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Holder on gun smuggling scandal: ‘I frankly don’t know’ what really happened
The Daily Caller ^ | May 5, 2011 | Jonathon Strong

Posted on 05/05/2011 3:19:15 PM PDT by neverdem

Did the Justice Department knowingly allow assault weapons and military-grade sniper rifles to cross the U.S.-Mexico border headed for drug cartels, with the goal of tracking the weapons electronically?

Documents released by top GOP oversight officials and investigative reports by news media say yes. And two AK-47s, part of Operation Fast and Furious which tracked the guns as they made their way into criminal networks, were found at the murder scene of Border Agent Brian Terry.

Attorney General Eric Holder, the official in charge of the federal agency which conducted the mission, says he doesn’t know.

“I frankly don’t know … it’s something that we take very seriously,” Holder said under grilling by by Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top-ranking GOP senator on the Judiciary Committee in a hearing Wednesday.

One document indicating it was the policy of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to “walk” the military-grade guns into Mexico is a memo from two months ago that tells agents not to do that, although the operation had been in place for years, Grassley said.

The March 9 memo, from the deputy attorney general, said, “we should not design or conduct undercover operations which include guns crossing the border. If we have knowledge that guns are about to cross the border, we must take immediate actions to stop the firearms from crossing the border.”

The memo came approximately one month after the Justice Department denied to Grassley that guns were crossing the border.

“If the ATF, as the agency keeps telling us, did not knowingly allow guns into the hands of traffickers, why was that directive even necessary? Why issue a memo telling people to stop doing something unless you think maybe they have been doing it?” Grassley asked Holder.

“The memo was issued because the allegations had been raised,” Holder said, “the possibility that that happened was sufficient I thought to have clarification sent to the field that we should never allow guns in an uncontrolled fashion to cross the border or actually to leave any investigation in an uncontrolled way,” Holder said.

“I don’t think it represents a change in policy, but I certainly wanted to make sure that people in the field understood that that is in fact the policy. And to the extent there was any confusion, I wanted to make sure there was none.” Holder said.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: banglist; ericholder; gunwalker; holder

1 posted on 05/05/2011 3:19:18 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: neverdem

Holder obviously taking the Obama approach...

Just say it wasn’t you....


2 posted on 05/05/2011 3:20:26 PM PDT by Typical_Whitey ("It doesn't matter how smart you are, unless you stop and think".... Thomas Sowell)
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To: neverdem

Holder.....the black Sgt Schultz.


3 posted on 05/05/2011 3:25:53 PM PDT by Red in Blue PA (Let's apply the "reasonable man" standard to gun laws. How many would stand?)
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To: Typical_Whitey
There are undoubtedly some staff people over at the Washington Post who know better.

They should be brought in to tell the committee the degree to which they, themselves, participated in the crimes.

Maybe they'd like to rat out the DOJ guys who sucked them in (as if "posties" need to be sucked to get their compliance).

4 posted on 05/05/2011 3:26:49 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: neverdem

Well Mr Holder...it is YOUR Job to know! You should hear those wonderful words regular employees hear when they do not do their job correctly..YOUR FIRED!


5 posted on 05/05/2011 3:27:19 PM PDT by blueyon (The U. S. Constitution - read it and weep)
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To: neverdem
Incompetence as a defense. Sounds like grounds for impeachment.

Somebody incompetent to hold office should be impeached...

6 posted on 05/05/2011 3:32:39 PM PDT by topher (Traditional values -- especially family values -- are the values that time has proven them to work)
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To: topher
Somebody incompetent to hold office should be impeached...

Let's look at history, this is EXACTLY the WATERGATE scenario. Pawns lied to protect the President.

Obama is the man who came up with this idea to attack Gunmakers and gun distributors.

7 posted on 05/05/2011 3:34:55 PM PDT by politicianslie (A taxpayer voting for Obama is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders)
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To: neverdem

Wow. This guy just doesn’t know anything, does he? What a complete buffoon. Perfect for this administration, with the exception of Leon Panetta.


8 posted on 05/05/2011 3:36:48 PM PDT by cld51860 (Lies, lies, all lies!)
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To: Typical_Whitey
Same thing the Clintons suffer from, selective memory loss.
9 posted on 05/05/2011 4:05:14 PM PDT by drypowder
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To: neverdem
Holder only knows one thing...

It's...


10 posted on 05/05/2011 4:06:39 PM PDT by SparkyBass
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To: Red in Blue PA

I know NOTHINK!

If he did know, he should be fired and prosecuted. If he didn’t know, he should be fired for incompetence.

If he’s lying to Congress, he should be prosecuted.


11 posted on 05/05/2011 4:07:15 PM PDT by wildbill (You're just jealous because the Voices talk only to me.)
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To: neverdem

This isn’t something cooked up by field agents!


12 posted on 05/05/2011 4:09:47 PM PDT by SWAMPSNIPER
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To: topher

Isaashould ask Holder in front of the cameras, “are you a moron?”


13 posted on 05/05/2011 4:34:09 PM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (Who is John Galt?)
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To: neverdem
Did the Justice Department knowingly allow assault weapons and military-grade sniper rifles to cross the U.S.-Mexico border headed for drug cartels, with the goal of tracking the weapons electronically?

The answer is yes they did! The real question is why did they do that. The likely answer that hopefully will come out of all of this is that they wanted to create a media story that would allow them to say that new gun control laws are required within the USA to prevent gun violence in Mexico and boarder areas. Well in a way they were right, there is a need for legislation to take care of a rouge government agency that has blood on its hands from allowing weapons to be turned over to obvious strawmen buyers for Mexican drug cartels. That legislation should be aimed at punishing and putting in jail people at the Department of Justice, who feel that they are above the law.

14 posted on 05/05/2011 5:10:15 PM PDT by Robert357 (D.Rather "Hoist with his own petard!" www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1223916/posts)
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To: neverdem
“I frankly don’t know … it’s something that we take very seriously,”

Maddie Albright was the first politician I noticed, that could talk in a complete circle, completely contradicting herself, in one run-on sentence. And the worthless mediots would just let her ridiculous statement hang out there, without question.

It's nice to know that Mr. Holder and the same old mediots can carry on that tradition.

15 posted on 05/05/2011 5:11:20 PM PDT by FlyVet
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To: Red in Blue PA

” Stedman”Holder can’t find his buttocks with both hands!


16 posted on 05/05/2011 5:33:00 PM PDT by sheik yerbouty ( Make America and the world a jihad free zone!)
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To: neverdem

Holder should ask Eboo- Eboo would know


17 posted on 05/05/2011 6:33:59 PM PDT by MissDairyGoodnessVT (I am keeping the faith, I have not finished my course and I am fighting for the good)
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To: neverdem

Great defense. I forgot.


18 posted on 05/05/2011 9:18:18 PM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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