White House Press Secretary on Fast and Furious

Statement

Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, today made the following comment in response to the White House press secretary's statements this afternoon on Operation Fast and Furious.

"It's necessary to correct and clarify a few comments from the White House press secretary this afternoon on Fast and Furious. His statement that the Administration has "provided Congress every document that pertains to the operation itself' is hogwash. Through my investigation, I know there are reams of documents related to "the operation itself' that the Justice Department has refused to turn over to Congress.

"For example, the earliest known Fast and Furious briefing paper was sent to ATF leadership on December 2, 2009. The Attorney General promised last summer that the Justice Department would send us all of the briefing papers. However, the Justice Department never provided what is arguably the most important one. The assertion that the Administration has given Congress every document related to Fast and Furious is just inaccurate.

"The accusation that I'm motivated by a desire for a "political scalp' is baseless. Yes, I want the responsible people held accountable. An American agent died because of government policy and practice, and that can't go unanswered. Whenever the government does damage, credibility demands telling the full story and taking appropriate action. Inaction erodes trust in government.

"If my approach to congressional oversight were dictated by political gain, I wouldn't have voted to subpoena records from Alberto Gonzales and the Bush Justice Department over the firing of U.S. attorneys. I wouldn't have voted to hold Bush White House officials in contempt in the same matter. I wouldn't have voted to authorize subpoenas for documents on warrantless surveillance sought by the Democratic chairman of the Judiciary Committee. These weren't popular moves with my fellow Republicans, but I thought they were right. I'm committed to Congress' constitutional responsibility of oversight regardless of which party is in the White House. Congress has the authority as elected representatives of the people to get the facts to inform our legislative duties under the Constitution. Any administration of any party should respect that."

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