Atty General Holder Refuses to Take Responsibility for Fast & Furious

Attorney General Eric Holder had an opportunity today before the House Judiciary Committee to set the record straight - to come clean about the ill-conceived law enforcement program called Operation Fast & Furious. But instead of taking responsibility for a tragic program that took the life of a U.S. border patrol agent, the Attorney General refused to go down that road. He accepted no blame. Instead, he accused his critics of attempting to "score political points" - pointing fingers instead of providing testimony that was transparent.

Amazing.

Holder admitted the program that placed weapons into the hands of Mexico's drug cartels will continue to show up at crime scenes in the U.S. and Mexico "for years to come." What's even more troubling is that the Attorney General denied that anyone at the Department of Justice lied to Congress about the operation, despite the fact that the DOJ just admitted that a letter sent to Congress about the failed operation months ago had to be withdrawn because it contained false information.

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin told Holder "heads should roll" and even suggested possible impeachment for Holder. All of this as Holder denied that anyone from DOJ lied about Operation Fast & Furious in this exchange with Sensenbrenner.

The fact is no one at the Department of Justice is taking responsibility for Fast & Furious. Not the Attorney General. Not his chief criminal deputy who claims he never reviewed the letter containing false information despite congratulating the authors of the memo and forwarding it repeatedly to his personal email account.

As I pointed out in an interview today with Megyn Kelly on FOX News, time may be running out for the Attorney General. This debacle clearly shows a lack of governance and leadership at the Justice Department. You can watch the interview here.

Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa already has called for the resignation of Holder's chief deputy in the criminal division. And more than 50 members of Congress are calling on the Attorney General to resign.

And, now in the House, there's a 'no confidence' resolution aimed squarely at the Attorney General being introduced by Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar. The resolution contends that Holder's actions have proven the nation's "top law enforcement official" is not "competent, trustworthy and beyond reproach" and that he has sought to "cover up" mistakes when they are made rather than cooperating with Congress "in disclosing the events and circumstances and transparently addressing the issues."

We believe this 'no confidence' resolution will be telling. With the growing discontent about the Attorney General's leadership on this issue, we expect this resolution to get a lot of support. A move is now underway to get it before the full House for a vote.

A growing number of Americans are also expressing 'no confidence' in the Attorney General. In fact, nearly 30,000 people already have signed on to our petition demanding that Holder and President Obama take responsibility for Fast & Furious. If you haven't done so already, take a moment and add your name to this important petition.

The American people deserve the truth about Operation Fast & Furious. Today's testimony by Attorney General Holder did little to get to the bottom of what happened and why, and underscored what we already knew - that no one is taking responsibility for this fiasco.