Darrell Issa Rips Assistant Attorney General for Lying

At essence here is a lie put forth by the US Justice Department on February 4, 2011 that it didn't correct until November 1, 2011 when Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer admitted as much in front of the Senate Judiciary committee. The man whose signature was on the February lie is Assistant Attorney General Ronal Weich. In response to a letter from Senator Charles Grassley, who wanted to know if the ATF was allowing guns to 'walk' into Mexico.

Here is the relevant portion of Weich's February 4th response:

...the allegation described in your January 27 letter - that the ATF "sanctioned" or otherwise knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to a straw purchaser who then transported them into Mexico - is false. ATF makes every effort to interdict weapons that have been purchased illegally an prevent their transportation to Mexico.

In response to these recent revelations, made even more damaging by Breuer's testimony, House Oversight committee Chairman Darrell Issa has sent a letter to Weich. In it, he all but accuses Weich of committing perjury.

Here is an excerpt from a press release from Issa's office that showed up in my inbox last night:

Evidence gathered during the course of the congressional investigation into Operation Fast and Furious has shown that this statement was untrue – ATF, in allowing guns to walk, did not make every effort to interdict them and prevent their transfer to Mexico. Evidence gathered in the investigation has also shown that senior Justice Department officials knew at the time Weich made his statement in February that it was untrue.

“Mr. Weich, as you are well aware, it is a crime to knowingly make false statements to Congress,” Chairman Issa writes in his letter to Weich. “As DOJ’s principal liaison to Congress, we rely on you to be straight with the facts. You have not been, and so your credibility on this issue has been seriously eroded. Whether it is the case that you were fed a lie and faithfully repeated it in a letter to Congress, or whether it is the case that you took the initiative to lie to Congress yourself, you are responsible for the contents of letters that bear your signature.”

Chairman Issa’s letter demands a complete list of individuals who helped prepare the February 4, 2011, letter to Senator Grassley as well as all documents relating to the preparation of that letter referring or relating to the development of DOJ’s response to Senator Grassley’s January 27, 2011 request for information.

HERE is a copy of the letter referenced in that press release.

Here is Issa grilling Weich on June 15, 2011: