AFJ Condemns Partisan Maneuvers in Holder Contempt Proceedings

Washington, D.C., June 28, 2012—The House of Representatives will today vote on whether or not to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for his refusal to turn over sensitive Department of Justice documents to a House committee. Holder had offered to allow committee members to inspect the documents, but maintained that they should not be made public. The dishonest, outrageous decision to hold this vote is an affront to congressional traditions and an unprecedented intrusion of election-year politics into a legal proceeding.

For over a year now, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has been relentlessly investigating Attorney General Holder and the Department of Justice on charges that Issa himself could not clearly articulate. Last Thursday, Issa’s committee devoted the entire day to taking a party-line vote recommending that Congress hold the attorney general in contempt for not turning over internal Justice Department documents. That vote, and previous actions by the committee, made it clear that Chairman Issa and House leadership are only attacking Attorney General Holder for political reasons and they have no investigative merit.

“Attorney General Holder is to be commended for his tireless work at the Department of Justice defending the basic rights of all Americans,” said Nan Aron, President of Alliance for Justice. Aron cited some of Holder’s many accomplishments during his tenure as attorney general:

• Working to preserve the integrity of our electoral system in the face of numerous attempts to limit voting rights.
• Refusing to defend the unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act, a discriminatory law that denies benefits to citizens on the basis of sexual orientation. 
• Holding the government to account for its own failures by opening investigations into allegations of torture-related abuses by the CIA.
• Seeking justice for the harm done by the Deepwater Horizon disaster by bringing civil and criminal suits against those at fault. 

In 2007, Rep. Issa commented on Democrats’ request for internal Justice Department documents by saying, “The Justice Department revealing internal documents in response to a ‘political witch hunt’ is a mistake.” Now that the shoe is on the other foot, Issa has instigated his own “political witch hunt” that has no purpose other than to make it exceedingly difficult for Eric Holder to carry out the duties of the Attorney General and continue the work he has done on behalf of this country.

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Alliance for Justice is a national association of over 100 organizations, representing a broad array of groups committed to progressive values and the creation of an equitable, just, and free society. AFJ works to ensure that the federal judiciary advances core constitutional values, preserves human rights and unfettered access to the courts, and adheres to the even-handed administration of justice for all Americans. It is the leading expert on the legal framework for nonprofit advocacy efforts, providing definitive information, resources, and technical assistance that encourages organizations and their funding partners to fully exercise their right to be active participants in the democratic process. AFJ is based in Washington, D.C.