Holder May Be Slapped In Gunwalking Scandal
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Mark Wilson/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee announced Monday morning the committee will consider holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress on June 20 relating to the ongoing Fast and Furious ATF gun trafficking scandal.
Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has alleged that the Justice Department has not responded to the Committee’s subpoena seeking internal DOJ documents following the drafting of a February 4, 2011 letter that contained inaccurate information about ATF’s operations.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) have been investigating the actions of ATF and Justice Department officials involving the gun trafficking case that resulted in about 2,000 guns going to drug cartels and criminal groups in Mexico.
The ATF’s flawed “Fast and Furious” operations allowed firearms to “walk” across the U.S. border into Mexico in hopes of tracing the guns and locating major weapons traffickers. ATF devised the program in 2009 to try to track straw purchases of firearms where a gun is legally bought but then illegally sold to another individual. The operation took a tragic turn when two weapons found in December 2010 at the scene of murdered U.S. Border Patrol Brian Terry were found to be linked to Fast and Furious.
“While the Justice Department can still stop the process of contempt, this will only occur through the delivery of the post February 4, 2011, documents related to Operation Fast and Furious and whistleblower accusations subpoenaed by the Committee. If the Attorney General decides to produce these subpoenaed documents, I am confident we can reach agreement on other materials and render the process of contempt unnecessary,” Issa said in a statement Monday.
The committee’s vote is scheduled for June 20. The action will be only the fourth time in 30 years that Congress has held a vote to hold an executive branch member in contempt.
The Justice Department reacted strongly to the calls for a contempt hearing. “From the beginning, Chairman Issa has distorted the facts, ignored testimony and flung inaccurate accusations at the Attorney General and others, and this latest move fits within that tired political playbook that has so many Americans disillusioned with Washington,” said Justice Department Spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler in a statement.
“The Committee has ignored the fundamental – and undeniable – facts that this Attorney General put a stop to the misguided tactics, called for an investigation of this flawed operation and instituted reforms to prevent this from happening again. As recently as a few days ago, the Department staff and Committee staff were discussing a way toward a resolution of this matter,” Schmaler said.
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