Thursday, June 9, 2011

Is Obama’s Watergate Moment Coming?

Congressional hearings begin on Monday pertaining to Barack Obama’s Department of Justice and its repeated refusal to give full disclosure regarding the now infamous and tragic Project Gunrunner. Attorney General Eric Holder is most certainly at great political risk – is President Obama himself far behind?


Nary a word has come from within President Barack Obama’s West Wing in response to a recent barrage of strongly worded attacks by Congressman Darrell Issa – Chair of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Of late, Issa has given indications of a significant cover-up initiated by figures within the Obama administration, namely the Department of Justice – a cover-up that may in fact ultimately lead to President Obama himself. It is telling to note that no formal official response to Issa’s most recent accusations have been issued by the Obama White House. According to D.C. insiders, such silence is often an indicator an issue is being viewed as “the most serious kind of political threat – the kind that ultimately cripples administrations, and as is so often the case, it is not the alleged crime, but the cover-up.”

What is certain for now is the overt confidence coming from Congressman Darrell Issa. For weeks prior, Congressman Issa expressed growing frustration at the Obama administration’s refusal to comply with repeated requests to release information pertaining to the Gunrunner program. This frustration has now been replaced by a resolute determination to fully utilize the authority of Congress inherent in a Congressional hearing to bring the matter to full public disclosure via Issa’s subpoena authority as Chair of the House Government Oversight Committee. And with the issuance of those subpoenas, and the resulting scheduling of Congressional hearings on Obstruction of Justice charges against Obama’s DOJ, the battle lines have clearly been drawn. Congressman Darrell Issa is now in a full on confrontation with Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama.

“This is not a discovery process of what happened. We know what happened. We know that this Administration at the highest levels approved a process that allowed thousands of high powered weapons, basically AK-47s and M-16 look alikes, to go to the worst of the worst on both sides of the borders.”

“This was an operation approved in Washington.” -Congressman Darrell Issa

Monday’s Issa-initiated Congressional hearing is to be the first of several such hearings. The process of discovery will likely take subsequent weeks and months. Watergate ultimately took over two years to reach its definitive conclusion – the resignation of a sitting President of the United States.


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