As defined in the dictionary, Executive Privilege is the principle that members of the executive branch of government cannot legally be forced to disclose their confidential communications when such disclosure would adversely affect the operations or procedures of the executive branch. It is used when documents or testimony, from members of the executive branch, is subpoenaed by congress for judicial proceedings. Executive Privilege was first used by the Washington Administration in 1792. Congress demanded documents and testimony from Washington’s administration about a failed …show more content…
Operation fast and furious was an operation designed to target and capture Mexican drug lords. The bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, (better known as ATF), conducted the operation were massive amounts of guns were purposely given to Mexican cartels in an attempt to track them and see where they ended up. ATF was unable to monitor the firearms, and all of them ended up in the hands of the Mexican cartels untracked. Many of the guns ended up being found at numerous crime scenes. Attorney General Eric Holder wrote Obama and asked him to invoke Executive privilege to prevent these documents from being released. This use of Executive Privilege held up and the documents were never