Issa: AG Holder’s testimony was ‘disingenuous’

Issa, House Oversight Committee Chairman, told Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday that ‘Operation Fast and Furious’ entailed “not tracking [guns] until they were found in the scene of crimes . . . [Department of Justice agencies] facilitated [in] just one guy buy, one straw buy, over 700 weapons.” He explained that the involved Department of Justice agencies “deliberately intended [the weapons] to end up in the hands of the drug cartels without any kind of traceability except if you find a gun in the scene of the crime.” Issa described the program as “felony and stupid — and I use the word ‘felony’ deliberately,” he added.

An illegal immigrant working for the Sinaloa drug cartel shot and killed Border Patrol Agent Bryan Terry with a weapon possibly obtained through Operation Fast and Furious. The L.A. Times reported yesterday that government officials found approximately 100 assault weapons in the house of an enforcer for the same Sinaloa cartel responsible for Terry’s death.

In May, Attorney General Eric Holder denied before Congress any knowledge of the gun-walking program. “He answered before Judiciary Committee, myself, [Rep.] Jason Chaffetz, [R-Utah], and others, that he didn’t know about it until two weeks earlier,” Issa said, noting that  Holder received memos on the program last year. Issa called Holder’s denial of knowledge “just disingenuous on its face.”

When asked if Holder should resign, Issa responded, “I’ve always taken the tack that the president picks the people he has full confidence, and the president still seems to have full confidence in Eric Holder — something I don’t share.” The Oversight Chairman seemed open to the idea of a special prosecutor for the issue. “Eric Holder cannot investigate himself,” Issa said.

The House Oversight Committee released a web video Friday asking “Who is accountable?” for Operation Fast and Furious. You can watch the video below.