Documents Show Justice's Breuer Misled On 'Furious'

IBD Editorials ^ | December 14, 2011 | Editor

[Kaslin]

Ethics In Government: Attorney General Eric Holder insists "nobody at the Justice Department has lied" about the gun-running scandal Fast and Furious. That in itself is a lie, as his deputy's emails prove.

Documents obtained by congressional investigators show Lanny Breuer, Justice's criminal division chief, misled the public — under oath — about what he knew about the disastrous and ultimately deadly program. And what he did to cover it up.

• Lie No. 1: Breuer knew as far back as April 2010 that ATF officials had let assault weapons "walk" — which meant ending surveillance on guns suspected en route to Mexican warlords, and turning a blind eye to criminals illegally buying weapons for trafficking on the border.

Guns found at the scene of slain Border Patrol agent Brian Terry were traced to Fast and Furious.

That April, Breuer and an aide conspired with ATF leaders to cover up "the bad stuff that would come out."

When Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, got wind of the scandal, he demanded answers. Breuer consulted in the drafting of a Feb. 4 letter to Grassley falsely denying that ATF had ever walked guns.

Newly obtained emails show Breuer received drafts of the letter four times via email. He even forwarded drafts to his personal Google email account.

• Lie No. 2: When Grassley recently asked Breuer point blank if he reviewed the letter, Breuer suggested he had not looked at it. "At the time," he testified, "I was in Mexico dealing with the very real issues that we are all so committed to."

[Bshaw]

I did not — Do you have a link?