memeorandum: Those Fast and Furious documents must be dynamite (Paul Mirengoff/Power Line)

8:50 AM ET, June 21, 2012

Top Items:

Nancy Pelosi Slams Contempt Vote: 'I Could Have Arrested Karl Rove ... But We Didn't' … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Darrell Issa, Eric Holder, Karl Rove, Nancy Pelosi, Elections 2012, Video, Darrell Issa Contempt, Eric Holder Contempt, Fast And Furious, Holder Fast And Furious, Issa Fast And Furious, Politics News

Mark Levin / Facebook:

Executive Privilege and how the House should move forward legally — As the Supreme Court recognized in US v. Nixon, the Executive Branch has a legitimate interest in confidentiality of communications among high officials so that the President can have the benefit of candid advice.

Discussion: National Review and JOSHUAPUNDIT

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:

Those Fast and Furious documents must be dynamite — My friend Bill Otis was a Justice Department lawyer for many years. He spent a good portion of those years as a prosecutor. He also served as an attorney in the White House Counsel's shop, so he knows all about dealing …

Discussion: Questions and Observations, Pundit & Pundette, Ordered Liberty, Hot Air, American Glob, 2012 Decoded, Washington Examiner and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

David Nakamura / Washington Post:

Executive privilege poses tricky situation for Obama — View Photo Gallery — Eric Holder isn't the first: Other high-profile officials held in contempt: Eric Holder isn't the first government official who has been found in contempt of Congress. Congressional Research Service compiled …

Discussion: Hot Air, The PJ Tatler and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Politico:

Fast and Furious brawl blows up — The Fast and Furious investigation has finally handed House Republicans a prize they've long sought: a legal smackdown of the Obama administration. — Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was able to show skeptical conservatives that his spine could stay stiff under pressure …

Discussion: CNN, Power Line and White House Dossier

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
Murdered Border Agent's Family Says President Obama ‘Compounding This Tragedy’ with Executive Privilege Assertion

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Weasel Zippers, Scared Monkeys and Guardian

New York Times:
House Panel Recommends Contempt Case Against Holder

Jordy Yager / The Hill:
House panel votes to place Holder in contempt of Congress

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, BREITBART.COM, Independent Journal Review, Washington Examiner, Ballot Box, The Powers That Be, PJ Media, Fox News Insider, Ricochet Conversations Feed, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Right Scoop, Michelle Malkin, Pundit & Pundette, Fox News and Sister Toldjah

Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:
Another retraction: Holder withdraws claim that Bush's attorney general knew about gunwalking

Discussion: Right Wing News

Todd Gaziano / The Heritage Foundation:
Fast And Furious: Executive Privilege Is Illegitimate to Shield Wrongdoing

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, Power Line, Betsy's Page, About.com Conservative …, Doug Ross, Outside the Beltway, Des Moines Register, Ricochet Conversations Feed and The Daily Caller

Shannen W. Coffin / National Review:
Obama Invokes Executive Privilege

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs

John Gramlich / CQ.com:
Contempt Citation Would Carry Limited Legal Consequences

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and The Right Scoop

Washington Post:
Fast and Furious scandal: House panel recommends contempt vote on Eric Holder

Discussion: The Monkey Cage, The War Room …, On Point with Tom Ashbrook, Booman Tribune, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Wonkette, Los Angeles Times, The Moderate Voice, Balloon Juice, Conservatives4Palin, The Volokh Conspiracy, Univision News Tumblr and Pirate's Cove

Byron Tau / Politico:
Holder: Issa wanted to ‘provoke’ conflict

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

The United States Department of Justice:
Statement of Attorney General Eric Holder on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Vote

Discussion: Swampland, ACS Blog, BBC and American Spectator

BuzzFeed:
Romney Campaign Says Obama Fast And Furious Decision “Another Broken Promise”

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

Fox News Insider:
READ: Attorney General Eric Holder's Letter to President Obama Requesting Executive Privilege …

Discussion: Mediaite, Associated Press, The Heritage Foundation, Hot Air, Wall Street Journal and Conservatives4Palin

USA Today:
House panel votes to cite Holder for contempt of Congress

Discussion: Hit & Run, CANNONFIRE, The Moderate Voice and Examiner

Byron Tau / Politico:
Boehner: Privilege claim implies White House cover-up

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation, Reuters, ThinkProgress, Indecision Forever, Power Line and The Gateway Pundit

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

NBC Prepares to Replace Ann Curry on ‘Today’ — NBC executives are readying a plan to replace Ann Curry on the “Today” show, only a year after she became the co-host of the iconic franchise. — The planning — which is taking place in secret and has not been finalized …

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Beast, New York Magazine, TVNewser, Mediaite, Gawker and Inside TV, more at Mediagazer »

Jonathan Easley / Ballot Box:

Obama campaign holds $110 million in cash — The Obama campaign spent more money than it raised in May, but is sitting on $110 million in cash, according to a Federal Election Commission filing on Wednesday. — Obama for America raised $39.1 million in May and spent $44.6 million.

Discussion: Reuters, The Gateway Pundit, Politico and CNN

Newt Gingrich / CNN:
Miriam Adelson gets a refund

Discussion: Inside Missouri Politics, Politico and Ballot Box

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Bias Against a Mormon Presidential Candidate Same as in 1967 — Four in 10 Americans do not know that Mitt Romney is a Mormon — PRINCETON, NJ — Eighteen percent of Americans say they would not vote for a well-qualified presidential candidate who happens to be a Mormon, virtually the same as the 17% who held this attitude in 1967.

Discussion: Politico, Business Insider and Outside the Beltway

Odarcy / d-umn.campusreform.org:

University sponsors campaign to undermine ‘white privilege’ — The University of Minnesota - Duluth (UMD) is now sponsoring an ad-campaign designed to achieve “racial justice” by raising awareness of “white privilege.” — The project disseminates its message, that “society was setup for us …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Laura Bassett / The Huffington Post:

Wayne Schmidt, Michigan GOP Lawmaker: Silencing Lisa Brown Was Like Putting A Kid In ‘Timeout’ … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Abortion, Civil Rights, Video, Lisa Brown, Lisa Brown Vagina Monologues, Lisa Brown Vagina, Michigan, Michigan Abortion, Michigan Abortion Bill, Michigan Vagina …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Progress Michigan, The Raw Story and Wonkette

Susanne Craig / DealBook:

Bosses Rein In Banker Who Golfs With Obama — One of the biggest banks in the world wants the president's favorite banker muzzled. — The banker, Robert Wolf, a top UBS executive in New York, is among President Obama's leading fund-raisers, building more than more than $500,000 for his re-election so far this year.

Discussion: New York Magazine

Abby Goodnough / New York Times:

Distaste for Health Care Law Reflects Spending on Ads — DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — Erika Losse is precisely the kind of person President Obama's signature health care law is intended to help. She has no health insurance. She relies on her mother to buy her a yearly checkup as a Christmas gift …

Discussion: Prairie Weather and Mother Jones

William Grimes / New York Times:

LeRoy Neiman, 1921-2012: LeRoy Neiman, Artist Who Captured Sports and Public Life, Dies at 91 — LeRoy Neiman, whose brilliantly colored, impressionistic sketches of sporting events and the international high life made him one of the most popular artists in the United States, died on Wednesday in Manhattan.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Dan Hirschhorn / The Daily:

Some Democratic incumbents in need of independent voters are skipping the DNC — Vulnerable Democrats looking to distance themselves from President Obama have found an easy way to bolster their independent bona fides: just skip Obama's big party. — At least half a dozen Democratic officials …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and The Gateway Pundit