By Dave Workman
Senior Editor
More than 100 Democrats led by the Congressional Black Caucus and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi fled the House chamber rather than have a recorded vote—which the National Rifle Association was grading—on whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt of Congress.
It was a historic moment on several levels. Holder is the first attorney general to ever be held in criminal contempt of Congress, and the first African-American attorney general.
In the end, the Republican majority was joined by 17 Democrats who stayed on post, while one Democrat, Daniel Lipinski of Illinois, who voted “present” in the tradition of President Barack Obama, who made it something of a habit while he served in the Illinois State Senate.
Ultimately, 65 Democrats and two Republicans—Steven LaTourette of Ohio and Scott Rigell of Virginia—voted against the contempt measure. One Republican, Jerry Lewis of California’s 41st District, joined the Democrats in their walkout.
Leading up to the vote, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms had actively pushed gun owners to contact Congress, urging their representatives to vote for contempt.
Following the historic vote, CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb said the results proved that, at least to the majority, “the attorney general is not above the law.”
Holder was found in contempt for not surrendering subpoenaed documents to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is investigating the Operation Fast and Furious scandal, and what appears to be a cover-up by the Justice Department. President Obama exercised executive privilege to protect the documents, but it remains to be seen whether that will hold up.
“It should not have come to this,” Gottlieb observed. “Eric Holder should have complied with the subpoena. If he had cooperated fully with the Fast and Furious investigation from the outset, none of this would have been necessary and he knows it.”
Senator Charles Grassley, ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee who initiated the first Capitol Hill inquiry into Operation Fast and Furious 18 months ago, has consistently maintained that his primary interest is in finding the truth about the murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. His slaying in the Arizona desert Dec. 15, 2010 ignited the investigation by on-line blogger Mike Vanderboegh and National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea.
“When a person dies in service to his country,” Grassley said, “and his own government may have contributed to his death, covered up evidence about the circumstances, or both, the survivors’ families and the American people have a right to know the truth. That was the case with Pat Tillman, and it’s the case with Brian Terry.
“The government should own up to any policies and practices that led to the harm of Mexican citizens as well,” the Iowa senator continued. “Those who don’t seem to want the truth or accountability default to accusations of political motivation against those seeking answers.
“Remember, the Justice Department insisted there was no gun-walking,” he recalled, “then retracted that statement and reversed itself. The Justice Department is proven unreliable on this topic. The only way to try to get an accurate, complete account of what happened to Agent Terry and why is to obtain every possible record and account of the facts. We can only draw fair, informed conclusions from the complete facts. The fulfillment of the House’s pursuit of complete records from the Justice Department is necessary. Without it, we might never know what happened to Agent Terry. That can’t stand.”
When his initial inquiries were rebuffed, Grassley contacted California Congressman Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, to launch a formal investigation. Grassley did not have the power to subpoena, but Issa did. For more than a year, Issa and his Republican colleagues on the committee probed the operation, interviewing whistleblowers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, conducting several open hearings, and obtaining some 7,600 documents that painted a sometimes erratic, sometimes pompous picture of an investigation gone horribly awry.
2,000 Guns Walked
Investigators learned that more than 2,000 guns had been “walked” from gun stores in Arizona into the hands of Mexican drug cartel gunmen, while BATF agents in charge of the case encouraged firearms retailers to complete sales the dealers clearly believed to be suspicious. E-mails recovered by investigators and obtained by TGM and other journalists reveal that dealers expressed concerns about the number of firearms they were being encouraged to sell to gun running suspects.
There were also assertions that many of those illicit gun purchases were financed by a paid FBI informant within one of the major drug cartels. That allegation still needs to be fully investigated.
When the case blew up and Grassley began making inquiries, he was told in a Feb. 4, 2011 letter by then-Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich that no guns had been walked and that allegations to the contrary were simply not true. That letter was retracted ten months later when evidence clearly contradicted the claim.
But by then, the investigation was at full speed. The House committee subpoenaed documents back in October 2011, but Holder did not deliver. Amid accusations of stonewalling and obstruction, Issa launched the lengthy contempt process.
Holder appeared several times on Capitol Hill in hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary committees, and finally before the Oversight Committee, during which there were blistering exchanges between Holder and Issa. Meanwhile, the Democrats circled the political wagons around Holder, attempting to deflect public attention to a similar gun trafficking sting operation called Wide Receiver that was conducted, but shut down, under the George Bush administration.
Black Democrats in particular have tried to provide cover for Holder, playing the race card, as did the attorney general himself during an interview with the New York Times late last year.
It all came to a head in the June 28 floor vote, which erupted repeatedly with heated accusations and counter-allegations.
The hour-long debate did not lack for drama or partisan rhetoric, with Democrats putting up a spirited, albeit distracting, defense of the attorney general while repeatedly insisting that Fast and Furious could be traced back to the Bush administration. Just as vigorously, Republicans reminded their Democrat colleagues that Fast and Furious was launched and conducted entirely under the Obama administration.
One of the sharpest exchanges erupted between Issa and Michigan Democrat John Dingell, after the aging former NRA Board member stated that he represents the district where Terry, the slain Border Patrol agent, was from. There was the inference that Dingell wanted to represent the Terry family’s interests.
But Issa came back swinging, entering into the record a note from Terry’s family stating that Dingell’s remarks did not represent them or their views.
The closing Republican speech came from freshman Congressman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina. A former federal prosecutor, Gowdy blistered Democrats for wanting less than the truth about Fast and Furious and the suspected cover-up.
“We are right to pursue this,” Gowdy emphasized, “and we are wrong if we settle for anything less than the facts.”
Following the vote, Issa released a statement:
“Today, a bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for his continued refusal to produce relevant documents in the investigation of Operation Fast and Furious. This was not the outcome I had sought and it could have been avoided had Attorney General Holder actually produced the subpoenaed documents he said he could provide.
“The Congressional inquiry into Operation Fast and Furious, and the cover-up by Justice Department officials of wrongdoing, has been a fair and fact based investigation. False and partisan allegations by the White House and some congressional Democrats about the Oversight Committee’s efforts were undermined by the votes of 17 Democrats. These Members resisted the pressure of their own leadership and the Obama Administration to support this investigation on the House floor.
“Claims by the Justice Department that it has fully cooperated with this investigation fall at odds with its conduct: issuing false denials to Congress when senior officials clearly knew about gunwalking, directing witnesses not to answer entire categories of questions, retaliating against whistleblowers, and producing only 7,600 documents while withholding over 100,000.
“I greatly appreciate the ongoing efforts of Senator Chuck Grassley, his staff, and other Senators on the Judiciary Committee who have pressed the Obama Administration for the full truth. Senator Grassley began this investigation and has been a full partner throughout it. I must also recognize the hard work done by many of my colleagues here in the House – without their efforts the Justice Department’s stonewalling would have succeeded.
“My message to my colleagues and others who have fought for answers: We are still fighting for the truth and accountability – for the family of murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, for whistleblowers who have faced retaliation, and for countless victims of Operation Fast and Furious in Mexico. Unless President Obama relents to this bipartisan call for transparency and an end to the cover-up, our fight will move to the courts where we will prevail in getting the documents that the Justice Department and President Obama’s flawed assertion of executive privilege have denied the American people.”
CCRKBA’s Gottlieb, in a press release, noted that he is “proud of the 17 Democrats who joined the Republican majority on this vote. This was not about partisanship, but accountability and transparency. Fast and Furious has a body count, and so long as people provide cover to the attorney general, the blood is on their hands.”
How They Voted:
Plain text: Republicans
Italics: Democrats
Ayes:
Adams
Aderholt
Akin
Alexander
Altmire
Amash
Amodei
Austria
Bachmann
Bachus
Barletta
Barrow
Bartlett
Barton (TX)
Bass (NH)
Benishek
Berg
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Bonner
Bono Mack
Boren
Boswell
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Brooks
Broun (GA)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Buerkle
Burgess
Burton (IN)
Calvert
Camp
Campbell
Canseco
Cantor
Capito
Carter
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Chandler
Coble
Coffman (CO)
Cole
Conaway
Cravaack
Crawford
Crenshaw
Critz
Culberson
Davis (KY)
Denham
Dent
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Dold
Donnelly (IN)
Dreier
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Emerson
Farenthold
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Flake
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gibson
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grimm
Guinta
Guthrie
Hall
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Hayworth
Heck
Hensarling
Herger
Herrera Beutler
Hochul
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Issa
Jenkins
Johnson (IL)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Jordan
Kelly
Kind
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kissell
Kline
Labrador
Lamborn
Lance
Landry
Lankford
Latham
Latta
LoBiondo
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Lungren, Daniel E.
Mack
Manzullo
Marchant
Marino
Matheson
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul
McClintock
McCotter
McHenry
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
Meehan
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Mulvaney
Murphy (PA)
Myrick
Neugebauer
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Nunnelee
Olson
Owens
Palazzo
Paul
Paulsen
Pearce
Pence
Peterson
Petri
Pitts
Platts
Poe (TX)
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Quayle
Rahall
Reed
Rehberg
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rivera
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross (AR)
Ross (FL)
Royce
Runyan
Ryan (WI)
Scalise
Schilling
Schmidt
Schock
Schweikert
Scott (SC)
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Stearns
Stivers
Stutzman
Sullivan
Terry
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Turner (NY)
Turner (OH)
Upton
Walberg
Walden
Walsh (IL)
Walz (MN)
Webster
West
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
Young (IN)
“Present”
Lipinski
Nays:
Baldwin
Barber
Berkley
Berman
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Braley (IA)
Capps
Cohen
Connolly (VA)
Cooper
Costello
Courtney
Cuellar
DeFazio
DeLauro
Deutch
Dicks
Dingell
Doggett
Eshoo
Farr
Green, Gene
Heinrich
Higgins
Himes
Hirono
Holden
Holt
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
LaTourette
Loebsack
Lofgren, Zoe
Luján
Lynch
McDermott
McNerney
Michaud
Miller (NC)
Miller, George
Moran
Murphy (CT)
Nadler
Pastor (AZ)
Perlmutter
Quigley
Rigell
Rothman (NJ)
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Loretta
Schrader
Schwartz
Sherman
Shuler
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Speier
Sutton
Thompson (CA)
Tierney
Tsongas
Visclosky
Wasserman Schultz
Waxman
Welch
Not Voting (109 Walked out):
Ackerman
Andrews
Baca
Bass (CA)
Becerra
Bishop (GA)
Brady (PA)
Brown (FL)
Butterfield
Capuano
Cardoza
Carnahan
Carney
Carson (IN)
Castor (FL)
Chu
Cicilline
Clarke (MI)
Clarke (NY)
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Conyers
Costa
Crowley
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis (IL)
DeGette
Doyle
Edwards
Ellison
Engel
Fattah
Filner
Frank (MA)
Fudge
Garamendi
Gonzalez
Green, Al
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hanabusa
Hastings (FL)
Hinchey
Hinojosa
Honda
Hoyer
Israel
Jackson (IL)
Jackson Lee (TX)
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Kaptur
Keating
Kildee
Kucinich
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (GA)
Lowey
Maloney
Markey
Matsui
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McGovern
Meeks
Moore
Napolitano
Neal
Olver
Pallone
Pascrell
Pelosi
Peters
Pingree (ME)
Polis
Price (NC)
Rangel
Reyes
Richardson
Richmond
Roybal-Allard
Ruppersberger
Rush
Sánchez, Linda T.
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell
Sires
Stark
Thompson (MS)
Tonko
Towns
Van Hollen
Velázquez
Waters
Watt
Wilson (FL)
Woolsey
Yarmuth
