McCain Slams Obama for Ignoring Subpoenas

Sen. John McCain blasted President Barack Obama Monday for allowing administration officials to ignore congressional subpoenas for information and for setting up private email accounts to conduct government business out of public view.

"Your administration’s disdain towards congressional authority and its failure to disclose public records feeds into its adversarial relationship with Congress and fuels public distrust in government," the Arizona Republican wrote in a letter Monday to the president.

The letter accused Obama of violating his own ideals. "In your first week in office you wrote to your cabinet with regards to the open-records law and affirmed that in the 'face of doubt, openness prevails,' " McCain wrote.

Urgent: Is Obama Telling the Truth on IRS, Benghazi Scandals?

"However, four years later, your administration has revealed that in the face of doubt, transparency fails." 

McCain voiced particular displeasure with Thomas Perez, Obama's controversial nominee for Labor secretary. As assistant attorney general for the Justice Department Civil Rights Division Perez "allegedly used his personal e-mail account almost 1,200 times since 2009 to conduct government business," McCain wrote.

"Last March, these e-mails were subpoenaed by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.  However, Mr. Perez has only turned over 34 of the 1,200 e-mails."

But McCain's complaints went beyond Perez and the private e-mail accounts.

 

"Mr. Perez’s case is not the only time your administration has avoided disclosing subpoenaed information," McCain wrote. "During the Fast and Furious investigation, Attorney General Eric Holder was cited for contempt when he refused to turn over subpoenaed documents.  To this date, he has turned over only a small fraction of requested internal documents."