The Justice Department had requested the U.S. District Court to dismiss the Committee’s lawsuit asking for access to the “Operation Fast and Furious” documents, which had been kept from Congress after President Barack Obama asserted executive privilege over the records.
The president’s assertion was timely provided, given its stalling of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s investigation into “Fast and Furious,” which ultimately prompted Rep. Darrell E. Issa (R-CA) to question Obama’s reasoning behind the delay to assert privilege over the documents. The President’s assertion of privilege over the documents happened exactly eight months after they were subpoenaed.
According to the investigators looking into the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) undercover operation known as “Operation Fast and Furious,” as many as 2,000 weapons might have ended up in the hands of narcotraffickers. Multiple crime scenes were connected to some of the weapons that might have been brought across the Mexican border as a result of the undercover operation.
While the DOJ confirmed its officials had turned virtually all records concerning the operation, but a letter sent to Congress on February 4, 2011 shows certain inconsistencies that worried Congressional investigators.
Politico informs that the letter was withdrawn, but officials later refused to turn any further information concerning internal communications that could have aided investigators, which ultimately held up the investigation since congressional inquiries were never addressed.
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson responded to the DOJ’s lawyers claim that the court’s involvement in the dispute would lead to a solution that would be only arranged in the courts rather than having this issue addressed through negotiation by stating:
“The Court rejects the notion that merely hearing this dispute between the branches would undermine the foundation of our government, or that it would lead to the abandonment of all negotiation and accommodation in the future, leaving the courts deluged with subpoena enforcement actions.”
According to Judge Jackson, the DOJ’s arguments are flawed. While ruling that the courts can resolve this matter, she hasn’t addressed the President’s authority to assert executive privilege over the “Fast and Furious” operation docs.
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