The IG report on Operation Fast & Furious has been released, but the scandal is far from over. The report raised more questions that need to be answered. The White House did not produce any internal communications and a member of the White House National Security staff declined an interview with the IG.
Kevin O’Reilly, an official with the White House National Security Staff, communicated with Special Agent-in-Charge William Newell in 2010 about Fast & Furious. The Oversight Committee has been trying to get Mr. O’Reilly to testify, but he told Chairman Darrell Issa he would plead the 5th.
“Newell told us that he did not have direct contact with the White House other than through O’Reilly,” said the report. “We requested from the White House any communications concerning Operation Fast and Furious during the relevant time period that were sent to or received from (a) certain ATF employees, including Special Agent in Charge Newell, and (b) certain members of the White House National Security Staff, including Kevin O’Reilly. In response to our request, the White House informed us that the only responsive communications it had with the ATF employees were those between Newell and O’Reilly. The White House indicated that it previously produced those communications to Congress in response to a similar request, and the White House provided us with a copy of those materials.”
The White House claims they produced documents before, but this is false.
“The records the White House produced did not contain any communications between Newell and O’Reilly that referred to Operation Fast and Furious by name, and the communications that referred to the ‘large OCDETF case’–which was Operation Fast and Furious–did not include any information about the case strategy or the tactics agents were using to conduct the investigation.”
The IG could not investigate any further.
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