Will Obama Administration Appeal Fast And Furious Ruling. We Think So

Fast and Furious ruling could finally bring answers

Posted on January 19, 2016 by Sam Rolley

Thanks to a new court ruling, the Obama administration may finally be forced to come clean about its involvement in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ deadly Fast and Furious gunrunning operation.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Tuesday called President Obama’s use of executive privilege to keep documents related to the scandal under wraps unlawful.

In June 2012, House lawmakers voted to hold former Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for his refusal to fully comply with an investigation into the gunwalking scandal.

As we reported at the time:

In a bid to stall a contempt vote against Attorney General Eric Holder, President Barack Obama … invoked executive privilege to withhold documents and communications related to the failed gun enforcement operation known as Fast and Furious.

An investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has Holder on the verge of being held in contempt of Congress for not turning over all documents investigators feel are pertinent to the operation.

… Holder sent a letter to Obama claiming that a release of the documents “would raise substantial separation of powers concerns and potentially create an imbalance in the relationship” between the Legislative and Executive branches.

Lawmakers later sued the Justice Department for information, which ultimately resulted in this week’s ruling.

According to Jackson, Obama’s claim of executive privilege was bogus because he invoked it to stall the congressional investigation after the Justice Department had already released some information related to Fast and Furious.

The judge wrote in her decision:

There is no need to balance the need against the impact that the revelation of any record could have on candor in future executive decision making, since any harm that might flow from the public revelation of the deliberations at issue here has already been self-inflicted. The Department itself has already publicly revealed the sum and substance of the very material it is now seeking to withhold. Since any harm that would flow from the disclosures sought here would be merely incremental, the records must be produced.

In particular, Jackson referenced the results of an internal DOJ investigation which helped to blow the top off the gunrunning scandal.

The White House could still again stall the release of new information on the gunrunning scandal by appealing Jackson’s ruling.

Still, Republicans like House Oversight and Government Reform Committee head Rep. Jason Chaffetz say the ruling is a major win for Americans still looking for answers.

“Today’s decision will help us advance the Fast & Furious investigation into this administration’s gun running operation,” he said in a statement.

“After allowing guns to walk, the administration’s attempt to hide behind executive privilege only adds insult to injury. While the decision doesn’t give us access to all the documents, it is an important step forward. We will continue investigating until we get to the truth.”

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