House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa has agreed to postpone the official beginnings of contempt of Congress proceedings for Attorney General Eric Holder if he produces Operation Fast and Furious documents early next week.
In a Friday letter to Holder, Issa said the Department of Justice detailed for his committee on Thursday “the subset of post-February 4, [2011] documents you are willing to produce.”
“While I do have substantial concerns that these documents may not be sufficient to allow the committee to complete its investigation, delivery of these documents to the committee before the scheduled consideration of contempt at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 20, 2012, would be sufficient to justify the postponement of the proceeding to allow for the review of materials,” Issa wrote to Holder. “Senator [Chuck] Grassley and I are also willing to meet with you as soon as Tuesday, June 19, 2012. It would best facilitate a constructive dialogue if the department would produce the documents you have outlined prior to this discussion.”
While Issa hasn’t yet officially postponed the vote, he said he will “once the department produces those documents.”
The documents Holder finally agreed to give up — after stonewalling for over a year — relate to how his DOJ provided false information to Sen. Chuck Grassley. In a Feb. 4, 2011, letter Holder’s team denied guns were ever allowed to walk. Since that statement was false, Holder’s DOJ withdrew that letter several months later in early December 2011. (RELATED: New poll finds bipartisan support for Holder’s resignation)
It appears Issa would have the votes to move forward on contempt, too, though. Seventeen GOP members of his committee were on record as of Thursday saying they’d favor contempt, and Rep. Pat Meehan of Pennsylvania told The Daily Caller on Friday he’d vote for it. Issa would only need 21 votes to pass the contempt resolution and members on his committee who haven’t committed include Reps. Connie Mack, Justin Amash and Tim Walberg — who have each demanded Holder’s resignation.
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