Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, said Tuesday that congressional Republicans are turning up the heat on Attorney General Eric Holder and the Fast & Furious gun-walking debacle.
The Justice Department continues to deny access to thousands of documents and requests to interview attorneys that may have knowledge of the scandal. We have to keep up the pressure on Attorney General Eric Holder and keep digging into what exactly the Justice Department has to hide, Bilirakis told Sunshine State News.
While the disturbing Fast & Furious program might be over, this investigation is not, and I will continue to work with Chairman Darrell Issa on holding the administration accountable for its actions.
On Tuesday, Issa, chairman of the House committee on Oversight and Government Reform, took another step toward holding Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to provide subpoenaed documents and other information about the government operation implicated in the death of at least one U.S. border agent.
Noting the Justice Department's failure to meet a Feb. 9 deadline, and its requests for further extensions of requests dating back to Oct. 12, 2011, Issa wrote to Holder:
On its face, the requested extension demonstrates a lack of good faith. With one exception, the [Justice] department has only produced documents responsive to the subpoena on the eve of congressional hearings in which senior department officials testified. The department appears to be more concerned with protecting its image through spin control than actually cooperating with Congress.
We cannot wait any longer for the departments cooperation. As such, please specify a date by which you expect the department to produce all documents responsive to the subpoena. In addition, please specify a department representative who will interface with the committee for production purposes," Issa wrote.
