No prosecution for Holder
Justice Department officials see no crime in his refusal to turn over gun case papers.
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice has promptly told the House of Representatives that it would not pursue a criminal contempt of Congress citation against its boss, Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., because it believes his refusal to release internal documents “does not constitute a crime.”
In a letter to House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), sent even before House Republicans could refer the criminal contempt citation for prosecution, Deputy Atty. Gen. James M. Cole cited President Obama’s assertion of executive privilege and other obstacles.
But House Republicans also passed a civil contempt citation, which allows them to hire their own attorney and legal staff to file a civil lawsuit asking a judge to force Holder to turn over about 1,500 pages of documents related to the Fast and Furious gun-tracking case. Holder’s refusal to do so prompted the two contempt citations passed by the House.
Cole’s letter arrived on Capitol Hill at 7 p.m. Thursday, two hours after the House passed the contempt citation and before the speaker could forward it to Ronald C. Machen Jr., the U.S. attorney in Washington.
It said “the department has determined” that Holder’s decision not to honor a congressional subpoena for the records “does not constitute a crime, and therefore the department will not bring the congressional contempt citation before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute the attorney general.”
Frederick Hill, spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa (RVista), who has led the congressional investigation into Fast and Furious, said, “We expected that response, but not that quickly.”
He added that Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, remained undaunted and had been authorized to find an outside attorney and legal staff and proceed with the civil lawsuit.
In another development Friday, portions of sealed wiretap applications in Fast and Furious were printed in the Congressional Record after Issa inserted them during Thursday’s debate on the contempt citations. The applications were approved by senior Justice Department officials, which Issa said showed that Washington was well aware of the “gun-walking” tactics in Fast and Furious.
“Currently, our strategy is to allow the transfer of firearms to continue to take place,” one application said.
Holder and other Justice Department officials contend that they were not aware of the tactics and did not approve Fast and Furious, and that they shut the program down as soon they learned illegal guns were being allowed to circulate near the Southwest border.