Holder letter "requesting" assertion of privilege

I've been reading the letter from attorney-general Holder to Obama in which Holder allegedly asked Obama to assert executive privilege to allow him to continue to withhold certain specific documents from congress, related to the coverup of the gun-running op called Fast and Furious.

It is a masterpiece of propaganda. Example:

I am very concerned that the compelled production of documents to congress would...significantly impair the Executive Branch's ability to respond to congressional oversight. (page 2 para. II)

If you think Holder is really concerned that turning over documents requested by congress would impair the "ability to respond to congressional oversight" I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you. This is purest hogwash, designed to be turned into a script for evening network-news-readers.

Holder is (allegedly) asking for the shield to avoid incriminating himself and his boss.

I say "allegedly" because there's no way in hell that Holder would have sent this letter to Obama without prior consultation. The attorneys at DOJ and the White House got together and ginned up the strategy most likely to win the confrontation with congress, then crafted the exact verbage most likely to win sympathy from the roughly half the voters who would vote Obama if he was caught on video destroying evidence of his own wrongdoing.

These are the folks who didn't bat an eyelash when Slick Willy--testifying under oath-- said "it depends on what the meaning of 'is' is."

This is starting to get interesting.

Ace has an interesting summary:

Most of Issa's requests are about how a patently false, and now "inoperable," memo was drafted, and who authorized it, and sent the perjurious document to Congress.

Are they claiming Executive Privilege shields them from disclosing how they contrived to lie?

That dog won't hunt.

Leftist blog Politico had this:

Holder said in a statement that the Department of Justice had already given the House...committee ample cooperation in their investigation.

“In recent months the Justice Department has made unprecedented accommodations to respond to information requests by Chairman Issa about misguided law enforcement tactics that began in the previous administration and allowed illegal guns to be taken into Mexico,” Holder said.

“Simply put, any claims that the Justice Department has been unresponsive to requests for information are untrue."

"Ample cooperation," you say? "Unprecedented accommodations?" Uh, at last count the committee had requested 70,000 documents and Holder had provided 7400. But of course the 10-point-five percent he turned over were all the really crucial, incriminating stuff, so that's why he didn't bother turning over the other 90 percent.

Just kidding, of course. But it makes a great script for wire-service writers and network newsreaders. Jus' rolls off the tongue, don't it? "Ample cooperation." "Unprecedented accommodations."


Oh, and for all of you who will assert that because the link to Holder's letter is at Fox News and therefore can't be a true copy, please feel free to find your own copy and show us where the Fox version differs from your version. We'd love to see it.