Politics

Congressmen, rifle assoc. president: White House must address calls for Holder’s resignation

Matthew Boyle Investigative Reporter
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At least two of the 34 members of Congress calling for Attorney General Eric Holder’s immediate resignation think the White House is ignoring them.

Texas Republican Rep. John Culberson, who first called for Holder’s resignation earlier this week, said that the Obama administration, either in the person of the president himself or some other White House official, “absolutely” needs to address congressional calls for his resignation now.

“We, on behalf of our constituents, are demanding his resignation,” Culberson said in a phone interview. “It’s not just the people we represent, but a clear majority of the country that has got to be just outraged with the Attorney General’s clear involvement and knowledge of the Fast and Furious scandal and the fact that he believes foreign terrorists captured on foreign battlefields have Constitutional rights under the U.S. Constitution.”

“The man is so far out of the mainstream,” Culberson continued, adding that he “clearly had knowledge of the ATF’s [Fast and Furious] and may have even signed off on it for all we know. The ATF was handing over automatic weapons to known criminals — he should have been gone a long time ago.”

Georgia Republican Rep. Paul Broun, who told TheDC this week that he was calling for Holder’s resignation, said on Fox News Thursday that “it’s getting blatantly evident that Eric Holder has broken the law, he’s lied to Congress and he should resign.”

“He should be prosecuted for lying to Congress and he should be disbarred,” Broun told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum on Thursday morning. “The president ought to call up Eric Holder into his office and fire him today.”

Watch: Broun discusses calls for Holder’s resignation with Martha MacCallum:

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MacCallum followed up Broun’s answer by asking him: “Do you have any pull in this matter? Does it matter if 30 congressmen are saying this?” (RELATED: WH, Justice Dept. silent as 34 congressmen call for Holder’s resignation)

“Well, it’s getting to be a cacophony of voices in the U.S. House calling for Eric Holder’s resignation,” Broun said. “Nobody is above the law, not even the chief law enforcement officer in the United States. He’s broken the law by lying to Congress and he should resign.”

The White House and the Justice Department continue to ignore the many requests for comment TheDC has sent in, refusing to defend Holder amid the rising tide of allegations. Their lack of defense signals a decline of confidence the administration has in the embattled Holder.

In an interview with TheDC on Thursday, during which he called for Holder’s immediate resignation, National Rifle Association President David Keene said he thinks the White House’s lack of response shows that Obama knows Holder’s political career has neared its end. He said that “one would think” President Obama or some other White House official would talk about the calls or address them.

“We’ve had none of that from this administration,” Keene said. “The fact is they have not dealt with this, they’ve dug in, they’re in the bunker, and they’ve got themselves a cabinet member who’s in real trouble because of his actions or because of actions he took on behalf of the administration and the president. We don’t know which of those things is true.”

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