Defense & National Security
More on Defense & National Security
In 2007, then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey received a memo about a botched ATF gunwalking operation. The memo, which was prepared prior to a meeting with Mexican Attorney General Medina Mora, described "the first-ever attempt to have a controlled delivery of weapons being smuggled into Mexico by a major arms trafficker." The memo warned, however, that "the first attempts at this controlled delivery have not been successful."
Washington, DC —Today Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to Chairman Darrell E. Issa requesting a hearing with former Attorney General Michael Mukasey to address new questions about so-called "gun-walking" operations during the previous administration.
Washington, DC – Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, applauded changes to the United States Sentencing Guidelines that go into effect today to increase criminal penalties for so-called "straw purchasers" of firearms.
Washington, DC – In an interview this morning on CBS's Face the Nation, Rep. Darrell E. Issa, Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, officially confirmed for the first time recent press reports alleging that so-called "gun-walking" programs occurred during the Bush Administration, much earlier than previously known.
Without disclosing his sources, Issa defended the previous Administration's operations as "coordinated."
Washington, DC – At today's Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on wartime contracting, Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings urged Chairman Darrell Issa to support legislation introduced by Congressman John Tierney, the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense, and Foreign Operations, to establish a permanent Inspector General to oversee contractors in war zones and root out waste, fraud, and abuse.
Washington, DC – Amid allegations that Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation sought to hack the telephones of September 11th victims and other U.S. citizens, Congressmen Bruce Braley (IA-01) and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (MD-07), joined by six other Oversight Committee Members, called on Chairman Darrell Issa today to investigate the allegations.
WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Kenneth Melson, the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) will be leaving his post to return to DOJ as a senior advisor for forensic science, and Dennis Burke, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, is resigning his position. The Committee has been investigating ATF and DOJ's handling of Operation Fast and Furious in Arizona and recently interviewed both Mr. Melson and Mr. Burke. Rep.