Posted on 10/07/2011 7:35:19 AM PDT by Kaslin
As reported on these pages two days ago, Eric Holder lied in testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on May 3, 2011 when he said, "I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks." Documents now in the public domain indicate that Holder was extensively briefed numerous times months before the May 2011 Congressional hearing by DOJ officials and had received an official request for an investigation of the ATF gunrunning operation from the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee on March 9.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) has been under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice since 2003, and thus is Holder's direct responsibility. The Attorney General's assertion that he had only just learned of Operation Fast and Furious simply doesn't hold up against the facts. Further, it invites the obvious question; "What was he trying to hide, and why?"
Michael Walther, Director of the National Drug Intelligence Center, gave at least five weekly briefings to Holder regarding Fast and Furious beginning in July 2010 according to documents released by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). In the first memo, Walther told Holder straw gun buyers for Fast and Furious "are responsible for the purchase of 1,500 firearms that were then supplied to the Mexican drug trafficking cartels."
Serial numbers were used to trace some of those weapons to the assassination of ATF Agent Brian Terry on December 14, 2010 south of Tucson, Arizona.
In February of 2011, CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson blew the cover on Fast and Furious. (Video here) Aided by anonymous interviews with distraught ATF agents, and whistleblower Agent John Dodson, Attkisson explained the extent of the operation – 2500 weapons according to one agent, including 50 caliber and AK-47 type assault rifles. Repeatedly, agents and cooperating gun dealers raised concerns but were told by superiors to "stand down" and let the massive numbers of weapons "walk" across the border into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels.
Two of the guns found at the murder scene of Agent Terry were traced to the 575 AK-47 type rifles purchased by Jaime Avila for "personal use." Avila was on the ATF suspect list for a year before Terry's murder, but the ATF just watched as Avila kept moving loads of weapons. After Terry's murder, the ATF moved in and arrested Avila.
Attkisson's explosive series of reports prompted a strong rebuke from DOJ. In her February 23 exclusive she cites a letter in which the Justice Department claims the ATF "has never knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to suspected gunrunners." Apparently, by that date somebody at the DOJ was aware enough of Fast and Furious to deny that it existed.
Outrage quickly spread about Fast and Furious, and on March 9, 2011 the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Lamar Smith (TX) and thirteen other members of the Committee sent a letter to Holder asking for the Inspector General to investigate what had already become a scandal, and for immediate answers to the following questions from the Attorney General himself.
The Attorney General must not read his own mail – even when it's from Members of Congress with jurisdiction over his Department – because, two months after this letter was sent, the Attorney General told that same Judiciary Committee that he had only just learned of Operation Fast and Furious.
And, now his boss says he believes him.
During a White House press conference today, October 6, President Obama was questioned about Holder's contradictory testimony and the growing scandal. "I have complete confidence in Attorney General Holder," Obama said. "He's indicated that he was not aware of what was happening in Fast and Furious and certainly I was not, and I think both he and I would have been very unhappy if somebody had suggested that guns were allowed to pass through that could have been prevented by the United State of America." See video here
Obama's Fast and Furious Denial doesn't change the facts. Holder obviously did know at least five months before Agent Terry was murdered, and ten months before he perjured himself before a Congressional committee. And, contrary to the President's contention, what Holder knew about Fast and Furious didn't make him "unhappy" enough to do anything to stop the program. In fact, his only action regarding the operation seems to be to cover it up.
How far beyond Holder this scandal extends and how close it gets to the Oval Office is another question. Many members of Congress have already called for a Special Prosecutor to be appointed. That would require the Attorney General to appoint a prosecutor to investigate himself. We'll see how soon that happens.
What should happen immediately is that the heretofore silent Democrat Members of Congress, particularly the Leadership, demand Holder's firing. How can they support a President who continues to defend someone who is indefensible?
RE “Under the Radar” comment:
You and I reached the same conclusions, brother. See post 19.
Is it standard policy for the cartel operatives to drop their guns after they use them, so they can’t be tracked further? If not, the only other way to track them is to rely on arrest data, ballistics, actual electronic bugs, or undercover agents looking at them, as far as I can think of.
When the cartels uses/used the gun walker guns, did/do they know they are doing so, do you think? The cartels are very sophisticated. The whole thing opens possibilities that just boggle the mind...I mean they let .50 cal sniper rifles walk to my understanding. That would be a heck of a calling card to leave as a warning.
Freegards
Exactly. There’s a reason why guerrillas, criminals, and revolutionaries are stereotyped using AK-47s, because it’s TRUE!
Why would they settle for an AR-15, when there’s millions of fully automatic AKs floating around that require little maintenance and incredibly cheap?
Of course, Gun grabbers also believe that by banning guns then criminals will surrender theirs as well.
That would not surprise me and it is disgusting to have a criminal at the head of the DOJ
Bill O’Reilly had CSB reporter Sheryl Atkinson on his show last night.
Judging by the way she answered his questions, we have only seen the tip of this investigation.
She’s slowly chipping away at Holder and the DOJ’s stonewalling on this issue...
The goal was obviously to justify signing and ratifying the UN Small Arms Treaty by which to disarm American citizens while leaving them open for violent invasion. See tag line.
“..Gun grabbers also believe that by banning guns then criminals will surrender theirs as well...”
I don’t know that they believe, nor even think that, Shadow...I DO know they believe that if they can get away with disarming the normal citizenry, then they think they can bring about their little Marxist Utopian Masturbation Fantasy - you know, the one that involves folks like you and me being sent to “re-education camps “ - per Roseanne Barr - and the great uprising of the dictatorship of the Proletariat.
They DO know for a fact that as long as the average Johnny Doe Patriot on the street can walk up, at any time, anywhere during the course of their little revolution, and bust a cap in their Marxist asses, that they CAN’T get away with it.
“Why would they settle for an AR-15, when there’s millions of fully automatic AKs ...”
Bingo....and untraceable, as well. Those Soviet weapons that the commies provided to the Sandinistas and other commie guerrila groups find their way up to Mexico through the Ratlines.
Their cover story is ludicrous beyond imagination to anyone with a thinking brain - which is exactly NOT the group of people that the story is targeted to. It’s targeted to folks who know little or nothing about guns, the easily offended, the easily terrified, and the perpetually stupid - in other words, your typical, interchangeable, totally replaceable and useless standard Liberal, Cyberdine Systems Model-0001.
They’re stupid and ignorant enough to believe ANY feces this criminal admin pukes out.
April 2009, Obama: 90% of guns in Mexico come from US gun shops
You can search "Obama gun control under the radar" and find numerous articles or you can see the Fox News article on it here:
Obama Administration Eyeing Gun Control 'Under the Radar,' Groups Warn
“...The goal was obviously to justify signing and ratifying the UN Small Arms Treaty by which to disarm American citizens ...”
One wonders if this sort of threaded connection could be broached to said CBS reporter Sharyll Atkinson to do some more digging and start connecting dots.
I mean, what the hell, she’s already in for a penny/in for a pound, after all.
Hoping she’s a Patriot at heart and has good connections - and a LOT of personal protection at this point. She really pissed off the hornet’s nest.
White House Furious at CBS 'Fast and Furious' Investigation?
It's obvious why they are trying to hide.
Providing serious weapons to the cartel enemies of the nation of Mexico is a act of war.
Providing the weapons to known killers is at a minimum grossly negligent homicide and accomplice to murder.
Thanks for filling me in. It seems he pretty much admitted to this. I hope Issa does not bring Obama into this until a bit closer to the election. No backpeddling on this one, he seemed to know way too much to admit that he didn’t.
The first sentence answers the question posed in the second sentence.
They are Democrats. All they care about is power. How to increase their power, and how to cling on to it.
They don't give two bits about the Country, Constitution, or Justice.
Goes back further to Hillary Clowntoon too. She was making her “Iron River of American Guns flowing into Mexico” statements back in 2008/09 as well.
Libs are transparent if folks are paying attention - they ALWAYS tell you what they’re going to do because they’re too smug and arrogant to keep their mouths shut. Witness Maxine Waters and her “we gon’ socialize you oil compnees” comment some years back. That one slipped out in a moment of her railing and raging at some oil execs.
No, this little subversive and treasonous operation has been in the offing for a long, long time.
The libs NEVER got over the fact that the “Assault Weapon” ban sunsetted in 2004, and Tom Delay NEVER let it resurface in the House afterwards - they were quick to jump all over him and have him removed by any means necessary after that. They’ve been scheming and salivating over getting it renewed ever since.
This was their moment, and they blew it again...thank God for stupidity and arrogance.
Now we need to capitalize on their error and kick the whole rotten door in and expose them - any way we can.
There’s a whole lot of p*ssed off people in this country right now; they can get a whole lot MORE p*ssed off when they find out what this criminal admin has really been up to.
“Is it standard policy for the cartel operatives to drop their guns after they use them,.....”
THAT HAS BEEN BUGGING THE “H” OUT OF ME since I first read about this F & F operation.
Unless they had orders from their Cartel bosses to kill, and drop those weapons so they could be traced, (as part of the deal with the BATFE for providing them not only weapons, but operational protections as well) why would anyone in their right mind leave behind a perfectly good weapon?
The only thing that makes sense is a choreographed mission by the DOJ for the purpose of establishing fabricated evidence to support any anti second amendment actions on the part of the Obama administration. A setup for the UN’s Worldwide small arms ban, and confiscation.
Otherwise I can’t for the life in me understand dropping those perfectly good weapons at scene.
Observation: Seems to me that in recent past there were those in our government quite adept at fabricating such scenarios as we see today. Seems to me one of those fabricators is SOS today, and a supporter of that Worldwide ban of small personal weapons the U.N. is so adamant to establish.
Why would they leave them behind? So they don’t get caught in possession of a weapon that can be traced ballistically back to a murder. That’s why
I think they might drop them because they could be traced if forensics are done at the original crime scene. For instance if the same ballistics show up on the US border and then in Coloumbia.
I just wondered if it was standard procedure for the cartel’s operatives to do that, or were the guns left at that crime scene as a specific message—thanks for the guns, don’t try it again, here’s the body of an US Agent or two. Money isn’t really an argument for keeping the guns around I suppose, these are the same people who were buying second hand subs and disposing of them after one run, if I recall.
Freegards
“So they don’t get caught in possession of a weapon that can be traced ballistically back to a murder. That’s why”
I don’t think those drug cartel animal sorts really care about such things. Those in the field, many only children as young as thirteen as we have read committing such atrocities as murdering their fellow man, or agents of the U.S. border patrol aren’t generally the sophisticated hit man you see in James Bond flicks.
These weapons are intended to be found as I see it Lurker.
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