further the overreaching by the justice department impacts us here in congress, republican and democrat. for example, legislation addressing online infringement hits a road block on the fore, in part because the public doesn't trust the currejustice department to do the right thing and i heard -- the american people are worried that the justice department will use power for political sensor ship in the case of that law. even though all of us here probably know that there's a need for us to do something to stop the stealing of property. that's the kind of impact the distrust has had and affects us all. the stevens prosecution and these other examples are all serious problems that i hope will be addressed. not to mention the fact that the failed prosecution costs the taxpayers threefold. the cost to investigate and prosecute the special investigators and third the dea dea deaf-defense attorneys, the cost alone is reason enough for us to discuss the cases in the committee here in their oversight capacity and even hold hearings to get to the bottom of what's going on. the public and the --

however, the justice department also stepped in to protect the prosecutors. the justice department initially sought to prevent any misconduct review by the court arguing instead of an internal review. the prosecutors' conduct via the office of professional responsibility. to his credit, judge sullivan did not allow this and instead appointed a special investigator to investigate and prosecute justice department attorneys responsible for the prosecution of senator stevens. following the completion of this investigation, the special investigator produced a 500-page report that found, quote, the investigation and prosecution of senator stevens were permeated by this systemic concealment of significant exculpatory evidence, which would have independently corroborated his defense and his testimony and seriously damaged the testimony and credibility of the government's key witnesses, end quote. this is an incredible finding and one that as judge sullivan put it has, quote, led to a continuing national public discourse on prosecutorial misconduct and whether and wha

attorney general, is you have an expectation that there is interaction between the department of justice and state department, kregt? >> there certainly is. and through other ways in which our law enforcement components talk to one another. we are -- >> then why is -- >> sorry. my time is so short. >> will the gentleman suspend the question. do you have a point of order? >> yes, mr. chairman. if you ask a question, he should have an opportunity to answer it. i'm trying to follow it. but the point is that without him being able to respond, i mean what are we really doing? >> the gentleman's point is valid. i appreciate that both under your leadership and hopefully under mine we make sure all witnesses get to answer. >> mr. chairman, i ask -- >> wait a second. >> one additional minute for the gentleman. >> without objection so ordered. mr. attorney general, at the end of any round of questioning, within reasonable period of time by yourself, if you feel you have been unable to answer a question, and i'd like you to be succinct, you can -- we'll give you the additional time at the end so yo

the overreaching by the justice department impacts us here. legislation addressing online infringement hit a roadblock on the floor in part because of the public not trusting the current justice department to do the right thing and instead, i heard from many constituents on this during my 36 town meetings in january, the american people are afraid that the justice department will use power for political censorship in the case of that law. even though all of us know that there is a need for us to do something to stop the stealing of property. that is the kind of impact that this trust has had and affects us all. the stevens prosecution and these other examples are serious problems that i hope will be addressed. not to mention the fact that the bill prosecution costs the taxpayer threefold. first, the cost to investigate. the second, the cost of the investigator, and third the defense attorneys. the cost alone is reason enough for us to discuss these cases in the committee, here, and our oversight capacity and even hold hearings to get the bough

it was unlikely to receive pre clearance of the voting rights act by the justice department. i'll get to that in a minute. and it violates the constitution of georgia, and it was hans vonn spa kof ski who made sure that that voter id law in georgia got cleared over the objection of six career employees who wrote to congress to denounce him after he was appointed to thede and successfully got him to withdraw his application to be confirmed by the fec because they said he used so much political influence in the upho georgia photo id law. so hans is deeply invested in voter id laws. he has the right to his beliefs, but it's not just the aclu who is concerned about this. there are many secretary of states who are concerned about the burdens these photo id laws place on the electoral process. >> i didn't realize this was going to devolve into personal attacks. i believe i have the ability to respond to that. >> okay. you do. >> the justice department pre cleared the georgia voter id law because all the data that was submitted by the state showed it would not be drim nah tory. the

that has become a very bad habit of the department of justice. in fact, without giving us any advanced notice that it was coming, they actually put a c.d. under the door of our office after business hours, and what they did for the press department? they gave the same documents to the press people two hours before they ever gave them to us. yes, they managed to find time to leak the documents to the press during regular business hours. this is the kind of cooperation that we get from the justice department in our constitutional responsibility -- mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid reid: reid: madam presd i through the chair ask my friend to yield for a unanimous consent request regarding the schedule here in the senate. mr. grassley: i guess if i want to get along with the majority leader, i better yield. so i will yield. mr. reid: i would say, madam president, my friend from iowa would get along even if he didn't agree mr. grassley: will i have the floor when you get done? mr. reid: yes. and i would ask h

>> i'm not sure you understand how the justice department works. i didn't express the fact i was mad or it was silly, i issued a directive. when the attorney general of the united states says this kind of technique is not appropriate and should not be followed. we're still in the process of trying to determine, the inspector general is trying to determine whether wr this policy originat originated. we know it started in the atf office in phoenix. it was approved by u.s. attorney's office in phoenix, exactly who the people were who approved the technique we're still in the process of doing this too. that's not all i've done. i've made personnel changes with regard to leadership positions. i've moved people around. we've instituted a series of policies now designed to make sure that doesn't happen again. >> an agent was murdered and your action is to move people around. that seems to me to simply inconvenience people, not to rid them of federal employment. >> well, to the extent that we find out who precisely was involved in this or gave that order,

. >> in the justice department. >> in the justice department. >> and why? >> well, because i had the opportunity, it was a great chance to work on a very important problem in american government. we had a situation in the '60s where really we didn't have an honest system of self-government. and through the efforts of the -- everybody in the country, including the civil rights division, the voting rights act, came in 1965, and the power of that act has been established last november 4th when for the first time really every citizen in the united states voted or had the opportunity to vote freely. that was a great thing. >> what was your reaction when barack obama was elected president? >> well, i was -- it was just so rewarding because i think back what the situation was when i arrived in washington in 1960. countless black citizens in the south couldn't vote. they were second-class citizens from cradle to grave. the discrimination was terrible, brutal, and to think that that's over. it's done. that period of american history is over, finished. >> i want to s

and my colleagues and i at the department of justice have worked diligently to provide those answers. in addition to my frequent testimony before congress, i have answered and am continuing to answer questions that have been submitted for the record during previous hearings. the department has also responded to more than three dozen letters from members of congress and facilitated numerous witness interviews. we've also submitted or made available for review some 6,400 pages of documents to congressional investigators. this has been a significant undertaking for justice department employees, and our efforts in this regard remain ongoing. we've also provided congress with virtually unprecedented access to internal, deliberative documents to show how inaccurate information was initially conveyed in the letter sent to senator grassley on february 4, 2011. these documents show that department officials relied on information provided by supervisors from the relevant components in the best position to know the facts. we now know that some of the information they provided was, in fact, inacc

and my colleagues and i at the department of justice have worked diligently to provide those answers. in addition to my frequent testimony before congress, i have answered and am continuing to answer questions that have been submitted for the record during previous hearings. the department has also responded to more than three dozen letters from members of congress and facilitated numerous witness interviews. we've also submitted or made available for review some 6,400 pages of documents to congressional investigators. this has been a significant undertaking for justice department employees and our efforts in this regard remain ongoing. we've also provided congress with virtually unprecedented access to internal deliberative documents to show how inaccurate information was initially conveyed in a letter sent to senator grassley on february 4, 2011. these documents show that department officials relied on information provided by supervisors from the relevant components in the best position to know the facts. we now know that some of the information that they provided was in fact inaccu

what they did and what they did not do and what i'm really bothered by is the letter from the department of justice and we've already made reference to it, and this is to senator grassley, the response dated january 27th, 2011 and january 31st, 2011 to acting director kenneth nelson of the department of bureau, tobacco, firearms, explosives. we thank you for the support. the allegation described in your january 27th letter that atf sanctioned or otherwise knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to a straw purchaser who then transported it to mexico is false. atf makes every effort to interdict weapons purchased illegally. then on that very same day, below is a synopsis of assistant attorney general lanny brewer's meetings with the mexican attorney general's office, mexico' federal police and the secretary of foreign relations. now who else is there? a.g. brewer, deputy teef mission, john feeley from the state department, daag blanco, kevin sudwell, all of these folks are here and at the end of it, at the end of it, here's what they come up with. aag brewer told ventura there had been a propos

program in which holder's justice department allow the sale of illegal guns.hey were found at the scene of the murder of a u.s. border control agent. eric holder and president obama had held no one accountable for the murder. it worse, attorney general holder has refused to give the family and the american people the answers they deserve. holder has created an investigation -- treated an investigation with content and admits to misleading congress. his sworn testimony is routine the contradicted by justice department memos. is this the kind of behavior that said in still complete confidence in president obama? if i could choose one word to describe his conduct it would be outrageous. unfortunately, holder's leadership failures go well beyond operation passed and furious. let me recite a few more items in holder's litany of shame. let's talk about his objections to common sense requirements like voter i.d. laws. you and i both know you need a photo id to buy beer, over the counter cold medication or to get on an airplane. did you know that if you went to the de

my colleagues and i at the department of justice worked diligently to provide those answers. in addition to my frequent testimony before congress, i have answered and am continuing to answer questions that have been submitted for the record during previous hearings. the department has also responded to more than three deny letters from members of congress and facilitated witness interviews. we've also submitted or made available for review 6400 pages of documents to congressional investigators. this has been a significant undertaking for justice department employees. and our efforts in this regard remain ongoing. we've also provided congress with virtually unprecedented access to internal deliberative documents to show what's relids] from grassley in 2007. documents provided information from supervisor in a position to know the facts. we now know some of the information was inaccurate. we understand that in subsequent issues with investigators they stated they did not at the time the information they provided was inaccurate. in producing internal communications regarding the d

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to do with him trying to restrict speech on the internet or rather his complaints about the department of justice is hiring process so you are smith has come out and accused the department of justice's civil rights division of hiring bias and his reason is that the civil rights division is hiring too many civil rights lawyers yep that is an actual reason that he's claiming because he practicing civil rights lawyers tend to be more liberal so in smith's bizarro victimhood world because the d.o.j. is hiring civil rights lawyers.

do with him trying to restrict speech on the internet or rather his complaints about the department of justice's hiring process c m r smith has come out and accused the department of justice's civil rights division of hiring bias and his reason is that the civil rights division is hiring too many civil rights lawyers yep that is an actual reason that he's claiming because he practicing civil rights lawyers tend to be more liberal so in smith's bizarro victimhood world because the d.o.j. is hiring civil rights lawyers they are being biased in the letter to eric holder he said the following the same pattern as immersion when media outlets ongoing study of new hires and division in the divisions other ten components in the seven sections analyzed so far all seventy nine hires had quote far left credentials these were likely either obvious on their resumes or reasonably discoverable through a quick internet search noticeably absent were new employees with resumes bearing obvious conservative or neutral ideological credentials now it's also know that the media. site's in this letter here is pajamas m

, a number of offices that will handle those, whether it be inside the fbi come inside the department of justice, the inspector general's office, or the hill -- inside the fbi, inside the department of justice, the inspector general's office, or the hill. >> if i had a dollar for each question that mentions the word occupy, i would be a rich man. i appreciate the time people have put into these questions. i know we are short on time, so i will combine them when i can. some of the questions are about occupy san francisco, how police should deal with in canada. i'm guessing you will stay away without one. >> one thing you learn after 10 years is how to duck a question. i think you have got a very good police force here. very competent person a hand -- at hand, and they do a very good job. >> i will follow up by asking you the more general question. the protests, of course, have been going on in several cities and have garnered a great deal of attention from any number of sources. i guess the general question would be -- what is your impression of what is happening, the challenges that might be rep

that the name, department of justice, means something to me. the name at the bottom of it, not so much. while that letter was being drafted, there there are people main justice that knew the body of that letter was incorrect, factually incorrect. while that letter was being drafted, the criminal chief lanny brewer was in mexico talking about gunwalking. do you know whether or not he alerted our mexican counterparts that fast and furious was something they needed to be prepared to deal with because of the number of weapons? did he mention to them be alerted, a lot of weapons went down there, a lot of your civilians are going to be killed? >> first, there were people in main justice who did have that knowledge of wide receiver and who admitted that they did not make the connection between wide receiver and fast and furious, and that should have happened and could have changed the february 4th letter. lanny brewer was not down there talking about gunwalking as we have used that term during the course of these last four hours or so when he was deal

the answer, of course, from the justice department's perspective is we only look at the states, and so it sort of locks you into one model of resolution that i don't necessarily think is very helpful. i will -- obviously, this will be in the front and center this year. i mean, you're going to hear about these cases, so i guess the question is what comes out of it. i can't predict. we i want to stress, i think it's a county problem more than a state problem. >> okay. i think -- >> mr. secretary, can i say one word to that, which is we agree, actually, and would join you in moving toward a cleaner list to the extent that -- to the extent that we have the data that bearing out that this is problematic. so i don't think there is a difference of party on this issue, and i would say the same thing with respect to your comments on move act compliance and ensuring that military voters in maryland are able to vote across the ballot. that is something we would absolutely be in favor of as well. and the -- the section 7 enforcement that's happened under the social service provision of the nvra is

we are not clear if the justice department is doing anything about this. it doesn't appear to be any oversight in new york city. the mayor is essentially accountable to no one. there had been a few city council members who said we need to do something, they won't even plug in the idea to the inspector general, but it doesn't seem it will go anywhere anywhere. >> it's filled with people who are vieying to succeed the mayor. they won't rock the boat if their own hide is on the rope. there is another sub basement involved in it. do you think this is it or is there even more to go? >> we've got--we're still investigating. we're still talking to people. we're still looking at documents. i mean, just as the new york story demonstrated today, i mean mean, the madrid did that and the mayor, cory booker had no idea they did that. he was outraged. even the governor of new jersey didn't know about it. when he was the stop law enforcer in new jersey. >> summarize that. >> the nypd, their demographics unit, paul brown, the police commissioner denied existing went out a

department justice.hat is precisely what i pledged to do exactly three years ago tomorrow when i was sworn in as attorney general and it is exactly what i have done over the last three years. i dedication to the department's mission is shared by extraordinary group of colleagues, over 170,000 employees to eat each day in office all round world worked tirelessly to protect the american people from a range of urgent and unprecedented threat from global terrorism and financial fraud, crime, human trafficking, civil-rights abuses, and more. of the last three years we have made a number of significant improvements, including policy and personnel changes that address many of the concerns that are the subject of this hearing today. a lot to discuss some of these improvements in specific terms and outline the steps we have taken to ensure that the flawed tactics in operation fast and furious and earlier operations under a prior ministration are never used again. in some of my comments today, if they sound famili

that's why the justice department has put it on hold while it investigates. barbara zia says the law will also make it more difficult for the elderly, the disabled, and students whose ids no longer work to vote. but, she says, it will definitely impede minorities the most. >> and many south carolinians, especially citizens of color, were born at home and lack birth certificates, and so to obtain those birth certificates is a very costly endeavor and also an administrative nightmare. >> reporter: south carolina is one of several states, mostly in the south, that because of a history of discrimination is required by the voting rights act of 1965 to get clearances from the justice department whenever changes are make to voting laws. dr. brenda williams has registered hundreds to vote. she says the new legislation is reminiscent of the jim crow laws that legalized discrimination against african americans even at polling places until they were abolished by the voting rights act. >> there was a poll tax back during those days, and african americans had to pay a tax

of september 2nd, 2009, she talks -- she sends an e-mail to jim trusty in the united states department of justice in washington. it says, it's my understanding a lot of those guns walked. so we had an attorney from your department sent to washington who sends a communication back to mid-level or senior level people in the criminal department saying, it's my understanding, i'm on the scene, guns walked. and i want to know why when a former u.s. attorney, based on those opinions, declines to prosecute cases because he does not like the procedures of atf and an attorney who goes and identifies gun walking, why would a subsequent administration send down attorneys and resurrect these cases for prosecution? >> well, i mean, we want to try to hold accountable the people who were responsible for crimes that were committed. and i would guess that people took into account the techniques that were used in making the determination as to which cases would, in fact, be prosecuted. >> well, i sure do think that that's correct. who do you think the people are that sit there and take into account the techniques

do with him trying to restrict speech on the internet or rather his complaints about the department of justice's hiring process so you are smith has come out and accused the department of justice's civil rights division of hiring vyas and his reason is that the civil rights division is hiring too many civil rights lawyers that is an actual reason that he's claiming because he practicing civil rights lawyers tend to be more liberal so in smith's bizarro victimhood world because the d.o.j. is hiring civil rights lawyers they are being biased and letter to eric holder he said the following the same patterns emerge in one media outlets ongoing study of new hires and division in the divisions other ten components and the seven sections analyzed so far.

why so many elected officials and american people have lost faith in the leadership of the justice department. these public failures paid a picture of a department where bad decisions for ruunder a republican administration consistently concealed piscatory evidence that would have damaged the testimony of key witnesses. a department where whistleblowers who do not belong are a sure to face retaliation from supervisors and then are forced into bureaucratic limbo to adjudicate their cases. a department where one assistant attorney joe prepares a letter to senator saying that atf does not allow guns across the border while another assists and attorney general in mexico the same day advocating a plan to let down across the border as an investigative strategy which was explicitly forbidden by the deputy attorney general a month later. something is wrong and it is easy to see where the public is outraged. further, the overreaching by the justice department impacts us here in congress. legislation addressing online infringement hits a roadblock on the floor in part because of the public not trusting

this is what the justice department said, arrest of 29-year-old moroccan national.t was the culmination whe the suspect was closely monitored by law enforcement. explosives the suspect allegedly sought to use in connection with the plot rendered inoperable by the law enforcement and pose nod threat to the public. suicide bombing attempt that never got to that point. because of the authorities. here is what congressman king had to say about it. >> now you have a person living in this country 12 years who apparently is willing to be a suicide bomber. that is a line that has been crossed. think we have to rethink some of our conceptions, some of the ideas we were basing our activities on. this is always felt that very unlikely we have a suicide bomber. >> bret: okay, what about this with the lightning round? bill? >> i don't know. i think they are doing a good job of tracing the lone wolfs in our country. i remain much more concerned about people connected to the terrorism from abroad. >> bret: liz? >> i would have to agree with that. we don't know a lot of details sti

the chairman told the house oversight government reform committee that it's necessary for the justice departmento produce the information that the committee is requiring. the attorney general saying he will consider the demand but said with one exception, the department was inclined to follow long standing tradition of withholding internal documents about congressional inquiries in order to prereceive the ability to get candid advice from top officials. there was one exchange with congressman dan burton who announced yesterday he's retiring. i think you've been hiding something here. you taught give us the documents. it appears you have been stone waul walling. here's another exchange as questions are posed to the attorney general. >>lissening to the answer you had from the former chairman, it seems to me when you see that folks did not follow policy, did not follow your directives, and we're here 13 months after you found out that an agent was murdered for policies that you did not support, and we find out you've not fired a single individual , we find out that you have not rebuked any staff me

>> we had our legal department. >> did you ask the justice department?> i did not, nothing. >> sean: joining me now, monica crowley and executive director of american values institute. good to see you. i don't know what is more shocking. the fact they didn't talk to the bishops or they didn't read the first amendment. >> this is surprising after three years of this administration. >> sean: not really. >> this administration is totally ideological. obamacare they had a year and a half to figure out what they were going to do with regard to this issue, contraception, drugs and catholic institutions, the fact they had all this time, this is purely ideological and accommodation doesn't do anything to elimination the moral hazards of this. >> sean: the fact they wouldn't ask their own justice department on a legal opinion on something that would mandate or force institutions to something against their core values. >> this isn't something to ask them to do something against their core values. >> sean: these are catholic hospitals, catholic charities that have

there was knowledge within the justice department of gun walking. it was related to wide receiver. >> mr. attorney, with respect, i don't like interrupting people. but with respect, several of these e-mails specifically mention fast and furious. i'm not talking about wide receiver. love to have that conversation some other time. this e-mails and memos specifically mentioned fast and furious. >> they mentioned fast and furious, but do they mention gun walking and fast and furious? >> yes, they do. that's my point. >> i would like to see those. those i would like to see. >> we got them from you. we got this from maine justice. >> let's do this. i promised to give you all some information. i would really like to see a memo that says gun walking and fast and furious. i would like to see that. >> well, if you're looking for a videotaped confession, i probably can't give you that. but what i can give you is an e-mail from two maine justice employees back and forth specifically mentioning fast and furious. it's a tricky case given the number of guns that h

and department of justice. the department of justice cannot be trusted to investigate themselves because the agency has lost credibility on this issue. the d.o.j. has stonewalled providing information to congress. if the d.o.j. has nothing to hide, why do they keep hiding information from us? the justice department has to be removed from investigating fast and furious. otherwise, mr. speaker, this would look like a bunch of burglars sitting on a jury trying a burglary case. that would sort of look bad, wouldn't it? people died in this reckless, misguided operation. we owe it to the american people and the people of mexico to get to the bottom of this. in many states when a person commits an offense, when he recklessly causes the death of another individual, the definition of that offense is called manslaughter. even washington insiders responsible for fast and furious cannot hide from the long arm of american justice because, mr. speaker, justice is what we do in this country. and that's just the way it is. i yi

>> there have been clear signs that assange, under the threat of possible indictment by the justice departmentd some of his views. before releasing the last two batches of classified documents, assange and his lawyers contacted both the pentagon and the state department, offering to explore ways to minimize potential harm. in both cases, their offer was rebuffed. assange acknowledged that his fundraising has been hurt by the decision of paypal, mastercard, visa, and bank of america to cease handling donations. but he dismissed reports that wikileaks is wracked by internal dissention and mass defections. >> we're talking about daniel domscheit-berg, who was a german spokesperson, had a limited role in the organization. we had to suspend him some five months ago. >> describes you as being authoritarian, secretive, punitive. >> i'm the boss that suspended him. that's correct. >> you don't care to elaborate? >> i think i just did, yeah. >> you've said you have this package of very damaging documents, sort of a poison pill, that's going to be released if anything bad happens to you. >> no, that's n

and yet the justice department's own internal investigation has provided 60,000 documents.h. i think it is even worse than what you said. i think we've gotten about the 6,000 and there is about 80 thousand pages given to the office of inspector general. you know what? i think it will show exactly what we're trying to find out and they're going to keep it from us as long as they can. with the election coming up, they're just fearful that it is going to impact the presidential election. and so we're not going to get the information and that's why we're fortunate that congressman issa not only can hold these hearings but he issued subpoenas and if subpoenas aren't responded to, that person can be held in contempt. jon: but the attorney general himself said today when he found out about operation "fast and furious" that he ordered it stopped? >> well, he may have ordered it stopped but when he found out about it, one of two things, either he knew about it sooner than what he is leading us to believe, or the people that work for him are not serving him well and they should be fi

they have completed their invests for the department of justice now. so that is the decision and that is what we are told in the army, they are making the determination on prosecution. so what we'll do is we'll do the best we can do to get information from them and we can provide -- we'll provide that to the committee. ultimately right now it's under the jurisdiction of the department of justice. >> i think that would be great. if you could let us know when cid passed it over to the justice department and who it is with there so these committees can communicate with the justice department to get from them an idea about time frame. >> absolutely can, sir. >> and, in fact, i look forward to working with chairman wittman and our in regard to possibly cid and doj officials to come know what the status is. because this would be beyond your purview. but there should be accountability. and we can't proceed without it. >> yeah. and i think, too, another thing to take from today that i ask all of you to consider, i think the suggestion that the leadership chain

the department of justice halted defending the so-called defense of marriage act in court saying it is unconstitutional to revoke federal benefits for same sex spouses. yesterday, a federal judge in san francisco became the first to agree he with that position. >> joined now by the founder and director of truth wins out. thanks for your time. >> sure. >> in how many ways is governor christie wrong in what he calls parallel views between himself and president obama. >> governor christie doesn't like teachers very much, it shows, he didn't do his homework. barack obama spoke out against proposition eight when running for president and expend the political capital in doing so. he was absolutely wrong in that. jonathan capart brought up that barack obama one year ago today told his justice department not to defend the defense of marriage act. when christie was questioned, he dodged the question, bullied the reporter and refused to oh answer the question. he was trying to pretend on one hand that he was brave and bold on the other hand running away from the question. they have very little i