On Thursday, Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) called for the resignation of Attorney General Eric Holder over discrepancies in his previous testimony before the House Committee on the Judiciary regarding Fast and Furious.
Labrador has been critical of potential abuses of the Bureau of Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BAFTE) since his March 17, 2011 letter to Oversight Chairman Darrel Issa urging his committee to conduct in-depth investigations into allegations of weapons being sold, with federal government complicity, to Mexican cartels. Over 1,500 such weapons remain unaccounted for and already one was found at the scene of the death of an American law enforcement officer.
“I first learned about Fast and Furious early this year from several of my constituents," Labrador said.
The Congressman says he then asked Chairman Issa to hold hearings on the topic.
"As I attended the hearings and reviewed the evidence, I was careful to not jump to any conclusions about the extent of Mr. Holder’s involvement," he said. "However, the recently published documents that directly link Mr. Holder to Fast and Furious have convinced me that he is either lying or grossly incompetent.”
“The Attorney General of the United States has an obligation to provide truthful and accurate testimony to Congress. When Attorney General Eric Holder testified before Congress on May 3, his statements were either untrue or deliberately misleading," Labrador added.
The Idaho Republican said that recently-released documents clearly show Attorney General Holder knew about Fast and Furious long before April 2011.
Fox News adds that Holder received at least five memos on the operation starting in July 2010.
"Attorney General Holder has a troubling pattern of failed cooperation with the legislative branch. Because of this intentional stonewalling and his misleading testimony, I now call for Mr. Holder’s resignation. It is clear he has not been honest about the extent of his involvement with the failed Fast and Furious program and should not be entrusted with managing the Department of Justice,“ Labrador said.
Citing the death of a decorated Border Patrol Agent last December, Labrador added the Attorney General "cannot avoid responsibility" for his involvement with the operation that has seen hundreds of guns fall into the hands of criminals.
"As our nation’s top enforcer of the principles of law and justice, Mr. Holder has lost all credibility and should step down immediately. The question now is if Mr. Holder is he only protecting himself or is he also protecting others - perhaps all the way to the top of the administration,” Labrador concluded.
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