Lawmaker Responds To DOJ Inspector General’s Report, Testimony – OpEd

The Sunday morning national television news shows gave the Obama campaign the opportunity to address a number of issues, including the biting report released by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General regarding Operation Fast and Furious. The Obama sycophants used the report to claim that President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder are completely innocent in the ATF’s gun-walking debacle.

On the day after the U.S. Congress and the news media received the highly-anticipated report on the scandal known as Operation Fast and Furious, the man who headed the investigation and supervised the writing of the report testified before lawmakers.

The 471-page report released by the Department of Justice’s Inspector General Michael Horowitz is a step toward restoring the public’s faith in the Department of Justice. Several lawmakers said they were impressed by the detailed report.

Congressman Issa said it confirms what the Oversight Committee has known for quite some time: the Department of Justice has let the American people down. “Specifically, it confirms the fundamental conclusions we have found in our 19-month investigation into Operation Fast and Furious. This includes the inexcusable response from senior Department officials to legitimate inquiries from Congress,” he said.

“Fast and Furious was a breach of the public trust and it also contributed to the tragic murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry as well as the deaths of countless innocent Mexican citizens. In fact, on Tuesday, the U.S. Border Patrol Station, in Naco, Arizona was dedicated to Brian’s memory,” Issa said.

The stonewalling Issa’s committee faced is illustrated by the fact that eight months after the Committee issued its subpoena to Attorney General Holder, the House held the Attorney General in civil and criminal contempt for failing to comply with the congressional subpoena.

On August 13, the House Oversight Committee filed a civil action to compel Attorney General Eric Holder to produce documents related to Operation Fast and Furious subpoenaed by the Committee on October 11, 2011.

The legal action sought to obtain documents covered by the subpoena that would reveal why the Justice Department took ten months to retract a February 4, 2011 letter. This letter contained false denials of the reckless investigative tactics used in Operation Fast and Furious.

The report’s finding that statements denying reckless conduct made to Congress by the Justice Department were “troubling” and that senior officials “knew or should have known” they were false or misleading only underscores the importance of the legal action underway to overturn an invalid assertion of Executive Privilege by President Obama.

Among the report’s other conclusions, the finding that wiretap applications approved by senior officials did contain red flags about reckless tactics who should have acted on this information is among the most important.

This conclusion contradicted specific denials by Attorney General Holder and Democratic members of the Committee who used their credibility to falsely assure the public that the sealed wiretap applications contained no such information, according to the GOP.

From Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents on the ground in Arizona, up to and including the Attorney General’s office, the IG’s report describes widespread dysfunction and a lack of leadership.

“On Wednesday, as we understand it, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein was asked to resign from the Department. When mistakes of this magnitude occur, senior officials must be held accountable,” said the committee in a statement.

“This Committee sincerely hopes that the Department heeds OIG’s recommendation: it must review the conduct and performance of all officials faulted in the report to determine the appropriate discipline or other administrative action. This includes all the numerous members of Attorney General Holder’s own inner circle who were singled out by name in the report for their failures.

“Finally, the report vindicates ATF whistleblowers who stepped forward to allege and end serious wrongdoing. [We] hope the Department will finally recognize these brave men for their contributions and your office acts aggressively to hold those who tried to intimidate them to account.”