The corruption in Washington never ends. The confirmation of Michael Horowitz by Harry Reid’s Senate is another example of the government’s contempt for the American people and our justice system. And what is the status of Fast & Furious? I would think that this would be a major issue in the Republican primary debates. Except that there are no debates as Mitt is anointed by the Republican elite in the same way that John McCain was given to us in the last election.
David DeGerolamo
Senate approves Breuer supporter as head of OIG at Justice
“Attorney General Eric Holder today welcomed the confirmation of… Michael E. Horowitz as Inspector General for the Justice Department,” a Friday Office of Public Affairs release announces.
“…Horowitz [was] confirmed yesterday by the U.S. Senate,” it reports.
The nominee was confirmed by a voice vote, per the Library of Congress THOMAS legislative database.
So who is Michael E. Horowitz?
…
From an October, 2011 report at Main Justice:
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a confirmation hearing for Horowitz on October 19, where the nominee said that his relationship with Department of Justice criminal division chief Lanny Breuer would not hinder the DOJ OIG investigation of Operation Fast and Furious, a botched gun-walking operation carried out by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
As Ronald Kolb at American Thinker reported on October 7, 2011:
And Mr. Obama and Mr. Holder are apparently leaving nothing to chance. On July 29, Obama nominated Michael Horowitz (who had previously worked at the Justice Department) to become the full-time inspector general. It turns out that in 2009, when Lanny Breuer was facing confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Horowitz had sent them a personal recommendation on Breuer’s behalf.
Breuer’s “Project Gunwalker” culpability has been the subject of scrutiny both at the Sipsey Street Irregulars blog and Gun Rights Examiner since early February, 2011. During that time period, just a few months after the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, it has subsequently been learned that Breuer was still suggesting “fighting arms trafficking by using the tactic of intentionally letting guns flow into Mexico via criminals.”
The Office of Inspector General, which Horowitz will now head, has also been the subject of scrutiny under the stewardship of acting Inspector General, long-time Eric Holder loyalist Cynthia A. Schedar, whose office was reported to have shown deliberate indifference from the outset on Gunwalker whistleblower complaints resulting in a “no confidence” assessment from ranking Senate Judiciary Committee member Chuck Grassley. Also of concern: the length of time it’s taken to complete the investigation, and allegations of inappropriate information leaks in both Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious investigations.
With all the apparent issues and concerns at stake, and with the Department of Justice stonewalling Congressional oversight every step of the way, why is it appropriate to approve the administration’s strategically-picked nominee–the guy Obama and Holder want be in charge of future “Gunwalker” investigation efforts–without creating a record of “the names or numbers of senators voting on each side”?
And why have these concerns not been brought to the public’s attention by major media opinion influencers, where we are instead focused on a complaint by The New York Times that “Senate Republicans have been slow to allow confirmation votes on President Obama’s nominees to the Justice Department, complaining about issues like the disputed gun trafficking investigation called Fast and Furious”?
