Fast and Furious: Wiretap documents confirm senior Justice officials knew about “gun walking”

Human Events ^ | 6/5/12 | John Hayward

[Nachum]

It’s becoming increasingly clear why Attorney General Eric Holder is so reluctant to hand over subpoenaed documents to Congressional investigators. Today, House Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) wrote Holder to discuss some wiretaps related to Operation Fast and Furious, the deadly Obama Administration program that put American guns into the hands of Mexican cartel killers.

Holder has always maintained that he and his top deputies were unaware of the outrageous methods employed in Fast and Furious, which involved “walking” American guns across the border, ostensibly to trap cartel bigwigs with firearms charges. No serious effort was made to track the guns. They have a distressing tendency to turn up in close proximity to dead Mexican and American citizens, with hundreds of them still unaccounted for.

“In a May 15, 2012 letter,” Issa reminded Holder, “the Deputy Attorney General reiterated the Department’s position that the ‘inappropriate tactics used in Fast and Furious… were not initiated or authorized by Department leadership in Washington.’ We now know that statement is false.”

Issa knows this because his committee has obtained “copies of six wiretap applications in support of seven wire intercepts utilized during Fast and Furious.” These applications are sealed from public view by judicial order, but Issa’s committee has reviewed them, and found they “show immense detail about questionable investigative tactics was available to the senior officials who reviewed and authorized them.”

[butterdezillion]

Why were you on review status? I’ve never seen anything but good from you.

[butterdezillion]

Specifically arming the Sinaloan (sp?) drug cartel without consulting the Mexican government is an act of war on Mexico.

And Holder wants us to believe he knew nothing about it. I can’t remember her name but there was a Congress-critter who was former law enforcement who was asking questions during a Congressional hearing, and she asked whether acts of war (I think she phrased it as operations that cross international lines, or something) are routinely approved by lower-level staffers without the knowledge and consent of either the AG or any of the higher-ups.

I’ve seen so much and shouldn’t be surprised by anything at this point, but I STILL have to shake my head at the thought that these blatant crooks haven’t been run out on a rail yet.

[cookcounty]

Give Holder a break....the man is very very busy making sure that no American has to show a picture ID to vote.

And then he will move on to all those poor sick people that are dying every day because they don’t have the picture ID that is required to get their life-saving medications.

But first, he has to make sure about the voting. First things first.

[cookcounty]

"Specifically arming the Sinaloan (sp?) drug cartel without consulting the Mexican government is an act of war on Mexico."

Yes indeed, and suddenly the Attorney General that's OK with US troops being hauled before the International Court of Justice, rediscovers the importance of US national sovereignty. What a complete hypocritical moron.

[Hotlanta Mike]

This may cost the dims the latino vote for Noevember...

[philman_36]

Glad to hear that.

[philman_36]

Where’s the Hispanic backlash to that.
If Hispanics don't know about there can't be a backlash.

How many people do you know who have any idea that this even happened, much less the details of it?
Gag the media (or the media gag themselves) and no repercussions via total ignorance amongst the populace.

[Lady Lucky]

Just, wow...Imagine if a Republican administration were responsible for this, and Ted Kennedy was around to gnaw on it. Articles of impeachment would be smoking hot already.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

These TV enterprises are in the Obama/Holder pocket because they are all pro-illegal immigrants, esp. from Mexico.

SO what is decent, innocent Mexican citizens are killed by the cartels, armed, in part, by Holder and company. They don’t vote in the US, they don’t give them grants and “exclusives” or even buy their products.

These leftist Hispanics have a saying: “We don’t need no stinkin, non-voting, hardworking Mexicans. They won’t get us our cut for supporting Obama.”

[Sal]

See kcvl’s posts 3 through six. Ate crow; didn’t like it. Still don’t. Best I can do is understand that there are several really good people working very hard for the right thing. I do NOT include the leadership.

Thanks for the usual excellent job of keeping us informed, kcvl.

[supercat]

Now, the question is, WHY are the "Republicans" afraid?

There are probably a number of factors, but I suspect many politicians get sucked into a deadly pattern: they become aware of some minor wrong-doing by some other politicians, but are convinced to look the other way. They then become aware of some more serious wrong-doing, but the crooked politician reminds them that if they expose him, they'll also expose their earlier failure to do so. So, rather than risk such embarrassment, they cover for the more serious wrong-doing. The pattern continues until it's clear that the crooks belong in jail, but by that point those who covered for them also belong in jail (and thus still want things to stay covered up).