Fast and Furious: When Will Fortress Holder Crumble?

Oversight and Reform released the above infographic ahead of Holder’s testimony on the Hill, Thursday:

Tomorrow, Attorney General Eric Holder will testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about the Justice Department’s year-long effort to obstruct accountability for Operation Fast and Furious.  Today, the committee released an infographic capturing the scope of Attorney General Holder’s stonewalling on this reckless program.

Over the past year, Congressional investigators and the American people have been denied access to:

·      92% of documents related to Fast and Furious.

·      66% of subpoenaed document categories related to Fast and Furious.

·   48 accounts from Justice Department officials involved in Fast and Furious.

The hearing will be streamed live at FastAndFuriousInvestigation.com.

While we’re waiting for it to begin, here’s some pertinent, related news:

Fox News: Family of murdered Border Patrol agent files $25M claim against ATF;

The family of murdered Border Patrol agent Brian Terry has filed a $25 million wrongful death claim against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives claiming Terry was killed with AK-47s that were knowingly sold under the Fast and Furious gunrunning probe to a straw purchaser for drug cartels.

In a 65-page complaint, served on the government on Wednesday, attorneys for the family claim ATF “wrongdoing” in Operation Fast and Furious.

“ATF’s failures were not only negligent but in violation of ATF’s own policies and procedures,” the complaint claims.

The family has also filed a claim against the Lone Wolf Trading Company seeking unspecified damages for negligence in selling the weapons to the purchaser and aiding and abetting in Mexican drug cartels’ conduct.

The claim says Lone Wolf knowingly sold “hundreds of weapons” to various straw purchasers and in turn realized “hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits from these sales.”

Doug Ross: Constitutional Showdown: DOJ Threatens to Defy Congressional Demands for Fast and Furious Documents

 Yesterday the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform issued yet another demand for documents, this time going to the unprecedented step of threatening Attorney General Eric Holder with Contempt charges should he again defy Congress (PDF). The highlights of the Committee’s demands revolve around the Justice Department’s fabrications, delays and denials, many of which appear to involve false testimony. In short, Holder has until 4 February 2012 to avoid a Contempt of Congress charge.

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CNN reports this evening that the DOJ is ignoring those threats and claiming it can’t produce any documents in time (this, after literally years of requests).

And Matthew Boyle of The Daily Caller has another story for which Holder needs to be investigated: Bribery, compromised officials leave indicted financial-crime suspects free from prosecution under Holder’s DOJ:

A U.S. Justice Department source has told The Daily Caller that at least two DOJ prosecutors accepted cash bribes from allegedly corrupt finance executives who were indicted under court seal within the past 13 months, but never arrested or prosecuted.

The sitting governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, his attorney general and an unspecified number of Virgin Islands legislators also accepted bribes, the source said, adding that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is aware prosecutors and elected officials were bribed and otherwise compromised, but has not held anyone accountable.

David Codrea, Gun Rights Examiner: ‘Gunwalking’ documents shared by Issa prior to Holder hearing cite DOJ failures:

It’s interesting how much Justice has shared with the Office of Inspector General yet not with the Committee, particularly in light of serious questions that have been raised about the level of true independence the OIG has exhibited to date.

Additionally, the Committee has made public a memorandum to its Republican members, regarding “Main Justice: Extensive Involvement in Operation Fast and Furious” that “ provides supplemental information detailing Main Justice’s involvement in Operation Fast and Furious.” (Click here to read the memorandum.)

Fox News: New report released by GOP lawmakers suggests top Justice officials had extensive knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious

Top Department of Justice officials had extensive knowledge of and involvement in Operation Fast and Furious, claims a new report released Thursday, hours before Attorney General Eric Holder’s scheduled testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The report released by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, top lawmakers investigating the botched gunrunning operation, claims Justice Department officials in Washington and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were involved in the coordination in the early stages of the operation.

Justice headquarters “had much greater knowledge of, and involvement in, Fast and Furious than it has previously acknowledged,” the memo reads.

The memo, which contradicts claims by the Justice Department, is based upon interviews, documents and emails involving key players of the operation run by the ATF. The operation allowed some 2,000 weapons cross the border into Mexico and into the hands of cartel members.

UPDATE:( 9:13 am est)

 You can also watch live on CSPAN. Follow on Twitter – #FastAndFurious

Linked by Michelle Malkin, thanks!

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