Did someone change the definition of “consistent” and “truthful” and forget to inform us?
(The Hill) — The White House defended Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday in the face of a growing torrent of Republican criticism that he has not been truthful about his knowledge of a botched gun-tracking operation.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said that Holder has been “consistent and truthful” about when he learned of the controversial tactics used in Operation Fast and Furious, which oversaw the sale of thousands of firearms to known and suspected straw buyers for Mexican drug cartels.
“The president believes he’s an excellent attorney general and has great confidence in him, and we absolutely know that the testimony he gave was consistent and truthful,” Carney told reporters at a press briefing.
The staunch defense from the Obama administration comes as Republicans have unleashed a flood of concern over recently released internal Justice Department (DOJ) memos sent to Holder last year from senior agency officials clearly referring to the gun-tracking operation.
In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on May 3, Holder told Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) that Fast and the Furious had been staged without his knowledge.