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Judge declines to hold Holder in contempt

A federal judge has declined a House committee's bid to have Attorney General Eric Holder held in contempt of court — and perhaps even jailed — for failing to turn over documents related to the Justice Department' s response to Operation Fast and Furious.

However, in a ruling Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson also denied Holder's request for an indefinite stay of her prior order that the attorney general must turn over any "non-privileged" documents the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee subpoenaed as part of an investigation into the botched gunrunning investigation. The judge previously ruled that Holder must give the panel any documents that are not both predecisional and deliberative in nature.

Jackson called the House contempt motion "entirely unnecessary" and said it was evident that she was considering the government's motion to lift her prior order. "Under those circumstances, the Court finds no basis to hold defendant in contempt," she wrote.

But the judge also said she saw no reason to allow the Justice Department to withhold unprivileged documents until the case was complete. She ordered those records turned over to the committee by Nov. 3, along with a log of the records claimed to be privileged.

"Though the Court has the discretion to grant a stay in the interests of judicial economy and efficiency, pending appeal or otherwise, there is no pending appeal here and the Court has already ruled that defendant has no legal basis to withhold non-deliberative documents. The 'possibility' of an appeal and piecemeal litigation does not satisfy defendant’s burden to demonstrative a 'clear case of hardship or inequity' without a stay," she wrote in her decision (posted here).

A Justice Department spokesman welcomed the decision, at least the part rebuffing the motion to hold Holder in contempt. "We are pleased that the court rejected the committee's latest stunt," spokesman Brian Fallon said.

A spokesperson for the House committee said the judge's ruling is a step towards the panel receiving documents it should have been given years ago. "The Oversight Committee is pleased that the Judge in the case has rejected the Department's request to continue illegally withholding documents and its attempt to unnecessarily prolong the proceeding. This court ruling affirms that Attorney General Holder broke the law in withholding subpoenaed documents, which led the House of Representatives to vote him in criminal contempt," said the spokesperson.

UPDATE (Monday, 4:35 P.M.): This post has been updated with reaction from the Justice Department and the House Oversight Committee.