White House urges early appellate input in Fast and Furious

A motion filed by the Obama administration in the Fast and Furious case asks for a higher court to rule on the question of executive privilege. The standoff between U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the House of Representatives is currently before a U.S. District Court judge; however Holder and the Justice Department want the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington to weigh in before the litigation proceeds further. The House is seeking documents related to Operation Fast and Furious, a controversial investigation into gun smuggling into Mexico carried out by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Holder has refused to turn the paperwork over to Congress on the grounds of the administration's executive-privilege authority. The House countered by holding Holder in contempt of Congress. The administration had urged U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson to throw out the contempt case on the grounds the courts were not the proper venue for a dispute between the executive and legislative branches of government. Jackson rejected that claim in September. Politico said Holder's appeal, which was filed Friday night, says the appellate court should step in right away so that the case does not get ahead of itself and proceed without a definitive ruling on the pivotal question. "The very experience of participating in such proceedings will cause harm -- to the defendant, the executive branch, and the separation of powers -- that cannot be reversed if the D.C. Circuit [appeals court] ultimately rules in defendant's favor on the threshold questions presented," the motion said.