DOJ Turns Over Fast and Furious Docs: Obama Asserts Executive Privilege Claim for Holder�s Wife - 10/24/14
(Judicial Watch) - Judicial Watch announced today that it received from the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) a �Vaughn index� detailing records about the Operation Fast and Furious scandal. The index was forced out of the Obama administration thanks to JW�s June 2012 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and subsequent September 2012 FOIA lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. Department of Justice (No. 1:12-cv-01510)). A federal court had ordered the production over the objections of the Obama Justice Department.
The document details the Attorney General Holder�s personal involvement in managing the Justice Department�s strategy on media and Congressional investigations into the Fast and Furious scandal. Notably, the document discloses that emails between Attorney General Holder and his wife Sharon Malone � as well as his mother � are being withheld under an extraordinary claim of executive privilege as well as a dubious claim of deliberative process privilege under the Freedom of Information Act. The �First Lady of the Justice Department� is a physician and not a government employee.
This is the first time that the Obama administration has provided a detailed listing of all records being withheld from Congress and the American people about the deadly Fast and Furious gun running scandal. The 1307-page �draft� Vaughn index was emailed to Judicial Watch at 8:34 p.m. last night, a few hours before a federal court-ordered deadline. In its cover letter, the Department of Justice asserts that all of the responsive records described in the index are �subject to the assertion of executive privilege.�
The document details the Attorney General Holder�s personal involvement in managing the Justice Department�s strategy on media and Congressional investigations into the Fast and Furious scandal. Notably, the document discloses that emails between Attorney General Holder and his wife Sharon Malone � as well as his mother � are being withheld under an extraordinary claim of executive privilege as well as a dubious claim of deliberative process privilege under the Freedom of Information Act. The �First Lady of the Justice Department� is a physician and not a government employee.
This is the first time that the Obama administration has provided a detailed listing of all records being withheld from Congress and the American people about the deadly Fast and Furious gun running scandal. The 1307-page �draft� Vaughn index was emailed to Judicial Watch at 8:34 p.m. last night, a few hours before a federal court-ordered deadline. In its cover letter, the Department of Justice asserts that all of the responsive records described in the index are �subject to the assertion of executive privilege.�