Rep. Issa Officially Subpoenas Atty. Gen. Holder Over ‘Fast and Furious’

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa sent Attorney General Eric Holder a subpoena earlier today to get all relevant Operation Fast and Furious communications in an effort to determine when, exactly, Holder first learned about the ill-conceived gunrunning sting.

The subpoena requests information from 16 top Department of Justice officials as well as correspondence between DOJ and the former head of the ATF's Arizona field office, Bill Newell.

It also requests all DOJ communications relating to the mission of murdered Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agent Jaime Zapata, and murdered U.S. Border Agent Brian Terry.

A key issue has become whether Attorney General Eric Holder perjured himself when he told Congress on May 3rd, 2011, that he learned of Operation Fast and Furious "over the last few weeks." As The Blaze reported earlier this month, there are internal Department of Justice memos from July of 2010 addressed to the Attorney General that describe the Fast and Furious program nine months before his testimony.

The pressure is clearly mounting on the Department of Justice to explain the decision-making process behind Operation Fast and Furious, and for a full accounting of the operation to be given to the American people. Chairman Issa's office released a statement on the subpoena that says, according to Fox News:

"Top Justice Department officials, including Attorney General Holder, know more about Operation Fast and Furious than they have publicly acknowledged. The documents this subpoena demands will provide answers to questions that Justice officials have tried to avoid since this investigation began eight months ago. It's time we know the whole truth."

Attorney General Holder has told reporters that his office would "undoubtedly comply" with the subpoenas.