Holder: Negotiations possible to avoid showdown
Jun 21, 2012, 12:09 PM
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is indicating he is willing to engage in negotiations to avoid a constitutional showdown over Justice Department documents in the “Fast and Furious” gun-smuggling investigation.
Holder is attending meetings in Copenhagen, Denmark, with European Union officials. He told reporters Thursday “the possibility still exists” that the confrontation with Congress can be resolved through negotiations.
A House committee has voted to hold him in contempt, which Holder called “unwarranted, unnecessary and unprecedented.” President Barack Obama claimed executive privilege Wednesday in refusing to turn over some documents.
Republicans say they are willing to negotiate, too, but only if the administration turns over more emails and memos.
The dispute is over a botched anti-smuggling operation that allowed hundreds of guns sold in Arizona to end up in Mexico.
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