There is such a thing as executive privilege. It has been recognized and defined in a number of cases in the federal courts. Under circumstances where it applies, there is nothing wrong with asserting the privilege. But where the privilege does not, in fact, apply–which is the case with respect to the Fast and Furious documents now under subpoena, as I wrote here–its assertion can only be part of a cover-up. Thus the Obama administration has entered into the world of Richard Nixon. Obama and his minions will spend the next five months furiously trying to prevent the voters from learning the truth about Fast and Furious because, whatever is in those documents, it is worse than the controversy that now will dog them until November.
Michael Ramirez makes the parallel explicit, and also points out how inconsistent is the Obama administration’s dedication to confidentiality:
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