Judicial Watch, a legal watchdog group based in Washington D.C., has sued the Department of Justice over continuing Fast and Furious stonewalling and documents surrounding Attorney General Eric Holder's contempt citation. A Freedom of Information [FOIA] request submitted in March 2013 has gone unanswered.
Making the announcement today, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA lawsuit on September 5, 2013 demanding the DOJ comply with FOIA requests as required by law. Judicial watch is looking for all records of communication between the House Oversight Committee and DOJ is relation to settlement discussions surrounding Holder's contempt of Congress charge from June 2012. It has been reported the Oversight Committee is working on a "deal" with Holder and DOJ and that negotiations are making progress.
“Eric Holder is using his legal battle with Congress to keep the American people from knowing the full truth about the Obama administration’s Fast and Furious killings and lies,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “And yet, Eric Holder has been dragging out the “settlement” talks to the point where Congress has called them a ‘waste of everyone’s time.’ The Obama gang would rather stall for time than defend the Obama’s administration secretive claims of executive privilege on Fast and Furious in court.”
The Department of Justice is also being sued by the Oversight Committee and has asked for all lawsuits regarding Fast and Furious documents, Holder's contempt charge and President Obama's executive privilege assertion, to be dismissed.
Operation Fast and Furious took place between September 2009 and December 2010. The operation involved the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms allowing 2500 weapons to be illegally trafficked across the southern border and into Mexico. On December 15, 2010, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed while on duty in Arizona. The guns left at his murder scene were from the operation.
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