These are the dates of weekly memos provided by National Drug Intelligence Center Director Michael Walther to Attorney General Eric Holder. Each was a short document that included information on Operation Fast and Furious, including descriptions of the operation as a multi-agency task force targeting a gun trafficking ring headed by Manuel Celis-Acosta that had purchased “1,500 firearms that were then supplied to Mexican drug trafficking cartels.”
The release of these documents from mid-2010 — and supporting documents from Department of Justice insiders discussing “gunwalking” — has led House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) to ask President Obama to appoint a special prosecutor. The special prosecutor would investigate whether or not Attorney General Holder committed perjury when he stated in sworn testimony in March: “[I] probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.”
Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) yesterday called for Holder to resign, and Arizona Senator John McCain is “leaning towards” demanding a special council appointment to investigate.
With the increased attention on the case — including coverage from johnny-come-lately ABC that needed to add a backstory section to get their readers up to speed — the White House and Department of Justice are fighting back, alleging that the growing scandal is nothing but a game of “gotcha” being played by Republicans:
“Here they go again. Chairman Issa and Senator Grassley can re-package and re-release the same documents every other day and it won’t change the facts: the attorney general’s testimony to both the House and Senate committees has been consistent and truthful,” the department said.
The department said the “brief” passages were “buried in a few written reports” and did not detail the full extent of the operation.
“Instead of peddling selectively edited transcripts and distorting questions and answers in some distracting political game of gotcha, these congressional leaders should be focusing their attention on the underlying public safety problem we confront as a nation — that too many guns are being illegally trafficked to Mexico,” the statement said.
It is worth noting: the documents being released are new; the information was not buried, but featured bullet points of weekly summary reports; and there were no “selectively edited” transcripts or “distorted questions.” The DOJ pushback seems rooted in political firefighting, not facts.
Even left-leaning NPR — which seems to doubt Holder’s truthfulness — reported the details of the key question and answer accurately:
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Gunwalker: ".......perjury is going to be the least of the worries for those involved."
Via Survival
As I've said before, an operation of this magnitude has to have approval from the very top before it even gets off the ground.
ReplyDeleteIn order to get that approval those at the very top have to have intimate knowledge of the operation.
To expect the public to believe that some rogue functionary in the Phoenix office of ATF schemed this up and implemented it (with the help of many other federal agencies) without DOJ and the WH knowing about it is disingenuous. We may be stupid, but we aren't THAT stupid.
Arrest and indict obama, Holder, Clinton, Napolitano, Emanuel, Jarrett and the rest of the cabinet level criminals as well as the heads of all the agencies involved.
Seriously, think about it. Who would have to be involved in order for the government of the United States to violate the sovereignty of the nation of Mexico in such a way? Logic would say State, Justice, DHS, and the White House, at a bare minimum.
Rant off. :)
Arrest and indict obama, Holder, Clinton, Napolitano, Emanuel, Jarrett and the rest of the cabinet level criminals as well as the heads of all the agencies involved.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, think about it. Who would have to be involved in order for the government of the United States to violate the sovereignty of the nation of Mexico in such a way? Logic would say State, Justice, DHS, and the White House, at a bare minimum.
A most excellent rant and right on the money. I don't see anyway these culprits are going to get away with this