Democrats defended — even apologized to — Attorney General Eric Holder throughout today’s hearing on Operation Fast and Furious, impugning the motives of Republican investigators and absolving Holder of any scandal.
“You now appear intent on escalating controversy and promoting unsubstantiated allegations in a campaign that looks more like an election year witch hunt than an even-handed investigation,” Rep. Elijah Cummings, ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said to Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
“I don’t think the minority report is going to do you a whole lot of good since it seems to say, more or less, ‘nothing happened,'” Issa told Holder minutes later, after Holder had said he would consider the Democratic and Republican findings when taking disciplinary action against officials involved in Fast and Furious. “With that, I recognize the author of the minority report, Mr. Cummings, for his round of questions,” Issa concluded.
The Democratic report rejects Republican “conspiracy theories” about Operation Fast and Furious, but allows that the gun-walking scheme “failed to include sufficient operational controls to stop these dangerous weapons from getting into the hands of violent criminals.”
Cummings apologized to Holder for his Republican colleagues’ behavior. “I’m sorry my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have made completely unsubstantiated allegations against dedicated and hard-working FBI agents, DEA officials, and others,” Cummings said, adding that it would be “a real challenge” to avoid the “political sideshow” of the Republican investigation.
Issa has threatened to hold Holder in contempt of Congress if the Attorney General does not produce the documents pertaining to Operation Fast and Furious that he has given to the Justice Department’s Inspector General, but refused to provide to House investigators.
