Freshman Arizona Republican Rep. Ben Quayle responded harshly to a letter House Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy sent to Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday.
Quayle and five other House Judiciary Committee GOP freshmen had called on House GOP leadership on Thursday to bring a resolution that would hold Holder in contempt over Operation Fast and Furious to the House floor for a vote as soon as possible. On Friday, Boehner, Cantor, McCarthy and House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa fired off another letter to Holder demanding he come into compliance with the congressional Fast and Furious subpoena he’s thus far failed to comply with.
In response to the letter, Quayle – one the 128 House members who have demanded Holder’s resignation – said the time for letters is over. “It’s time for action,” Quayle said in statement.
“While I’m pleased to see that the pressure I and others have exerted on House leadership to take action to end Eric Holder’s obstruction has led to today’s letter, this is simply too little, too late,” Quayle said. “Congress has asked nicely for Justice Department cooperation on this issue too many times. Throughout it all, Attorney General Holder has continued to make demonstrably false and contradictory statements, has blocked the release of thousands of pages of subpoenaed documents, and refused to take any accountability on himself or others for this tragedy.”
Quayle added that he thinks it’s now “obvious” that “Attorney General Eric Holder has not and will not cooperate with this Congressional investigation.”
“He has had many chances to do the right thing, and has refused each time,” Quayle said. “I stand by my demand for an immediate vote on a resolution of contempt on the House floor. The families of Agent Brian Terry and hundreds of others, deserve answers on why the weapons that killed them were allowed into the hands of murderous cartels by America’s Department of Justice.”
A spokesperson for House GOP leadership told TheDC leadership had no comment on Quayle’s statement.
