Attorney General Eric Holder should honor the request by Congress for documents and not set up a confrontation between the administration and lawmakers, Sen. Tim Scott said.
Holder deflected criticism of his office by Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert in a fiery exchange Tuesday during a House Judiciary Committee hearing. Scott told "Fox & Friends" Thursday that "the bottom line" was Holder "ought to provide the documents."
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Scott said when President Barack Obama challenged Congress by saying, "I can do what I need to do with a pen and a phone," he set the stage for "a real confrontational relationship with a co-equal branch of the United States government."
The White House has repeatedly delayed or refused to comply with efforts by Congress to gain information into issues including the Fast and Furious gun-tracking program and the 2012 bombing of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
It was a "bad decision" for the White House and Eric Holder to withhold documents requested by the House, the South Carolina Republican said. He suggested partisan politics was in play when the president essentially told Congress, "We're going to ignore and avoid even dealing with the House of Representatives."
"When you make the decision that you can avoid laws, decide not to enforce laws, that you can figure out Fast and Furious on your own, or not figure out at all, you provide no information on Benghazi, you consistently have a pattern that simply says to the House of Representatives, 'You are not co-equal,'" he said.
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