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The Republican platform ratified this week by party members at their national convention “condemns” the Justice Department’s Operation Fast and Furious, saying “reckless actions” associated with the failed gun-tracking program resulted in the murder of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry and others. The 62-page document does not mention Terry by name. However, Terry was the only border agent killed in connection with the operation. Guns allowed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to slip across the U.S-Mexico border and into the black market were found close the where Terry was killed Dec. 14, 2010, in a...

TAMPA, Fla. – Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley told The Daily Caller that if a federal judge doesn’t overturn President Barack Obama’s assertion of executive privilege over Operation Fast and Furious documents, it’d be the worst abuse of the presidential secrecy power in its history. “Well, if he [a federal judge] doesn’t [overturn Obama’s executive privilege assertion], it’s going to be the most sweeping abuse of executive privilege in the history of executive privilege,” Grassley said in an interview Tuesday at the Republican National Convention. The House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal and civil...

While Justice Department and ATF officials (reportedly including key players from the Phoenix Field Division at the time Operation Fast and Furious was being implemented) pore over the Office of Inspector General draft report during the required review and comment period, Arizona attorney, author, civil rights activist and blogger David T. Hardy, reminded his readers yesterday of an earlier report that, in his words, “spells out ‘gunwalking.’” Writing on his Of Arms and the Law blog, Hardy linked to the Justice Department’s September, 2010 “PROJECT GUNRUNNER, A Cartel Focused Strategy” publication and called attention to several key passages. Including, and...

(CNSNews.com) - The long-awaited inspector general's report on the Justice Department's botched gun-running scheme is finished, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said on Wednesday. But along with that news comes more questions: Issa and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are demanding to know why a top ATF official involved in Operation Fast and Furious remains on paid leave from ATF -- while simultaneously drawing a six-figure salary from J.P. Morgan, a major investment bank.

A series of stories developed from documents received and analyzed in this column over the past few days have resulted in some answers and more questions regarding John Shipley, a former FBI agent convicted of illegal gun dealing. A remarkable conclusion from a source close to his case is convinced “ATF was directly responsible for the sale of [a .50 caliber rifle] to Jonatan Lopez through their informant Paul Lee on 12/19/2007” in the parking lot of an El Paso gun store. Readers of this series have seen how Lopez, a Mexican national with a Texas driver license, purchased the...

An FBI agent’s conviction for illegally dealing in firearms was greatly influenced by the introduction of prejudicial statements and materials, documents obtained and analyzed by Gun Rights Examiner over the past few days reveal. John Shipley, found guilty in April, 2010, has insisted throughout his prosecution and incarceration that he was instead an active and enthusiastic collector who bought and sold guns in accordance with federal firearms regulations recognizing such activities as legal. Courtroom transcripts, reported statements and irrelevant exhibits designed to sway jurors with emotion, rather than evidence, appear to bolster his contention, especially when compared to what the...

Document List Cited in Complaint at link: October 11, 2011 Subpoena to Attorney General Eric Holder Letter from Sen. Charles Grassley to Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson (Jan. 27, 2011) Letter from Sen. Charles Grassley to Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson (Jan. 31, 2011) Letter from Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich to Sen. Charles Grassley (Feb. 4, 2011) Letter from Rep. Darrell Issa to Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson (Mar. 16, 2011) Letter from Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich to Rep. Darrell Issa (Apr. 19, 2011) Letter from Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich to Sen. Charles Grassley (May 2, 2011)...

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa plans to sue Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday for refusing to provide documents related to the "Fast and Furious" gun-smuggling operation. "The committee expects to file the civil contempt suit against the attorney general Monday," a Republican source said. The suit will be filed in the federal district court for the District of Columbia.The action is the latest escalation in the dispute between House Republicans and the Justice Department over the documents, which relate to a botched gun-smuggling operation.On June 28, the House voted to hold Holder in contempt of Congress...

A high-ranking Mexican drug cartel operative currently in U.S. custody is making startling allegations that the failed federal gun-walking operation known as “Fast and Furious” isn’t what you think it is. It wasn’t about tracking guns, it was about supplying them — all part of an elaborate agreement between the U.S. government and Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa Cartel to take down rival cartels. The explosive allegations are being made by Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla, known as the Sinaloa Cartel’s “logistics coordinator.” He was extradited to the Chicago last year to face federal drug charges.

The only things we know for certain about ATF’s disastrous Fast and Furious operation so far are: thousands of firearms were secreted into Mexico by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) without the Mexican government’s knowledge; hundreds of Mexicans and one US Border Patrol agent were killed by these guns; Attorney General Eric Holder has lied before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about his involvement in the operation, and President Barack Obama has invoked Executive Privilege to keep Fast and Furious documents hidden. All of this under the most corrupt administration since Warren G. Harding....

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder may show up on “Jeopardy!” one of these days. No, not as a contestant. As an answer. The clue: “He’s the first attorney general in U.S. history to be held in contempt of Congress.” The answer: “Who is Eric Holder?” That’s surely not the distinction Holder was going for when he took the job. But thanks to the scandal known as Fast and Furious, that’s what he’s best known for: overseeing an operation that put more than 2,000 guns into the hands of a Mexican drug cartel and led to the deaths of hundreds of...

A high-ranking Mexican drug cartel operative currently in U.S. custody is making startling allegations that the failed federal gun-walking operation known as “Fast and Furious” isn’t what you think it is. It wasn’t about tracking guns, it was about supplying them — all part of an elaborate agreement between the U.S. government and Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa Cartel to take down rival cartels.

Here's the link.

"The Justice Department’s inspector general’s office says it is creating a new post to help protect whistleblowers who call attention to waste and abuse" after "whistleblowers who complained to Congress about the [Fast and Furious] operation later said they were threatened with retaliation by some federal prosecutors in Arizona and by some ATF officials."

Peter Forcelli, an ATF agent who blew the whistle on management lapses in the gun trafficking scandal known as Fast and Furious, has reached an agreement with the bureau over his retaliation claims. A lawyer for Forcelli declined to disclose the terms of the settlement because it was the product of a confidential mediation process. "We can't reveal the details but Mr. Forcelli's smile could not be broader," lawyer Tom Devine, of the Government Accountability Project, told NPR in an interview. "This outcome was a 180 degree reversal by new management... This dispute is over." Forcelli appeared in Congress in...

The Obama supporting Super PAC Priorities USA yesterday introduced us to Joe Soptic. Mitt Romney killed his wife. Except it is complete and utter crap. Mitt Romney and Bain Capital bought GST Steel at some point. Romney left day to day operations of Bain in 1999. Thereafter, Bain offered Joe Soptic a buy out and he refused. Eventually the steel plant went out of business and Joe went on the unemployment line. That happened in 2001. In 2002 or 2003, Mrs. Soptic injured her rotator cuff and left her job. She lost her insurance. In 2006, she was diagnosed with...

Washington -- Justice Department and ATF officials have described the controversial gun-walking tactics used in Operation Fast and Furious as an aberration, but ATF agents have employed variations of the same surveillance techniques for decades. ATF has long targeted gun traffickers through a combination of tailing, wiretaps and "controlled delivery" - following a contraband trail to the point where agents can catch a criminal organization's masterminds in the act, often with the help of an inside informant. "Once the criminal takes receipt, ATF generally swoops in and locks up everybody," said Michael Bouchard, former operations director for the Bureau of...

The Agent, “The Official Publication of the National Association of Federal Agents,” has added its voice to those of Congressional investigators in deconstructing a Fortune Magazine report critical of Oversight Committee efforts to determine the truth about Operation Fast and Furious “gunwalking.” Earlier this week, Gun Rights Examiner was forwarded a copy of NAFA’s “Summer 2012” issue, challenging allegations made by Fortune in a rebuttal article titled “Who’s on First? What’s on Second? The Ongoing Story of Fast & Furious.” Regular readers of this column will recall an appendix to a joint congressional staff report released Tuesday characterized the Fortune...

House Republicans will file a civil suit against Attorney General Eric Holder during the August recess, House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) has told NBC News. House Republicans will file suit in an effort to compel Holder to release documents associated with the failed "Fast and Furious" gun-walking operation. "We'll be filing a civil case during the break," Issa told NBC, "We will expect a day in court before a federal judge, which we have a 100 percent chance that the judge will hold that these documents should be delivered." During negotiations between House Republicans and Holder in June,...

Yesterday Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Charles Grassley issued a 211-page report and more than 2,000 documents, pinning much of the blame for Operation Fast and Furious on five ATF supervisors. This is the first in a series of three reports expected to be released. An initial look at the report and the documents reminds us of a few things and also brings us new information. First, it was just over a month ago when Attorney General Eric Holder became the first sitting cabinet member in history to be...