Videos: Eric Holder singing a different tune after Contempt Hearing announcement

Yesterday, it was learned that Darrell Issa had set a date for a hearing to determine if Attorney General Eric Holder is in Contempt of Congress. Today, while appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Holder told Ranking member Charles Grassley that he is:

"...offering to sit down, I myself, am offering to sit down with the Speaker, the Chairman, with you, whoever, to try to work our way through this in an attempt to avoid a Constitutional crisis."

That crack about a "constitutional crisis" notwithstanding, Holder sang a far different tune when in front of the House Oversight Committee during an exchange with Rep. Jason Chaffetz last week, before the June 20th Contempt hearing was announced yesterday.

First up, Holder's exchange with Grassley today, via Fox News:



Now, take a look at the first half of this exchange between Chaffetz and Holder on June 7th, keeping in mind that the contempt hearing had not yet been announced. Chaffetz makes several attempts to get Holder to agree to sit down with himself, Rep. Trey Gowdy, and a couple of lapdog Democrats to work through the wiretap applications that all parties have read and are in possession of. When Holder says that he isn't allowed to do so because the wiretaps are sealed under court order, Chaffetz concedes the point and then asks the AG if he would be willing to meet personally to discuss all of the other aspects of Fast and Furious.

Holder balks and points to all of the times he has been in front of various committees to answer questions saying (at the 3:30 mark):

"With all due respect, I give you four hours at a crack on eight separate occasions. I'm not sure I have an awful lot more to say."

Chaffetz was overly polite and Holder basically told him no but again, that was before the contempt hearing was announced.



Now, the Daily Caller is reporting that Issa and Boehner have rejected Holder's request for meetings until the requirements of the subpoena are met.

All I can say is that I hope Boehner and Issa don't go squishy. There is a reason Holder is using verbiage like "Constitutional crisis." It is a desperate attempt at intimidation to scare Issa and Boehner into a meeting.

There's also a reason why Holder is amenable to a meeting now and he wasn't last week. That reason is, I believe, that he is finally beginning to realize that he could be in big trouble.