S. HRG. 112–795 OVERSIGHT OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JUNE 12, 2012 Serial No. J–112–79 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary ( OVERSIGHT OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE S. HRG. 112–795 OVERSIGHT OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JUNE 12, 2012 Serial No. J–112–79 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 81–674 PDF WASHINGTON : 2013 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont, Chairman HERB KOHL, Wisconsin CHUCK GRASSLEY, Iowa DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah CHUCK SCHUMER, New York JON KYL, Arizona DICK DURBIN, Illinois JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota JOHN CORNYN, Texas AL FRANKEN, Minnesota MICHAEL S. LEE, Utah CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware TOM COBURN, Oklahoma RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut BRUCE A. COHEN, Chief Counsel and Staff Director KOLAN DAVIS, Republican Chief Counsel and Staff Director (II) C O N T E N T S STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS Page Grassley, Hon. Chuck, a U.S. Senator from the State of Iowa ............................ 3 Leahy, Hon. Patrick, a U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont ........................ 1 prepared statement .......................................................................................... 348 WITNESSES Holder, Eric H., Jr., Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, Wash- ington, DC ............................................................................................................. 5 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Responses of Eric H. Holder to questions submitted by Senators Leahy, Kohl, Feinstein, Whitehouse, Klobuchar, Grassley, Sessions, Coburn ...................... 51 SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD Holder, Eric H., Jr., Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, Wash- ington, DC, statement .......................................................................................... 339 U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legislative Affairs, Judith C. Appelbaum, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Washington, DC: June 8, 2012, letter .......................................................................................... 344 June 18, 2012, letter ........................................................................................ 346 Michael Chertoff, Paul Wolfowitz, James Cartwright, J. Mike McConnell, Michael Hayden and William Lynn, III, June 6, 2012 joint letter .................. 350 U.S. Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, Hon. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa, June 14, 2012, letter ............................................................................................ 352 (III) OVERSIGHT OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:04 a.m., in room SD–226, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Patrick J. Leahy, Chairman of the Committee, presiding. Present: Senators Leahy, Kohl, Feinstein, Schumer, Durbin, Whitehouse, Klobuchar, Franken, Coons, Blumenthal, Grassley, Sessions, Kyl, Graham, Cornyn, and Lee. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. PATRICK J. LEAHY, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF VERMONT Chairman LEAHY. I am glad to see everybody here. We will let Senator Grassley get in, and I think everybody is going to give us a little room here in the front so we can see the Attorney General. And I welcome our Attorney General, Eric Holder, back to the Sen- ate Judiciary Committee. The mission of the Department of Justice has always been to pro- tect and safeguard all Americans—to keep Americans safe from terrorism and other national security threats, to keep our commu- nities safe from crime, and to safeguard the rights and liberties that make us American. When Attorney General Holder took over more than 3 years ago, he inherited a Department that many felt had lost its way and its focus on its core missions. His leadership has helped to restore the Department, and it has made great strides in each of these areas, and I see it when I walk through the halls of the Department of Justice and the reaction of those who work there, many from both Republican or Democratic admin- istrations. The Department’s success in holding terrorists accountable and helping to disrupt threats to national security has been remark- able. The results can be seen in the growing number of convictions and the lengthy sentences handed down by our Federal courts. At the same time, however, we must ensure that our national se- curity tools are used in a way that is consistent with our Constitu- tion, our laws, and our values. I remain concerned that Congress has not yet received all of the information it has requested regard- ing the legal rationale for the targeted killing of U.S. citizens over- seas, and I renew my request that the relevant Office of Legal Counsel memoranda be provided. I do appreciate the memorandum provided by the White House, but I want the final memorandum. (1) 2 Moreover, as Congress considers reauthorizing the surveillance provisions enacted by the FISA Amendments Act, I will work to en- sure that the constitutional rights and privacy interests of all Americans are protected. While remaining focused on safeguarding our national security, the Department has also had historic success in keeping our com- munities safe from crime. At a time of economic crisis and shrink- ing State and local law enforcement budgets, many expected vio- lent crime to explode. Normally, it would have. But, instead, crime rates across the country have continued to decline. One bright light throughout our country. The commitment of the Department, along with the President and the Congress, to continue Federal assist- ance to State and local law enforcement has been critical to these successes. The Department’s tough and effective stewardship of Federal law enforcement has helped to keep crime rates low. The hard work and good advice of those in the Department who work every day to help women victimized by domestic and sexual assault was also crucial in helping those of us in the Senate craft a bipartisan Violence Against Women Act reauthorization bill, one that protects all victims. The professionals at the Department who do so much to help victims of trafficking have also helped us to craft strong bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and legislation to reauthorize the Second Chance Act to help prisoners become productive citizens. The Justice Department has worked hand in hand with us on fraud prevention and enforcement. As a result, we have seen record fraud recoveries and increased fraud arrests and convictions over the last few years. I also appreciate how under the AG’s leadership the Civil Rights Division has been restored and transformed. Beyond combating dis- crimination in mortgage lending but also protecting the rights of our men and women in uniform against employment abuses and wrongful foreclosures, we have seen the Department fiercely safe- guard the civil rights of all Americans. I know that the restoration of the Civil Rights Division has been a tall order, but the Depart- ment’s crown jewel—and it has been the crown jewel in the past in administrations of both parties—is, again, enforcing Americans’ civil rights law in a fair and evenhanded manner. I applaud the Department’s continued efforts to ensure that Americans do not have their constitutional right to vote taken away by efforts at voter suppression and disenfranchisement. Such barriers recall a dark time in our American history and one that we do not want to return to. We will never forget when Americans were attacked by dogs, blasted with water hoses, or beaten by mobs simply for attempting to register to vote. We remember a time when recalcitrant State officials used discriminatory devices such as poll taxes, grandfather clauses, and literacy tests to exclude American citizens from our democracy. We cannot backslide on what we have done to protect every American’s right to vote. Now, in this Presidential election year, when there may be a temptation to try to score political points, I urge the members of this Committee to help the Department better fulfill its duties to protect Americans and safeguard their rights. 3 And, last, I thank the men and women of the Department of Jus- tice who work hard every day to keep us safe and uphold the rule of law, and I thank Attorney General Holder for his extraordinary service under trying circumstances. I yield to Senator Grassley. STATEMENT OF HON. CHUCK GRASSLEY, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF IOWA Senator GRASSLEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, General Holder, for coming, and I trust that you will be able to pro- vide us with candid responses to our questions. Nearly a year ago, three whistleblowers testified before the House Government Oversight Committee about the use of a prac- tice called ‘‘gun walking,’’ Operation Fast and Furious. Guns from that operation ended up at the scene of the murder of Border Pa- trol agent Brian Terry. Here we are, 1 year later, and the Terry family still is waiting for answers. They are still waiting for justice. The FBI does not have the shooter in custody, and the Justice De- partment is still defying a congressional subpoena for information about how all this happened. Since last year at this time, a lot has happened. The United States Attorney for Arizona resigned and admitted leaking sen- sitive information about one of the whistleblowers to the press. The chief of the Criminal Division of the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona refused to testify, citing the Fifth Amendment right not to self-incriminate. Then he resigned. The head of the Criminal Division in Washington, Lanny Breuer, admitted he knew about gun walking in an earlier case called Wide Receiver.