Tancredo thinks Boehner is shutting down Fast and Furious Investigation

Rumors about House Speaker John Boehner directing Oversight Committee Chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa to back off the Fast and Furious investigation began to surface a week or so before the Feb. 2nd hearing with Attorney General Eric Holder. Those rumors seemed to pick up momentum after the hearing, which many saw as a disappointment that helped reinforce those rumors.

The Daily Caller approached Boehner's office and was met with vehement denials. Curiously, however, the Speaker would not come out forcefully in support of the Committee's work, which also bolstered the credibility of those rumors. These are politically high stakes and Issa could definitely use some support from House leadership, to include Boehner and majority leader Eric Cantor. So far, he hasn't gotten much of it, at least not publicly. He should have gotten a heaping helping of it before the hearing.

Again, the silence of Boehner and Cantor don't just reveal political cowardice; it also gives further credibility to the claims that House leadership wants this to quietly go away.

Now we have a former congressman, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) lending credence to the charge that Boehner is wimping out.

Via WND:

The interesting question is why Speaker Boehner and other Republicans in leadership positions in the House are trying to hamper and curtail the Issa investigation. If Holder is innocent of the allegations, won’t that become evident when all the evidence is made public? If he is innocent, why does the White House fear the investigation?

What’s going on here? Every time Issa’s committee holds a public hearing, new evidence comes to light. Why should the investigation be aborted? Why would Republicans want the investigation halted? What possible “deal” could the White House offer to Boehner to persuade him to end the investigation? The only compromise Republicans in Congress should accept in the case of Attorney General Holder is his early resignation instead of impeachment and removal.

Over 100 members of Congress – I think it is 112 at the latest count – have called for Holder’s resignation. That’s more than a quarter of all congressmen. And while it’s not just his role in the Fast and Furious scandal that has led them to that conclusion, it’s hard to imagine any of them calling for an end to the investigation.

The reported “deal” Boehner and Holder are discussing would let higher ups in the Department of Justice off the hook if they prosecute one or two individual ATF supervisors. Holder would then claim he “cleaned up the mess” and be free from any moral or political culpability. How does that sound, folks?

Rep. Issa must persevere in his investigation and seek the truth no matter where it leads. As for Speaker Boehner, if he has a problem with this, he should go into the hospital for a backbone transplant.

If these claims against Boehner are true, it amounts to obstruction of justice. Clearly, that would be more egregious than Issa going along with it. However, Issa would actually be complicit in the obstruction if he does.

If Boehner is, in fact, demanding that Issa back off and the latter complies, the Oversight Committee should just shut down because it will have zero credibility.

***UPDATE*** After sending the Tancredo column to Issa's Press Secretary and asking for a response, I received the following reply:

From: "Watkins, Becca"
To: "'benbarrack@yahoo.com'"  
Cc: "Hill, Frederick"  
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2012 9:39 AM
Subject: Re: Becca, What is going on here?

Ben,

Please use this on the record from me:
Leadership has been, and continues to be, supportive of oversight's investigation into operation fast and furious. There is no substance to these rumors.

I've cced me colleague above in case he has something to add.