It just got a little bit harder for Barack Obama’s Department of Justice to continue their Fast and Furious cover-up.

Senator Charles Grassley says a U.S. District Court judge has rejected the Administration’s attempt to claim that they are above the law.

Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa made the following statement after Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the Obama administration’s arguments that the court had no jurisdiction to resolve the dispute between the House of Representatives and the Justice Department about turning over subpoenaed documents pertaining to the congressional investigation into Operation Fast and Furious. In her opinion, Judge Jackson wrote, “In the Court’s view endorsing the proposition that the executive may assert an unreviewable right to withhold materials from the legislature would offend the Constitution more than undertaking to resolve the specific dispute that has been presented here.”

Grassley started the investigation in January 2011 after whistleblowers came forward to reveal the illegal gunwalking program implemented by the Obama administration.  Grassley’s Feb. 4, 2011 letter cited in the opinion can be found here.  Grassley’s letters and supporting documents can be found on his website, Grassley.senate.gov/judiciary.

“This is an important step toward ensuring that Congress’ constitutional responsibility to provide oversight of the executive branch is vindicated. The President’s sweeping assertion of executive privilege over Fast and Furious documents is completely contrary to the transparent government that he promised and beyond any valid claim of privilege under the law.  The documents subpoenaed by the House of Representatives are essential to gaining a full understanding of the gunwalking program that led to the tragic death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent and the efforts to keep the truth about it from Congress and the American people.  Given that its refusal to comply with the subpoena is unlikely to survive legal scrutiny, I fully expect the Obama administration to continue to put up procedural roadblocks to resolving this dispute. However, I look forward to the court finally deciding the case on the merits.”