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| Project Gunwalker: Grassley, Issa slam Holder: Are You Skewing Fast And Furious Witnesses? |
| 2011-07-13 |
| Obstruction of justice? Attorney General Eric Holder is being asked to respond to allegations that he allowed witnesses to be prepped for congressional hearings into Operation Fast and Furious. House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, grilled Holder about the new developments in a Monday letter. Issa and Grassley asked Holder why the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has provided potential witnesses with access to a shared digital hard drive containing documents, details and information about the now-defunct Operation Fast and Furious. The shared drive is "replete with pertinent investigative documents" and official ATF emails, Issa and Grassley said. "Although our staff has been advised the Department has since terminated access to this document cache, we write to seek additional information relating to this egregious decision," Grassley and Issa wrote to Holder. "We also ask that you promptly self-report this matter to the Office of Inspect General (OIG)." In the letter, the two legislators also write that the shared drive likely contains documents and information that they have not yet had access to. Issa and Grassley worry about what kind of effects this information could have on the impartiality of potential witnesses. "This practice harms not only our investigation, but also the independent investigation that you instructed the Inspector General to conduct," the letter reads. Grassley and Issa are looking for specific answers regarding which ATF and Justice Department employees had access to the hard drive and when, which employees still have access to the drive, a log of all the documents on the drive and when the documents were posted, and a log of any other documents relating to their investigation that those employees had access to. Allowing witnesses access to such documents could taint their testimony by allowing them to tailor their responses to what they think the Committees already know. Additionally, witnesses who gain access to documents they have not previously seen could alter their recollection of events. This practice harms not only our investigation, but also the independent investigation that you instructed the Inspector General to conduct. Tampering with witnesses? One witness who had access to these documents informed us of this questionable practice: Q: What other documents have you gone through other than your emails? A. A couple of the things that have been produced. They put a link on our computer, some kind of drive that I can click on and read things that have been produced. So I do that every once in a while, but not normally. Q: And what is the purpose of that, to your knowledge? A. Just to refresh my recollection about what is out there, you know. Q: So you have a link on your computer so that you know what we have been provided by Justice? A. Yes. There is a link in our computer for Gunrunner, Fast and Furious produced to Congress, and there is updates every once in a while of those documents that are being produced. |
| Posted by:Sherry |