The Republican National Committee charged President Obama with “hypocrisy” in a new Web video criticizing his decision to exert executive privilege over documents related to the botched "Fast and Furious" gun-tracking operation.
"As a Senator, Barack Obama opposed its use and even said 'transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency' on his first day in the White House," the RNC said in a statement about his order of executive privilege. "It’s clear these were just empty words, another broken promise from this president."
The minute-long video titled "From 'Hope' to Hypocrisy: Executive Privilege and Transparency" comes a day before Thursday's House contempt vote against Attorney General Eric Holder, and accuses Obama of betraying his campaign promise for greater transparency.
“It’s clear the ‘most transparent administration in history’ is anything but,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus in a statement. “After denouncing the executive privilege as a Senator, President Barack Obama is more than willing to use it for his own political purposes.
“He promised to be a different kind of president but when it came down to it, politics won over principle. ... Instead of politicizing the issue we deserve the transparency that candidate Obama campaigned on and promised to the American people.”
Obama last week invoked executive privilege to stop certain Justice Department documents relating to the ATF operation from being disclosed to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has accused the administration of not being forthcoming in his panel’s probe of Fast and Furious. Last week, the committee voted along party lines to place Holder in contempt of Congress.
Democrats, however, say that Issa is waging a partisan campaign to embarrass Holder and the president.
