Contempt Charges To Be Brought Against Holder

Katie Pavlich, News Editor for Townhall, released today that contempt charges will be brought against Eric Holder on June 20th.  Pavlich has been covering the Fast and Furious scandal and has written a book about this egregious episode in government ineptitude.

Fast and Furious was a botched “gunwalking” operation headed by the ATF that allowed thousands of guns to cross into Mexico in the hopes of capturing key drug cartel kingpins in the ongoing narcotics war.  It is a conflict that has already claimed over 30,000 lives since it began in 2006.  What makes Fast and Furious horrific is the fact that the guns used in the operation were responsible for the death of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.   Holder was given the option to have a contempt charge tossed if he complied with the October 2011 Congressional Subpoena.  He did not.  Here is Chairman Darrell Issa’s statement compliments of Katie Pavlich and Townhall.com:

 

For over a year and a half, the House Oversight Committee, with Senator Chuck Grassley, has conducted a joint investigation of reckless conduct in Operation Fast and Furious. With the support of House leadership, the Republican Conference, and even some Democratic Members who have expressed concern to the White House over the Justice Department’s failure to cooperate, this investigation has yielded significant results. The Attorney General has acknowledged that the operation was fundamentally flawed and he has committed to take steps to ensure that it does not occur again. Evidence found in applications for wiretaps shows that although senior officials were given information about reckless tactics, they still signed affirmations that they had reviewed the investigation and determined that electronic surveillance of phones was necessary.

Despite what the investigation has uncovered through whistleblowers and documents the Justice Department had tried to hide, the Committee’s work is not yet complete.  Attorney General Holder has failed to meet his legal obligations pursuant to the October 12 subpoena.  House leaders reiterated this failure in a May 18, 2012, letter. Specifically, the Justice Department has refused to turn over critical documents on the grounds that they show internal Department deliberations and were created after February 4, 2011 – the date Justice issued a false denial to Congress.  Contempt will focus on the failure to provide these post February 4th documents.

The Obama Administration has not asserted Executive Privilege or any other valid privilege over these materials and it is unacceptable that the Department of Justice refuses to produce them.  These documents pertain to Operation Fast and Furious, the claims of whistleblowers, and why it took the Department nearly a year to retract false denials of reckless tactics.  The Justice Department’s actions have obstructed the investigation. Congress has an obligation to investigate unanswered questions about attempts to smear whistleblowers, failures by Justice Department officials to be truthful and candid with the congressional investigation, and the reasons for the significant delay in acknowledging reckless conduct in Operation 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.”