News

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Michael G. Grimm (R,C-NY) issued the following statement on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s 23-17 vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to turnover necessary documents in the Operation Fast and Furious investigation and in President Obama’s offer of executive privilege:

“It is a sad day for America when the President of the United States intervenes in an act of obstructing truth and justice.  As a Congress, we have a responsibility to get to the bottom of Fast and Furious, and bring full transparency to the situation. We owe it to the American people to see this through, and most importantly we owe it to the family of fallen Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

“It causes me grave concern that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has to hold our top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Eric Holder, in contempt for failing to provide information about our government’s role in allowing guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels leading to the demise of our own agent.

“Unfortunately, this act of defiance by the Attorney General, coupled with the President’s assertion of executive privilege, is merely a continuation of a larger pattern by this administration to flout the U.S. Constitution and arrogantly discount the role of the Congress.

“Regardless of party affiliation, all Americans should be concerned that the limitations our Constitution places on the President of the United States, the separation of powers, and the checks and balances that preserve our democracy are all at risk.”

Rep. Michael G. Grimm served over a decade as a special agent in the FBI.