Jim Kouri
Law Enforcement Examiner
6/8/2012
Following the testimony of Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday, Congressman Lamar Smith expressed concern with Holder’s leadership of the Justice Department and the Obama administration’s efforts to impose a partisan agenda on the American people.
The chairman of House Judiciary Committee, Lamar Smith (R-Texas), grilled Attorney General Holder at the hearing in Washington, D.C. about whether White House officials were aware of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF’s) Operation Fast & Furious, which contributed to the shooting death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
The Attorney General appeared before the House Judiciary Committee for an oversight hearing on the Justice Department’s activities. Outstanding questions surrounding the controversial ATF operation that allowed guns to be purchased in the U.S. and trafficked to Mexico dominated the Committee’s discussion.
“For the past three and half years, this Administration has engaged in a pattern of obstructionism, unaccountability, and partisanship. The Administration’s actions aren’t just wrong–they are arrogant, undemocratic, and an insult to the rule of law. The American people should have confidence that the Department of Justice fairly enforces laws. That confidence is lacking today,” said Rep. Smith…
…Law Enforcement Examiner sources claim that Republican House staffers have moved slowly in building their case and in creating the motion to hold the Attorney General in contempt of Congress…
Read the entire article at Law Enforcement Examiner.
Related: Gohmert, Issa Rip Holder On Inaction, Stonewalling on Fast & Furious, Holy Land Foundation
The first clip is Louis Gohmert. Earlier Holder had apparently said “there is a political aspect to this job.” He references that, and then demands documents regarding the Holy Land Foundation prosecution. His point– which is hard to refute– is that the DoJ has disclosed documents to the convicted terrorists in the Holy Land Foundation prosecution, and yet refuses to disclose them to Congress.
So his question, which is great, is, “Can we at least get the documents you provided to convicted terrorists?”
Then he turns to Fast and Furious, and wants to know if Holder is any closer to finding out (wink, wink) who authorized the operation. Holder claims he still doesn’t know, and avoids the question of whether he’s any closer in his Big Investigation.
Holder’s already announced the “investigation’s” findings: “We may never know who authorized Fast and Furious.”
So I’m sure he’s right on top of exposing the guy he already knows authorized it.
Gohmert’s a bit baffled that a major covert drug-running operation could be authorized… by no one, and no one putting his signature to that.
Um, I don’t want to go Hitler, but people avoid signing off on things when they know there will be a problem with it later. Evidence of the guilty mind. No one objects to signing a credit card receipt for Domino’s. But at a strip club, everyone brings cash…
Ahead of Fast and Furious hearing, Issa tells Holder ‘lead or resign’
Ahead of a Thursday morning House Judiciary Committee hearing to question Attorney General Eric Holder on Operation Fast and Furious, House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa made his message clear: “Lead, follow or get out of the way.”
“When you’re attorney general, you don’t get to follow,” Issa added during an appearance on the Fox News Channel on Wednesday morning. “So [Holder needs to] lead or resign.”…
Attorney General Eric Holder admitted on Thursday that President Barack Obama’s chief campaign strategist David Axelrod and the White House are helping the Department of Justice craft its messaging about Operation Fast and Furious.
“We [Holder, Axelrod and the White House] have certainly talked about ways in which we could deal with the interaction between the Justice Department and Congress — about ways in which we would,” Holder said in questioning before the House Judiciary Committee.
Virginia Republican Rep. Randy Forbes pressed Holder further by asking him if Axelrod, Obama’s re-election campaign and the White House were involved in crafting the DOJ’s policy for dealing with press. He said they were. “In terms of trying to get any message out that was consistent with facts and make sure it was done in an appropriate way, I’ve had conversations like that with people in the White House.”
Update: Proof Holder Lied Under Oath
Update 2: Cummings to Issa: Halt contempt proceedings against Holder
