Fast and Furtive

Something doesn't seem right with the Fast & Furious investigation.  According to Jay Carney, Fast & Furious was a holdover from the Bush administration that Attorney General Holder stopped.  If that's the case, why not release the documents that will damn the Bush administration?  It isn't as if the Obama administration has been shy about laying blame on the previous administration so far and this time they have documents to back them up!  Or do they?  Color me a skeptic.  More than once, the Justice Department has offered testimony to Congress that later proved be be untrue.  Such actions on the part of Roger Clemens resulted in prosecution.  The DOJ has recanted a statement that Michael Mukasey - Bush's last Attorney General - was aware of Fast & Furious.  I'm sure Scooter Libby would have loved to recant testimony rather than suffer obstruction of justice and perjury charges.  Again, if this all falls to the Bush administration, just show the evidence and wash your hands of it.  Instead, a different path has been taken.

The Obama administration asserted Executive Privilege (EP).  When you consider that Holder claimed to have no knowledge of Fast & Furious until early 2011 and also that he did not authorize it, why claim Executive Privilege?  No one - other than 'right wing nuts' - had proposed that the White House was involved but, by invoking EP, Obama has entangled the White House.  If what Jay Carney is saying is true, then EP is a political blunder.  It's like when someone pleads the 5th, thus declaring that testimony will be self-incriminating.  Granted, there are times when EP is justified (national security, protecting the executive branch from congressional overreach) but this doesn't appear to be one of those times.  Nixon was unable to keep Oval Office audio tapes private with EP but Obama wants to keep DOJ documents that never passed through the White House secret?  Precedent isn't in your favor, Mr. President.

Of course, all of this may be forgotten next week depending on how the Supreme Court rules on Obamacare.  If it is struck down, that will drown out the Fast & Furious hearings and the questionable use of EP.  However, we can also expect the ruling on Arizona's immigration law that mirrors federal law.  Depending on how that one goes, Holder might suffer another setback and perhaps exacerbate Fast & Furious.  The administration has had a couple of tough weeks and next week could be much worse.