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

5:15 PM ET, June 20, 2012

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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

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Raw Story, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, Business Insider and The Impolitic

Fox News:

Obama grants Holder request on ‘Furious’ documents as contempt vote looms — DEVELOPING ... President Obama has granted an 11th-hour request by Attorney General Eric Holder to exert executive privilege over Fast and Furious documents, a last-minute maneuver that appears unlikely to head off …

Tom Cohen / CNN:

Att. General Eric Holder held in contempt — Washington (CNN) — Voting on strictly partisan lines, a House committee recommended Wednesday that Attorney General Eric Holder be cited for contempt of Congress for failing to turn over documents relating to the botched Fast and Furious weapons sting operation.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Little Green Footballs, This Just In, Mediaite, Politico, The Moderate Voice, americanthinker.com, The Political Carnival and Vodkapundit

John H. Cushman Jr / New York Times:

Obama Claims Executive Privilege in Gun Case — WASHINGTON — President Obama on Wednesday invoked executive privilege to withhold from a Congressional oversight committee some documents and communications among his advisers regarding the failed gun enforcement operation known as “Fast and Furious …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Week, New York Magazine, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh and Truthdig

Washington Post:

Fast and Furious scandal: Obama invokes executive privilege; House panel moves forward with Holder contempt vote — President Obama asserted executive privilege over documents related to the “Fast and Furious” operation Wednesday as a House panel moved to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr …

Discussion: The Monkey Cage, Wonkette, The Volokh Conspiracy, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice and Conservatives4Palin

Byron Tau / Politico:

Boehner: Privilege claim implies White House cover-up — On the heels of President Obama's decision to shield Department of Justice documents under the doctrine of executive privilege, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner wondered if White House officials were being involved in a cover-up.

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The Gateway Pundit

Jordy Yager / The Hill:

House panel votes to place Holder in contempt of Congress — A House panel voted Wednesday to place Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for his failure to comply with a subpoena, defying an assertion of executive privilege from President Obama.

Discussion: Hot Air, PJ Media and Fox News Insider

Fox News:

House panel approves Holder contempt resolution — DEVELOPING ... The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has approved a resolution holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. — The measure now goes to the full House. — ORIGINAL STORY ...

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Obama Executive Privilege Asserted Over Fast And Furious Documents

Discussion: Guardian, Washington Monthly, ABCNEWS and American Spectator

Des Moines Register:
Iowa's Grassley responds to Obama's executive privilege move on ‘Fast and Furious’

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation and The Gateway Pundit

Donovan Slack / Politico:
White House: No cover-up, GOP playing politics with Fast & Furious

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The PJ Tatler

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

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation, Mediaite, Associated Press, Weasel Zippers and Conservatives4Palin

New York Post:
Is this the end of Eric Holder's games?

Discussion: RedState and National Review

Scott Whitlock / NewsBusters.org blogs:
Matthews Slimes GOP as Racist for Going After Holder: An ‘Ethnic’ ‘Stop-and-Frisk’

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Richard A. Serrano / Los Angeles Times:
Obama invokes executive privilege over Fast and Furious documents

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Chicago Boyz, The Powers That Be and The Right Scoop

Ian Swanson / The Hill:
Obama asserts executive privilege ahead of Holder contempt vote

Discussion: CNN, Weasel Zippers, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Moderate Voice and Townhall.com

Evan Perez / Wall Street Journal:
White House Intervenes in Holder Rift

Discussion: The Right Scoop, Washington Free Beacon, GOP.com, Hot Air, Questions and Observations and Mediaite

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / Bloomberg:

Obama Leads In Poll As Voters View Romney As Out Of Touch — Barack Obama has opened a significant lead over Mitt Romney in a Bloomberg National Poll that reflects the presumed Republican nominee's weaknesses more than the president's strengths. — Obama leads Romney 53 percent …

David J. Lynch / Bloomberg:

Americans Say They'Re Better Off Since Obama Took Office — A plurality of Americans now say they are better off than they were when President Barack Obama was inaugurated, providing a surprising lift to Obama's re- election campaign despite troublesome economic news.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, American Prospect, Politico and The Political Carnival

CNN:
New poll: Obama has double digit advantage

Discussion: The Political Carnival and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Maggie Habermanand Alexander Burns / Politico:

The 2012 campaign is the smallest ever — For years, operatives, reporters and potential nominees envisioned the 2012 presidential campaign as a titanic clash of media-swarmed combatants with big ideas about the future. In the Republican primaries, this was almost a mantra: this is the most important campaign in a generation.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Taylor Marsh, pandagon.net and Riehl World View

BuzzFeed:
Mitt Romney Is Terrible For Traffic

Discussion: Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, Conservatives4Palin and Weasel Zippers

Mike Allenand Jim Vandehei / Politico:
Tim Pawlenty's stock soars in Romney-world

Discussion: Indecision Forever, Hot Air, ABCNEWS, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Wall Street Journal, No More Mister Nice Blog and TBogg

First Read / msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Why Rubio probably won't be the pick

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, CNN, Washington Wire, www2.wsls.com, Daily Kos and Booman Tribune

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:
How Romney's Dance With Rubio Proves the Veepstakes Matters

Discussion: GOP 12, ABCNEWS, Politico and New York Magazine

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:

Middle class could face higher taxes under Republican plan, analysis finds — The tax reform plan that House Republicans have advanced would sharply cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans and could leave middle-class households facing much larger tax bills, according to a new analysis set to be released Wednesday.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, American Prospect, Eclectablog and Balloon Juice

Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
Soak The Middle Class

Discussion: U.S. Congress Joint … and blog.sfgate.com

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:

For immediate release — Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April suggests that the economy has been expanding moderately this year. However, growth in employment has slowed in recent months, and the unemployment rate remains elevated. Business fixed investment has continued to advance.

Discussion: Felix Salmon, Reuters, Firedoglake, Ezra Klein, Bloomberg, msnbc.com, Business Insider, FT Alphaville, ThinkProgress, ABCNEWS and Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire

Jordan Michael Smith / Salon:

New NSA docs contradict 9/11 claims — “I don't think the Bush administration would want to see these released,” an expert tells Salon — Over 120 CIA documents concerning 9/11, Osama bin Laden and counterterrorism were published today for the first time, having been newly declassified and released to the National Security Archive.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Daily Beast, ThinkProgress, The Raw Story, US Politics, Suburban Guerrilla, The Mahablog and Hullabaloo

Scott Jaschik / Inside Higher Ed:

E-mails show U.Va. board wanted a big online push — By — E-mail messages were flying among leaders of the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia in the weeks leading up to the ouster of Teresa A. Sullivan as president of the university. The e-mail messages show …

Discussion: naked capitalism

Nick R. Martin / tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com:

TPMMuckraker — Arizona Secretary Of State's Latest Theory: Obama Lied About Being Born In Kenya To Get Into College — The top election official in Arizona, fresh off his flirtation with birtherism, has moved on to a strange new conspiracy theory involving President Barack Obama.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Mediaite and Feathered Bastard

Dave Levinthaland Anna Palmer / Politico:

POLITICO Influence: Maney to BGR — HAPPENING NOW ... VAN HOLLEN BLASTS MCCONNELL ON DISCLOSURE: Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), sponsor of the DISCLOSE ACT, today blasted the remarks of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) last week that suggested the bill was a tool for liberals to silence their critics.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon