By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
Like a pit bull, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) ain’t letting go, ain’t giving up easily in finding out more details about ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious, which encouraged Arizona gun dealers to sell to “straw purchasers”, all with the hopes of tracing the weapons to the Mexican cartels.
The latest: Issa, chair of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has fired off a letter to Atty. Gen. Eric Holder Jr. demanding that his agency make Arizona Assistant United States Attorney Michael Morrissey available to speak with Committee investigators about his role in and knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious.
Issa notes in a press release issued Thursday that Morrissey’s supervisor, Patrick Cunningham has stated he will exercise his Fifth Amendment and refuse to answer any questions pertaining to Operation Fast and Furious.
“Since August, the Department has identified Patrick Cunningham as the best person in the U.S. Attorney’s Office to provide information about Fast and Furious to the Committee,” Issa said in his letter to Holder.
“The Department has refused to make Michael Morrissey and Emory Hurley, both Assistant United States Attorneys supervised by Mr. Cunningham, available to speak with the Committee, citing a policy of not making ‘line attorneys’ available for congressional scrutiny. Mr. Morrissey, however, was Mr. Hurley’s direct supervisor, and an integral part of Fast and Furious. Importantly, both Morrissey and Hurley are unique in their possession of key factual knowledge about Fast and Furious not readily available from any other source.”
