Eric Holder Becomes First Attorney General Held in Contempt of Congress
Congressman Lummis joins 254 bipartisan colleagues in holding the Attorney General Eric Holder accountable for failing to provide subpoenaed documents on Fast and Furious.
Washington,
Jun 28 -
WASHINGTON – In a bipartisan vote of 255 to 67, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has been found in contempt of Congress by the House of Representatives for failing to turn over subpoenaed documents in the congressional investigation of the Fast and Furious operation. The operation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), which instructed firearms dealers to allow suspected “straw-purchasers” to purchase guns under the full assumption that the firearms would end up in the hands of the Mexican drug cartels. Of the 2,000 weapons purchased as part of the operation, many have begun to turn up at crimes scenes both in Mexico and in the U.S., including at the scenes of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and ICE agent Jamie Zapata’s murders. The vast majority of the firearms remain at large.
Thursday’s vote comes a week after President Obama invoked Executive Privilege over the documents requested by Congress, leading to questions as to the extent of the President’s involvement in the Fast and Furious scandal.
“It is unfortunate this vote had to come to the House floor,” U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo) said. “We gave Attorney General Holder a chance to come clean and produce the documents that we need to give the Terry family and American people the answers they deserve. He failed to produce the documents. I’m pleased to see a bipartisan House holding Mr. Holder accountable.”
This marks the first time a U.S. Attorney General has been held in contempt of Congress. The contempt citation now goes to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington, DC for enforcement.
BACKGROUND
The Fast and Furious operation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). During the operation, the BATFE instructed firearms dealers to proceed with illicit sales to suspected “straw purchasers,” under the full assumption that the weapons would end up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. The BATFE failed to track the weapons, instead re-discovering them only when they turned up at the scene of violent crimes in both Mexico and the United States, including the scene of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry’s murder. Mexican officials claim at least 150 people in Mexico have been murdered by Fast and Furious weapons.
Frustrated BATFE agents warned their superiors of the potential for this kind of tragedy, but their warnings were ignored by their superiors. In the meantime, 2,000 weapons were allowed to walk and the majority of them remain unaccounted for. Since the congressional investigation began, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has uncovered evidence of whistleblower intimidation and false or misleading statements by Department of Justice officials.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has refused to comply with key portions of an October 12, 2011 subpoena of Fast and Furious related documents, including documents that relate to the Department’s retaliation against whistleblowers and the Department’s justification for taking nearly a year to retract its February 4, 2011 denial letter that turned out to be false.
Last week the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee found Mr. Holder in contempt by a vote of 23 to 17. Minutes before the committee meeting began, President Obama invoked Executive Privilege over the subpoenaed documents.
