Operations Fast & Furious

[koalabear]

I guess then that movie, Machete, was a load of crap...

It was more popular in Africa. The truth is cartels buy their guns from u.s. gun shops, one background check transaction at a time. Well at least when the ATF/JD shipments are late. Compare the retail price for a semi-automatic version of the AK-47 in the u.s. to the price on the black market—about $55 per rifle. A Bout competitor commenting on AKs told PBS "Frontline," "It`s a cheap weapon. Go to Lebanon and you can buy it everywhere. Go to Yemen, the world`s biggest stock is in Yemen … maybe 10 to 12 million." So we must lower the price here or risk losing out to foreign imports or ban them altogether.

 

[MeeMie]

White House Insider:

As to your question about the Gunrunner topic, I can assure you that both Republicans and Democrats are now fully aware of the very serious implications surrounding the issue. I told you the story was about to break open via the mainstream media and that is exactly what has happened. The subject of a Special Prosecutor is being negotiated at present. As I told you earlier, White House is preparing for Eric Holder resignation outcome. They will continue to aggressively fight that result, but are acknowledging it may happen, and happen sooner rather than later. There was a cover-up. Republicans now have the specific information to prove that. It is now a matter of proving how high up in the administration that cover-up goes. It appears Issa is aiming very high indeed. Have you noted the increasing confidence coming from Issa, Grassley and others? There will likely be a significant development within the next few weeks or so on this issue that will leave you very pleased. There is a name on that Issa/Grassley list who is proving very capable in assisting the investigation. An old debt has been called, and the return on investment has been remarkable. I am in awe of –name withheld-. They have played this out with the kind of skill Obama will never possess. Outclassed and outmatched at every turn.

Excerpt from here:
http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?p=38114968#post38114968

 

[koalabear]

White House Insider:

As to your question about the Gunrunner topic, I can assure you that both Republicans and Democrats are now fully aware of the very serious implications surrounding the issue. I told you the story was about to break open via the mainstream media and that is exactly what has happened. The subject of a Special Prosecutor is being negotiated at present. As I told you earlier, White House is preparing for Eric Holder resignation outcome. They will continue to aggressively fight that result, but are acknowledging it may happen, and happen sooner rather than later. There was a cover-up. Republicans now have the specific information to prove that. It is now a matter of proving how high up in the administration that cover-up goes. It appears Issa is aiming very high indeed. Have you noted the increasing confidence coming from Issa, Grassley and others? There will likely be a significant development within the next few weeks or so on this issue that will leave you very pleased. There is a name on that Issa/Grassley list who is proving very capable in assisting the investigation. An old debt has been called, and the return on investment has been remarkable. I am in awe of –name withheld-. They have played this out with the kind of skill Obama will never possess. Outclassed and outmatched at every turn.

Excerpt from here:
http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?p=38114968#post38114968

Watch for a volunteer to take the bullet for the cause.

 

[Wat_Tyler]

I guess then that movie, Machete, was a load of crap...

It was just crap.

 

[MeeMie]

Issa aand Grassley again make obstruction charge against Obama DOJ and indicate existence of a "smoking gun" piece of evidence...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7oyXFk4Loc&feature=share



Lawmakers say Justice Dept. stonewalling on "Fast and Furious"


Two Republican lawmakers accused the Justice Department of obstructing the congressional probe of "Operation Fast and Furious," a botched initiative that allowed more than 2,000 guns to be smuggled into Mexico.

Among the materials being withheld is a document one senior official described as "a smoking gun," Rep. Darell Issa of California and Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley said in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

The lawmakers requested that more documents be released to clear up the origin and cause of the failed operation of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The idea behind allowing guns to be sold and smuggled into Mexico was to track them to their end-users and build criminal cases against the Mexican drug cartels, who are said to obtain much of their arsenals from gun dealers in U.S. border states.

Once Fast and Furious got under way, however, ATF agents realized they had no dependable way to keep track of the guns, which eventually began appearing at crime scenes on both sides of the border.

Grassley and Issa also sent letters to FBI Director Robert Mueller and Drug Enforcement Administration head Michelle Leonhart to find out what role those agencies played in the operation.

In their missive to Holder, the legislators said Acting ATF Director Kenneth E. Melson told them of the existence of "a smoking gun" document pertaining to Fast and Furious.

The lawmakers wrote to Holder after Melson told them, in a private session, that the Department of Justice had refused him permission to testify.

The letter includes part of the extensive statement Melson gave about what he called Department of Justice efforts to hide information and hundreds of documents related to Fast and Furious.

A partial transcript of Melson's testimony to congressional investigators deals with one case in which, "interdiction could have occurred, and probably should have occurred, but did not occur."

Melson implicated other federal agencies in the operation, including the FBI and DEA, and complained that the Department of Justice is trying to protect its high-level political appointees.

The Department of Justice must hand over all the requested documents to understand what went wrong in Operation Fast and Furious.

Among other issues, the lawmakers want to know if some of the targets of the operation - those who supplied high-caliber weapons to Mexican drug cartels - could have been paid informers of the FBI.

One of the weapons involved in the ATF operation turned out to have been used in the Feb. 15 killing of U.S. immigration agent Jaime Zapata in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi, while another Fast and Furious gun was used to kill U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

Congressional investigators say that besides failing to strike any of the drug cartels, Fast and Furious actually increased the level of violence in Mexico, where more than 40,000 people have died in drug-war mayhem since December 2006.

 

[MeeMie]

Gunwalker: New Hearings Scheduled

According to a release from Rep. Darrell Issa, (R-Calif.) his House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has scheduled new hearings into the on going Operation Fast and Furious scandal — this time they’ll be talking to ATF agents based in Mexico:

“Operation Fast and Furious: The Other Side of the Border” will examine accounts of agents based in Mexico

On Tuesday, July 26th, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will convene a hearing as part of the ongoing investigation into the Department of Justice’s Operation Fast and Furious, a tragically flawed effort that is connected to deaths on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border.

The Committee’s previous hearing, Operation Fast and Furious: Reckless Decisions, Tragic Outcomes, featured ATF agents who testified they were ordered to let guns destined for Mexican drug cartels walk and heartbreaking testimony from the family of a U.S. Border Patrol agent whose murder is linked to guns that law enforcement chose not to interdict.

This Tuesday’s hearing, Operation Fast and Furious: The Other Side of the Border, will feature the testimony of U.S. law enforcement officials who witnessed a different side of the controversial operation. These officials saw the steady stream of Operation Fast and Furious guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico and were given orders from superiors not to alert Mexican authorities. Members of the Committee will also have their first opportunity to question ATF supervisors who have defended Operation Fast and Furious and the Justice Department’s decisions to committee investigators.

“The Acting Director of the ATF has told congressional investigators that the Justice Department is attempting to shift blame in Operation Fast and Furious away from its political appointees,” said Chairman Darrell Issa. “Examining the accounts of witnesses who did not participate in Operation Fast and Furious, but were nonetheless disturbed as they watched it unfold is critical to understanding the scope of this flawed program. This testimony is especially important in light of the Justice Department’s willful efforts to withhold key evidence from investigators about what occurred, who knew and who authorized this reckless operation.”​

 

[koalabear]

Maybe someone just misspoke.

 

[Daehreppoc]

After all is said and done, an awful lot will have been said, and nothing will have been done.

Let a private citizen divert 1,900 guns, and it would constitute a gun running operation worthy of national news coverage, and the citizen would appear before a magistrate in shackles.

At most, a bit of discomfort for Holder, and the end of some nameless BATFE agent's career.

 

[koalabear]

Operation Fast and Furious: The Straw Buyers

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives(ATF) along with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Phoenix claimed to have dismantled a major weapons trafficking organization from top to bottom- from the end user of the weapons in Mexico to the money men, those who smuggled and transported the weapons from the U.S. into Mexico, and the buyers on our side of the border.

Yet after thousands of man hours and millions of dollars spent, only one of the 20 suspects remains behind bars. Most were released within 24 hours of their arrest. In the end, all prosecutors got was one middle man and a handful of straw buyers.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/20/operation-fast-and-furious-straw-buyers/#ixzz1Shtoah1E

"The government wants a dramatic indictment, they want the conspiracy to sound like it's run out by highly sophisticated individuals who are involved with a particularly nefarious organization when the reality is it's just a bunch of kids," said Fontes.

Those "kids" purchased more than 1800 guns from stores in and around Phoenix. The straw buyers reportedly received about $100 per transaction. The gun stores say they were assured by the ATF and U.S. attorneys that the weapons would be tracked. Instead, agents say the weapons were allowed to "walk", they were not followed and many ended up in Mexico. Along with crime scenes south of the border, two were also found at the murder scene of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

 

[Frisco_Slug_Esq]

It's for the children...







I love the rebuttal argument in favor of the government.

*crickets*

 

[MeeMie]

Grassley hints Fast & Furious may go all the way to the White House - 3:00 mark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22Kl_-Bo7R8



"The unsavory stuff's already been uncovered in the sense that somebody was murdered with these guns."

"The federal government may be trying to hide someone's identity to keep him safe in the busted Fast & Furious operation."

"It can only be answered, how high up in Justice did this go, or did it go beyond Justice to the White House?"

"My sense is that there's suspicion that we aren't getting the information because they're trying to protect somebody."

"We'll get this information one way or the other. We're just going to keep pushing."

 

[Frisco_Slug_Esq]

Who's gonna be the Ollie North to pull the rug out from underneath this Wepuwwican witch hunt?







The Democrats are like little kids. If I cover my eyes, then you can't see me!

 

[MeeMie]

Which is more comparable to Fast & Furious: Watergate or the Iran-contra scandals?

In crucial ways, Watergate, the signature scandal of the 1970s, and Iran-contra, the signature scandal of the 1980s, were opposites.

Watergate showed how the constitutional institutions of American democracy -- the Congress, the courts and the press -- could check a gross abuse of power by the Executive. Watergate had been part of a brief national awakening which exposed presidential crimes, lies and a massive coverup that led to impeachment proceedings of a President.

A short dozen years later, the Iran-contra scandal demonstrated how those same institutions had ceased to protect the nation from serious White House wrongdoing. The Iran-contra cover-up marked the status quo in which crimes, both domestic and international, could be committed by the Executive while the Congress and the press looked the other way.

One commonality between Watergate and Iran-contra, that differs from Fast & Furious, is that the "witch hunts" were not led by "Wepuwwicans" beating the drums.

Now the Clinton witch hunt might be a better comparison to make.

 

[Frisco_Slug_Esq]

Operation Fast and Furious — and other alleged “gunwalker” programs — only ended when whistleblowers came forward from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) after a firefight in Rio Rico, Arizona, left Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry dead.

NPR – yes, NPR – is now reporting that the Department of Justice inspector general is launching an investigation into whether or not the DOJ illegally retaliated against one of the agents that revealed the gunwalking plot:

The Justice Department’s inspector general has opened an investigation into possible retaliation against a whistleblowing agent at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to two people briefed on the inquiry.

Watchdogs are examining whether anyone at the Justice Department improperly released internal correspondence to try to smear ATF agent John Dodson, who told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last month that he repeatedly warned supervisors about what he called a reckless law enforcement operation known as “Fast and Furious.”

The inspector general is attempting to determine if Obama’s Justice Department leaked one of Dodson’s internal memos to reporters in order to discredit him.

Senator Charles Grassley has warned the Department of Justice repeatedly not to attack whistleblowers, apparently with little effect:

“I’ve warned the administration several times not to retaliate against the whistle-blowers who speak to Congress,” Grassley wrote in an email to NPR Thursday. “Unfortunately, there are indications that the administration leaked Privacy Act-protected documents to the press in an effort to discredit Mr. Dodson with half-truths even though those documents had been withheld from Congress. It’s a very serious matter that should be thoroughly investigated.”

The Justice Department has been ruthless in dealing with the whistleblowers, who have blown the lid off an operation that saw the director-level involvement of every law enforcement entity within the DOJ, in addition to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and likely the State Department.

In addition to retaliating against Dodson, the DOJ stands accused of firing 30-year ATF Agent Vince Cefalu for his role in bringing this and other illegal operations to light at a website he helped found: CleanUpATF.org.

Cefalu ran afoul of the DOJ for criticizing the ATF for previous questionable operations, but his termination seems to have been in response to his stating that those government entities that participated in Gunwalker should be tried as criminals for conspiring to traffic in firearms.

Cefalu also claims that an Obama administration meme that large-scale gun smuggling operations were supplying the cartels was false, which likely drew even more scrutiny.

In addition to allegations that the DOJ participated in attempting to smear and fire ATF whistleblowers, the Department stands accused of trying to stonewall congressional oversight investigations into Operation Fast and Furious — first by stopping Acting ATF Director Ken Melson from testifying at a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about what he knew of the operation:

The Justice Department blocked senior ATF leaders from cooperating with Congress in its investigation of the “Fast and Furious” weapons operation, ordering them not to respond to questions and taking full control of replying to briefing and document requests, the agency’s top boss told congressional investigators.

Kenneth E. Melson, the embattled acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told Senate Judiciary Committee and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform investigators during a secret interview designed to circumvent Justice Department attorneys that he was “sick to his stomach” when he learned about problems with the controversial operation.

Melson was eventually told by Congressman Darrell Issa’s office that he did not have to testify with DOJ attorneys present. Once he was “free” of DOJ lawyers, he gave direct testimony to congressional investigators with only his own private lawyer present and without DOJ minders, much to the dismay of his superiors.

To date, not all of Melson’s testimony has been released — it is apparently being withheld in a game of high stakes brinkmanship as Issa and Grassley face down a recalcitrant administration.

Acting DOJ Inspector General Cynthia Schnedar would be wise to keep the results of her investigations into the alleged Dodson leak, Fast and Furious, and any other gunrunning investigations that may develop for as long as is practically possible. As Gerald Walpin discovered the hard way, the Obama administration isn’t kind to inspector generals that are determined to do their jobs.

Bob Owens
Pajamas Media
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/gunwal...-general-opens-investigation/?singlepage=true

 

[MeeMie]

Obama, Holder Busted in Gunwalker Cover-up


Kenneth Melson was supposed to be the fall guy, the sacrificial lamb, the guy thrown under the bus to protect President Obama. Melson was "expected" to resign.

He refused.

Instead, Melson, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has turned whistle-blower and all hell is about to explode over the operation dubbed by Obama's Justice Department "Fast and Furious" but now known as the Gunwalker scandal.



It looks like the Obama regime financed (partly with "stimulus" funds) an $80 million program to allow straw buyers to purchase hundreds of weapons from federally licensed gun shops in Southwest states, over the objection of the shop owners, and then allowed these weapons to "walk" across the Mexican border into the waiting arms of the murderous Mexican drug cartels.

At first, Justice Department spokesmen said it was a "sting gone wrong." Then, when many pointed out that the ATF had no jurisdiction to follow the guns across the border to make arrests, the cover story fell apart.



Melson has told congressional investigators that there is a "smoking gun" internal memo withheld from Congress indicating that "political appointees" (Obama's) in the Justice Department were involved. This memo and other documents are being withheld from Congress as part of a cover-up.

Melson has also told Congressional investigators that affidavits prepared by Justice Department lawyers to support wiretaps in the operation were "inconsistent" with public statements by Justice Department officials, meaning that the operation, it's existence at first denied by the Justice Department, was detailed months before to a court in sworn statements by the same Justice Department.



Attorney General Eric Holder testified at a congressional hearing in March 2011 that he had just learned of the Fast and Furious operation "a few weeks ago." However, Holder spoke at a joint Mexico-U.S. law enforcement conference in Mexico in April 2009, describing the operation and touting it as a way to combat the growing power of the Mexican drug cartels.



The explosive revelations continued. Melson told the investigators that during operation Fast and Furious, guns were bought by and sold to individuals connected with the Mexican cartels who were also paid informants for the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration. American taxpayers are funding all sides of this war.

When the Mexican government captured the third-ranking leader of the Los Zetas cartel, Jesus Enrique Rejon Aguilar, he bragged that the cartel's guns were bought in the U.S. and that all the cartels were buying guns from the U.S. government.

The Mexicans are furious about all this. The Mexican congress has opened an investigation under the assumption that Obama's operation was an act of war on Mexico. More than 200 Mexican law enforcement and military personnel have been killed in the last year by guns traced back to Gunwalker.



These guns, traced by serial number, have tragically also turned up at the scene of the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata by cartel gunmen.



The Mexican cartels get weapons from Mexican Army deserters, from leftist guerrilla groups in South America, and from international gun smugglers. Under Obama, they also got weapons from U.S. gun shops. We now know how this was done, in a story first told by CBS News.

The question is why?

The answer fits a pattern described by then-Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel of never letting a crisis go to waste if it can advance the agenda.

The crisis was the civil war between the Mexican government and the drug cartels, with violence spilling over into American cities. Obama, Janet Napolitano, and even Hillary Clinton, blamed this border violence on the easy availability of guns in U.S. gun shops and gun shows along the border. The agenda was gun control. Gun control laws needed to be strengthened to protect the lives of innocent Mexicans and Americans.

When statistics designed to show the cartels were armed primarily from American sources were proven false, the crisis had to be goosed a little. Operation Fast and Furious became the funnel for a self-fulfilling prophecy.



Despite all these revelations of Obama regime complicity in this gunrunning operation, the gun control agenda lives on.

Just last Monday, the Justice Department announced that all gun shops in four Southwest states will have to report to the ATF purchases of two or more of some types of rifles by the same person in a five-day span. With a straight face, a Justice Department spokesman described this as an effort to stem the illicit flow of weapons into Mexico.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R.-Tex.) called this new requirement the "height of hypocrisy ... when the administration knowingly and intentionally allowed guns to be trafficked into Mexico." Smith concluded, "Limiting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens is not going to solve the problem." Thank you Congressman Smith.



Congratulations Ken Melson. Thank you for telling the truth. Without you, the American people might believe that more gun control is the answer. With your statements, we now know that controlling the corruption of the Justice Department is the answer.

Isn't it time someone asked the age-old question, "What did the President know, and when did he know it?"




http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=45021

 

[cjh]

<snip>

Isn't it time someone asked the age-old question, "What did the President know, and when did he know it?"

that's a fair question.

that's a question that deserves to be answered.

mexico deserves to know. the friends and relatives of dead federal agents deserve to know. the american public deserves to know.

government should be accountable.

with that said, why would anyone have placed a hold on whistleblower protection enhancement act ?

 

[Frisco_Slug_Esq]

They've placed a Holder on it..

 

[koalabear]

that's a fair question.

that's a question that deserves to be answered.

mexico deserves to know. the friends and relatives of dead federal agents deserve to know. the american public deserves to know.

government should be accountable.

with that said, why would anyone have placed a hold on whistleblower protection enhancement act ?

Pereg already had that thread, try to keep up.

 

[Frisco_Slug_Esq]

What's really comforting is Naps warning us about white terrorists and Holder deciding to give FOX an anal exam...




Man, am I ever comforted...

 

[cjh]

Pereg already had that thread, try to keep up.

yup.

and his question was ignored.

how do you justify placing a secret hold on that act?

do you agree with the legislators who placed a hold on the act?

or do you apologize for them?

 

[cjh]

there's a third option--do you disagree with them?

where do you fall on the issue?

 

[koalabear]

yup.

and his question was ignored.

how do you justify placing a secret hold on that act?

do you agree with the legislators who placed a hold on the act?

or do you apologize for them?

there's a third option--do you disagree with them?

where do you fall on the issue?

His partisan rant was ignored, much like yours will be.

 

[cjh]

His partisan rant was ignored, much like yours will be.

Were I as partisan as you suggest, I would not support open investigation of this.

That's one difference between you and me, I suppose.

I can admit to being offended by the actions of "my side."

You don't have the balls to do that

 

[koalabear]

Were I as partisan as you suggest, I would not support open investigation of this.

That's one difference between you and me, I suppose.

I can admit to being offended by the actions of "my side."

You don't have the balls to do that

Try worrying about America instead of "your side".

 

[cjh]

Try worrying about America instead of "your side".

Gee, I wonder why I am willing to criticize "my side" and why I support transparency?

And I wonder why you don't?