Darrell Issa: Eric Holder contempt decision ‘soon’
By MJ LEE | 6/8/12 8:19 AM EDT Updated: 6/8/12 9:19 AM EDT
POLITICO
http://images.politico.com/global/20...doj_605_ap.jpg
Rep. Darrell Issa said Thursday that he expects to know by July 4 whether the House will move forward on a motion to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress over the Fast and Furious investigation.
Issa, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee who has been at the forefront of Congress’s grilling of Holder, told Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren that House Speaker John Boehner is “close” to making a decision on a possible contempt charge.
“I believe that the speaker is close to the end of his rope. My job, of course, is to do my job until the speaker makes that decision. I’m comfortable that he will make the decision relatively soon,” Issa said.
Asked to define “soon,” the California congressman replied, “I don’t expect to go home for 4th of July without having a date for contempt or knowing that it’s time to wrap up this investigation and just admit that justice is not transparent, that you’re not going to get the kind of cooperation you want.”
This isn’t the first deadline suggested by Republican lawmakers. Rep. Trey Gowdy, also a member of the Oversight Committee, had previously threatened that Holder’s refusal to fully comply with a subpoena by May 28 would trigger contempt proceedings.
Issa’s interview on Fox came as Holder faced yet another round of tough questions from Republican lawmakers at a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Thursday, where Issa told Holder at one point, “Mr. Attorney General, you’re not a good witness. A good witness answers the question asked.”
The botched operation put guns into the hands of arms traffickers in the hopes of snaring drug-cartel members and other criminals, but many of the guns went unaccounted for.
Last month, Issa circulated a draft contempt order against Holder that accused the attorney general of refusing to cooperate in the Fast and Furious investigation.
“For over a year, the Department has issued false denials, given answers intended to misdirect investigators, sought to intimidate witnesses, unlawfully withheld subpoenaed documents, and waited to be confronted with indisputable evidence before acknowledging uncomfortable facts,” a briefing paper accompanying the draft read.
The Justice Department has maintained that it has made a consistent effort to aid the oversight committee’s investigation.
Darrell Issa: Eric Holder contempt decision ‘soon’ - MJ Lee - POLITICO.com
