Wall Street Journal: Issa Steps Up Fight over ATF Documents

The Wall Street Journal reported recently that House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa is threatening to hold the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in contempt of Congress for its refusal to produce documents. The agency says releasing them will compromise ongoing criminal cases.

From the article:

The fight involves the bureau's Project Gunrunner, in which law enforcement officers may have watched as guns were sold to U.S. buyers planning to smuggle them into Mexico. The idea was to intercepting guns later. Mr. Issa, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and others believe that some of the guns may have been used in fatal shootings of law enforcement officials, including U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

In a letter Wednesday to Bureau Director Kenneth Melson, Mr. Issa said he intends to enforce the a March 31 subpoena because "Congress is legally entitled to all of these documents."

"If you do not comply with the subpoena, the committee will be forced to commence contempt proceedings," Mr. Issa warned.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that attached to the letter were ATF documents that Mr. Issa said were obtained without the help of Justice Department officials.

He said they show ATF agents allowed the transfer of guns to suspected criminals, and that some of these weapons had later turned up at crime scenes. In addition, email messages from an ATF group supervisor responded to apparent concerns over the program from a gun store owner and from other federal agents he manages.

The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, repeated his call for Mr. Issa to join him to sit down with the Justice Department to come to an agreement over the documents.

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department told The Wall Street Journal that Mr. Issa's latest letter was being reviewed.