Issa has been on a campaign to force the Department of Justice to turn over the log. DOJ told to yield Fast & Furious log

A U.S. District judge ruled on Wednesday that the Department of Justice must turn over a privilege log of documents withheld by the agency on Operation Fast and Furious.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that the Justice Department must provide the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee with a list of documents — but not the documents themselves — withheld on the gunrunning operation.


The agency has until Oct. 1 to turn over the documents, Jackson said during a status hearing.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the Oversight panel, cheered the ruling.

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“This administration has been so intent on hiding the contents of these documents that it allowed Attorney General Holder to be held in contempt instead of just turning them over to Congress,” Issa said. “The privilege log will bring us closer to finding out why the Justice Department hid behind false denials in the wake of reckless conduct that contributed to the violent deaths of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and countless Mexican citizens.”

Issa has been on a campaign to force the Department of Justice to turn over documents and detail how the operation, where the U.S. government sent guns into Mexico to hopefully sting cartel leaders, launched. Issa brought a lawsuit against Attorney General Eric Holder over his testimony and the House ultimately held Holder in contempt of Congress.

In a win for the Obama administration, Jackson did rule that a number of documents, all pertaining to how the DOJ responded to congressional inquiries, were still privileged.

“We are pleased the judge recognized that executive privilege includes a deliberative process beyond presidential communications,” said Emily Pierce, a spokeswoman for DOJ.