Kurt Bardella, the former deputy communications director for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee who was canned for sharing emails from reporters with the New York Times’ Mark Leibovich, is trumpeting his old boss Rep. Darrell Issa’s favorite Obama administration scandal – the government’s disasterous Fast and Furious gunwalking operation – in a California congressional race.
Bardella, who is now the communications director for former Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado, blasted out the below press release demanding that his candidate’s opponent, Democratic Rep. Lois Capps, speak out on the gunwalking mishap, which some Republicans claim is enough to warrant Attorney General Eric Holder’s resignation.
Of course, many of the same Republican members of Congress – Senator John Cornyn chief among them – making political hay out of the gun operation insisted in 2007 that disgraced Bush administration Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, implicated in the politicized firings of U.S. attorneys, was the victim of a “political witch hunt.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 18, 2012 CONTACT –
http://maldonadoforcongress.com/ Kurt Bardella
Where Does Lois Capps Stand on Operation Fast and Furious
SANTA MARIA, CA – Former California Lt. Governor and congressional candidate Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) today called on Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) to break her silence on Operation Fast and Furious, the program run jointly by the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that allowed thousands of guns purchased in the United States to literally walk across the border into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.
“Given the significant Hispanic population we have in the 24th Congressional District and throughout the state of California – Lois Capps’ silence on this issue is troubling,” said Maldonado. “Does she support the current congressional investigation? Does she agree with Mexico’s Ambassador <http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/230367-mexico-amb-fast-and-furious-qpoisonedq-mexico-public-opinion-of-us> that this misguided operation has “poisoned” our relationship with our southern neighbor? Who at the Justice Department does Lois Capps believe should be held accountable for the murder of two of our own border patrol agents and hundreds of innocent Mexican citizens? Where does Lois Capps stand on Operation Fast and Furious?”
The investigation into Operation Fast and Furious will be the topic of a meeting being held this afternoon between Attorney General Eric Holder and members of Congress who have been investigating the program.
“I personally believe that citizens on both sides of the border deserve answers,” added Maldonado. “Two of our own border patrol agents are dead. Hundreds of Mexican citizens are dead. The Justice Department has stonewalled the congressional investigation refusing to comply with a subpoena. I agree with Mexico’s Attorney General <http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/19/world/la-fg-mexico-fast-furious-20110920> that we need answers right now. Hopefully, Congresswoman Capps does too.”
Kurt Bardella
Communications Director
Abel Maldonado for Congress (FEC # C00493379)
