Eric Holder Investigation: GOP Presses For Probe Into Attorney General's Possible Perjury

House Republicans have asked the White House to appoint a special counsel to determine whether Attorney General Eric Holder lied during his testimony about a botched gun-trafficking operation, Fox News reports.

Documents obtained by CBS News show that Holder knew about the operation, dubbed "Operation Fast And Furious," as early as July 2010, which would contradict his testimony in May of this year, during which he said, "I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks."

A Justice Department official told The Huffington Post that the attorney general "has consistently said he became aware of the questionable tactics in early 2011 when ATF agents first raised them publicly, and then promptly asked the IG to investigate the matter."

He went on to say that the attorney general did not know the specifics of the program, "The weekly reports (100 + pages) are provided to the office of the AG and (deputy attorney general) each week from approximately 24 offices and components. These are routine reports that provide general overviews and status updates on issues, policies, cases and investigations from offices and components across the country. None of these reports referenced the controversial tactics of that allowed guns to cross the border."

CNN reports that a Justice Department source says the report of an investigation is "wildly off base."

"Operation Fast And Furious" was a failed sting instituted by the Bureau Of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in 2009. The program's intent was to allow suspected criminals to buy weapons, then track the firearms to Mexican criminal organizations, in hopes of building a larger case.

Instead, hundreds of the powerful weapons went untracked, and many were later recovered at grisly crime scenes in Mexico. Guns connected to the program were also found at the murder scene of U.S. border patrol agent in 2010.

Some Republicans reacted swiftly to news of the possible investigation. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the Chair of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform who has spearheaded the program's investigation, tweeted, "What Holder ACTUALLY knew about Fast and Furious" with a link to The Drudge Report, which touted the story. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) tweeted, “What part of Q, ‘When did you first know about the program known as Fast and Furious?’ didn't AG Holder understand?”

 

 

Comments

[daveclementsusa]

01:19 PM on 10/13/2011

9-11 investigation of Building 7 is in order.

[thomas metych]

07:30 PM on 10/11/2011

Everyone who write's a post here will be investigated. Except for the Politician's, Banker's, Lobbyist, Lawyer's, Judge's, and they're familie's and Friend's. If you ain't in the click. Your Toast.

[baldwjo]

01:07 PM on 10/08/2011

Any president worth his salt would ask Holder for an immediate resignation!!

[baldwjo]

10:19 AM on 10/08/2011

Either Eric holder commited perjury or he's the most inept attorney general in US history...

Failing to read briefings from his subordinates is tantamount to incompetence! Any responsible
president would ask for his resignation quickly!

[DMeadows]

03:48 PM on 10/07/2011

Really! What part of "When did you first know about the program known as Fast and Furious?" did Holder not understand?

[Bystander]

10:34 AM on 10/06/2011

Supreme Court Justice Lewis Brandeis said it best, "Sunshine is the best disinfectant." Holder and his Justice Department will need a whole lot of it to clean up this puss pocket of corruption and incompetence. The more Holder stonewalls, the longer the process will take, but Americans want to see it done.

[Lindytindy]

09:21 AM on 10/06/2011

He'll slide like a snake out of this based on what his emails said, twisting that into reasonable doubt. Our legal system like all our other institutions is reduced to farce.

[Liz Pierce]

07:36 AM on 10/06/2011

Eric Holder testified before the House Committee on Oversight and GovernmentEric Holder Reform, and he committed blatant perjury regarding his knowledge and involvement in "Fast and Furious." It is bad enough that we have a tax-cheat running the IRS (Timothy Geithner). How can Americans trust the government when the people selected to lead major branches of the federal government can't even abide by the rules of their own departments?

[redbuns]

05:35 PM on 10/07/2011

How can americans trust the government? only answer is, THEY CAN'T!

[Liz Pierce]

06:55 PM on 10/07/2011

the ballot box is our only power. we have to vote out every incumbent, every election, every time....to hold them accountable for everything.

[allisonisa39e]

03:58 AM on 10/06/2011

Reportedly the press has asked neither Obama nor his talking mouth a single question about Fast and Furious for over three months.

Why is the press trying to keep a big story under wraps ???

[Constitutional Govt Pls]

05:28 AM on 10/07/2011

State CONTROLLED media!

[dej353]

08:08 PM on 10/05/2011

On his watch, this operation went terribly wrong, so there is a reason for him to deflect blame, but we'll see what happens after the investigation. I personally don't trust him, but speculation does nothing, the investigation will give us the answers.

[redbuns]

05:38 PM on 10/07/2011

then i say, bring on the investigation.
if obama is so sure of his AG's innocence, the he shouldn't hesitate to call for a special prosecutor.
libby gets a date mixed up and goes to jail.
holder and obama break the law, get a good man killed, and nobody seems to give a darm.

[sonja121733]

01:33 PM on 10/05/2011

Waste of money they all get away with breaking the law in DC, Exanple Rangel he thought it was a joke and got zipp,??

[dave0331]

01:30 PM on 10/05/2011

This failed operation has been highly publicized for months and a Federal law enforcement was murdered with one of the guns. Attorney General Holder says he heard about the operation over the last few weeks?. It is time for a special counsel to be appointed and then referred to a grand jury for determination of whether to indict this guy for lieing.

I think the phrase"knew or should have known" applies in this case.

[excursioner]

01:29 PM on 10/05/2011

I think Holder is a corrupt coward who will cave and implicate Obama and the Clintons if he is investigated.

[excursioner]

01:28 PM on 10/05/2011

Eric Holder = Progressive Corruption at the highest levels of government.
This Obama appointee was doing Obama and Clintons bidding when he let the guns be purchased illegally and delivered to Mexican drug gangs. Obama and the Clintons wanted this done because the current laws would have prevented such a crime and Obama, Clinton and Holder could not get the statistics they needed to convince the American people the currentl gun laws need to be rediculously tightened. So they hatched a scheme to allow the guns to be used in violent crimes so they could get the statistics they wanted to gut the 2nd Amendment. They did this without regard to the safety of the public or to how negatively lives would be impacted. Then they simply lied, obstructed justice, and refused to honor lawful subpoenas from the Senate Oversight Committee.
This is Chicago corruption on a national level now.
It seems Obama cleaned up the common placed corrupt Chicago politics by bringing all the corrupt Chicago politicians to Washington DC with him and appointing them to the top jobs in our law enforcement and other agencies. He thought he made himself untouchable. We will see. Congress should offer Holder immunity from prosecution if he comes clean and testifies against Clinton and Obama.

[anniesez455]

01:15 PM on 10/05/2011

If Obama does not investigate this Holder thing. Further and further his support will slide