The President is correct in using Executive Privilege...

[slor]

there are several posters discussing how this "implicates" him, and how we were outraged when bush did such things. But we would not have been outraged in those cases if bush had exerted those powers in response to a dishonest investigation. The rethugs are refusing to investigate the people who started the program DURING the bush administration. I am glad to see the President do this, now I can only hope that the news media will begin to question those same rethugs as to why they will not question those former officials!

[effyounow]

1. correct.

I would like to find out more about F and F because it is a big deal.

[B2G]

2. But wouldn't those docs prove it started with Bush?

And that the Obama admin was trying to end yet another debacle they inherited?

[TBMASE]

4. That's why I don't understand them not coming clean from the start

apologizing for their role, having it fall on Bush and then moving on.

It looks bad right now.

[MrDiaz]

11. I don't understand either

Why would he cover for BUSH? I really hope this isn't the next watergate, but i smell foul play

[magical thyme]

13. but they didn't try to end it.

that is the crux of the problem. As soon as they learned of the illegal and phenomenally stupid program, they should have ended it. They had the power to shut it down. Instead, they chose to continue it.

But invoking executive privilege is the only way to protect agents and shut down discussion, so is probably the best thing to do at this point.

[TBMASE]

3. The problem was Holder's initial testimony turned out to be untrue

The claim that Federal Agents weren't acting as straw buyers and then walking the guns across the border wasn't accurate. Then there was the claims that Holder didn't know anything about the program until a few weeks before being questioned. Again, turned out to be untrue, he had been receiving weekly memos on the operation.

Obama should have asserted EP from the start but once there was testimony at odds with the facts, it looks bad. They should have gone in, laid out the plan from the Bush administration, owned up to the the fact that Federal Agents were straw buyers, apologized and it would have been over. Now, it looks like a cover up

[slor]

5. You are correct, however none of your...

points suggest a reason for excluding the former officials from a thorough investigation. That is all I want. If a full and honest investigation shows that Holder did something wrong, he should go. But the rethugs are refusing to do it that way.

[TBMASE]

6. I'm not saying they should be excluded

Holder should have come in, given the names of the people who approved the operation under Bush and laid out what he inherited, the changes he made to the Bush Program (if any) apologized for the Government's role and moved on. They would have had to investigate the Bush administrations action, which would have put and end to the investigation altogether.

Holder didn't exactly tell the truth, which doesn't help him. And now, we have the president asserting priveledge that should have been asserted months ago

[Lionessa]

8. The president should've asserted privilege instead of insisting his AG tell the truth?

That sounds quite f'd up.

[TBMASE]

9. No. He should have asserted priviledge from the start

as it is, today, he's shielding an AG who didn't tell the truth.

It's already out there that Holder didn't tell the truth. Was it willful or just a mistake. If it was just a mistake, then there was no reason to assert EP.

I think it looks bad to do it now. I think it should have been done from the start, before Holder testified the first time.

[Lionessa]

7. Nope, I don't care the reasoning, it is never good to hide the truth, whatever it is.

Releasing the documents should show all about the Bush Admin shennanigans as well, so where's the harm here in releasing.

Obama campaigned on transparency, but has been imo extremely opaque. Not okay.

[TBMASE]

10. It should. But Holder asserted things in his testimony that weren't true

if it was a mistake then there's no reason to turn over the documents. Holder claimed he knew nothing about the operation until a few weeks after the story broke or before he testified before congress (can't recall which) That turned out not to be true, he was getting weekly memos about the operation.
He asserted Federal Agents weren't walking guns across the border, again, not true.

So what did he know, when did he know it. If it's just mere incompetence on his part or on the part of his underlings, then admit to it. It was a Bush operation, there's no need to not tell the truth about it.

[ThomasP]

12. Disagree

I think using EP was a tactical error. That takes the scandal into the oval office. EP is designed to protect communications to and from the POTUS. I think Obama is trying to protect his AG and admire his loyalty but this can be spun so easily into something much bigger than it should be. Do we really want the conservative supreme court deciding whether or not the admin has to release internal e-mails about this without context during an election season?

[LibAsHell]

14. Bullshit

Obama is trying to save Holder's ass by basically covering up Holder's lies. This makes him look bad.

[emilyg]

15. Disagree.