROUGH: Federal Judge Orders Release of “Fast and Furious” Documents

BREAKTHROUGH: Federal Judge Orders Release of “Fast and Furious” Documents

Friday, August 1st, 2014

The plague of scandals besieging the White House under President Barack Obama shows no sign of letting up. His complicity in the illegal immigration crisis, his knowledge of IRS targeting of tea party and other conservative groups, and his authorization of an illegal arms-dealing program by the Secretary of State in Libya have all been credibly alleged in recent months.
Increasingly, even liberals and Democrats have begun to turn on the president over these issues, his unconstitutional power grabs that threaten the very rule of American law, and his betrayal of America’s greatest ally in the middle east, Israel.

Now, after over a year of legal wrangling, another such scandal threatens to resurface and add to calls for the impeachment of the president, Attorney General Eric Holder, or both.
A lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by Judicial Watch, a government watchdog group, has succeeded in forcing Holder’s Department of Justice to provide “a detailed listing of all documents that it has withheld from Congress and the American people for years,” according to a statement from Judicial Watch cited by Townhall.
Holder was held in Contempt of Congress over two years ago for his refusal to release documents to House members investigating the ill-fated “Operation Fast and Furious” that allowed guns to get into the hands of criminals in order to track and arrest members of Mexico’s drug cartels. Those same guns have been linked to an estimated 200 deaths on both sides of the border, including that of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
Calling the judge’s order a “huge step forward,” the report lists the information that the DOJ must now provide, including a list of every document that the department is withholding under Obama’s claim of executive privilege and an explanation of both the statute allowing the withholding and the interests that would potentially be damaged if the documents were to become public knowledge.
This list is called a “Vaughn index,” and is sometimes ordered by courts in FOIA lawsuits to help mitigate the “distinct informational disadvantage” of the FOIA requester, according to the court’s ruling.
Once again, where a divided Congress has failed in its attempts ultimately to hold the president and his attorney general accountable for their statements and actions, private citizens have demanded–and are getting–an accounting from their leaders in Washington.
This is, indeed, a “huge step forward,” but it is only one such step. Further legal pressure must be brought to bear to uncover the secrets of the Obama administration. Congress must continue its many investigations into this president’s scandals. And the people must provide the ultimate accountability by voting constitutional conservatives into office this November.
Please share this article on Facebook and Twitter if you agree that it’s past time for Barack Obama and Eric Holder to share the truth about Fast and Furious with Congress and the American people.


Calling the judge’s order a “huge step forward,” the report lists the information that the DOJ must now provide, including a list of every document that the department is withholding under Obama’s claim of executive privilege and an explanation of both the statute allowing the withholding and the interests that would potentially be damaged if the documents were to become public knowledge.
This list is called a “Vaughn index,” and is sometimes ordered by courts in FOIA lawsuits to help mitigate the “distinct informational disadvantage” of the FOIA requester, according to the court’s ruling.
Once again, where a divided Congress has failed in its attempts ultimately to hold the president and his attorney general accountable for their statements and actions, private citizens have demanded–and are getting–an accounting from their leaders in Washington.
This is, indeed, a “huge step forward,” but it is only one such step. Further legal pressure must be brought to bear to uncover the secrets of the Obama administration. Congress must continue its many investigations into this president’s scandals. And the people must provide the ultimate accountability by voting constitutional conservatives into office this November.
Please share this article on Facebook and Twitter if you agree that it’s past time for Barack Obama and Eric Holder to share the truth about Fast and Furious with Congress and the American people

No comments:

Post a Comment