Letter to the Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice
Letter
Senator Chuck Grassley today asked Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. for information about who at the Department of Justice (DOJ) saw a memo from a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) who was stationed at the Phoenix field division and was knowledgeable about Operation Fast and Furious. This memo was produced the day before the Department of Justice flat out denied there was a program underway to let guns walk to straw buyers.
In a letter to Attorney General Holder this afternoon, Grassley said the memo traveled rapidly through the chain of command at ATF and was allegedly forwarded to DOJ headquarters on February 3, 2011, in advance of the February 4, 2011, denial by DOJ. Grassley's office has been told that the substance of the memo "caused such a stir that ATF planned to put a panel together to address the allegations but someone within DOJ suppressed the idea." The details in the agent's memo would have provided DOJ officials important information about what, in fact, was happening in Operation Fast and Furious.
Grassley said he is asking questions today because discovering how high up the chain of command the memo was reviewed "has not been easy." His requests to interview officials who might corroborate accounts has been denied, and DOJ may have withheld relevant documents from what it said were the deliberative materials used to draft the February 4, 2011, letter. Ultimately, in the face of mounting evidence presented by Grassley and others, DOJ withdrew its February 4 denial.
"Without the complete, documented set of facts, fair and informed conclusions can't be drawn, and the Justice Department's lack of transparency about what it knew and when about Operation Fast and Furious is unacceptable, especially in light of the connections to the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and an unknown number of Mexican citizens," Grassley said.
July 3, 2012
Via Electronic Transmission
The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Attorney General Holder:
The investigation into Operation Fast and Furious has focused on two specific areas: (1) When did individuals within the Department of Justice (DOJ/Department) become aware of the tactics and (2) How did DOJ provide false information to Congress regarding the allegations of gunwalking. I believe the Department should have been abundantly aware of allegations of gunwalking as there was more than one ATF agent providing information to Department components before the February 4, 2011, letter was sent to Congress.
Specifically, on February 2, 2011, my investigators contacted an ATF Special Agent who worked out of the Phoenix Field Division, Group VII office, and was familiar with Operation Fast and Furious. The conversation centered on the ATF Agent's recollection of how Fast and Furious was executed and his recollection confirmed the allegations my office had heard from other ATF whistleblowers. What was unknown until late 2011 was that this ATF Agent produced a memorandum on February 3, 2011, which documented his discussion about Fast and Furious. The subject of the memorandum is, "Contact with Congressional Investigators," and I have enclosed it within this letter.
This Fast and Furious memorandum traveled rapidly through ATF's chain of command. The memorandum was emailed on February 3, 2011, from the Dallas Field Division to Phoenix SAC William Newell and Deputy Assistant Director for Field Operations William McMahon. Records that the Justice Department has withheld from Congress, which were only made available for review in camera, show an email chain attaching this memorandum was sent to Assistant Director of Field Operations Mark Chait at ATF headquarters by the afternoon of February 3, 2011.
According to ATF personnel, the memorandum was discussed by high level ATF personnel and possibly forwarded to DOJ headquarters on February 3, 2011. Specifically, it has been alleged that individuals within the Deputy Attorney General's (DAG's) office and the Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA) at the Department were aware of or actually read the memorandum before the Department's February 4, 2011, letter was sent. Some individuals who spoke with my office claim they were "alarmed" by the substance of the memorandum and it caused such a stir that ATF planned to put a panel together to address the allegations but someone within DOJ suppressed the idea.
The possibility that DOJ was aware of this memorandum on February 3, 2011, and still sent the erroneous letter to Congress on February 4, 2011, raises more questions about DOJ's claim that faulty information from Department components inadvertently led to the false letter. This was direct, documented information from street level agents in a far better position to know the facts than the senior supervisory personnel whom DOJ claims to have relied upon for information about the allegations.
Discovering how high up the chain of command inside the Justice Department the memorandum was reviewed has not been easy. The Department has not made available certain individuals who could corroborate what my office has been told. Moreover, it is unclear whether the set of "deliberative" materials about the drafting of the February 4, 2011, letter that the Department produced to Congress constitutes a complete set of all relevant documents or whether other relevant documents from the pre-February 4th timeframe may have been withheld. Consequently, please answer the following questions:
1) Have all records relating to the February 3, 2011, memorandum been gathered and preserved by the Justice Department? If not, why not? If so, please describe the nature and volume of those records.
2) Will you produce those records to Congress? If not, please explain why not.
3) Which DOJ personnel received a copy of the February 3, 2011, memorandum prior to February 4, 2011?
4) Which DOJ personnel were aware of the memorandum before the February 4, 2011 reply was sent to me? Please provide all records related to these questions, or certify that all relevant documents have already been provided.
I would appreciate a written response by no later than July 17, 2012. If you have any questions concerning this matter, please contact Brian Downey of my staff at (202) 224- 5225.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Grassley
Ranking Member
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