Ronald Weich, the Assistant Attorney General who sent a letter to Congress denying that gunwalking tactics used in Operation Fast and Furious were ever used, is resigning from his position. This comes only days prior to Congress holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for obstruction of an investigation.
“Serving the department has been a tremendous privilege, and I’m pleased with [the Office of Legislative Affairs’] accomplishments over the last three years,” Weich said in a statement. “We have worked effectively with Congress to advance the mission and goals of the Justice Department.”
Holder said that he is ‘proud of the work done’ by Weich and his team members. The Justice Department also praised Weich for “strengthen[ing] the department’s relationship with Congress.”
“[The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] makes every effort to interdict weapons that have been purchased illegally and prevent their transportation to Mexico,” Weich wrote in a letter sent to Senator Chuck Grassley on February 4, 2011. The letter said that any rumors that federal authorities were allowing weapons to be trafficked from the United States to Mexico were false. The letter was retracted in December of 2011 and Holder had to defend Weich and the department from charges that the two lied to Congress.
“Nobody at the Justice Department has lied,” Holder said when he retracted the Weich letter. He claimed that Weich did not know that the information he sent in the letter was incorrect.
Weich is leaving his position to take the job of dean of the University of Baltimore School of Law beginning in July.