House investigators told Attorney General Eric Holder that his refusal to provide documents written after February 4, 2011, “is entirely unacceptable,” warning — just days before Holder testifies before Congress — that he faces charges of contempt for obstructing the investigation into Operation Fast and Furious.
“If the Department [of Justice (DOJ)] continues to obstruct the congressional inquiry by not providing documents and information,” House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chair Darrell Issa, R-Calif., wrote to Holder, “this Committee will have no alternative but to move forward with proceedings to hold you in contempt.” Holder must comply by February 9.
Issa quoted an email saying that Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer “suggested allowing straw purchasers [to] cross into Mexico” on the same day that DOJ denied, in a February 4 letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, that a gunwalking operation was underway.
Issa faulted Holder for being “misleading” in claiming that he has made an “effort to be transparent” in releasing documents pertaining to the inaccurate letter. “You decided to release the materials related to the letter only after Committee staff informed the Department lawyers that the Committee was considering a criminal referral,” Issa reminded the Attorney General. “It is disingenuous to claim that this was a voluntary effort to be transparent.”
Holder must either provide the subpoenad documents or “create a detailed privilege log explaining why the Department is refusing to produce each document.”
