Issa Forges Ahead, Issues Subpoena To Holder, Et Al

The murders of American agents Brian Terry and Jamie Zapata are at the heart of the Fast and Furious maelstrom currently swallowing up Attorney General Eric Holder.  In addition to Terry and Zapata, at least two hundred Mexican citizens have been killed with guns traced to the government-sanctioned program.  The deadly ramifications of the operation are still unfolding as an unknown number of "walked guns" continues to circulate.

The high body count prompted Congressman Issa, chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to issue a subpoena today demanding that DOJ turn over "all communications related to Operation Fast and Furious, the Jacob Chambers case, or any Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) firearms trafficking case based in Phoenix, Arizona, to or from the following individuals":

Eric Holder Jr., Attorney General;

David Ogden, Former Deputy Attorney General;

Gary Grindler, Office of the Attorney General and former Acting Deputy Attorney General;

James Cole, Deputy Attorney General;

Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney General;

Ronald Weich, Assistant Attorney General;

Kenneth Blanco, Deputy Assistant Attorney General;

Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General;

John Keeney, Deputy Assistant Attorney General;

Bruce Swartz, Deputy Assistant Attorney General;

Matt Axelrod, Associate Deputy Attorney General;

Ed Siskel, former Associate Deputy Attorney General;

Brad Smith, Office of the Deputy Attorney General;

Kevin Carwile, Section Chief, Capital Case Unit, Criminal Division;

Joseph Cooley, Criminal Fraud Section, Criminal Division; and,

James Trusty, Acting Chief, Organized Crime and Gang Section.

All communications between and among Department of Justice (DOJ) employees and Executive Office of the President employees, including but not limited to Associate Communications Director Eric Schultz, referring or relating to Operation Fast and Furious or any other firearms trafficking cases.

It didn't take long after the press release for the top Democrat on Issa's Committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), to call the subpoena a "deep-sea fishing expedition and a gross abuse of the committee's authority."  Cummings referred to the "fact-gathering" mission as a "political stunt."

For decades the so-called liberal politicians have been making the "personal political" and defending victims of injustice.  Now that they have bona-fide dead American heroes as a result of an overreaching government-approved operation, they cry foul.

So far, the tenacious Mr. Issa has kept the victims' families front and center.  He should know that there is no other case as important as this one for the American people.

No doubt Holder will marshal all his resources to stonewall and obstruct the inquiry.  Aiding his cover-up, major media outlets have all but blacked out reporting of Fast and Furious despite the fact that the highest law officer in the land has been implicated in a criminal investigation.  But no worries -- our judicial system can still prosecute crooks even if the media abdicates its responsibility to inform.

Read more M. Catharine Evans at Potter Williams Report.