Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. As questions whether Attorney General Eric Holders comments to the House Judiciary Committees May 2011 hearing were truthful or not House
Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) yesterday called for the appointment of a Special Counsel to investigate allegations that senior Justice Department officials intentionally misled Congress. Said Smith:
Following his election in 2008 President Obama promised to usher in a new era of openness and transparency. Despite this promise the Justice Department has been less than cooperative with this Committees requests. Moving forward the Committee expects cooperation in uncovering the facts related to this operation."
In a letter to President Obama Chairman Smith expressed concern that Members of Congress may have been misled by the Attorney Generals response to a question regarding his knowledge of the Fast and Furious program.
The Department of Justices consistent response to Congress has been that Operation Fast & Furious was a discrete law enforcement effort largely isolated to the ATF office in Phoenix. These recent documents appear to undermine this claim and bring into question statements made by Attorney General Holder to this Committee."
The Attorney General stated that he first heard of the program in the weeks leading up to the May 2011 hearing. But documents released on Friday night
raise significant questions about the truthfulness of the Attorney Generals testimony.
Allegations that senior Justice Department officials may have intentionally misled Members of Congress are extremely troubling and must be addressed by an independent and objective special counsel. I urge you to appoint a special counsel who will investigate these allegations as soon as possible."
The full text of Smiths letter can be viewed here.
On September 23rd Smith sent a letter to Holder regarding recent resignations and reassignments at ATF following public concerns regarding a Phoenix-based program known as Fast & Furious" which intentionally allowed straw buyers for criminal organizations to purchase thousands of guns and traffic them across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Chairman
Smith had also sent two previous letters to the Justice Department seeking information regarding the botched Fast & Furious operation.
His first letter dated March 9 posed six questions to the Justice Department. Five of those questions remain unanswered.
The Justice Department has yet to respond to the Chairmans second letter dated May 3.
Said Smith: I would be remiss if I did not express my growing concern with the Departments handling of the Fast & Furious investigation … The
Department cannot pin this scandal on a few individuals and expect it to be forgotten. Fast & Furious was a result of systemic problems at the ATF. Congressional interest will continue until we fully understand who authorized the failed program and how a federal agency could allow such decision-making to occur.
According to the Center for Public Integrity ATF allowed nearly 2000 guns valued at over one million dollars to cross the border to known criminal organizations.
Two of the guns from the program were found at the murder scene of Customs and Border Protection Agent Brian Terry in December.
