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"Nobody at the Justice Department has lied," Holder insisted.


When Sensenbrenner pressed Holder on the distinction between lying and misleading Congress, Holder said it was a matter of a person's "state of mind."


Holder said that when DOJ officials provided inaccurate information to Congress, they didn't know at the time that it was inaccurate.

http://campaign2012.washingtonexamin...as-lied/244706

Rep. James Sensenbrenner asked Holder: "Tell me what's the difference between lying and misleading Congress, in this context?"


Holder's response, "Well, if you want to have this legal conversation, it all has to do with your state of mind and whether or not you had the requisite intent to come up with something that would be considered perjury or a lie," Holder said. "The information that was provided by the February 4th letter was gleaned by the people who drafted the letter after they interacted with people who they thought were in the best position to have the information."

Rep. Darrell Issa on Eric Holder:

"We have a paper trail of so many people knowing that the only way the attorney general didn't know is he made sure he didn't want to know." "But if you don't want to know something of this sort then you shouldn't have the job he has. And ultimately one of the questions is, if he didn't know, is he that inept that he is dangerous to have as the attorney general, and that is for the president to decide."

New documents obtained by CBS News show Attorney General Eric Holder was sent briefings on the controversial Fast and Furious operation as far back as July 2010. That directly contradicts his statement to Congress.


The documents came from the head of the National Drug Intelligence Center and Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer.


Two Justice Department officials mulled it over in an email exchange Oct. 18, 2010."It's a tricky case given the number of guns that have walked but is a significant set of prosecutions" says Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division. Deputy Chief of the National Gang Unit James Trusty replies"I'm not sure how much grief we get for "guns walking." It may be more like, "Finally they're going after people who sent guns down there."


The Justice Department told CBS News that the officials in those emails were talking about a different case started before Eric Holder became Attorney General. And tonight they tell CBS News, Holder misunderstood that question from the committee " he did know about Fast and Furious , just not the details."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_16...-10391695.html



Does anyone still believe that an operation of this magnitude which involved arming a criminal drug cartel, in another sovereign nation, did not have clearance from the top....