Unbelievable but expected. Deputy Attorney General James Cole issued a statement Friday afternoon that he won’t be prosecuting Attorney General Eric Holder.

WaPo had this:

In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, the department said that it will not bring the congressional contempt citation against Holder to a federal grand jury and that it will take no other action to prosecute the attorney general. Dated Thursday, the letter was released Friday.

Deputy Attorney General James Cole said the decision is in line with long-standing Justice Department practice across administrations of both political parties.

“We will not prosecute an executive branch official under the contempt of Congress statute for withholding subpoenaed documents pursuant to a presidential assertion of executive privilege,” Cole wrote.

In its letter, the department relied in large part on a Justice Department legal opinion crafted during Republican Ronald Reagan’s presidency

Remember that it’s James Cole announcing this, now read further down. Carney gets into it:

“This is pure politics,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

“Remarkably the chairman of the committee involved here has asserted that he has no evidence that the attorney general knew of Operation Fast and Furious or did anything but take the right action when he learned of it.

“No evidence, so if you have no evidence as he has stated now about the White House and the attorney general, what else could this be but politics?”

Pure Politics? I think Agent Terry would beg to differ, as would hundreds of dead Mexicans.

No evidence? Boom.

Here is why I said to remember Cole’s name. On Page two, third column, 2nd paragraph:

How is it ethical for Cole to the one deciding whether or not Holder is prosecuted when he’s clearly involved on some level? Remember when Melson mentioned him by name? Then again, this is the most corrupt DOJ and administration we’ve ever known.

Go hit Nice Deb. She has a good post on this bombshell here.

Update: Go see Doug Ross’s column.

Related Links:

The Raw Deal

Democrats flee the House floor Fast and Furiously

DOJ Lied About Fast and Furious in Letter to Congress

Fast and Furious Investigation Links

UPDATE: Linked by Doug Ross – Thanks!