(GunReports.com) — Federal courts could soon decide a fight between Congress and Attorney General Eric Holder on the Operation Fast and Furious gun-running scandal, writes Breitbart.com legal contributor Ken Klukowski, a member of the faculty at Liberty University School of Law:
Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, is leading the charge against Holder in Congress. Yet Holder is refusing to release literally tens of thousands of pages of documents, or provide testimony regarding high-ranking officials potentially involved in this scandal that resulted in the death of multiple federal agents. So now Issa is pursuing a contempt citation against Holder, which can result in fines or even (unlikely) imprisonment.
The only defense Holder can assert is to say that these documents are protected by executive privilege. That’s the doctrine that the president and his subordinates are independent of Congress, and that certain information can be kept secret to enable each president and his administration to do their jobs effectively. Though often asserted when information is sought regarding the president’s confidential conversations or for decisions involving military decisions or foreign diplomacy, executive privilege can be attempted whenever someone in an administration does not want to comply with a congressional subpoena. But Holder will lose that legal fight if Issa and House Republicans persist in pursuing this investigation, as they should.
Read the entire article at Breitbart.com.
