Eric Holder #39;s Legacy: the Divine Right of Criminals
The abject failure of the nation #39;s top law enforcer to enforce the law against bankers of any significance in the wake of a $10000 billion crisis is notorious. Less well-known are (1) the...
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Eric Holder's Legacy: the Divine Right of Criminals - Video
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in an October 25, 2014 file photo. | Paul Morigi via Getty Images
Attorney General Eric Holder criticized Rep. Darrell Issas (R-Calif.) years-long congressional probe into "Operation Fast and Furious" as little more than an effort to "suck up to the gun lobby," according to internal emails released Monday.
The Justice Department released nearly 65,000 pages of subpoenaed documents related to the DOJs botched gunrunning sting, after a federal judge overruled the Obama administrations decision to withhold the records by invoking executive privilege. The program, which targeted Mexican gun cartels, came under scrutiny after weapons involved in the operation were connected to the killing of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry in 2010.
"Issa and his idiot cronies never gave a damn about this when all that was happening was that thousands of Mexicans were being killed with guns from our country," Holder wrote to members of his staff in April 2011, after Issa threatened to subpoena a Federal Firearms Licensee witness to testify on the investigation. All they want to do -- in reality -- is cripple ATF and suck up to the gun lobby," he continued, referring to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the branch of the Justice Department that was in charge of the gunrunning operation.
"Politics at its worst -- maybe the media will get it," Holder's email added.
Issa, who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has accused Holder and other top Justice Department officials of refusing to disclose confidential materials in an effort to cover up knowledge of risky gun-walking activities related to the failed ATF mission.
Justice Department spokesman Brian Fallon said the sought-after documents only further confirm that neither Holder nor other top department officials knew about the tactics used in the operation until CBS News broke the story in early 2011.
"There is nothing in the materials produced today that contradicts what the Department has said in the past about this flawed operation," Fallon said in a statement Tuesday, according to The Washington Post. "Indeed the materials produced today affirm the Inspector Generals finding that the Attorney General was not made aware of the tactics involved in the Fast and Furious operation until February 2011."
A 2012 investigation by the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General also concluded that Holder was not aware of the gunwalking strategy and cleared him of allegations of a cover-up.
Still, Issa said on Tuesday that the disclosure was evidence of Holder and President Barack Obama "illegitimately and illegally" withholding evidence from Congress. The congressman cited redactions of certain sensitive law enforcement information as cause for further investigation.
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Eric Holder Blasts Darrell Issa And His 'Idiot Cronies ...
WASHINGTON (AP) - Newly released emails show Attorney General Eric Holder said that Justice Department prosecutors who were critical of the department's handling of the fallout of the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal could "kiss my ass."
Operation Fast and Furious was a botched effort by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to track firearms across the Southwest border. Revelations about it created a political firestorm, leading to congressional investigations and turnover within the ATF and Justice Department.
The Justice Department selectively provided a batch of emails this week to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The Associated Press obtained the emails on Friday.
House Republicans, who have subpoenaed for thousands of emails and went to federal court for access to the documents, have long promoted the idea that Holder and other top-level Justice Department officials knew that federal agents had engaged in a risky tactic known as "gun-walking."
The Justice Department's inspector general found no evidence that Holder was aware of the tactic, in which ATF agents tried to track the flow of illegal guns from the United States into Mexico but instead lost track of many of the weapons.
In one email from March 2011, after being sent a news story about the Fast and Furious investigation, Holder told staff, "I hope there is another side to the story." Later, after the ATF deputy director assured Holder aides that "we did not allow guns to walk," Holder responded to staff with, "Do they really, really know?"
That August, Holder was told by staff that about 25 U.S. attorneys was upset that the resignation of Dennis Burke, then the U.S. attorney in Arizona, was announced simultaneously with the reassignment of ATF Acting Director Ken Melson. Holder wondered "why wouldn't we get the benefit of the doubt. Assume we're doing things for the right reasons and in the right way."
Holder later added, "Some people can kiss my ass."
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Holder aims vulgarity at critics in email
In this June 17, 2013 file photo, Loretta Lynch, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, speaks during a news conference in Brooklyn.(AP)
WASHINGTON President Obama has chosen Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y., as his nominee to replace outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder -- ending widespread speculation over who might fill Holder's shoes and teeing up a nomination debate potentially during the lame-duck session.
Though several Republicans had wanted to wait to consider any successor until the new Congress is seated, the president plans to announce his pick on Saturday.
"Ms. Lynch is a strong, independent prosecutor who has twice led one of the most important U.S. Attorney's offices in the country," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement. "She will succeed Eric Holder, whose tenure has been marked by historic gains in the areas of criminal justice reform and civil rights enforcement."
Lynch, 55, is a Harvard Law School graduate and popular prosecutor who is currently serving her second stint as U.S. attorney for Eastern New York, which covers Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island.
She was appointed by Obama in 2010. If confirmed to fill Holder's post, she would be the first black female attorney general.
It was unclear how the nomination will be greeted by Republicans on Capitol Hill, who were often at odds with Holder over the course of his tenure. The party won a majority in the Senate on Tuesday, but will not take control until January.
It was also unclear if the Senate might wait on a vote until then.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who presumably will become the majority leader in the next session, issued a statement Friday night urging the Senate to wait until January to vote on the nomination.
"Ms. Lynch will receive fair consideration by the Senate," he said. "And her nomination should be considered in the new Congress through regular order."
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THE NEXT AG? Obama taps fed prosecutor to replace Eric Holder
WASHINGTON Newly revealed emails show Attorney General Eric Holder trying and failing to contain his temper over the botched Fast and Furious probe, at one point sayingsomepeople can kiss my a if they think he was too hard on a U.S. Attorney pushed out over the scandal.
The emails were among 64,000 documents turned over by the Justice Department this week to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has spent years investigating Fast and Furious, a gun-tracking operation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The botched operationallowed guns to be taken to Mexico, apparently in the misguided belief that doing so would help them catch gun-runners for the drug cartels.
By August 2011, the bungled operation had become a full-fledged scandal, forcing the reassignment of the head of ATF and the resignation of the U.S. Attorney in Arizona.
In an Aug. 30 email, a deputy wrote to Mr. Holder and others that about 25 other U.S. Attorneys around the country are upset about how the U.S. Attorneys resignation was handled.
Mr. Holder then vented in a reply: Why wouldnt we get the benefit of the doubt. Assume were doing things for the right reasons and in the right way.
He then added Im counting to 10, indicating that he was trying not to get too upset about the matter.
Some people can kiss my a, the attorney general replied later that night.
The emails turned over this week were provided after a long, bitter fight between the Justice Department and the oversight committee led by Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.). The fight over access to documents eventually led to a lawsuit and a House vote to find Mr. Holder in contempt of Congress, the first time such an action was taken against a sitting attorney general. The committee is still seeking other documents Mr. Issa says the Obama administration is wrongly withholding.
While committee staff are still sifting through the emails, whats become known to date shows the degree to which Mr. Holder was angry that Republican lawmakers did not believe his statements that he wasnt aware of the botched gun-walking probe until well after it had happened, and that some within his own department suggested he was being too hard on people involved.
Around the same time, Mr. Holder and other at the Justice Department were getting increasingly upset with then-ATF head Kenneth Melson. As a result of the Fast and Furious problems, Mr. Melson was reassigned to another part of the Justice Department, but department superiors were upset that hed cleaned out his office days early, and wanted to issue his own press release on his departure, rather than leaving it to the Justice Department.
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Emails Show Holders Anger During Fast and Furious Probe