More DOJ Dodging over "Fast & Furious"

We've told you about the decision by Patrick Cunningham, a top Justice Department official in Arizona, to plead the 5th Amendment and refuse to testify in an upcoming Congressional hearing about Operation Fast & Furious - a botched Justice Department gunrunning program that claimed the life of a U.S. Border Patrol agent after weapons ended up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels.
 
Now, Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican and chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is calling for a second federal prosecutor to testify about this case. Rep. Issa sent a letter to Attorney General Holder demanding that he make another Arizona federal prosecutor available to testify, saying that Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Morrissey has played an "integral part" in the operation and has information not available from other sources.
 
Attorney General Holder, who is scheduled to appear before Rep. Issa's committee next Thursday, has refused to take responsibility for the failed program. Further, the Justice Department has admitted to providing false information about the program to Congress.
 
As the state of Arizona launches its own probe of what happened , it's critical that the federal officials - in Arizona and in Washington - who knew about Operation Fast & Furious testify and provide information that helps get to the bottom of what happened with this tragic operation.
 
The Attorney General needs to come clean. Take responsibility. As Rep. Issa put it in an interview with the Daily Caller: "Justice has blood on their hands."
 
Issa told the Daily Caller that Holder's statements about what he knew of Fast & Furious, and when, have been inconsistent. "Eric Holder said he didn’t know," Rep. Issa said. "Then, he said he didn’t know quite as far back, but he's never said where the accountability is in his office and his surrounding office. The people who prepared those memos that he didn’t read — are they accountable? Or, is it just acceptable to have the truth told to the attorney general and if he doesn’t read it, it won’t count?"
 
More than 100 members of Congress have either directly called for the resignation or firing of the Attorney General, or expressed "no confidence" in a formal House resolution.
 
More to come next week. And, if you haven't done so already, please add your name now and join the more than 50,000 Americans who are demanding that President Obama and Attorney General Holder tell the truth about Operation Fast & Furious.