Tipsheet

Fast and Furious: Ongoing DOJ Internal Investigation Not Really Ongoing

For more than a year now, the Obama Justice Department under leadership of Attorney General Eric Holder has been stonewalling the House Oversight Committee's independent investigation into Operation Fast and Furious, citing an on going investigation within DOJ by the inspector general. DOJ has asked Congressional investigators to wait for the inspector general's report and before pushing for more information about the program. Eric Holder has said more than once that the inspector general is "looking into" what happened and working on producing a report. Out of 80,000 documents requested for review by Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, Holder's DOJ has turned over 6,000, leaving 74,000 with the inspector general and untouched by the Oversight Committee, despite Congress having the constitutional authority to ask for documents relating to the lethal operation. Despite the so-called "ongoing," year long internal investigation by the inspector general, Eric Holder has yet to be interviewed.

During an appearance in Chicago, the attorney general made the comment about the inspector general’s office at the Justice Department, which has been examining who is responsible for employing the risky tactic known as gun-walking.

Holder said he would talk to the inspector general investigators when they request it.

Insider ATF sources have told me the inspector general report is nearly finished, but that it hasn't been made public because "they are trying to come up with a report everyone can agree on." So, not only is the "ongoing" investigation from the DOJ inspector general not really "ongoing" at all, DOJ doesn't plan to produce a factual report, but instead one that everyone can agree on. This isn't surprising considering the inspector general, Cynthia A. Schnedar, is a good friend and former colleague to Eric Holder. She has also been leaking information in order to jeopardize Issa's investigation.