Articles of Impeachment Introduced to Oust Attorney General Holder

Lily Dane
Activist Post

A small group of House Republicans plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Attorney General Eric Holder today.

Rep. Pete Olson first called on the House to begin impeachment proceedings against Holder back in August for lying to Congress and refusing to uphold existing laws:

During his tenure as Attorney General, Eric Holder has refused to prosecute IRS officials who admitted targeting Tea Party groups on ideological grounds, allowed a Border Patrol agent to be killed during Operation Fast and Furious, and named a member of the media as a co-conspirator in alleged violations of the Espionage Act while lying about it to Congress. 

The House voted to hold Mr. Holder in contempt of Congress last summer, before he committed perjury, and yet he continues to lie and thwart Congressional inquiries to provide the truth to the American people. The Attorney General has failed to ensure that the laws are faithfully executed and has failed to fulfill his oath of office. Since Holder won’t resign, he must be impeached. I urge my colleagues to join me in calling for impeachment proceedings as soon as we return to Washington.

On Wednesday, Olson, who drafted the articles, provided a statement to Reuters:

This was not a decision that I made lightly. Since the House voted in 2012 to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt, the pattern of disregard for the rule of law and refusal to be forthright has only continued.

An outline lists the four articles of impeachment:

1) Holder refused to cooperate in the investigation of Operation Fast and Furious, the botched gun-walking program that allowed guns to enter Mexico in an attempt to track them to cartel leaders. The program was approved at the highest levels of the Justice Department and provided thousands of illegally purchased guns to cartels. Two of the guns were found at the scene of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry’s murder in Arizona in December 2009. Holder refused to give a congressional committee subpoenaed documents about the Justice Department’s involvement, and he was found in contempt of Congress. The House oversight committee has also sued for the documents.

2) Holder has not upheld our nation’s laws, “undermining the authority and credibility of the Justice Department to the point that it can no longer be trusted by the American people to enforce the laws of the United States and uphold the U.S. Constitution.”

3) Holder has failed to fulfill his oath of office by refusing to prosecute anyone involved in the IRS scandal, despite evidence that officials in Washington, D.C. were directing the illegal practice of targeting groups based on political affiliation.

4) Holder is believed to have committed perjury when he testified to Congress under oath about the DoJ investigation of Fox News correspondent James Rosen:

In May, Holder testified to the House Judiciary Committee that he was not involved in, and had not heard of, a potential prosecution of a journalist by the Justice Department. Three days later, the Justice Department released documents related to the Rosen investigation that named the reporter as a co-conspirator in alleged violations of the Espionage Act. Internal Justice Department regulations require the approval of the Attorney General to investigate a journalist. Mr. Holder undoubtedly knew about the ongoing investigation of Mr. Rosen because he was required to personally sign off on it. Mr. Holder refuses to say if he did, and has gagged the Justice Department from answering as well. (source)

It is not yet known if Speaker John Boehner or other House GOP leaders will act on the measure. Boehner’s office declined to comment and referred calls to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, whose panel would conduct any impeachment hearings against Holder.

Politico reports that Goodlatte did not say if he plans to move forward with the resolution, but he did say that Holder should resign for the good of the Justice Department:

Under Attorney General Holder’s watch, there has been a lack of leadership and a politicization of the Justice Department. Scandals from the Fast and Furious gun-walking operation to the seizure of reporters’ emails and phone records in national security leaks investigations have undermined the Department’s credibility and the American people’s trust. Attorney General Holder has also politicized the rule of law by refusing to enforce laws he doesn’t like. 

The only way to restore credibility at the Department of Justice is through an improvement in the quality of leadership. President Obama should make a change in the leadership of the Department of Justice to restore the confidence of the American people in our nation’s top law enforcement agency.

Lily Dane is a staff writer for The Daily Sheeple, where this first appeared. Her goal is to help people to “Wake the Flock Up!”