October 9, 2012
By: Anthony Martin
examiner.com


Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is increasingly under pressure to address questions concerning what he will do about the Fast and Furious scandal if elected.
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(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)


In the months leading up to the Republican National Convention in Tampa this summer, presidential nominee Mitt Romney condemned the Fast and Furious scandal as an example of everything that is wrong with the Obama administration. At the NRA Convention, for example, Romney expressed his support for gun rights and decried an administration that would fail to adequately protect those rights.

But as National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea notes today on his blog, it may be time for Romney to make clear to the American people how he plans to address this scandal, the worst in U.S. history, if he is elected president.

Many gun rights activists say that Romney has not been forceful enough in his statements on Fast and Furious, failing to address the criminal activity inherent in the scheme.

Codrea sent two questions directly to Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, via Twitter, "So what is your plan to ensure justice in Fast and Furious? Will you revoke executive privilege and order DOJ cooperation?"

Many gun rights activists believe that justice has been slow in coming with regard to Fast and Furious. In spite of being held in contempt of Congress, Attorney General Eric Holder has refused to cooperate with an investigation in the U.S. House of Representatives into the scandal. President Obama invoked executive privilege to prevent the House from receiving key documents and testimony from key witnesses. And when the inspector general issued his official report, he stated that the record was woefully incomplete due to the lack of cooperation from the White House and the Department of Justice.

These very issues led Richard Nixon to the brink of impeachment in 1975 in the Watergate hearings and forced his resignation from office. And Nixon's attorney general, John Mitchell, went to prison.

In spite of the House investigation that uncovered illegal activity, a massive cover up, and the involvement of at least three cabinet level administration officials, the Fast and Furious probe has reached a stand still. Republicans control only the House. The Senate, which would be charged with removing Obama from office should the House vote to impeach, is still firmly in the control of Democrats who have expressed no desire whatsoever to force accountability and justice for those in the administration who participated in the scandal.

Thus, the question becomes even more vital concerning what Romney will do if he is elected.

If the Senate remains under the control of Democrats after November, then the question becomes practically moot with the exception of executive privilege. Romney could remove executive privilege and allow House investigators free and full access to all documents and witnesses. However, the investigation will still go nowhere if the Senate remains under Democratic control.

If the Republicans regain control of the Senate, it is an entirely new ball game. But by then both Obama and Holder -- and all of their co-conspirators -- will be out of office. The temptation will be strong to simply let the matter drop given that the main players will be removed from office via the electoral process.

But is this the prudent course of action, given that laws were broken and people were murdered, including two federal law enforcement agents who were killed with Fast and Furious guns?

Gun rights activists and most conservatives believe that even if Republicans sweep the White House, the Senate, and the House in November, justice would still demand that the perpetrators be brought to justice in spite of their departure from office. The families of murdered U.S. agents Brian Terry and Jaime Zapata deserve such justice at the very least.

Romney pressed on Fast and Furious issues - National Conservative | Examiner.com