By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
Attorney Gen. Eric Holder Jr., whose likely to get a grilling from Republicans over ATF’s Operation Fast Furious when he appears Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, got some welcome backing on Thursday.
Politico reports that the National Fraternal Order of Police, the country’s largest group of sworn law enforcement officers, fired off a letter the committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) expressing its solidarity with Holder. The letter did not mention Fast and Furious.
“The FOP is very proud of the strong and positive working relationship that we have had with Eric Holder, not just for the two years in which he has served as the nation’s ‘top cop,’ but through his long career of public service,” wrote Chuck Canterbury, the organization’s National President, according to Politico. “As the brother of a retired law enforcement officer and one of the most dedicated and experienced law enforcement leaders, General Holder has been a true partner to the FOP and to our nation’s rank-and-file officers.”
The letter also emphasized that Holder has worked with the organization on fiscal challenges and officer safety, Politico reported.
More than 30 Republican lawmakers have asked for Holder’s resignation over Fast and Furious, an operation that encouraged Arizona gun dealers to sell to middlemen or “straw purchasers”, all with the hopes of tracing the weapons to the Mexican cartels. ATF lost track of many guns, some of which surfaced at crime scenes on both sides of the border.
Holder testified before Congress earlier this year that he only learned of the operation after the controversy over it surfaced. But some Republican lawmakers believe he has been less forthright about when he learned of the matter and have asked for him to step down.
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