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Judicial Watch is suing US Attorney General Eric Holder’s Department of Justice (DOJ) in order to gain access to records concerning a contempt citation issued by Congress.
The House of Representatives cited Holder for contempt in relation to the Fast and Furious controversy and the alleged stonewalling tactics used during the group’s investigation. The Department of Justice scandal began after the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) gun tracking operation went tragically awry. Approximately 2,000 weapons intentionally smuggled across the US border into Mexico wound up in the hands of the drug cartel.
A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit was filed by Judicial Watch in order to obtain the details of the House Oversight Committee contempt citation issued to Holder last year after the Fast and Furious hearings. The non-profit group believes Holder is using the legal battle with Congress to “keep the American people from knowing the full truth about the Obama administration’s Fast and Furious killings and lies.”
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton also noted during a media address that the group feels Holder is intentionally dragging out settlement talks, with even Congress calling the communications a waste of time for everyone.
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Fitton concluded, “The Obama gang would rather stall for time than defend the Obama administration’s secretive claims of executive privilege on Fast and Furious in court.”
US Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s death was linked to Operation Fast and Furious. A Mexican police chief was also reportedly slain with weapons that were permitted to be taken across the border during the ATF operation. According to statistics published by Townhall, “hundreds” of Mexican citizens have been shot and killed with Fast and Furious weapons since the operation began in September 2009. While President Barack Obama and his liberal supporters both in Congress and in the media deemed the gun walking debacle a phony scandal, Terry’s mother thinks otherwise.
Terry’s mother, Josephine Terry, said Obama has yet to accept responsibility.
“These deaths are real. My son’s death was real,” she said. “I am outraged that President Obama is talking about phony scandals when he knows all too well that my son was a victim of Operation Fast and Furious that was authorized by members of his Justice Department and a US Attorney that he appointed. Operation Fast and Furious was all too real for me and my family, and it directly contributed to my son’s murder. Mr. President, come to Michigan and I will show you my son’s grave … then let’s have a conversation about your definition of phony scandals.”
After House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa attempted to force the release of specific Fast and Furious documents to the governing body, the Obama administration exerted executive privilege over the information. In June last year, the House of Representatives voted to hold Holder in contempt. The committee went on to file a lawsuit against the Justice Department leader in August. The legal proceeding was designed to push Holder to release the documents initially requested in order to complete the investigation into Terry’s death. The mediation meetings which a judge ordered the committee and Holder to enter into in March 2013 are ongoing with no progress being made.
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