Democrats and Republicans launched strong critiques of each other over Operation Fast and Furious in the days leading up to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's testimony today.
The conflict over the gun-smuggling probe erupted Tuesday and Wednesday in an exchange of letters between U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, the Republican who chairs the House Oversight and Government Committee, and Deputy Attorney General James Cole.
"The fact that the (Justice) Department just produced this document on Friday shows the lengths to which you are willing to go to obstruct our investigation and deceive the public," Issa wrote to the attorney general, threatening to hold him in contempt of Congress for responding inadequately to a subpoena.
Cole responded Wednesday: "Your criticisms of the department in general, and Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Lanny Breuer, in particular, seem predicated on significant misunderstandings both of the documents we recently produced and of the department's positions on the issues you raise."
People are also reading…
The exchange was the latest of several between Democrats and Republicans beginning when the Justice Department sent congressional investigators a batch of documents Friday night.
Late Monday, Democratic members of the panel Issa chairs released their own report on Operation Fast and Furious, in which they said they were debunking "conspiracy theories" about the flawed investigation.
"Contrary to repeated claims by some, the committee has obtained no evidence that Operation Fast and Furious was a politically motivated operation conceived and directed by high-level Obama administration political appointees at the Department of Justice," the report said.
The bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Fast and Furious sting operation resulted in the sale of about 2,000 firearms to people accused of buying guns for Mexican criminal organizations.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican who revealed the so-called gun-walking in January 2011, released a disgusted response:
"The idea that senior political appointees have clean hands in these gun-walking scandals doesn't pass the laugh test, especially considering we've seen less than 10 percent of the pages that the Justice Department has provided the inspector general."
Holder's testimony before Issa's committee is set for 7 a.m. Arizona time. It can be viewed live at the House Oversight Committee's website, oversight.house.gov
Contact reporter Tim Steller at tsteller@azstarnet.com or 807-8427.
