By Douglas Holtz-Eakin
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The former U.S. attorney in Arizona sought to undermine criticisms by a veteran Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent concerning the botched “Fast and Furious” gunrunning investigation with his release of an internal agency document to the media, the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General said Monday in a report.

The Obama administration found itself facing a series of scandals and it was revealed that the federal government gave witness protection to terrorists. On the international stage, the Russians sent more than a dozen warships to aid the Assad regime in Syria. Here's a recap, or wrap, on the week that was from The Washington Times.

The federal government gave witness protection to known and suspected terrorists and the U.S. Marshals Service even lost track of two of those people, according to a report Thursday from the Justice Department's auditor that exposes the previously hidden side of the witness program.

Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle were asking questions Wednesday about the Justice Department’s subpoena of telephone records involving editors and reporters at The Associated Press, with Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. expected to be asked about the matter during an long-scheduled hearing before the House Judiciary Committee

America is not what is wrong with the world. If you expect people to be in on the landing, include them in the takeoff. You get what you inspect, not what you expect. If you're coasting, you're going downhill.

The Justice Department is not saying why it secretly seized the telephone records of reporters and editors at The Associated Press, but several people close to the department said federal authorities have focused on the news agency in an ongoing investigation into the source of leaks about a CIA operation in Yemen.

Questions have surfaced over a Justice Department plan to hire 44 more attorneys for its Civil Rights Division, which has been accused of bias by members of Congress and been described in a government report as having deep ideological differences that have fueled disputes harmful to its operation.
The Obama administration found itself in the cross hairs of mounting Republican frustration Tuesday over national security policy, with particular focus on unanswered questions surrounding the Boston Marathon bombings last month and the terrorist attack last year on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

The Obama administration found itself in the cross hairs of mounting Republican frustration Tuesday over national security policy, with particular focus on unanswered questions surrounding the Boston Marathon bombings last month and the terrorist attack last year on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

The State Department sought Tuesday to discredit a media report that claimed the Obama administration has threatened CIA and State Department officials in an attempt to intimidate them from cooperating with lawmakers seeking information about the September 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya.

Congress has been looking to increase inspections on some types of private gun purchases, but federally licensed firearms dealers — whose sales already are subject to background checks — may need more scrutiny themselves, according to a Justice Department audit.

Republicans have ramped up attacks on President Obama's pick to head the Labor Department, releasing a scathing report that says Thomas E. Perez abused his power and negotiated a dubious deal while serving as head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

The suspensions of two Justice Department prosecutors for failing to turn over evidence in the government's botched corruptions case against Sen. Ted Stevens have been overturned by an administrative judge.
The chairman of a House subcommittee that funds the Justice Department wants Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to call for an independent review of the department's Civil Rights Division in the wake of a government report that documented widespread abuses within the division.

"The president shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States. " -- Article II, U.S. Constitution