Last week, Attorney General Eric Holder was called to testify before Congress. His demeanor before his questioners was, at best, reprehensible and unprofessional. He even demanded that he be “given some credit” for his overall performance as attorney general since his searing in three years ago. Huh?
His handling of the Fast and Furious scandal can only be described as an ongoing train wreck for the Department of Justice. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform once again was asking for the closed-mouth leader of DOJ to explain the gun-running operation under which the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) transferred some 2,000 weapons to Mexican criminal gangs, including the weapon that took the life of a U.S. border patrol agent.
This after threatening Holder with contempt of Congress if he didn't appear and start talking straight. In other words, stop the rope-a-dope routine.
Less than a week before Holder's latest testimony, the DOJ produced another surprise document dump on Congress. A series of emails that revealed that Holder's deputy chief of staff had informed the attorney general of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's murder on the day it happened, December 14, 2010.
The deputy was further informed that the gun used was part of the Fast and Furious operation. Really?
To Darrel Issa, the head of the congressional committee, and many other members, it seems highly unlikely that Holder's deputy chief would not inform him that the weapon was part of their operation. It is nothing more than conjecture, but definitely common sense.
It suggests that Holder previously lied under oath to Congress last May when he claimed he'd heard about the operation for the first time only a “few weeks” before. Previous Justice Department memos addressed to Holder containing detailed information about the operation had been released by the oversight committee. Holder claims he never read them and his latest revelation only reveals more holes in his claims of utter ignorance to the DOJ and ATF activities.
Again, we are talking about the Attorney General of the United States not being in the know about a major undercover operation in his department. Shades of Nixon's attorney general, John Mitchell, who eventually did a stint in federal prison for his lies.
Holder's testimony was not reported by a single national news program the evening of his testimony. NBC was able to report on Michelle Obama's appearance on “Ellen,” but it did not make the front page of the Washington Post, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Tines or USA Today the following day.
The pledge that Barack Obama made during his presidential campaign in 2008 centered on “transparency” in an Obama administration.
When will that start? Once it does, there are many questions unanswered about other scandals including the $500 million in lost taxpayer dollars to the fiasco know as Solyndra and a dizzying array of other crony capitalist deals.
The American people are beginning to take notice above and beyond their dubious interest in “Ellen” over their leader's integrity.
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