Posted on 10/01/2011 8:19:34 PM PDT by Forgiven_Sinner
When a White House dumps documents late on a Friday, it’s not because they aren’t newsworthy. It’s usually because they’re embarrassing, or potentially incriminating. Yesterday we got an almost perfect example of the art when the Obama administration finally released selected documents on the Fast & Furious scandal that prove “extensive” communications between the ATF’s field office and the White House on the deadly project:
Late Friday, the White House turned over new documents in the Congressional investigation into the ATF “Fast and Furious” gunwalking scandal.
The documents show extensive communications between then-ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix office Bill Newell – who led Fast and Furious – and then-White House National Security Staffer Kevin O’Reilly. Emails indicate the two also spoke on the phone. Such detailed, direct communications between a local ATF manager in Phoenix and a White House national security staffer has raised interest among Congressional investigators looking into Fast and Furious. Newell has said he and O’Reilly are long time friends. …
Among the documents produced: an email in which ATF’s Newell sent the White House’s O’Reilly an “arrow chart reflecting the ultimate destination of firearms we intercepted and/or where the guns ended up.” The chart shows arrows leading from Arizona to destinations all over Mexico.
In response, O’Reilly wrote on Sept. 3, 2010 “The arrow chart is really interesting – and – no surprise – implies at least that different (Drug Trafficking Organizations) in Mexico have very different and geographically distinct networks in the US for acquiring guns. Did last year’s TX effort develop a similar graphic?”
In other words, the White House knew that the guns had gone over the border, and treated it like an academic exercise. O’Reilly apparently never asked in his capacity as a national security adviser, “What the hell were you thinking in allowing the guns to get across the border?” Instead, O’Reilly wondered if a similar operation in Texas produced a cool map, too.
It sounds as if the Obama administration was on board the idea to allow guns to transit the border, and at the very least shows that no one can claim surprise at the outcome. The White House’s lawyer tried to spin it anyway, writing to the Oversight Committee that “none of the communications between ATF and the White House revealed the investigative law enforcement tactics at issue in your inquiry, let alone any decision to allow guns to ‘walk.’” That may be true — at least as far the documents the White House released, but that’s not all of the communications:
However, the chief counsel to President Barack Obama, Kathryn Ruemmler, indicated that the White House was withholding an unspecified number of internal e-mails exchanged among three National Security Staff aides.
“These internal NSS emails are not included in the enclosed documents because the [Executive Office of the President] has significant confidentiality interests in its internal communications,” Ruemmler wrote in a letter to House Oversight & Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). The letter, posted here, was obtained Friday by POLITICO.
The latest batch of 102 pages of records partially duplicated information previously sent to Congress and didn’t appear to include any smoking guns showing that White House officials were aware that the operation involved allowing hundreds or thousands of guns to flow essentially unimpeded from the U.S. to Mexican drug cartels.
This is rather amusing. Three years ago, a Democratic House sued to get Karl Rove and Harriet Miers to testify over the termination of US Attorneys, who are political appointments that serve at the pleasure of the President, and rejected the notion that executive privilege applied to such executive-branch personnel decisions. Now we have an ATF operation that armed drug cartels and resulted in hundreds of murders from guns supplied by the US government, including the murder of a Border Patrol agent here in the US — and Democrats think that should be covered by executive privilege.
Something stinks at the White House, and the lawyers are circling the wagons to keep Congress from finding it.
If You Lie Obama is likely to resign then look for Biden to keep on throwing You Lie under the bus.
hope so.
Great post.
While the BP murder is tragic, why is there so little attention on WHY the Customs guy got zapped in Mexico? The previous cartel SOP was to avoid killing US officers because it brought too much extra heat (i.e. Kiki Camerena).
Suddenly, this protocol changed —the reason widely reported in the Mexican press at the time of the murder was this: the other cartels had heard of the formal US agreement with the Sinaloa cartel (no bust their loads in return for intel on the loads of other catels).
Therefore the other cartels came to view US officers as de-facto extensions of the Sinaloa cartel. As such, US officers became FAIR GAME.
Why is there SO little attention on this...?
Under Reagan evvvvveryone heard of the ill-fated Hasenfus flight in Honduras, and the cocaine on board.
But here, the US became PARTNERS with a cartel DIRECTLY.
Under Obama, the USA became a CARTEL.
Why so little reporting? Well everyone can figure THAT out.
Next on MSNBC, Is Brittany Spear’s grandmothers, aunts, best freinds dog pregnant?
Input needed. Have now started a new ping list called BORDER WARS since so many of these stories are starting to intersect and overlap. I would like to keep the Gunwalker threads separate. Let me know if you want on the Border Wars list. It will NOT be the same as Gunwalker, though they might overlap occasionally. Please ping me to any articles you think fit in this catagory. Thank you.
fyi
Please pay attention. These docs are NOT about Fast and Spurious. The WH is trying to pull a fast one.
Saturday, October 01, 2011 11:21:51 PM · 27 of 27
MestaMachine to Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid!
They also did not note that these docs were about Operation GUNRUNNER, which was a wholly legitimate op. These docs don’t contain ANYTHING about Fast and Spurious.
This is because the names of the separate ops have been used interchangeably by so many...and they are NOT the same thing at all.
Friday night F&F document dump shows “extensive” communication with White House
When a White House dumps documents late on a Friday, it’s not because they aren’t newsworthy. It’s usually because they’re embarrassing, or potentially incriminating. Yesterday we got an almost perfect example of the art when the 0bummer administration finally released selected documents on the Fast & Furious scandal that prove “extensive” communications between the ATF’s field office and the White House on the deadly project:
-
These docs are NOT about Fast and Spurious. The WH is trying to pull a fast one.
They also did not note that these docs were about Operation GUNRUNNER, which was a wholly legitimate op. These docs don’t contain ANYTHING about Fast and Spurious. This is because the names of the separate ops have been used interchangeably by so many...and they are NOT the same thing at all.
I sure hope the Alpha Hotels on Issa's committee learn this!!! Their ignorance of this was quite evident in the telivised hearing.
That’s why my pings contain so many links. It gets confusing. Read David Codrea’s “Misconceptions.” It is the first atf button link on my ping.
We have IDIOTS investigating this in Congress.....but that is redundant.
And extremely unfortunate. Imagine US knowing more about this entire plot that those we elected who SHOULD know but don’t. It’s mindboggling.
IIRC, you started your linked posts a while back when both you and I, on the same thread, were trying to educate other FReepers as to the differences between F&F, Gunrunner and “Gunwalker”.
They know this much, they don’t WANT to know...
“Sounds like an undodgeable crime; eventually they’ll get Holder, and maybe Obama.”
Like they got Clinton back in the 90s?
ROFLMAO!
Thanks, I needed a good laugh this morning.
You might want to include a sarcasm tag, because not everyone around here gets it.
Maybe Holder. I doubt they'll get Obama, particularly with 16 months left in his term. More likely dissuade him from seeking reelection (not entirely a plus from the (R) standpoint), or cause him to lose the general.
If they get Obama not to seek reelection, whomever the Dems put up can distance themselves from his catastrophically unpopular actions (then commence to "ruling" as Obama II on Jan 21).
Not saying it's a mistake to pursue this, that's an indispensable part of whacking him with it politically, just saying an impeachment is probably not feasible in the timeframe and might not be electorally advantageous anyway.
Mexico only needs to file charges with the International Criminal Court against Obama and Holder and in 2013 the new US Attorney General can extradite them to face charges.
The libs are always demanding we give our souvereign rights over to these international bodies, so let’s test their willingness to do so in this case.
Heh, heh. Works for me. Actually, since they’re the ones that believe in it, they’re the only ones it should apply to even if adopted.
>Please pay attention. These docs are NOT about Fast and Spurious. The WH is trying to pull a fast one.<
yes your right. They are talking about the legitimate gunrunner. But the fact remains that this is EXCELLENT material that can and should be used against the administration.
It shows that the WH had clearly been in the loop since gunrunner had been started. They had been fully advised.
follow my reasoning here a minute.
They knew about it from the beginning.
They got more financing for it
This is what the dump shows.
Now what will they do? they can only say that they continued to keep abreast of the situation or they didn’t.
If they didn’t they are incompetent.
If they did then they got the real deal or they didn’t.
If they didn’t, they are incompetent
If they did, then they are criminally liable.
they are in hot water and all this is - is a stall tactic. They know that in the end it will be found out. This is crisis management in it’s best form. They have to be crapping themselves.
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