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Prosecutor in ‘Fast and Furious’ intends to take 5th

A House committee says a federal prosecutor in Arizona intends to remain silent if called for questioning in a congressional probe of a problem-plagued gun smuggling investigation

By Pete Yost
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A House committee says a federal prosecutor in Arizona intends to remain silent if called for questioning in a congressional probe of a problem-plagued gun smuggling investigation.

Patrick Cunningham’s decision to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in the investigation of Operation Fast and Furious comes after the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee subpoenaed him.

Republican committee Chairman Darrell Issa says congressional investigators have information that Cunningham played a role in approving a controversial law enforcement tactic, resulting in federal agents losing track of weapons that later turned up at crime scenes in Mexico and the U.S.

Cunningham, chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Phoenix, is resigning his government post effective a week from now to take a job in the private sector.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press

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