Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who chairs the Senate Judicary Committee, issued this statement on the House Oversight Committee’s vote to find Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt:
“This is a dispute between the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the Justice Department. I do believe it could and should have been resolved. The Department has made extraordinary efforts to balance the sensitivities associated with ongoing criminal investigations and the need to be responsive to congressional oversight. The Bush Justice Department was not nearly this forthcoming and never tried to reach a reasonable accommodation in response to our oversight efforts.
“Because Attorney General Holder has testified about Fast and Furious on many occasions, we have learned what happened and what went wrong. The Attorney General stopped the use of inappropriate tactics that dated back to the Bush administration when he learned of them, and those responsible have been held accountable. It is time to put the focus back on helping with the Justice Department’s law enforcement efforts, including its work to stop the violence on the southern border at the hands of Mexican drug cartels.”
