Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Sessions DOJ to Release Documents Related to Fast and Furious

Today, the Trump-Sessions Department of Justice announced that it will release documents related to the Obama-Holder DOJ's disastrous "Fast and Furious" program:
Today, the Department of Justice entered into a conditional settlement agreement with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and will begin to produce additional documents related to Operation Fast and Furious. The conditional settlement agreement, filed in federal court in Washington D.C., would end six years of litigation arising out of the previous administration’s refusal to produce documents requested by the Committee. 
In announcing the settlement, Attorney General Sessions said: 
“The Department of Justice under my watch is committed to transparency and the rule of law. This settlement agreement is an important step to make sure that the public finally receives all the facts related to Operation Fast and Furious.”
Katie Pavlich reminds us of the unfortunate and tragic history of these documents:
The documents were previously withheld by Attorney General Eric Holder, who was voted in civil and criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to turn them over. President Obama invoked executive privilege in June 2012 to prevent their release just hours before the contempt vote was held. . . . 
Operation Fast and Furious was a secret ATF program, overseen heavily at the highest levels at the Department of Justice, which took place between September 2009 and December 2010. ATF agents repeatedly and knowingly allowed individuals working for Mexican cartels to traffic thousands of AK-47s, .50 caliber rifles and handguns into Mexico. The operation ended in 2010 when [Border Patrol] Agent [Brian] Terry was murdered and years of coverups surrounding his death and the extent of the operation ensued. Hundreds, if not thousands of Mexican citizens have been murdered as a result of the U.S. government putting guns into the hands of narco-terrorists and a number of firearms trafficked during the operation have been found at additional crime scenes in the United States.
Yet, according to former President Obama, his administration had no embarrassing scandals and was the "most transparent administration in history."  How refreshing it is to have an Attorney General and DOJ that are actually committed to transparency and respecting Congress' role of oversight over the Executive Branch, instead of only paying lip service to these values while trying to cover their misdeeds.

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