Yesterday staff members of House Overisight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and Speaker John Boehner met with Attorney General Eric Holder staff and White House officials in an effort to come up with a last minute deal to prevent a full House contempt of Congress vote from moving forward on Thursday. Unsurprisingly, Holder didn't instruct his staff to turn over the long requested documents and at this point, the vote will move forward. His staff did however turn over 30 documents that didn't produce any new information about the fatal Fast and Furious operation.
The breakdown came just after White House spokesperson Ed Schultz outright dismissed Issa's accusations President Obama either improperly invoked exucitive privilege in this case or had greater involvement in the scandal than previously acknowledged.
"Our position is consistent with executive branch legal precedent for the past three decades spanning administrations of both parties," Schultz said.
Schultz also took a shot at Issa for saying Fast and Furious was used to push gun control, although there is plenty of evidence to support Issa's statements on the issue.
As Holder and Obama continue their refusal to work with Issa to prevent contempt, Thursday's vote is looking more bipartisan. Yesterday, Utah Democrat Jim Matheson said he will vote to hold Holder in contempt due to his refusal to comply with the Congressional investigation into the scandal and continued stonewalling. Issa has said he believes at least 31 Democrats will vote with Republicans for contempt.
It just compounds the tragedy when both sides play politics instead of releasing the facts. The Terry family, the public and Congress deserve answers," Matheson said. "Sadly, it seems that it will take holding the attorney general in contempt to communicate that evasiveness is unacceptable."