South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune is not throwing his weight behind his colleagues’ demands that Attorney General Eric Holder resign over his handling of Operation Fast and Furious – at least not yet.
“I’ve not said that yet, but I am certainly following closely,” Thune said when The Daily Caller asked him on Tuesday if he was joining the seven U.S. senators who have called for Holder to step down.
Last week, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Indiana Republican Sen. Dan Coats said Holder should resign. Sens. John Cornyn, Jim DeMint, Johnny Isakson, James Inhofe and Orrin Hatch have also called for Holder’s resignation.
Presumptive GOP presidential nominee former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has made the same demand, as have two sitting governors – Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Rick Perry of Texas. They join 129 members of the House of Representatives in seeking Holder’s ouster.
Along with 30 other Senate Republicans, Thune co-signed a letter to Holder on Tuesday demanding that he appoint an independent counsel to investigate what appear to be a series of politically driven leaks of sensitive national security information from the Obama administration.
“There needs to be an independent investigation, an independent counsel looking into these activities,” Thune told TheDC, “and I hope that the administration will agree to that.”