Politics

Rep. Joe Walsh to Eric Holder: ‘Resign immediately and take responsibility’ for Operation Fast and Furious

Matthew Boyle Investigative Reporter
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Illinois Republican Rep. Joe Walsh joined the small but growing choir of members of Congress calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to resign over Operation Fast and Furious. Walsh is the fourth member of Congress to make the call for Holder to resign. Republican Reps. Raul Labrador of Idaho, Blake Farenthold of Texas and Paul Gosar of Arizona have each publicly asked Holder to step aside as well.

Walsh made the demand in a letter he sent Holder on Wednesday.

“I ask that the attorney general resign immediately and take responsibility for implicating the United States as an accessory to the violent crimes committed by these Mexican cartels, using his appointed position as the chief law enforcement officer to attack the Second Amendment of the Constitution, and for the role he played in the subsequent cover-up of the failed Fast and Furious operation,” Walsh said according to a press release. (SEE ALSO: Issa Grassley: Holder needs to reveal info on 2nd agent’s murder, connections)

Walsh adds that if Holder refuses to remove himself from office, he expects President Barack Obama to fire him. “If he fails to do so, I would ask that President Obama dismiss him immediately,” Walsh said.

Walsh added that Holder needs to explain to the American people what role he had in Operation Fast and Furious. “The American people deserve to know the truth regarding Attorney General Eric Holder’s knowledge and role in the Fast and Furious operation,” Walsh said. “This program was deliberately designed to attack law-abiding American gun owners and gun dealers. Why else would an anti-gun administration force licensed firearms dealers to sell guns to violent criminals?”

“Operation Fast and Furious blew up in Attorney General Holder’s face, implicating the United States in the deaths of two federal agents and over a hundred deadly crimes,” Walsh added. “Now Holder is scrambling to hide his involvement in this failed politically-charged operation by refusing to cooperate with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s investigation.”

Holder had been avoiding talking openly about Operation Fast and Furious for months until Gosar told The Daily Caller that the administration officials responsible for the deadly program are equivalent to “accessories to murder.” Holder finally opened up, citing Gosar’s comments to TheDC as the reason for his first-ever unsolicited Fast and Furious communications. DOJ spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler has continued to refuse to answer whether Holder read The Daily Caller article he cited as the reason for finally opening up.

Schmaler hasn’t returned TheDC’s latest requests for comment on whether Holder plans to answer the growing surge of calls for him to resign.

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