Thread: Republicans Say Holder Received at Least 5 Fast and Furious

Republicans Say Holder Received at Least 5 Fast and Furious Memos

Published October 06, 2011
| FoxNews.com

Top congressional Republicans said Thursday that Attorney General Eric Holder received at least five weekly memos starting in July 2010 about the controversial gunrunning probe known as Operation Fast and Furious, though he claimed this past May he only learned of the operation a few weeks prior.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., released a series of heavily redacted memos apparently sent to Holder from Michael Walther, the director of the National Drug Intelligence Center. They appear to describe an operation involving the straw purchase of hundreds of firearms that went to Mexican drug cartels.

"With the fairly detailed information that the attorney general read, it seems the logical question for the attorney general after reading in the memo would be 'why haven't we stopped them?'" Grassley said in a statement.

Issa claimed Holder "has failed to give Congress and the American people an honest account of what he and other."

The release of the documents comes as House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, requests President Obama instruct the Department of Justice to appoint a special counsel.

But Obama on Thursday said he has "complete confidence" in Holder and his handling of the Justice Department.

"He has been very aggressive in going after gunrunning and cash transactions that have been going to these transnational drug cartels," Obama told reporters at a White House press conference.

"He's indicated that he was not aware of what was happening in Fast and Furious and certainly I was not, and I think both he and I would have been very unhappy if somebody had suggested that guns were allowed to pass through that could have been prevented by the United States of America."

Through Fast and Furious, hundreds of firearms were allowed to walk across the U.S.-Mexico border, some later turning up at bloody crime scenes. The focus has turned lately to what Holder knew and when he knew it.

He said under oath in May: "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."

But documents that started to surface earlier in the week suggested Justice officials at least tried to inform Holder. The latest memos show he was notified of the program repeatedly, though it's not clear to what degree Holder paid attention to the memos.

The Justice Department defended Holder earlier this week in a statement.

"The Attorney General's testimony to both the House and the Senate was consistent and truthful," the statement said. "He said in both March and May of this year that he became aware of the questionable tactics employed in the Fast and Furious Operation in early 2011 when ATF agents first raised them publicly, and at the time, he asked the Inspector General's office to investigate the matter."

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10 ... ous-memos/

RELATED
Trail of Guns, Death, and Invasion Leads To Barack Obama

http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-251834-0-da ... rasc-.html

by William Gheen
President of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC
www.ALIPAC.us

October 5, 2011

So now Obama's appointed Attorney General Eric Holder has been caught lying to Congress and lying to the public, right in the middle of this scandal.

We know that the Fast and Furious scandal and the trail of guns, death, and invasion of US States leads right back to Barack Obama for several reasons.

OPERATION GUNRUNNER Information Collection Point
http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-233906-0-da ... rasc-.html

‘Fast and Furious’ docs reveal Holder was given multiple detailed accounts of gun program

Published: 12:10 PM 10/06/2011 | Updated: 3:11 PM 10/06/2011

New Department of Justice documents the House Oversight Committee released Thursday morning show Attorney General Eric Holder was briefed on Operation Fast and Furious many more times than previously discovered documents suggested. They also show that Holder was given detailed information on what happened in Fast and Furious.

These new documents show Holder received information and updates on Fast and Furious in at least five weekly memos starting in July 2010 — including over four consecutive weeks last summer.

In summer 2010, Holder received briefing memos from National Drug Intelligence Center Director Michael Walther on July 5, July 12, July 19, July 26 and August 9. Each briefing memo contains the name “Operation Fast and Furious.â€