WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder, under new pressure from Republicans over when he learned of “Operation Fast and Furious,” has mounted his most forceful defense to date, accusing critics on Friday of using “irresponsible and inflammatory rhetoric” and insisting his statements have been “truthful and accurate.”
“I have no recollection of knowing about ‘Fast and Furious’ or of hearing its name prior to the public controversy about it,” Holder wrote in a letter to congressional leaders Friday. “Prior to early 2011, I certainly never knew about the tactics employed in the operation.”
The letter comes one day after the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), distributed five memos addressed to Holder in July and August 2010, citing the gunrunning investigation by name. Nearly a year after those heavily redacted memos were sent, the attorney general in May told lawmakers under oath he “probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.”
A spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is leading a congressional investigation into “Fast and Furious,” said he found Holder’s letter unconvincing.
“If Attorney General Holder had said these things five months ago when Congress asked him about ‘Operation Fast and Furious,’ it might have been more believable,” the spokesman said. “At this point, however, it’s hard to take at face value a defense that is factually questionable, entirely self-serving, and a still incomplete account of what senior Justice Department officials knew about gun walking.”
The broader back-and-forth focuses on tactics used by ATF investigators in Arizona to target major gunrunners. Launched in late 2009, the investigation reportedly planned to follow gun purchasers in hopes that suspects would lead them to the heads of Mexican cartels. But high-powered weapons tied to the investigation ended up at crime scenes in Mexico and the US, including the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry late last year.
After the release of the memos Thursday, Issa said Holder “has failed to give Congress and the American people an honest account of what he and others knew about gun-walking and Operation Fast and Furious,” calling the lack of candor “deeply disturbing.”
In addition, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) is calling for a special counsel to look into the matter. And earlier Friday, sheriffs from 10 Arizona counties echoed the call, accusing Holder and the Justice Department of “betraying every law enforcement officer in America, especially Arizona.”
In his letter, Holder said it is his most ardent critics who have “heaped” disrespect upon the nation’s law enforcement officers.
He noted he has so far remained relatively mum on the matter, while the Justice Department’s inspector general completes its own investigation, launched at Holder’s behest. But, he said Friday, he feels compelled to speak out now because “the public discourse concerning these issues has become so base and so harmful to interests that I hope we all share.”