House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa told Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday that he has until Tuesday morning to produce Operation Fast and Furious documents or his committee will be voting to hold him in contempt of Congress on Wednesday.
“[O]nly the delivery of documents outlined and offered by the Department of Justice last Thursday to staff will be sufficient to justify a postponement of Wednesday’s scheduled vote,” Issa wrote to Holder on Monday afternoon. “As the department has not yet produced these document – and unless it does so tomorrow morning – I will not be able to offer you the committee’s assessment of them at tomorrow’s meeting.”
In a letter to Issa earlier in the day, Holder asked to meet at 11 a.m. Issa responded that the meeting will take place at 5 p.m. — only after his committee staff can review the promised Fast and Furious documents.
In his letter, Holder argued he had taken “extraordinary” steps to accommodate Issa’s subpoena. Issa shot back, saying, “There is nothing extraordinary about an offer from a federal agency to fully or partially respond to a subpoena.”
Issa also said nothing “short of full compliance” will be “sufficient” for him to “negotiate” a “delay of contempt proceedings” because Holder has not specified what documents he plans to give the committee this week and has not provided a “log that includes descriptions of documents, the dates they were created, who created them, and individualized explanations for why the department believes these documents should not be produced pursuant to the subpoena.”
It’s unclear if Holder will actually produce the documents in time to halt the contempt of Congress vote. His spokeswoman, Tracy Schmaler, wouldn’t answer when The Daily Caller asked if he will.
