House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa said Sunday that he thinks there may have been a third gun at the scene of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry’s murder.
Two weapons sent into Mexico under Operation Fast and Furious were found where Terry died, but investigators have been unable to conclusively determine which — if either — gun killed him.
On crime-scene “tickets” used to mark evidence, FBI investigators labeled the weapons “No. 2” and “No. 3” — a fact which hasn’t escaped Issa’s notice. The California Republican told CBS “Face the Nation” host Bob Schieffer on Sunday that he doesn’t believe FBI officials tampered with crime scene evidence, but he does worry about specific inconsistencies which, so far, lack explanations.
“We’re not suggesting that,” Issa said, “but when you have tickets that are numbered 2 and 3 and there’s no ticket 1, when agents who were at Brian Terry’s funeral made statements to his mother indicating that there were three weapons, when the two weapons that they have tested don’t conclusively match up — then you look and say, ‘Well, was there a third weapon at the scene? Were there additional people who escaped with weapons?’”
“The Terry family has suffered a great deal,” Issa added. “It doesn’t seem like the answers are coming.”
One of the many subpoenas Issa’s committee served on Attorney General Eric Holder last week includes a demand for documents “referring or relating to the firearms recovered during the course of the investigation of Brian Terry’s death.”
Issa’s televised concern about the possible existence of “weapon number one” may also lead to further congressional investigation.
“If weapon number one [which] appears to be missing were ballistically matched,” Issa concluded, “we would have an absolute rather than the inconsistency.” (RELATED: Sen. Grassley to ask for Fast and Furious resignation if evidence warrants it)
On the CBS program, Schieffer also asked Issa about the need for further subpoenas when Holder and the Justice Department claim they have already provided thousands of pages of documents.
In response, Issa held up a page that was redacted — blacked out — in its entirety.
“I have countless pages that look like this,” Issa said. “There’s clearly details that have been redacted, that we should have. Our subpoenas have been very narrow.”