Premium
The Law : O bama's Executive Privilege and Holder's Contempt: “Operation Fast and Furious”
Author(s) -
Fisher Louis
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
presidential studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.337
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 1741-5705
pISSN - 0360-4918
DOI - 10.1111/psq.12008
Subject(s) - privilege (computing) , contempt , law , political science , agency (philosophy) , presidential system , economic justice , sociology , politics , social science
In his first use of executive privilege, P resident B arack O bama on J une 20, 2012, denied C ongress access to documents related to the “Fast and Furious” operation carried out by the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms ( ATF ) agency. The program permitted more than two thousand assault guns to leave the U nited S tates and enter M exico, leading to the deaths of hundreds of Mexicans. Initially, the Justice Department denied that ATF ever intended to have guns flow to M exico. Ten months later the department conceded that its statement was “inaccurate.” Congressional efforts to obtain agency documents resulted in a House contempt citation against Attorney General Eric Holder, prompting O bama to invoke executive privilege.