Darrell Issa will call his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to order next week as the investigation into Fast and Furious resumes. It's know that a subpoena has been issued to a top official in the US Attorney’s Office District of Arizona, Chief of the Criminal Division, Patrick Cunningham. It's unknown what Cunningham has to tell the committee but the US Attorney Dennis Burke has already resigned. Apparently Cunningham has been something less than cooperative judging from the tone of Congressman Issa's letter;
“Yesterday, you canceled your interview scheduled with the Committee for Thursday, January, 19, 2012. As recently as last Friday, both your attorney and the Department of Justice had assured the Committee that you would submit to a voluntary interview and that you intended to cooperate with our investigation,” the letter said.
“It is of paramount importance that you appear before the Committee….As a result of your recalcitrance and inflexible position, the Committee is now forced to engage in compulsory process to obtain your testimony,” he wrote, explaining the subpoena.
In the letter, Issa expressed concern about Cunningham’s role in the Fast and Furious case.
“[Senior Justice Department officials] told us that even after Congress began investigating Fast and Furious, you continued to insist that no unacceptable tactics were used,” he wrote.
“Given that the Attorney General has labeled these tactics as unacceptable and Fast and Furious as ‘fundamentally flawed,’ this position is startling.”
Cunningham is scheduled to testify on January 24.
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