Attorney General Eric Holder has refused The Daily Caller’s request for a sit-down interview on Operation Fast and Furious, the latest stonewalling effort by the Department of Justice over the scandal.
Because DOJ spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler has not answered TheDC’s questions about Fast and Furious for months, TheDC asked her if Holder would do an interview on the subject.
“I’m going to decline your request,” Schmaler said in response.
The Holder spokeswoman also accused TheDC of throwing “sticks and stones.” And, though TheDC spelled her name correctly in the request, Schmaler added: “It’s tracy — with no ‘e.’”
Schmaler didn’t answer when TheDC asked her to explain that comment.
TheDC has also requested a sit-down interview with President Barack Obama over Fast and Furious. White House spokesman Eric Schultz — who verbally attacked CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson for her Fast and Furious reporting — has not answered whether the president will be available for an interview on the subject.
This is not the first time Holder or his Department of Justice has attacked TheDC for reporting on Fast and Furious. Last November, Holder lashed out at a Daily Caller reporter at a White House event for asking him to respond to the growing chorus of federal legislators demanding his resignation over the scandal.
While Holder’s aide was escorting him offstage following his remarks, a Daily Caller reporter introduced himself and shook Holder’s hand, then asked him to respond to the calls for his resignation. (RELATED: Van Jones rips Holder over Fast and Furious)
Holder stepped toward the exit, then turned around, stepped back toward the reporter, and sternly said, “You guys need to — you need to stop this. It’s not an organic thing that’s just happening. You guys are behind it.”
Holder also criticized TheDC’s reporting in early October 2011. In his first-ever unsolicited letter to Congress about the gun-walking operation on Oct. 7, 2011, Holder criticized Rep. Paul Gosar for comments he made exclusively to TheDC. Gosar had said the Obama administration officials responsible for Fast and Furious were equivalent to “accessories to murder.”
“[I]n the past few days, the public discourse concerning these issues has become so base and harmful to interests that I hope we all share that I must now address these issues notwithstanding the Inspector General’s ongoing review,” Holder wrote, specifically referencing TheDC’s story.
Holder has failed to fully comply with all 22 categories of a congressional subpoena into Operation Fast and Furious House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa served him last October. The subpoena requires him to provide Congress with documents relating to Fast and Furious. On 13 of the categories, Holder has provided no documents. On the other nine subpoena categories, Holder is still far from compliant.
Issa is planning to move forward with contempt of Congress proceedings against Holder if he continues failing to comply with the subpoena. House Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy recently threw their weight behind Issa’s efforts to enforce the congressional subpoena in the past week.
Issa has bipartisan support to enforce the subpoena as Indiana Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly supports the efforts. Former Obama “green jobs czar” Van Jones has also verbally criticized Holder’s handling of Fast and Furious and the Department of Justice’s lack of care for the victims.