Eric Holder Invokes the Doofus Defense Benjamin Duffy People accused of malfeasance aren’t usually tasked with investigating themselves for obvious reasons. The guy caught with his hand in the cookie jar has a tendency to conclude that the cookies are all present and accounted for. Attorney General Eric Holder, on the other hand, is routinely tasked with investigating his own shenanigans and routinely determines that everything is on the level. Amidst the furor concerning the DOJ’s spying on Associated Press and FOX News journalists, President Obama ordered the formation of a panel to “review existing Department of Justice guidelines governing investigations that involve reporters.” Heading up the panel will be AG Holder, hardly a disinterested party. Holder initially testified before Congress that “with regard to the potential prosecution of the press for disclosure of material, that is not something that I’ve ever been involved in, heard of or would think would be a wise policy.” That’s a comprehensive statement with no wiggle room. Hear no evil, see no evil. Then came a bombshell: Holder personally approved a search warrant on FOX News reporter James Rosen’s emails and phone records. Holder knew about at least one such investigation and perjured himself all the same. The DOJ now says that Holder’s statement was technically true because no one was seriously considering prosecuting Rosen. Apparently the DOJ investigates reporters for violations of the Espionage Act whom it never intends to prosecute. Either prosecuting Rosen was on the table or the investigation was a time-consuming fishing expedition pursued at great cost to the taxpayer. I suspect the former. This is not the first time that America’s top law enforcement official has been caught telling fibs under oath and for the same purpose—so that he can feign ignorance about what happens in his own DOJ. His defense seems to be that he isn’t responsible for the department’s transgressions because he’s irresponsible and unaccountable. We’ll call this “the doofus defense.” On May 3, 2011, he testified before Congress that he had only learned of Operation Fast and Furious, the ill-fated gunwalking scandal that placed American guns into the hands of Mexican mobsters, “for the first time in the past few weeks.” His testimony was contradicted by a July 2010 internal DOJ memo directed to Holder that outlined the program by name. Holder invoked the doofus defense, claiming that he doesn’t read many of his briefing memos. But the memos kept coming. During the summer of 2010, National Drug Intelligence Center Director Michael Walther sent Holder five memos concerning the operation. Lenny Breuer, the head of the DOJ’s criminal division, sent Holder yet another memo relevant to the operation in November of 2010. That’s seven memos that Holder is now claiming not to have read. Baloney. He knew. The doofus defense may work once but not seven times. Eric Holder has thus perjured himself on multiple occasions and never faced legal consequences. Obama’s AG is entirely above the law. Not only is he entitled to lie but also to blow off congressional subpoenas. During the aforementioned Fast and Furious investigation, Holder was ordered to turn over documents relevant to the case. He initially refused, then backtracked. In hopes of staving off a contempt resolution, the AG promised to deliver them personally to Congressman Darrell Issa at a private meeting. When the day arrived, Holder delivered a briefing on the contents of the documents rather than the documents themselves. Congress then voted to find Holder in contempt, which he undoubtedly was. Lesser mortals would be in jail right now but not Eric Holder. The job of prosecuting the DOJ chief fell to the DOJ. Sound familiar? Deputy AG James M. Cole, a subordinate of Holder, explained in a letter to Congress that, “The longstanding position of the Department of Justice has been and remains that we will not prosecute an Executive Branch official under the contempt of Congress statute for withholding subpoenaed documents pursuant to a presidential assertion of executive privilege.” Oh, darn. The DOJ would really love to prosecute the DOJ but they simply can’t because Obama won’t let them. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the defendant, if charges were to be brought, would be the big cheese at the very department pursuing the prosecution. Eric Holder has decided that Eric Holder did nothing wrong. Eric Holder is free to go now. The man appointed to enforce the nation’s laws can’t be bothered to follow them himself. He spies on reporters and furnishes underworld figures with boatloads of guns, then lies under oath and stonewalls congressional investigators to cover his tracks. America’s top cop is a law unto himself, both untouchable and unashamed
Posted on: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 22:19:29 +0000
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