by It looks like the House Republican leadership is finally getting off the stick with regard to Project Gunwalker and a contempt of Congress citation for Attorney General Eric Holder. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor just issued a statement regarding the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s plan to take up consideration of a contempt citation.
“As Attorney General Holder has acknowledged, ‘Fast and Furious’ was a fundamentally flawed operation. Despite repeated opportunities, the Department of Justice has refused to cooperate with the requests made by Congress for information surrounding the operation. Congress can no longer wait. Assuming Attorney General Holder continues to stonewall, we will have no choice but to hold him in contempt for his failure to provide the documents necessary to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again. I thank Chairman Issa and the Oversight Committee for their dedication and vigilance on this issue.”
It surely is not as strong a statement as I and many others would like but it is a start.
UPDATE: I see that Speaker John Boehner has also released a statement in support of contempt for Eric Holder. While it like that of Cantor is rather tepid, it is a bit more than the earlier letter sent by the House leadership.
“The Justice Department is out of excuses. Congress has given Attorney General Holder more than enough time to fully cooperate with its investigation into ‘Fast and Furious,’ and to help uncover the circumstances regarding the death of Border Agent Brian Terry. Agent Terry’s family, the whistleblowers who brought this issue to light, and the American people deserve answers. Either the Justice Department turns over the information requested, or Congress will have no choice but to move forward with holding the Attorney General in contempt for obstructing an ongoing investigation.”
It is obvious that Holder’s testimony last week before the House Judiciary Committee did him no favors and has increased the pressure on him to comply with the Oversight Committee.
