Republican legislators in both houses of Congress have been turning up the heat on Attorney General Eric Holder over his obstructive and misleading testimony about Fast and Furious, the gunwalking operation specifically designed to sell guns to Mexican cartels and allow them to “walk” across America’s southern border (without telling the Mexican government, of course).
On the heels of being called on to resign by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and others, and just days before the House Oversight Committee is scheduled to vote on holding Holder in contempt of Congress, Holder requested a meeting with Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) to “discuss [the Department of] Justice’s knowledge of the controversial ‘gun walking’ tactics used in Fast and Furious, including information about whistleblowers.”
The meeting is now set for 5 p.m. tomorrow, June 19, and though Holder clearly hopes to avoid a contempt vote (which he has referred to as a “constitutional crisis” that must be averted), Issa has made sure to let the attorney general know that nothing less than full disclosure will be tolerated.
Issa invites Holder to meet at 5 pm in Rayburn to discuss #FastandFurious. Issa says DoJ has not yet presented documents he asked for.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 18, 2012
Issa to Holder: You have until Tuesday a.m. to give up Fast and Furious docs http://t.co/RZYQtiyG
— CO2HOG™ (@CO2HOG) June 18, 2012
Issa tells Holder he "will not be in a position.. to negotiate" short of full compliance, over contempt of Congress for #FastandFurious.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 18, 2012
Issa maintains that contempt vote will only be postponed if Holder provides delivery of documents sufficient to justify postponing the vote
— John R Parkinson (@jparkABC) June 18, 2012
Issa tells Holder he "will not be able to offer you the Cmte's assessment at tomorrow's meeting" unless he gets #FastandFurious docs Tues.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 18, 2012
House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who is attempting to organize a defense of the attorney general (in concert with the media, of course), will reportedly be attending tomorrow’s meeting with Holder.
Rep Cummings plans to go to Tues mtg w/Issa & Holder on fast & furious, but on latest ltr from Issa tells CNN "this is moving the goalposts"
— Deirdre Walsh (@deirdrekwalsh) June 18, 2012
via @FoxNews House Dems mount Holder defense as Republicans pursue contempt vote http://t.co/3HJd32Ry
— Oversight Committee (@OversightDems) June 14, 2012
Wherever those “goalposts” are moved, this program that has resulted in both American and Mexican deaths deserves far more attention and honesty than Attorney General Holder, President Obama, and the vast majority of the media have given it. Hopefully tomorrow’s meeting will go a long way toward improving that situation — and, if it doesn’t, hopefully Wednesday’s contempt vote bears more fruit. We’ll keep you posted, however it shakes out.
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