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End Game: House GOP Requests Special Prosecutor Probe of Eric Holder for Perjury
By John Hill on October 4, 2011 in Blog, News
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The walls are closing in on Eric Holder, and the Justice Department, and White House are showing the strain.
Friday evening, the usual time for under-the-radar “document dumps” that get lower press coverage, the White House released new emails which showed extensive communication between former ATF Phoenix Special Agent in Charge William Newell and White House national security team staff over ‘Operation Fast and Furious’. Fast and Furious sent thousands of weapons to cartel killers, hundreds of which have been found at crime scenes in the U.S. and Mexico, and an AK-47 from which murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
From the start, the Justice Department and White House has tried to limit the damage by blaming low-level ATF employees for the Operation. At a May 3 hearing, Attorney General Holder denied he knew anything about the disastrous operation prior to April 2011:
I’m not sure of the exact date but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.
However numerous documents have since revealed that Holder was in fact briefed in July 2010:
New documents obtained by CBS News show Attorney General Eric Holder was sent briefings on the controversial Fast and Furious operation as far back as July 2010. That directly contradicts his statement to Congress…
Then this morning, we heard from CBS News Investigative Reporter Sharyl Attkisson – who has done Pulitzer Prize-winning work in tearing through the web of lies – that she had been “screamed at” and “cussed at” by Justice Department and White House officials over her reporting of ‘Fast and Furious’.
Highlights:
1:31 – “In between the yelling that I received from Justice Department yesterday…”
6:05 – Laura: So they were literally screaming at you? Attkisson: Yes. Well the DOJ woman was just yelling at me. The guy from the White House on Friday night literally screamed at me and cussed at me.
Clearly they expect the kind of misplaced “loyalty” they have received from other media outlets – which have for the most part tried to buried the scandal.
All this was clearly enough for the House GOP leadership to end the hearings and futile requests for information. So this afternoon, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) formally requested a special prosecutor to investigate the Attorney General for perjury.
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
This must not just be an open-ended “request” to Obama. The House GOP must add a deadline to this request, that if not met, will result in Articles of Impeachment to be drawn against Eric Holder to remove him from office, with criminal penalties to follow.
End Game: House GOP Requests Special Prosecutor Probe of Eric Holder for Perjury
By John Hill on October 4, 2011 in Blog, News
Share6975
The walls are closing in on Eric Holder, and the Justice Department, and White House are showing the strain.
Friday evening, the usual time for under-the-radar “document dumps” that get lower press coverage, the White House released new emails which showed extensive communication between former ATF Phoenix Special Agent in Charge William Newell and White House national security team staff over ‘Operation Fast and Furious’. Fast and Furious sent thousands of weapons to cartel killers, hundreds of which have been found at crime scenes in the U.S. and Mexico, and an AK-47 from which murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
From the start, the Justice Department and White House has tried to limit the damage by blaming low-level ATF employees for the Operation. At a May 3 hearing, Attorney General Holder denied he knew anything about the disastrous operation prior to April 2011:
I’m not sure of the exact date but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.
However numerous documents have since revealed that Holder was in fact briefed in July 2010:
New documents obtained by CBS News show Attorney General Eric Holder was sent briefings on the controversial Fast and Furious operation as far back as July 2010. That directly contradicts his statement to Congress…
Then this morning, we heard from CBS News Investigative Reporter Sharyl Attkisson – who has done Pulitzer Prize-winning work in tearing through the web of lies – that she had been “screamed at” and “cussed at” by Justice Department and White House officials over her reporting of ‘Fast and Furious’.
Highlights:
1:31 – “In between the yelling that I received from Justice Department yesterday…”
6:05 – Laura: So they were literally screaming at you? Attkisson: Yes. Well the DOJ woman was just yelling at me. The guy from the White House on Friday night literally screamed at me and cussed at me.
Clearly they expect the kind of misplaced “loyalty” they have received from other media outlets – which have for the most part tried to buried the scandal.
All this was clearly enough for the House GOP leadership to end the hearings and futile requests for information. So this afternoon, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) formally requested a special prosecutor to investigate the Attorney General for perjury.
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
This must not just be an open-ended “request” to Obama. The House GOP must add a deadline to this request, that if not met, will result in Articles of Impeachment to be drawn against Eric Holder to remove him from office, with criminal penalties to follow.
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