House Committee Weighing Perjury Accusation for Holder

Well, of course. I should hope so.

Media Matters, naturally, says it wasn't perjury at all. Is this the best defense they have?

Holder’s on-the-record denial of involvement in any prosecution of news organizations for publishing classified information in no way conflicts with any knowledge he may have possessed or action the DOJ may have taken against reporters for soliciting said information.

They're claiming Holder meant he had never been involved in prosecuting someone for disclosing classified material. But soliciting it? Sure, he's been involved in prosecuting someone for that. But you didn't ask about that.

Speaking of Damning Defenses, Bob Shrum writes at Daily Beast (no link) that the IRS "scandal" is no scandal at all.

It's merely massive incompetence reminiscent of Carter, that's all.

He also claims that the scandal is not about the scandal, but only about communications regarding the scandal; and it's just about the "West Wing" serving Obama, not Obama.

For the White House, there is no crime here, there is no scandal, no matter how feverishly, irresponsibly, or demagogically the GOP labors to concoct one. This is not a case of Nixonian indifference to the Constitution, the law, and the president's oath of office. But it does look like a reprise of Cartersque incompetence, increasingly so as we learn more about how the White House staff handled—or mishandled—a crisis they knew was coming.

...

As anyone who reads my columns knows, I regard Barack Obama as an exceptional president of high achievement....

On the IRS, the course probably will be longer than it had to be. For the White House, the problem here resembles Carter, not Nixon. It isn't about crime; it's about competence. This president didn't do anything wrong. But the West Wing sure didn't do everything right.

Never ascribe to farfetched, convoluted incompetence that which may be more simply explained by conspiracy.

posted by Ace at 02:58 PM

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