HUMAN
EVENTS ^ | 05/03/2012 | John Hayward
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, is
preparing contempt of Congress charges against Attorney General Eric Holder for
his failure to cooperate fully with the investigation into Operation Fast and
Furious, the Obama Administration’s deadly gun-running program. Warnings were
issued, deadlines have passed, and it’s just about “go time.”
To this end, Issa has prepared an extensive staff briefing(PDF) on the case, along with a draft
of Holder’s contempt citation. A press release from the House Oversight
Committee says the briefing paper “explains what happened in Operation Fast and
Furious, the hardships faced by the family of fallen Border Patrol Agent Brian
Terry in getting truthful answers about his death, how agents who blew the
whistle on the reckless operation have faced retaliation, and the carnage in
Mexico that Fast and Furious has helped fuel.”
Among the lowlights of this paper are the ATF’s discovery that two of the top
ostensible “targets” for the operation that pumped thousands of American guns
into the hands of Mexican cartel killers were actually FBI informants; Holder’s
failure to provide documents in 12 of the 22 categories set forth in House
subpoenas; the stone walls thrown before Agent Terry’s family as they
investigate his death; an ATF whistleblower whose career was ruined on the
pretext of punishing him for downloading $8 worth of applications to his
smartphone; the appearance of Fast and Furious guns at crime scenes across
Mexico, including the murder of a state Attorney General’s brother; and the
dismaying decision of Patrick Cunningham, criminal division chief of the U.S.
Attorney’s Office in Arizona, to take the Fifth instead of testifying before
Issa’s committee.
At 44 pages in length, Issa’s briefing paper is one of the most comprehensive
summaries of the Fast and Furious scandal you can read online. Issa appeared on
Fox News this morning to discuss the case against Eric Holder, noting his
reluctance to “say to the Administration that we’ve come to the end.” He was
very blunt about saying Holder’s Justice Department has lied to his committee.
In the middle of his appearance, the Justice Department released a statement
– read to Issa while he was sitting in the studio – that said they’ve offered
just about all the compliance they’re going to. The Congressman did not seem
terribly surprised to hear it. Further stonewalling, he said, would be like
Richard Nixon offering to release the Watergate tapes in fifty years, and the
“drop dead date” for DOJ compliance with those House subpoenas is
“immediately.”
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