According to sources, the long awaited Department of Justice Inspector General Report on Operation Fast and Furious has been delivered to DOJ "shot callers," including Attorney General Eric Holder, this morning. It will be reviewed today and in the coming weeks. No cell phones, Ipads or computers are allowed in the review room. After it is reviewed, it will be released to the public in 30 days.
Keep in mind, the DOJ Inspector General up until May was Cynthia A. Schnedar. Schnedar served under Holder during his time as the U.S. Attorney for D.C. In May, Schnedar was replaced with Michael Horowitz, who sources say is an "even handed" guy. The bulk of the IG report throughout the past 20 months was done by Schnedar. Holder called for an IG investigation into Fast and Furious in early 2011.
Two weeks ago, one ATF official heavily involved in Fast and Furious jumped ship to save his pension. Others are currently looking to do the same. According to a new report today, one embattled ATF official who is now in charge of the ATF Office of Professional Responsibility, Bill McMahon, has been receiving taxpayer money through his six figure salary and money through private payments at J.P. Morgan as he's been on extended leave from the bureau. Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Acting ATF director Todd Jones about the situation today while also slamming Jones for failing to bring a change of culture to ATF.
From the letter:
Rather than imposing consequences for his admitted failures, the ATF appears to be rewarding McMahon. Through this unusual arrangement, ATF has essentially facilitated McMahon’s early retirement and ability to double dip for nearly half a year by receiving two full-time paychecks—one from the taxpayer and one from the private sector. Moreover, ATF did not wait for the Office of Inspector General to complete its report on Fast and Furious before approving the arrangement. This is in sharp contrast to the posture the agency has taken with whistleblowers like Special Agent John Dodson, who is told he must wait until the Inspector General’s report is complete before the agency will even consider his simple request for a statement retracting the false statements made about him by agency leadership.
Issa and Grassley have also asked Jones to answer 22 detailed questions about McMahon's double dipping and to provide all documents discussing his private sector salary.
UPDATE: J.P. Morgan holds the contracts to ATF's government credit cards. McMahon is pulling a paycheck from ATF and J.P. Morgan. Someone within ATF or DOJ approved McMahon's double employment and his employment with the bank that holds the credit card contracts for the bureau. Remember, McMahon is in charge of the ATF Office of Professional Responsibility.
So what exactly is the Office of Professional Responsibility supposed to do?
The mission of the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) is to promote, maintain and enforce legal and ethical conduct by US Attorneys. OPR trains US Attorneys in proper conduct, and investigates specific complaints of misconduct, such as withholding evidence, improper jury instructions and unauthorized media releases.
The OPR is authorized to investigate allegations of professional misconduct by any of the Department of Justice’s 10,000 attorneys relating to the attorneys’ actions in investigation, litigation, or giving legal advice.
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