Posts

Report: How Obama’s Justice Department Selectively Blocks Mergers By Republican CEOs

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: Forbes

Photo Credit: Forbes

Like all mergers, the proposed $45.2 billion Comcast CMCSA +1.5% merger with Time Warner Cable TWC +1%—the largest and second largest cable providers in the nation—has its advocates and critics. There are certainly important questions about what impact the merger would have on consumers—but there are equally significant issues associated with the highly politicized approval process.

The Obama Department of Justice, led by Eric Holder, must review the merger and decide whether to approve or block it. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration and Justice Department have a long track record of pushing the rule of law aside and making decisions based on politics. Will the proposed Comcast merger with Time Warner Cable receive the scrutiny it deserves, or simply be fast-tracked for approval based on politics?

Let’s look at some history—which is detailed in a new Frontiers of Freedom report. In 2009, the Obama Administration gave Solyndra, a failing California solar panel firm, a $536 million “loan.” Shortly thereafter, Solyndra was fully bankrupt. Prior to the loan, Solyndra executives and board members gave generously to Barack Obama, including Tulsa oil billionaire and Obama bundler George Kaiser, one of Solyndra’s main investors.

UnitedHealth Group is expecting higher earnings thanks to ObamaCare. After United supported passing the plan, one of its subsidiaries, Quality Software Services, Inc. won a contract of $90 million for the rollout of Healthcare.gov. UnitedHealth’s Executive Vice President Anthony Welters and his wife are significant Obama donors and bundlers. The Administration did not perceive any conflict of interest in providing the nation’s largest health insurer with the keys to Healthcare.gov.

If money buys favors from the Obama Administration, a lack of it produces the opposite.

Read more from this story HERE.

Judges: ‘Law Provides Executive No Authority’ to Cut Drug Sentences As Holder Did

/7 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite

Photo Credit: AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite

Two federal judges on the U.S. Sentencing Commission said Thursday that Attorney General Eric Holder stepped “outside the legal system” and exceeded the authority of the executive branch by sending “improper instruction” to federal prosecutors to reduce drug sentences before they were officially approved by either the commission or Congress.

“I have been surprised at the attorney general’s steps taken to proceed with this reduction outside of the legal system set up and established by the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984,” Judge Ricardo Hinojosa, the commission’s vice chair, said during a public hearing in the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building in Washington.

“As you all know, the commission in the act is given the authority to promulgate and amend guidelines on a yearly basis. And in the act itself, Congress has preserved its right to reject any potential promulgation of, or amendment to, any guidelines made by the commission itself after the commission has acted.

“Meaning that if Congress does not reject a guideline amendment, it will not go into effect until November 1st of this year if we vote in favor of this amendment.,” said Hinojosa, who is also the chief judge of the Southern District of Texas.

“When the attorney general testified before us, he failed to mention that the night before, at around 11 pm, the department had ordered all of the assistant U.S. attorneys across the country to (and it’s not clear to me whether it was supposed to be not oppose or to argue for, in fact the U.S. attorneys in front of my court have said they’ve been asked to argue for) the two-level reduction in all drug trafficking cases before the commission has acted and before Congress has had the opportunity to vote its disapproval of the commission’s actions, if Congress is so inclined, which is certainly the right that they have preserved for themselves in the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984,” Hinojosa said.

Read more from this story HERE.

___________________________________________________________________________________

MSNBC’s Harris-Perry: ‘Is Eric Holder The Obama We Had Been Hoping For?’

By Mike Miller.

During her MSNBC show on Saturday, after Melissa Harris-Perry said that Barack Obama’s “accomplishments” might not be recognized “for a decade or so,” she rattled off a string of “accomplishments” by Attorney General Eric Holder:

Shortening prison sentences for non-violent drug offenders, suing Texas and North Carolina over their respective voter ID laws, issuing a directive expanding government recognition of same sex marriage.

Read more from this story HERE.

In Case You Missed It…GOP Lawmaker Suggests Eric Holder Should ‘Be In Jail’ — to His Face!

/15 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Photo Credit: Daily Caller

By Brendan Bordelon.

…Farenthold’s turn for questions came towards the end of a contentious hearing. The lawmaker explained that he would not exercise his right to question the witness as a protest against Holder’s refusal to comply with congressional subpoenas for documents related to the IRS’ Tea Party targeting investigation.

“I’m committed to maintaining the constitutional balance of power and the authority this branch, this legislative branch, has,” Farenthold said. “And I just don’t think it’s appropriate that Mr. Holder be here.”

Read more from this story HERE.

__________________________________________________________________________

eric_holder1177Eric Holder explodes at GOP rep: ‘You don’t want to go there, buddy!’

By Caroline May.

In the midst of questions about the Justice Department’s failure to divulge documents about the Holy Land Foundation terror funding trial, Gohmert made a side comment about how the House of Representatives found Holder in contempt in 2012 for refusing to turn over documents related to the Fast and Furious gun-running scandal.

“I realize that contempt is not a big deal to our attorney general, but it is important that we have proper oversight,” Gohmert said.

“You don’t want to go there, buddy! You don’t want to go there, okay,” Holder shot back.

Read more from this story HERE.

Gohmert: Holder Chooses Which Americans He ‘Persecutes’ (+video)

/6 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

In an interview this morning, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R., Tex.) said Attorney General Eric Holder “persecutes” some Americans.

Yesterday, Gohmert and Holder had a spirited exchange in a hearing when Gohmert pressed Holder for information regarding the documents the Justice Department has about an Islamic charity based in Texas, and the Fast and Furious scandal. At one point during the hearing Holder pointed his finger at Gohmert and said, “You don’t want to go there.”

Gohmert told Fox and Friends this morning that it’s “nothing personal.”

“He seems like a likable guy,” Gohmert said of Holder. But “he is the highest law enforcement officer in the country, and he is obviously choosing — making personal choices rather than objective choices on who he prosecutes and persecutes and who he doesn’t.”

This article originally appeared at Heritage.com and is re-published in full with the Heritage Foundation’s permission.

Darrell Issa: Reprimand of ‘Fast and Furious’ Official Justifies Eric Holder Contempt Lawsuit

/3 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: AP / J. Scott Applewhite

Photo Credit: AP / J. Scott Applewhite

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa believes new disciplinary action against a government operative in the “Fast and Furious” gun running scandal reinforces a Congressional contempt charge against Attorney General Eric Holder.

Issa, R-Calif., said former Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke “undoubtedly deserved” the reprimand he received from the Arizona State Bar for leaking information to the press about the gun-running operation. Issa said it also justifies the GOP-led lawsuit against Holder for information relating to the matter.

“Dennis Burke’s disciplinary agreement with the Arizona State Bar makes clear his belief that Eric Holder’s Justice Department was more interested in politically protecting itself than giving Congress full information about what happened in Operation Fast and Furious,” Issa said on Monday.

Burke was reprimanded last week by the Arizona Bar for leaking classified Fast and Furious documents to two media outlets.

Republican lawmakers are entangled with Holder in a court case stemming from a June 2012 House vote to hold him in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over documents and emails related to the gun-trafficking case.

Read more from this story HERE.

Holder Denies Cruz’s Request for Special Prosecutor in IRS Targeting

/4 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: DonkeyHoteyAttorney General Eric Holder has denied Sen. Ted Cruz’s demand for a special prosecutor to investigate the IRS’s targeting of tea party groups – a rejection the Texas Republican is slamming as “the height of hypocrisy” by the Obama administration.

The tea party favorite had called for the appointment on Jan. 22, writing the nation’s top prosecutor that it had been eight months “since both you and President Obama professed outrage at the IRS’s wrongful conduct,” and yet no legal action had been taken.

But in a March 10 reply, the Department of Justice curtly asserted “such an appointment is not warranted” because the case doesn’t present a conflict of interest, adding that “career prosecutors and law-enforcement professionals” were conducting the probe.

“The Department remains committed to integrity and fairness in all of its law-enforcement efforts, without regard to politics,” the letter stated. It was signed by Peter Kadzik, principal deputy assistant attorney general.

Republicans have pointed out the investigator in the Justice department probe is a partisan donor to President Obama and Democratic causes.

Read more from this story HERE.

Holder Promotes Lawlessness to State AG’s: You Don’t Have to Enforce Laws You Disagree With

/6 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: TownHallAttorney General Eric Holder is taking the lawless attitude of the Obama administration and passing it down to state attorneys general. Yesterday during an interview with The New York Times, Holder said state attorneys general do not have to enforce laws they disagree with, specifically when it comes to the issue of gay marriage.

It is highly unusual for the United States attorney general to advise his state counterparts on how and when to refuse to defend state laws. But Mr. Holder said when laws touch on core constitutional issues like equal protection, an attorney general should apply the highest level of scrutiny before reaching a decision on whether to defend it. He said the decision should never be political or based on policy objections.

Read more this story HERE.

Holder: State Laws That Bar Felons From Voting Are ‘Too Unjust to Tolerate’ (+video)

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: APThree days after announcing that the U.S. Justice Department will recognize same-sex marriages in all legal matters, even in states that forbid it, Attorney General Eric Holder took a swipe at states that don’t allow felons to vote.

“In many states, felony disenfranchisement laws are still on the books. And the current scope of these policies is not only too significant to ignore — it is also too unjust to tolerate,” Holder told a criminal justice forum at Georgetown University Law Center.

Holder urged lawmakers “to stand together in overturning an unfortunate and outdated status quo.” And he called on the American people “to join us in bringing about the end of misguided policies that unjustly restrict what’s been called the ‘most basic right’ of American citizenship.”

These laws deserve to be not only reconsidered, but repealed,” he said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Eric Holder to Accord More Recognition to Same-Sex Couples

/2 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: APAttorney General Eric Holder plans to announce added recognition for same-sex married couples Saturday, vowing to treat same-sex spouses just like opposite-sex spouses in court proceedings, prison visitation and law-enforcement benefit programs even in states that don’t recognize same-sex marriages, a Justice Department official said.

In a speech to a gay rights group in New York, Holder will promise that Justice Department lawyers will respect spousal privilege for same-sex couples in court proceedings and that officials will award full benefits to same-sex spouses of police officers and other public safety personnel killed in the line of duty.

“In every courthouse, in every proceeding, and in every place where a member of the Department of Justice stands on behalf of the United States — they will strive to ensure that same-sex marriages receive the same privileges, protections, and rights as opposite-sex marriages under federal law,” Holder is to tell a Human Rights Campaign dinner, according to excerpts of his speech released in advance.

“The department will recognize that same-sex spouses of individuals involved in civil and criminal cases should have the same legal rights as all other married couples – including the right to decline to give testimony that might incriminate their spouse. The government will not object to an individual in a same-sex marriage invoking this right on the ground that the marriage is not recognized in the state where the couple lives,” Holder plans to say.

Read more from this story HERE.

Holder Tells Cruz He Didn’t Know IRS Investigator Was Obama Contributor (+video)

/22 Comments/in , /by

Photo Credit: APAt a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder denied knowing that a top Democratic donor is leading the internal investigation into the IRS targeting of conservative groups.

“No, I don’t know anything about the political activities of any of the people who are involved in this investigation,” he said when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) questioned him during a Justice Department oversight hearing.

“I must tell you I find it astonishing that the Department of Justice appointed a major Obama donor to head this investigation, so the first question I want to ask is did you know that the lawyer in charge of this investigation was a major Obama donor?” Cruz asked Holder.

On Jan. 8, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a letter to Holder, calling Bosserman’s involvement “highly inappropriate” and demanding that she be “immediately” removed from the investigation.

Read more from this story HERE.