Issa to Holder: ‘Major escalation of DOJ’s culpability’ in Fast & Furious

Congressman Darrell Issa has raised the temperature on his investigation of Operation Fast and Furious after Patrick J. Cunningham, chief of the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Phoenix invoked his Fifth Amendment right to not testify Tuesday.

In a Tuesday letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Issa called Cunningham’s “broad assertion of the privilege” a “startling development” in the investigation.

The implication that Mr. Cunningham may have engaged in criminal conduct with respect to Fast and Furious is a major escalation of the Department’s culpability. The significance of these developments cannot be overstated, and this assertion raises many questions about ongoing criminal cases currently pending in federal court in Arizona – including prosecutions relating to Fast and Furious.”—Congressman Darrell Issa

Fox News reported on the controversy here. This column discussed Cunningham’s decision to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights here and here.

Issa’s letter signals a renewed aggressiveness on the part of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to get to the bottom of the Fast and Furious scandal. Holder is scheduled to testify before the committee on Thursday, Feb. 2, and Issa’s letter left no doubt that Holder is going to be questioned with some intensity.

“Without Mr. Cunningham’s testimony, it will be difficult to gauge the veracity of some of the Department’s claims. Main Justice has chosen to blame the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona, and senior officials in the U.S. Attorney’s Office have rejected this accusation. This tension renews doubts about the Department’s management of the Fast and Furious scandal. Additionally, Mr. Cunningham’s broad assertion of his Fifth Amendment privilege raises the specter that the Department has allowed him to continue in his position as Chief of the Criminal Division knowing that he might have criminal culpability himself.”—Congressman Darrell Issa

The committee’s investigation has been on-going for nearly a full year, and there have been repeated allegations that the Justice Department has deliberately stonewalled Congress, and tried to cover up possible wrongdoing by officials in the department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Former U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke abruptly resigned last August at the same time that Kenneth Melson was removed as acting ATF director. Others directly involved with the operation, including Special Agent in Charge William Newell, have been transferred out of Arizona.

Issa told Holder that he may issue another subpoena for Cunningham at a later date. And then he dropped this bomb:

“Due to Mr. Cunningham’s recent actions, the Committee will be making further document requests of the Department. I expect nothing less than the Department’s full and complete compliance with these requests.”—Congressman Darrell Issa

Issa concluded his letter reminding Holder that his committee is also adamant in its demand for subpoenaed documents created after Feb. 4 of last year. Holder was equally stubborn in December when he told the House Judiciary Committee that he had no intentions of releasing those documents, as this column reported. Issa called Feb. 4, 2011 “an arbitrary deadline you (Holder) created to minimize the public fallout over the Department’s cover-up” in his letter to the embattled attorney general.

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