Breaking News: Mole helps Rep. Issa whack Justice Dept. :: 06/07/2012

With the help of a mole, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has turned the tables on Attorney General Eric Holder.

Issa has long been exasperated with Holder, claiming that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been withholding information on a controversial gun-running operation. But through an anonymous source, Issa has obtained information about the initiative that is under a federal court-ordered seal.

Giving such information out is a federal crime, raising the question of whether the Justice Department will seek to prosecute what Republicans are calling a whistleblower.

Issa has asked the DOJ for the documents - wiretap applications it used in the botched federal gun-tracking Operation Fast and Furious - for months. The California lawmaker has taken preliminary steps to move contempt-of-Congress citations against Holder, but it remains unclear if GOP leaders support that move. This new controversy could help Issa attract more Republican support for a contempt-of-Congress resolution.

If Holder does launch an investigation into where the leak originated, the powerful Republican could paint the move as an attempt by the DOJ to hide the documents' contents. It would also raise the possibility that DOJ investigators will seek information from Issa, who has been trying to determine who approved the "gun-walking" tactics used in Fast and Furious along the U.S.-Mexico border.

On the other hand, not launching a probe would mean turning a blind eye to a criminal breach and could lead Issa's source and others to reveal other information sealed by a judge.

Issa told Fox News on Wednesday that he has no intention of shining the light on his source: "We're not going to make our whistleblower available. That's been one of the most sensitive areas, because some of the early whistleblowers are already feeling retribution. They're being treated horribly."

Asked earlier this week where he got the wiretap applications, Issa told The Hill, "You can ask, but you should have no expectation of an answer. By the way, if I asked you where you got yours, would you give me your sources?"

by Jordy Yager 06/07/12