‘Fast & Furious’ heat continues to build for Holder
by Dave Workman
Attorney General Eric Holder will face more fireworks on Capitol Hill Dec. 8 when he is scheduled to appear before the House Judiciary Committee, where it is almost certain he will be grilled about Operation Fast and Furious.
His testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Nov. 8 has drawn searing criticism from Republican Sens. Charles Grassley (IA) and John Cornyn (TX).
But it will be before the House Judiciary Committee that Holder faces Congressmen Darrell Issa (R-CA), Trey Gowdy (R-SC) and Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)—all members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform with Issa as chair—that has been investigating Fast and Furious for the past 10 months. Congressional sources have indicated to Gun Week that the upcoming hearing will almost be like Holder appearing before both committees at the same time.
Calls for Holder’s resignation are building, though so far they have remained partisan in nature from the Republican side of the aisle.
Issa is certain to challenge Holder about false statements previously made regarding Fast and Furious by his Justice Department subordinates.
Both Issa and Grassley have recently seized on assertions in a Feb. 4 letter to the senator from Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich, in which he insisted that “ATF makes every effort to interdict weapons that have been purchased illegally and prevent their transportation to Mexico.” Weich further told Grassley that “…the allegation described in your January 27 letter—that ATF ‘sanctioned’ or otherwise knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to a straw purchaser who then transported them into Mexico—is false.” On Nov. 1, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, who heads the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, acknowledged during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism that guns had been walked, and that he apparently knew about gun walking—the tactic of allowing gun trafficking suspects to walk out of gun stores with firearms without interdiction—since 2010.
Other revelations over the past several months have proven Weich’s Feb. 4 claims to have been erroneous, and during his Senate Judiciary exchange with Cornyn, Holder argued semantics over whether a statement was “false” or simply “incorrect.” In a letter to Weich, Issa referred to Breuer’s testimony, noting, “…the head of the Criminal Division admitted in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee not only that the statement was false, but that he knew it was false, though he could not recall whether he had reviewed the letter.” Capitol Hill sources told Gun Week that there is no indication whether Weich will be called to testify again before either House or Senate committees.
Meanwhile, amidst the political sparring on Capitol Hill, further revelations about Fast and Furious and the preceding Operation Wide Receiver, CBS News and others noted that the man in charge in Phoenix during Fast and Furious—former Special Agent in Charge William Newell—was also in charge back in 2006-2007 when Wide Receiver was launched.
Gun Week confirmed this independently with sources at the ATF.
Anti-gun Sens. Charles Schumer (DNY) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) both tried to provide cover for Holder during the Judiciary hearing by dredging up the Wide Receiver operation. However, that operation was conducted somewhat differently, sources told Gun Week, because Mexican authorities were alerted to intercept suspects on at least one occasion, but apparently could not find them once they crossed the border.
In Fast and Furious, documents show that the Mexican government was deliberately kept in the dark.
Clearly, over the course of the past few months, Issa and Grassley, and now other members of Congress, have become frustrated with Holder and the Justice Department. They are not the only ones.
Following Holder’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the parents of slain Border Patrol agent Brian Terry released the following statement:
“At Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Attorney General Eric Holder said that he “regrets” the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. He has previously said that ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious was ‘flawed in its concept and flawed in its execution.’ Mr. Holder also has said that gun walking is ‘inappropriate and inconsistent with Department of Justice policy and should not occur.’ Yet, when Senator John Cornyn asked him if he had spoken to or apologized to the Terry Family, Mr. Holder replied that he has not spoken to the family nor has he apologized for the actions of ATF and the US Attorney’s Office in Phoenix. Instead, he said that ‘it’s unfair to assume that mistakes from Fast and Furious directly led to the death of Agent Terry.’ “One week ago, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer is on record saying, ‘the tragic truth is that if those criminals who killed Agent Terry had not gotten the guns from this one source, they would have gotten the gun from another source.’ The fact of the matter is that the men who killed Brian Terry were armed with brand new military grade assault weapons and ammunition. The weapons were allowed to be purchased with the full approval of ATF and the US Attorney’s Office in Arizona; both agencies falling under the control of the Attorney General.
“Now common sense would dictate that law enforcement should never let guns walk; yet, ATF let guns walk.
Common sense would dictate that law enforcement should never allow guns to be delivered to dangerous criminals; yet, ATF allowed weapons to flow to members of certain Mexican drug cartels. Common sense would dictate that every effort should be made to interdict guns before they can be delivered to the criminal element; yet, ATF chose not to interdict those guns.
Common sense would dictate that only bad things can happen when dangerous criminals are allowed to purchase military grade assault weapons; yet, ATF ignored that risk. This was Operation Fast and Furious and it defied common sense.
“President Obama has spoken often about the need for transparency in our government. Furthermore, the President, when referring to Operation Fast and Furious, has said, ‘People who screwed up will be held accountable.’ Well, we know who screwed up: they were ATF supervisors in the Phoenix Field Office who thought up and initiated this plan, ATF Headquarters executives who allowed it to continue, and officials in the Department of Justice who didn’t put a stop to it when they had the opportunity. Operation Fast and Furious and the way that DOJ and ATF have handled both the actual investigation and its aftermath are excellent examples of the precise need for transparency and accountability.
“The Attorney General has said that he did not know about the flawed tactics being used by ATF in Operation Fast and Furious; if this is true and he did not know, then he should have known. After all, he is the Attorney General of the United States and the head of the Department of Justice under which ATF belongs. Mr. Holder needs to own Operation Fast and Furious. In the end, Mr. Holder may choose not to apologize to the Terry family for the role that ATF and DOJ played in the death of Brian Terry, but the Attorney General should accept responsibility immediately. It is without question, the right thing to do.”
