What happens next now that House Oversight Chairman Darrell “Witch Hunt” Issa has successfully held a vote of contempt for Attorney General Eric Holder in the House Oversight Committee?
The short answer is — not much.
Speaker of the House John Boehner stated yesterday that he will hold a vote of contempt in the House next week unless Eric Holder begins cooperating with Grand Inquisitor Issa, something which Eric Holder has already been doing. But even if John Boehner does hold the vote and the House of Representative does find Eric Holder to be in contempt of congress, the end game is just as fruitless.
According to a report from Talking Points Memo, if the House of Representatives finds Eric Holder in contempt of congress, it would be up to the U.S. attorney of Washington D.C. to convene a grand jury to prosecute Holder, who also happens to be the D.C. attorney’s boss. And under regular circumstance this would pose a conflict of interest, however President Obama’s invocation of executive privilege means the D.C. attorney cannot initiate a prosecution.
Furthermore, the vote of contempt will expire at the end of this session of congress, meaning that after January 2013 the House of Representatives would have to vote on the matter again during the new session. Of course we all know that to be highly unlikely, because as of that time the 2012 presidential election will have long since concluded.
This a purely political circus act carried out during an election year intended to distract Eric Holder from his regular duties. Duties such as enforcing the Voting Rights Act which is currently under assault by Republicans in battleground states who really don’t want you to vote in November.
I don’t need a poll to tell me most Americans would rather see congress focus on the economy instead of reenacting 1999.
