A federal judge has rejected Attorney General Eric Holder’s request to end a lawsuit by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee which argues that President Barack Obama used his executive powers to stop certain documents from being released to Congress concerning the Operation Fast and Furious scandal.
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson denied Holder’s request to dismiss the case on Monday, according to Politico.
“Dismissing the case without hearing it would in effect place the court’s finger on the scale, designating the executive as the victor based solely on his untested assertion that the privilege applies,” Jackson wrote in her opinion.
The request was made after the Justice Department did not follow subpoenas from the House of Representatives to turn over information about Operation Fast and Furious, an operation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, aimed at gun trafficking. The oversight investigation claims that the operation allowed as many as 2,000 guns fell into the hands of “narcotraffickers,” according to Politico.
