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Senator calls upon Eric Holder to resign over 'Fast and Furious'

Sen. John Cornyn says attorney general has 'violated the public trust'

Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) took Attorney General Eric Holder to task at a dramatic Senate hearing, calling for the nation's top law enforcement official to resign. Saying Holder should resign on account of the botched Operation Fast and Furious, Cornyn also pointed out the Justice Department's slow response to a congressional subpoena for Fast and Furious documents, in addition to Holder's handling of alleged intelligence leaks within the Justice Department.

Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) accused Holder was 'using the Department of Justice as the political arm of the Obama campaign' and blasted Holder's opposition to state voter ID laws as 'ridiculous.'

Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) accused Holder was 'using the Department of Justice as the political arm of the Obama campaign' and blasted Holder's opposition to state voter ID laws as 'ridiculous.'

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - on the Senate floor, Cornyn told holder that he had "violated the public trust in my view, by failing and refusing to perform the duties of your office."

Holder interrupted Cornyn's denunciations, Cornyn accused him of "filibustering" the hearing. Holder maintains that it was Cornyn, and not himself who was spreading falsehoods. Holder said that Cornyn's statement was "almost breathtaking in its inaccuracy."

"With all due respect, senator, there is so much that is factually wrong with the premises that you started your statement with," Holder told Cornyn.

Cornyn was just one of many Republicans at the hearing who criticized Holder's handling of Fast and Furious. Said operation was the one in which Phoenix-based ATF agents used watch-and-wait tactics on cartel-linked gunrunners -- but then lost track of over 2,000 weapons that slipped into Mexico.

Two of those weapons were later recovered in December of 2010 in Arizona at the murder site of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

As to why he has not relinquished all documents requested by Congress, Holder responded that "this is the ninth time I have answered questions before a congressional committee about Fast and Furious."

Cornyn continued his tirade in a speech on the Senate floor five hours later.

"I believe the American people deserve a chief law enforcement officer who will be independent of political influence, accountable to the law, and transparent with his dealings to the Congress," Cornyn declared. "Unfortunately, Eric Holder has failed on all of these counts."

Cornyn accused Holder was "using the Department of Justice as the political arm of the Obama campaign" and blasted Holder's opposition to state voter ID laws as "ridiculous."

"Voter ID laws present no impediment to participation in voting," he said. "American people are accustomed to presenting photo ID. Every time you get on an airplane or buy a pack of cigarettes or a beer, you have to produce a photo ID. But Mr. Holder has been so outrageous as to compare these voter ID laws to Jim Crow poll taxes. This charge is defamatory and an insult to the people of my state and anyone with common sense."

© 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Keywords: Eric Holder, John Cornyn, fast and Furious, calls for resignation

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1 - 5 of 5 Comments

  1. JoAnn
    11 months ago

    techwreck: Hi my friend, how are you doing? You are absolutely right about Conservatives getting control of the Senate also. If we get control of congress and Obumer does get re-elected, at least we would be able to hold him back "a little." The reason I say "a little" is he can't take no for an answer and writes executive orders and does it anyway. I don't know where the following quote came from but it is oh so true. "The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere sympton of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their president." God bless.

  2. David Carlon
    11 months ago

    Common sense? Yawn... Mr. Cornyn is simply another bribe taking corporatist sycophant of the plutocrats. Tear yourself away from the government teat Mr. Cornyn and get a real job.

  3. Harold OIsen
    11 months ago

    There is no way Holder will resign and accept responsibility for his actions. In order for him to do so he would have to be a man of integrity. There is not a single member of the Obama regime who as an ounce of integrity. They don't even know what integrity is!

  4. techwreck
    11 months ago

    Holder showed us that politics trumps justice early on with his handling of the Black Panthers conviction on voter intimidation charges, and the politicization of the Justice Department has continues ever since. Holder's impeachment is a sure thing if we reelect President Obama and elect a Republican controlled Congress in November.

  5. Penny Melko
    11 months ago

    The only leadership worse than the democratic party is the republican party. As an American citizen, I want a new constitution free of the stupidity and arrogance that is a common thread ruining our once proud nation. We live on a planet that is the jewel of our galaxy. Instead of leading the world toward peace and sustainability these monsters bicker, lie and break everything in their paths. Pox on them. They are the devil's work. Every last one of them.

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