The House Government Reform and Oversight committee is expected to vote, next week, on whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. It is the fourth time Congress has scheduled such a vote against an executive branch member in the past 30 years. In this case, it is completely justified.
The pending contempt vote stems from Holder’s failure to turn over thousands of documents related to the Justice Department’s handling of Operation Fast and Furious. Under the program, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed the sale of guns to Mexico, where they ended up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. The program came to light after guns linked to the program were found at the murder scene of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, who was gunned down in December 2010.
After Terry’s murder, on February 4, 2011, Holder’s Justice Department sent a letter to Congress denying government whistleblower allegations that the Fast and Furious program allowed guns to “walk” to Mexico. Ten months later, however, on December 2, 2011, Holder’s DOJ reversed position, acknowledged the program’s existence, and admitted it was fundamentally flawed.
The American people deserve to know why the Justice Department changed its mind about Fast and Furious and retaliated against the initial whistleblowers, even calling them liars. It’s also imperative for the public to learn who knew what about the program and when.
The Justice Department has turned over 7,600 pages of documents so far, but this is only a small fraction of the over 100,000 pages that are relevant to Fast and Furious, according to House investigators. Worse, many of the 7,600 pages Holder did turn over to Congress were either already public or so heavily redacted that they’re effectively useless.
Holder has demonstrably failed to comply with the congressional subpoena that the House Oversight Committee served him with last October. He has not asserted Executive Privilege or otherwise explained why the relevant materials should not be surrendered to the House.
In May 2011, Holder testified under oath that he had only heard of Operation Fast and Furious “a few weeks ago.” After subsequently obtained documents revealed that he had been made aware of the program as early as July 2010, Holder tried to downplay the discrepancy. Last November, he told the Senate Judiciary committee that when he testified “a few weeks, I probably could have said a couple of months.” He called efforts to highlight this contradicting timeline “a distraction,” but the episode seriously compromised Holder’s credibility on the issue.
Despite all of these past failings, deceptions and diversions, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, is still willing to compromise with Holder on the issue: “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 announced.
The time is long-overdue for Holder to take Issa’s offer and put an end to his stonewalling. And if the attorney general refuses, Issa would be right to follow through on the contempt citation.
