Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) told Breitbart News Wednesday that documents the Obama administration may be forced to produce regarding Operation Fast and Furious could implicate former Attorney General Eric Holder and his staff.
On Tuesday, a federal judge invalidated President Barack Obama’s use of “executive privilege” to prevent the documents from being provided to a congressional investigation, saying that some of the material had already been cited by the administration in public. The judge will hear more arguments before ordering the documents released.
Issa told Breitbart News that his continuing investigation into Fast and Furious could uncover possible criminality by former Attorney General Eric Holder and his staff, thereby providing a new incoming administration with the facts they would need to bring charges.
Issa said:
The next administration could well choose to deal with people’s crimes, particularly the conspiracy to cover this up, to falsely mislead the American people. There were a number of areas in which criminal activity could alleged, and as it stands right now the biggest question is that Eric Holder swore he didn’t know about this a number of times. And some of that has been proved wrong.
If we’re able to see that his hand-picked US Attorney Dennis Burke was involved in communicating to people in the justice department that would indicate a number of people testified falsely.
He stressed that he believes it is important to remember the Republican candidates are the ones most likely to pursue charges relating to Fast and Furious. He said they would do this both out of a commitment to enforcement of the rule of law, and also because evidence of “false statements”–if such evidence is found–would mean that those who made them “knowingly let felons gain access to weapons for crimes.”
Regarding a .50 caliber Fast and Furious sniper rifle discovered at the hideout of Mexican drug cartel leader El Chapo’s hideout, Issa quickly confirmed that the gun is powerful enough to “bring down a helicopter.”
Issa said:
The .50 caliber rifle has a characteristic that the cartels choose it for–which led to the purchase of those rifles during Fast and Furious. To put it simply, a .50 caliber rifle can bring down a helicopter when that helicopter is over a scene. In 2015–and at least once before–helicopters were brought down in Mexico while trying to cover the scene and stop the fleeing of cartel members.
He added that cartels can use the weapon “to stop a vehicle in its tracks by basically blowing away the engine block.”
Fox News reported that 34 of the approximately 2,000-2,200 guns sold and smuggled during Fast and Furious were .50 caliber rifles. The one recovered from El Chapo’s hideout is the second such .50 caliber rifle recovered with ties to Fast and Furious.
A rifle used in an Islamic terrorist attack last year against a Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas also reportedly came from Operation Fast and Furious.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.