Obama Corruption & Scandal Thread - Solyndra and other crimes.

[Kazan]

I'm seriously embarassed that you haven't heard of it.  It's been discussed in great detail by your hero Alex Jones.

Just post the fucking document, if it indeed exists, but since Alex Jones says so it must be so

[Skip8282]

seriously. 

can you imagine if 17 members of the Obama admin had written a document in summer 2008 in which they detailed the need for a major terror attack in order to justify wars in say, Libya then Syria?  And then we'd been attacked by "libya" with "help from syria", and we got into 2 expensive wars?  And he didn't even want to investigate the attack - and waited 441 days to do so?

You'd be livid.  You'd be screaming from the rooftop.  Yet you aren't even aware of the EXACT scenario with afghanistan/iraq happening in 2000.  Seventeen members of Bush cabinet got together and wrote up the need for an event like pearl harbor to justify invasion of arab states to secure resources and global position.

Since it happened on a Repub watch, you haven't looked into it, have you?

That's not what the PNAC report stated retard.  Talk about trying to twist shit around.  Maybe you should go back to making up shit about - oh wait...

[240 is Back]

That's not what the PNAC report stated retard.  Talk about trying to twist shit around.  Maybe you should go back to making up shit about - oh wait...

LOL!

[Skip8282]

so why not post it? 

Because it doesn't say what he's claiming.  You've probably come across this issue while arguing with the CT'rs but you know how fast they change their angle when they can't back up their bullshit.

[Soul Crusher]

Because it doesn't say what he's claiming.  You've probably come across this issue while arguing with the CT'rs but you know how fast they change their angle when they can't back up their bullshit.

240 is really playing hide the salami here. 

[kcballer]

Really, sounds more like criminal negligence to me

Perhaps some of the officers will be charged in connection.  Law enforcement have always been able to bend the rules to get their man.  The public hasn't minded much so long as the big picture is sold to them in terms of safer streets and better lives. 

Perhaps that is the debate we should be having.  What extent can law enforcement encroach on existing laws to catch criminals?  Should they for example be charged for possession of drugs if they are an undercover hoping to catch buyers?  Can they or should they be charged for sending out child pornography to pedophiles in the hope of tracing the images to the perp? 

[Soul Crusher]

Perhaps some of the officers will be charged in connection.  Law enforcement have always been able to bend the rules to get their man.  The public hasn't minded much so long as the big picture is sold to them in terms of safer streets and better lives. 

Perhaps that is the debate we should be having.  What extent can law enforcement encroach on existing laws to catch criminals?  Should they for example be charged for possession of drugs if they are an undercover hoping to catch buyers?  Can they or should they be charged for sending out child pornography to pedophiles in the hope of tracing the images to the perp? 

You dont get do you? 

The agents did not want to go along with this.   It was DOJ forcing this issue.   

[Kazan]

Perhaps some of the officers will be charged in connection.  Law enforcement have always been able to bend the rules to get their man.  The public hasn't minded much so long as the big picture is sold to them in terms of safer streets and better lives. 

Perhaps that is the debate we should be having.  What extent can law enforcement encroach on existing laws to catch criminals?  Should they for example be charged for possession of drugs if they are an undercover hoping to catch buyers?  Can they or should they be charged for sending out child pornography to pedophiles in the hope of tracing the images to the perp? 

Give me a fucking break, they were sending arms to a foreign country, how exactly were they going to track them? They have no jurisdiction in Mexico. The whole thing is another giant cluster fuck, that no one in charge had the common sense to forsee little things like that

[Skip8282]

240 is really playing hide the salami here. 

I like how it went from 10 Bush cronies here:

you must not have read the 2000 document penned by 10 members of the Bush admin calling for a 'new pearl harbor' as a catalyst for initiating a plan for takeover in the middle east?

of course not.

Up to 17 Bush cronies here:

I would wager most getbiggers are well aware of the 2000 document - penned by 17 people who would end up working in the Bush admin - with the goal of promoting American global leadership and the fact it wouldn't happen without "some catastrophic and catalyzing event––like a new Pearl Harbor".

Give him another week and it will read:

you must not have read the 2000 document penned by 256 members of the Bush admin calling for a 'new pearl harbor' as a catalyst for initiating a plan for takeover in the middle east?

of course not.

[Fury]

I like how it went from 10 Bush cronies here:



Up to 17 Bush cronies here:




Give him another week and it will read:

Skip, I have to hand it to you, you really pick up on these little details like a champ. Love it.

240 = lying hypocrite. In other news, the sky is blue.

[Soul Crusher]

Gunwalker and Fast & Furious Updates: Holder, DOJ, FBI, Operation Castaway, ATF
Various ^ | Various | Various
Posted on July 19, 2011 7:45:53 PM EDT by cowpoke

Email Confirms ‘Gunwalker’ Known Throughout Justice Department The October 27, 2009 email from ATF Phoenix Field Division Special Agent in Charge (SAC) William Newell regarded a Southwest Border Strategy Group meeting that focused on Fast and Furious. It contained a laundry list of high ranking Justice Department officials that attended the meeting, including:

* Assistant Attorney General (Criminal Division) Lanny Breuer, * Kenneth Melson, Acting Director, ATF * William Hoover, Acting Deputy Director, ATF * Michele Leonhart, Administrator, DEA * Robert Mueller, Director FBI

Four other Justice Department directors or their representatives came from the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), Bureau of Prisons (BOP), U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA). The chair of the Attorney Generals Advisory Committee (AGAC) also attended the session. Their names were redacted in the released document. U.S. attorneys for all four southwest border states also attended...It strains credibility to claim that the assistant attorney general, the AGAC, the directors of the five major DOJ agencies in charge of law enforcement, and all the U.S. attorneys in the Southwest region were privy to Gunwalker, but that the attorney general himself was unaware of the operation. It suggests that either Holder is being untruthful about what he knew about the operation, and when he knew about it, or that he is so out of touch with a major operation conducted by his key law enforcement agencies that he is too incompetent to fulfill his official duties...more

Deputy Attorney General James Cole Involved in 'Fast & Furious' Whistleblower Cover-up? Operation Fast and Furious (F&F) – a program run by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that allowed thousands of lethal weapons to cross the Mexican border – was apparently no secret among high-level political authorities at the Department of Justice (DOJ). Among those in the know? Newly-confirmed Deputy Attorney General James Cole. Information is now seeping out about the political whiplash that secured a confirmation vote for Cole in exchange for the DOJ’s release of documents to Congress. In a supremely ironic twist, the documents ransomed by Cole’s confirmation strongly suggest that Cole himself was involved in the cover-up of F&F...more

Note also that Congress is apparently having to trade confirmation of Obama officials to obtain certain documents.

Gun-smuggling cartel figures possibly were paid FBI informants Congressional investigators probing the controversial "Fast and Furious" anti-gun-trafficking operation on the border with Mexico believe at least six Mexican drug cartel figures involved in gun smuggling also were paid FBI informants, officials said Saturday. The investigators have asked the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration for details about the alleged informants, as well as why agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which ran the Fast and Furious operation, were not told about them. The development raises further doubts about the now-shuttered program, which was created in November 2009 in an effort to track guns across the border and unravel the cartels' gun smuggling networks. The gun tracing largely failed, however, and hundreds of weapons purchased in U.S. shops later were found at crime scenes in Mexico. The scandal has angered Mexican officials and some members of Congress. Investigators say nearly 2,500 guns were allowed to flow illegally into Mexico under the ATF program, fueling the drug violence ravaging that country and leading to the shooting death of a U.S. border agent...more

Obama-Contra As if "Project Gunrunner" and "Operation Fast and Furious" weren't bad enough, we now learn of "Operation Castaway," run out of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Tampa field division. It's another operation that allowed guns to "walk" south of the border, this time to Honduras, using similar techniques and tactics. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., sent two letters a week ago to Attorney General Eric Holder and ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melsom inquiring about the program. He shouldn't expect much. As commentator Brit Hume noted on "Fox News Sunday": "The stench of cover-up on this gun-running operation is very strong indeed." "Two weapons found at the scene of the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry were traced back to the ATF's 'Operation Fast and Furious,' and reports now indicate that ATF's Tampa field division trafficked as many as 1,000 firearms to the dangerous MS-13 gang in Honduras through a similar program known as 'Operation Castaway,' " Bilirakis states on his website. Project Gunrunner, of which Operation Fast and Furious was a part, and now Operation Castaway, are without noble purpose. The cover story is that they were part of a plan to trick and track gunrunners. In fact, these schemes made it easy for criminals, drug cartels and gangs to acquire weapons. The real purpose, we have stated and still suspect, was to advance the administration's push for gun control and the stripping of law-abiding Americans of their Second Amendment rights through "common sense" restrictions on private gun ownership by creating chaos and fomenting violence with the guns provided. Indeed, it did not take long for ATF to announce a new gun-control mandate — the requirement that gun store owners in the border states of Arizona, California, Texas and New Mexico make a special ATF report for multiple long-gun sales, the same type of weapons the ATF was freely providing to the worst of the worst...more

ATF Chief Admits Mistakes in 'Fast and Furious,' Accuses Holder Aides of Stonewalling Congress The head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has admitted that his agency, in at least one instance, allowed sales of high-powered weapons without intercepting them -- and he accuses his superiors at the Justice Department of stonewalling Congress to protect political appointees in the scandal over those decisions. Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson made the disclosures about the so-called Operation Fast and Furious in an interview with congressional investigators looking into the controversial anti-gunrunning initiative. Rep. Darrell Issa of California and Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the two Republicans leading the charge in Congress against Fast and Furious, released a statement Monday noting Melson's testimony, along with a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder outlining their complaints. The two lawmakers accuse Holder's department of "unsatisfactory responses and lack of cooperation" with the congressional probe, and Melson seemed to agree. "It was very frustrating to all of us, and it appears thoroughly to us that the Department (of Justice) is really trying to figure out a way to push the information away from their political appointees at the department," Melson said in one quote highlighted by Issa and Grassley. Melson is quoted as saying, "there were some mistakes made" in Fast and Furious by the ATF's Phoenix Field Division, but Melson said aides to Holder didn't want to admit those mistakes to Congress...more

[240 is Back]

i looked it up on wiki.   17 members.

[Soul Crusher]

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'Gunwalker' could have major impact on Mexican politics
St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner ^ | 19 July, 2011 | Kurt Hofmann
Posted on July 20, 2011 7:18:37 AM EDT by marktwain

Writing for the Abilene Reporter-News, Jorge de la Isla points out a relatively unexplored implication of "Project Gunwalker":

Mexico's presidential election, coming up a year from now, could easily have the U.S. gun policy known as "Fast and Furious" at the center of public debate.

Two weeks ago, Fox News went farther than that, reporting that the potential next president of Mexico (as the likely nominee by President Felipe Calderón's National Action Party), Senator Santiago Creel, has advocated extradition, and prosecution in Mexico, of any U.S. officials behind Project Gunwalker. Says Sen. Creel:

I think we should at least try to prove that what happened in Mexico must be sanctioned by Mexican laws and under our sovereignty," Creel told us. "What can't happen is that this now ends on an administrative sanction, or a resignation. No, no, no. Human lives were lost here. A decision was made to carry out an operation that brought very high risk to human lives.

As the sordid details of "Project Gunwalker" emerge, a growing number of Mexicans are becoming very understandably angry over this monstrous conspiracy to facilitate mass murder in that country, and to destabilize its government by arming the narco-terrorists. Few, if any, people expect the U.S. government to agree to extradite U.S. officials to Mexico, but a closer look is now being taken at arms export laws in the U.S. that might have been broken by those behind "Project Gunwalker."

Attorney and Second Amendment advocate David T. Hardy explains on his Of Arms and the Law blog:

There have been some reports of agents having directly transferred firearms to drug cartel buyers, in order to boost their "street creds."

(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...

[tonymctones]

i looked it up on wiki.   17 members.

is that where you get the rest of your idiocy on 9/11

is the hologram ct on there?

[Soul Crusher]

Concerns came early in U.S.-Mexico gun sting, lawmakers say
Credit: Reuters/Alonso Castillo
By Jeremy Pelofsky
WASHINGTON | Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:09pm EDT




WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Arizona gun dealer balked at continuing to sell weapons in a sting operation meant to track arms flowing to drug cartels in Mexico as early as December 2009, Republican lawmakers said on Monday.

Two guns sold in the operation, dubbed "Fast and Furious", ended up almost exactly a year later at the crime scene where a U.S. Border Patrol agent died in a shootout with illegal immigrants trying to cross into the United States.

The sting operation is becoming a major headache for the Justice Department, which oversees the ATF and prosecutors in Arizona who ran the sting that was aimed at tracking guns to Mexican cartel leaders in hopes of nabbing them.

Republican lawmakers have accused the Justice Department of withholding for months requested documents and interviews with key officials about the program, a charge officials denied.

Representative Darrell Issa, head of the House Oversight Committee, and Charles Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, renewed their demand for documents related to December 17, 2009 meeting with a gun dealer.

They said they have evidence that the dealer was worried about a spike in sales to those reselling the guns to the cartels: a handful of buyers bought 212 guns in a few days.

"According to witnesses, that meeting was for the purpose of convincing the gun dealer to continue selling to the suspects and continue providing information to the ATF despite misgivings caused by the high volume of purchases," Issa and Grassley said in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.

ATF correspondence released three months ago suggested gun dealers began balking in April 2010, not December 2009.

Prosecutors painted a different picture of the meeting in a January 2011 memo turned over to lawmakers. It said the dealer was concerned about endangering himself or violating the law. He was told he did not have to participate in the sting.

But the gun dealer was also told that information he did give about large firearms sales was "very important and useful to ongoing ATF investigations," said the memo, obtained by Reuters, suggesting he was pressured to continue in the sting.

U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry died in a December 2010 shootout and two guns found there have been traced to the sting. It is not yet known if they fired the fatal shots.

Acting ATF director Kenneth Melson accused the Justice Department of missteps in a closed-door interview with congressional investigators earlier this month, saying the agency should have given information to lawmakers more quickly and officials were trying insulate political appointees.

"My view is that the whole matter of the department's response in this case was a disaster," he said in a transcript included in the letter.

The Justice Department has denied blocking the probe.

"Any notion that the department has failed to cooperate with the investigation is simply not based in fact," said Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler.

(Additional reporting by Tim Gaynor in Phoenix; editing by Doina Chiacu)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/19/us-mexico-usa-guns-idUSTRE76I5YS20110719


+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Of course 240 believes obama and holder over Issa.   you know, like the great libertarian he is.    

[Soul Crusher]

Deputy Attorney General James Cole Involved in 'Fast & Furious' Whistleblower Cover-up?
www.whistleblower.org ^ | 19 July, 2011 | Bea Edwards ________________________ ________________________ _________


Operation Fast and Furious (F&F) – a program run by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that allowed thousands of lethal weapons to cross the Mexican border – was apparently no secret among high-level political authorities at the Department of Justice (DOJ). Among those in the know? Newly-confirmed Deputy Attorney General James Cole.

Information is now seeping out about the political whiplash that secured a confirmation vote for Cole in exchange for the DOJ’s release of documents to Congress. In a supremely ironic twist, the documents ransomed by Cole’s confirmation strongly suggest that Cole himself was involved in the cover-up of F&F.

To recap, James Cole is no stranger to serious misconduct occurring during his alleged “watch.” Cole was the “Independent Consultant” stationed at AIG by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before, during and after the financial meltdown of 2008. Despite his oversight responsibilities, Cole looked the other way as the AIG Financial Products Division in London ran the corporation off the rails, ultimately driving the international economy off a cliff. The cost to US taxpayers of the AIG bailout was more than $150 billion.


Fast forward to January 2011. After President Obama installed Cole at DOJ as the Acting Deputy Attorney General through a recess appointment, Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and House Oversight & Government Reform Committee Chair Darrell Issa (R-California) began asking Cole’s office for information about F&F. On January 27, Grassley wrote to ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson, requesting information. Four days later, Grassley again wrote to Melson about reports that whistleblowers on F&F were being silenced, stating “Rather than focusing on retaliating against whistleblowers, the ATF’s sole focus should be on finding and disclosing the truth as soon as possible."

There followed a chronology of false and misleading information from DOJ to Congress about F&F, and in March, Melson claims he told Cole that DOJ “[…]needed to reexamine how it was responding to the request for information from Congress.” Not long after this, Politico reported that Melson was about to ‘resign’ from ATF.

Grassley, of course, has crossed swords with Cole before. Through 2010 and into 2011, Grassley blocked Cole’s confirmation in part because Cole had failed in his oversight at AIG. In June, however, Grassley withdrew his objection to Cole in exchange for information from the DOJ about F&F (Just for now, let’s ignore the dubious practice of forcing Congress to exchange votes for information from executive agencies about wrongdoing). Cole was then confirmed on June 27, and shortly after the vote, DOJ turned over documents about F&F to the Senate.

In the documents, Grassley discovered that Cole had been informed about F&F in March by Melson and had participated in concealing the details of the operation from Congressional investigators. A July 5th Grassley/Issa letter to Attorney General Eric Holder reads:

Mr. Melson provided documents months ago supporting his concerns [about Operation Fast and Furious] to the official in the ODAG [Office of the Deputy Attorney General] responsible for document production to the Committees, but those documents have not been provided to us.

Grassley and Issa also wrote that, according to Melson:

“[…] Justice Department officials directed them not to respond and took full control of replying to briefing and document requests from Congress. The result is that Congress only got the parts of the story that the Department wanted us to hear. If his [Melson’s] account is accurate, then ATF leadership appears to have been effectively muzzled while the DOJ sent over false denials and buried its head in the sand.”

Let's recap:

1. Cole ignored or failed to recognize financial risk at AIG for years (while collecting a hefty fee). 2. Grassley blocked his confirmation as Deputy Attorney General. 3. Using a recess appointment, President Obama appointed Cole to Deputy Attorney General in December of last year, and Cole took up his position at DOJ. 4. Cole’s office at DOJ withheld information from Congress about F&F at ATF, a program that allowed thousands of firearms bought in the US to fall into the hands of criminals in Mexico. 5. In a deal with Democrats, Grassley agreed to allow a confirmation vote on Cole in exchange for access to information from DOJ about F&F. 6. Upon receiving that information, Grassley learned that a DOJ official partially responsible for withholding F&F details from Congress was … Cole himself.

Last week, on July 11, Grassley and Issa wrote again to Holder:

As our investigation into Operation Fast and Furious has progressed, we have learned that senior officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ), including Senate-confirmed political appointees, were unquestionably aware of the implementation of this reckless program […].

Grassley and Issa are now requesting e-mails to and from Cole, among others, as part of their investigation.

Let’s hope that they don’t have to make another deal with the devil – or with our “Justice” Department – in order to get them.

Bea Edwards is the International Reform Director at the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.



________________________ _____________________


WTF?   Another criminal appointment by Obama


Im sure 240 loves this guy, since if obama nominated him, he must be good 

[Soul Crusher]

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


Washington DC– 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.”


This should prove interesting. This scandal seems to reach ever higher into the DoJ. Let’s hope for some indictments and resignations out of this.



________________________ __________


WOW!   


No wonder Mexico is demanding heads roll. 


fuck obama and holder - impeachment now! 

[Soul Crusher]

-26-11 "Operation Fast and Furious: The Other Side of the Border"        
 
Hearing Documents
Hearing Video

 
Witnesses
Mr. Carlos Canino
ATF Acting Attaché to Mexico
 

Mr. Darren Gil
Former ATF Attaché to Mexico
 

Mr. Jose Wall
ATF Senior Special Agent
Tijuana, Mexico
 

Mr. Lorren Leadmon
ATF Intelligence Operations Specialist
 

Mr. William Newell
Former ATF Special Agent in Charge
Phoenix Field Division
 

Mr. William McMahon
ATF Deputy Assistant Director for Field Operations
(West, including Phoenix and Mexico)
 

[Soul Crusher]

Exclusive: Story of central ‘Operation Castaway’ figure in his own words
By David Codrea, Gun Rights Examiner



..“Congress questions Tampa gun investigation,” Howard Altman of The Tampa Tribune writes in a July 20 report.

Grassley, Bilirakis and U.S. Rep. Darrel Issa, R-Calif., began looking into Operation Castaway after a pair of bloggers, David Codrea and Mike Vanderboegh, wrote a piece based on an anonymous source claiming that the Tampa ATF office was "walking" guns to Honduras the way the Phoenix office ran Operation Fast and Furious. The story was widely repeated in the conservative blogosphere and then on Fox News.

But a plea agreement in May 2010 — well before Terry was killed and Operation Fast and Furious became news — seems to show substantial differences between the two operations.

That may well be.  Mr. Altman approached this correspondent and Mike Vanderboegh of Sipsey Street Irregulars for details on this story on July 12, and this is what Vanderboegh took special care to point out in his responding email:

Mr. Altman,

Please read the first link below that David sent you to my story this morning.  It covers the distinction between the public face of Castaway and the Honduras gun walking allegations by our sources, which may, or may not, be related.  You would do well locally to ask questions on the general subject and not specifically Castaway.

Now, if you would like to make a proposal for an interview that I can pass on to my sources, they can decide if they wish to get in touch with you to talk about it.  This is how David and I have handled requests from the politicians and media to the ATF whistleblowers since January.  Sometimes they want to talk, sometimes they don't.  Sometimes you'll get a response from one, just to see how you handle it, and it it goes well, you'll hear from others.  Sometimes, if you're Michael Isikoff, we'll get a response back saying, "I'm not talking to that arrogant a******."

So, frame your request to the agent(s) and I'll pass it on.

Mike Vanderboegh

Altman’s story does not appear to have taken Vanderboegh’s specific caution to separate Operation Castaway from “gunwalking” allegations into consideration, but it does acquaint readers with a central figure in that investigation:

As a result of the investigation, Hugh Crumpler III, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, acknowledged that he illegally sold about 1,000 guns, shipping the bulk of them to Honduras and other countries in Central and South America.

This correspondent has established communications with Crumpler, currently doing time at a federal corrections facility, after being approached by a friend of his:

My dear friend, Hugh Crumpler III, was the sole gun dealer in the middle of the ATF Operation Castaway.  He is now doing time at a Federal Medical Facility in Lexington, KY. In hopes of gaining early release, he would like very much to share his true story with you for publication.  His wife is being contacted by the ATF, I believe to discourage him from telling his story and causing further embarrassment to them for this ill-advised program that ran concurrently with Fast and Furious. My sole mission in this is to help him get his story out.  It is truly fascinating and coming from one of the most honest guys I have ever had the privilege to call "friend".  Please let me know if you are interested and if so, I will be happy to put you in touch with Hugh.

What follows are my communications with Mr. Crumpler and his story in his own words, posted below, unedited, in the order sent. No representations as to accuracy and credibility are being made other than they are the words of Mr. Crumpler.

7/14/2011 11:51:40 AM

David-

Hugh Crumpler here.  Glad we could connect.  Please forward any questions you want answered.  My time on the e-mail system is limited.  I will do what I can within the time allotted and then continue on my next available opportunity.

Looking forward to any info you can relate to me.

God Bless You,

Hugh Crumpler III

-----

7/14/2011 5:21:51 PM

David-

I am ready to provide what ever information you wish.  Please let me know how you wish to proceed.

God Bless You,

Hugh Crumpler III

-----

7/14/2011 10:10:17 PM

Hellow David,

Trying to reach you.  Have you received the previous two e-mails?

God Bless You,

Hugh Crumpler III

-----

[NOTE: This correspondent had not yet established an account on CorrLinks, an email utility for communicating with incarcerated persons.]

Codrea, David on 7/15/2011 3:33 PM wrote:

Your friend contacted me and said you wanted to give me some information.  My response to him was to caution that anything said to me does not enjoy lawyer-client privilege, and while I am committed to protect my sources, going through CorrLinks with its attendant monitoring guarantees there can be no true confidentiality--so with that established, if you wish to proceed, my first question would be: Do you have evidence that any representative of the US government, either from ATF Tampa or any other agency--violated US law and/or ITAR regs and was involved in the illegal transport and transfer of firearms or other ordnance--and if so, did it involve export to any foreign nation, Honduras, or anywhere else?

-----

7/15/2011 5:06:40 PM

David-

I will e-mail you "my story" a very short version later.  It will take some time to enter into the computer.

My case, Operation Castaway, centered around me.  Agents from the Tampa, Orlando, Miami, and West Palm Beach offices of the ATF were actively involved.  I have no "proof".  Basically, my attorney never checked into what the ITAR regs (whatever that is) were, or even into the normal operations of the ATf.  My attorney did not know anything about firearms.  He was court appointed.

The other night, Senior Agent Keven McCann called my wife and told her that there were Blogs in the Tampa area comparing Operation Castaway to Operation Fast and Furious.  Kevin told my wife the operations were not similar because the ATF comfiscated the weapons I sold from the folks I delivered them to.

While I was working with/for the ATF I informed them of several ways that those who bought guns from me at the Alvena Way, Orlando residence shipped the guns to Honduras.  One way was through an International Shipper who shipped the guns in a Shipping Container.  ATF agents followed residents of the Alvena Way, Orland residence, with guns I sold them, to the international shipper.  The activities were photographed by the ATF.  The guns were placed in a shipping container.  The shipping container was taken, by the shipper, to a sea port.  I believe Miami, but I am not certain.  Agents McCann and Temple were visibly upset when ICE intercepted the shipment prior to its arrival at it destination.  The destination was Honduras.  This took two or more days, from the time the guns left the Alvena Way, Orlando residence until the guns were intercepted by ICE.

The agents told me they had been "Watching me for a long time".  My attorney never asked for all records.  They had bunches.

Two of the guns I sold were susposedly used by criminals.  One in Columbia and one was found on a hit man in Puerto Rico.  All that is in my Plea Agreement.  Normally when they trace a gun used in a crime they ask every one from the manufacturer on down who had the gun next.  They never asked or contacted me.  I don't know if that is a violation of law, procedure, or?

I will get much more to you later.

God Bless You,

Hugh

-----

7/15/2011 7:20:49 PM

David-

My attorney, Roger Weeden, said on Fox News that he thought no guns made it to Latin America.  How would he know?  He did not request all the info of the investigation from the ATF.  He did not interview ANY of the over 20 agents who participated in my case.  He was not familiar with weapons, the ATF, or its operations and made no attempt to gain that knowledge.  All he did was what the Prosecutor and the ATF wanted.  Which is EXACTALLY what he is doing now.  He was a court appointed attorney.

God Bless You,

Hugh Crumpler III

-----

7/16/2011 12:05:47 AM

David-

I went to gun shows throughout Florida.  I both sold and purchased guns.  I did not intend to be a large volume buyer and seller.  That evolved.  There are Private Sellers and Gun Dealers at gun shows.  A Private Seller is one who sells guns from his collection.  Through both attending and haveing a table at gun shows I learned that a vast majority (almost all) Private Sellers were selling guns for a profit without a license.

Some of these Private Sellers had been doing it for more than twenty years.  That is, they were selling guns for a profit without a lisence.  Over a period of time I learned some of their procedyures and practices.  I also learned how the ATF treated the Private Seller.

Amoung the practices and procedures of those Private Sellers who had been in business for a long time: buy guns from other Private Sellers where no paperwork was required; sell only for cash; and a couple of Private Sellers sold only long guns.

Purchases and sales through a lisenced gun dealer require a background check and paperwork.  Sales or purchases of multiple handguns require additional paperwork and reporting.  All the reports alert the government.  Several Private Sellers told me they were given either verbal or written warnings to stop or to get a lisence.  Some stopped.  Some got a lisence and afew got more cautious and continued selling guns for a profit without a lisence.

I did not intend to be a volume gun dealer.  in did not intend to be a long term gun dealer.  I kept no secrets.  i purchased guns from Private Sellers.  However, by far, the vast majority of my purchases were from gun dealers.  The vast majority of gun purchases, by far, were mulotiple firearms purchases.  Three sets of paperwork were required: a background check; a multiple purchase report; and a receipt.

Clues that alert the ATF that a Private Seller may be selling guns for a profit inclued: the frequency of purchases; purchases of the same model gun; the volume of the purchases; and the particular models of firearms purchased.  i was not attempting to hide anything!  I expected the ATF to stop me and give me a warning.  I planned to stop.

In the beginning my purchases were of one, two or three firearms; two to three times a week.  Most were handguns.  All purchases were from gun dealers.  Appropriate background checks and multiple purchase/sales forms were filled out.

Several gun dealers asked me if I was concerned that the ATF might be watching me.  My answer was: "i am sure they are!"  I believed the ATF would follow past practices and give me a warning.

I developed a group of clients.  Some in West Palm Beach, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Miami.  These clients all wanted many of the same model gun and many of them.  A large percentage of these clients were from Honduras.  I was positive the government was watching me.  But, why were they allowing me to continue?

My thought process was:  OK - these guys want the same model guns and lots of them - why?  So...I did my research.  Zalia was the President of Honduras.  Zalia was supported by Chavez (anti-US).  The Honduran government was supported by Chavez through lower oil prices.  The Hondurans were indeed sending the guns to Honduras.  I was told (once I found out) and i believed what i was told, theat the guns were for the general population to defend against Chavez, a corrupt government, and crime.  OK - I've heard of Oliver North.  Maybe the government actually wanted the guns in Honduras so they were letting me make the sales.

Low and behold Zalia presented the Honduran Congress with legislature that he be the President for life = the same thing Chavez did.  Zalia was escorted out of office.  Now there was real turmoil in Honduras.  Chavez was sending two Cesnas into Honduras daily.  Each was filled with ten million U S dollars in twenty dollar bills.  (I got paid in alot of twenty dollar bills during that time.)  The money was distributed to peasants to protest against the ouster of Zalia.

By this time I was making daily firearms purchases of thirty or more firearms and delivering them daily - six days a week.  My thoughts continued to be that: "Surely the government knew what I was doing.  And since they did dnot approach me they must either want me to do this or they approve.

Most of my sales and purchases were during the last half of '09' and early January '10'.  When the ATF stopped me in January of '10' I was informed that the guns I sold were ending up in the hands of Cartels.  Two had been connected with crimes.  The ATF asked for my cooperation and I said: "Lets go get them!"

With my cooperation and risking my life to obtain evidence at least twice the ATF was able to charge and convict numorous individuals; intercept weapons shipments and gain intelligence.

I asked the ATF agents handling my case many times why they did not stop me and warn me.  For many months they did not respond to my question.  Towards the end of their operations the ATF agent in charge gave me two different answers - neither of which I considered plausable.

From the very earliest contact the ATF informed me that my case was supervised at the National Level.  (I thought it must have been because of my anti-Obama sentiments.)  This was the time when Obama had the 'Tell on your friends" website.

The government provided me with an attorney who knew nothing about firearms and nothing about the ATF or its operating procedures.  He made no attempt to learn.  He never intervied any ATF agent involved with the case prior to the sentencing hearing.  He did not return any messages left by the ATF agent, Temple who asked him to return call.  He did not formally request notes of meetings or recordings of meetings I asked to get.  My attorney neglected in returning phone calls.  One of the ATF agents had the same problem with him.  My attorney made ZERO progress on my behalf.  During the Sentencing Hearing the Judge intimidated my attorney.  My attorney stuttered and stammered.  he did not ask my sitnesses any of the questions he told them he was going to ask them; he did not call all of my witnesses; and my attorney's closing argument enraged the Judge.

The ATF continues to investigate individuals based on information I provided them.

Recent revelations regarding ATF actions in Arizona appear to be actions taken very similar to actions taken in my case.  The ATF actions were Supervised Nationally and guns were intentionally let fo into the hands of criminals.

I feel I should be immediately released from prison; given a warning; pardoned; and both the firearms and the cash the ATF took from me be returned.  Based on recent revelations the ATF allowed me to sell guns way longer than under normal ATF practices.  The ATF has had my complete cooperation.  Basically, I should be reinstated to the position I would have been in when a warning should have been issued.

Information in the press indicated the ATF confiscated fifty thousand dollars from me.  In actuality, the ATF confiscated a little more that four thousand dollars from my person and home.  Other cash was obtained from other indivciduals by me under ATF supervision as evidence; seventeen thousand dollars in cash during a supervised transaction'; over thirteen thousand dollars from several individuals at one location - at the same; and a six thousand dollar deposit to my bank account.  (The cash was immediately given to the ATF,.)

I would be happy to testify in front of Congress.  And I have sent info to many congressmen (none have responded - info was sent in mid '10') so indicating.

During the ATF investigation and during my cooperation it was discovered that I was selling guns to the two largest gun dealing families in Honduras.  One with ties to the government.  Serious ties.  Solictor General and one of the new President's staff.

God Bless America,

Hugh Crumpler III

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    -----

Codrea, David on 7/16/2011 12:03 PM wrote:

I'm going to need some time to digest this and consult with my advisers.  Also, will be in and out all weekend with limited internet access.

What I want you to think about is what it is you want me to do with this information, how it can best be used, all with a mind toward what best protects your vulnerability from further legal action and/or retaliation.  I am more than mindful that your present surroundings could make such retaliation difficult to prove, yet nonetheless intimidating.

-----

7/16/2011 2:35:47 PM

David-

I am not worried about retaliation.  Most likely, if any, retaliation would come from the criminal element that I helped to turn in.  I did not for a second believe that I was selling to cartels.  I was looking for any connection to crime and I could find none.  The "looking" is how I was able to determine as much as I did.

I said it many times to the ATF that "It is easier to get guns out of the country than it is to get money in!"

I believe that the ATF allowed me to sell guns by not doing anything when they should have.  Further, they did not do follow up questioning of me when they found I gun I had purchased was used in a crime.  They were deliberately lax.

I would like to see the approach to the article that I was used by the ATF to locate the individuals who were shipping guns to cartels and put me in a position where I could be of invaluable assistance to them- which I was.

God Bless You,

Hugh Crumpler III

-----

[Soul Crusher]

7/16/2011 3:21:16 PM

David-

I have always wanted to be a hero.  My heros were John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Batman, Zorro, and so on.  I joined the Army to fight the Communist Invasion of South Vietnam in Feb of 1966.  I voluntered for Officer Candidate School that same year.  And graduated from OCS as a Second Lieutenant in the Infantry in Feb of 1967.  I was assigned duty in Vietnam in 1968.  I was there for the Tet Offensive.  I was an Infantry Platoon Leader in the Fourth Infantry Division.  Our missions were primarily along the Laosan & Cambodian borders with South Vietnam.  We went up and down the Ho Chi Minn Trail.  NO MAN UNDER MY COMMAND WAS KILLED!!  Not many Infantry Platoon Leaders can say that.  I never heard of another.  I was awarded medals for individual heroism by my country and by Vietnam.  Late during my tour in Vietnam I was promoted to Company Executive Officer.

I have saved the lives of several individuals as a civilian.  It is just my nature.  I have never smoked, or done drugs.  I don't even know the common terms of the drug culture.  Most folks consider me a "Goody Goody".  Crime, specifically, selling guns to criminals IS not in my make up.  I thought I was being a hero to the people of Honduras and I thought it was what my government wanted.

I have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and I was on Citalopram.  That drug will alter a person's behavior.  I believe that my taking that drug had something to do with my not seeing/being aware of things I should have known.  The Judge, at my sentencing hearing said I should have known (referring to the fact that the guns went to cartels).  Looking back, in retrospect, yes, I should have known.  But "should have" and knowing are not the same thing.

I thought you might want a little of my background.

God Bless You,

Hugh Crumpler III

-----

Codrea, David on 7/16/2011 4:48 PM wrote:

Rep. Bilirakis of FL is looking into the Honduran allegations--can I share your story with his staff?

-----

7/16/2011 8:50:59 PM

Please do.  I am sending him a written version.  I just found out that he was investigating.  I am sending him the same as I have sent you.

Definantly, please do.  I am willing to testify before Congress.  Whatever!

God Bless You,

Hugh

-----

7/17/2011 7:05:42 AM

David and [REDACTED—name of Crumpler's friend mentioned earlier in this account]-

My internet e-mail access will be down Monday morning until aprox 11 AM.  They are doing a software upgrade.  I will be checking my e-mail as soon as possible.  However, if things work as they usually do around here the flood of e-mail usage when the system comes on will overload the server and we will be a little slow.  So......bear with me if you do not have a responce to any e-mail you might send.

Also, the usual BOP reading of incoming and outgoing e-mail applies.  That usually means a two and a half hour one way e-mail.

God Bless You,

Hugh Crumpler III

-----

Codrea, David on 7/19/2011 10:03 AM wrote:

What is it that you want me to do with your story?  About all I can figure out is present it unedited on my Examiner.com page, attributed to you, give a background up front on who you are and that we are in communication, and then get out of the way and paste in what you've told me via email correspondence.  That will do two things--it will inform the public and possibly get other news orgs interested in finding out more from you, and it will be additional info for Congressional investigators to start pulling threads from.

It's up to you if I do that or not--I always protect sources and never use information or names given to me unless authorized. So what would you like to have me do?

-----

7/19/2011 11:50:23 AM

David-

Every thing you suggested is perfectly alright with me.  Post it, use my name.

Were you able to share the story with the Congressman from Florida's Staff?

God Bless You,

Hugh Crumpler III

-----

Codrea, David on 7/19/2011 9:48 PM wrote:

Not yet but I will--writing it up and sending my contacts there the link is really the best way--it will consolidate all the info in one place plus I will mention it in the article to help create a pressure for both Bilirakis and Issa staffers to give it a serious look.

-----

7/20/2011 9:05:42 AM

Thank you.  I appreciate all the help.

God Bless You,

Hugh

-----

7/20/2011 9:50:52 AM

Not Sure If I sent you this info

David-

While I was working for/with the ATF I informed them about methods the individuals at the Alvena Way, Orlando residence used to ship the guns to Honduras.  One of the methods was that they took the guns to an International Shipping Company where they were placed in an overseas shipping container and shipped.  The ATF photographed individuals leaving the Alvean Way, Orlando residence and driving to the International Shipping Company (I do not know which one.)  The guns were placed in an overseas shipping container.  The shipping container was taken by the shipping company to a sea port.  I believe it was Miami.  ATF agents McCann and Temple were visibly upset when ICE intercepted the shipment and confiscated the guns prior to their arrival at their destination.  The destination was Honduras.  These actions occurred over a period of at least, an probably, two days.

God Bless You,

Hugh Crumpler III

-----

Codrea, David on 7/20/2011 11:08:02 AM wrote:

When did this take place?

# # #

UPDATE: Just received this response to my last question:

The ATF stopped me in late Jan of 10.  This took place within a couple of weeks.  Probably, within the first week after they stopped me and asked me to cooperate.
 

This article is being forwarded to staffers for Sen. Grassley and Reps. Issa and Bilrakis.

Also see:

•Source claims ATF's Tampa SAC walked guns to Honduras

•Breaking News: Tampa SAC 'in full meltdown...shredders are buzzing'

•ATF’s Melson urged to prove he’s still director and stop alleged Tampa cover-up

•Bilirakis questions Holder, Melson on Tampa gunwalking allegations

A Journalist’s Guide to ‘Project Gunwalker' Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four for a complete list with links of independent investigative reporting and commentary done to date by Sipsey Street Irregulars and Gun Rights Examiner.

Note to newcomers to this story: “Project Gunrunner” is the name ATF assigned to its Southwest Border Initiative to interdict gun smuggling to Mexico. “Project Gunwalker” is the name I assigned to the scandal after allegations by agents that monitored guns were allowed to fall into criminal hands on both sides of the border through a surveillance process termed “walking” surfaced.

------------

.....

Continue reading on Examiner.com Exclusive: Story of central ‘Operation Castaway’ figure in his own words - National gun rights | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/exclusive-story-of-central-operation-castaway-figure-his-own-words#ixzz1SkJtYIHX

[240 is Back]

why won't FOX or DRUDGE touch the story?

[tu_holmes]

why won't FOX or DRUDGE touch the story?

Who cares?

What does that have to do with anything?

They don't touch the 9/11 conspiracies either, but you rail on them constantly... They don't touch on the Sarah Palin baby shit, but you brought it up non-stop man.

Look, if it's true... they need to go to prison... period.

If it's not, then they shouldn't but we need to know the truth.

[Soul Crusher]

Operation Fast and Furious: The Straw Buyers
By William La Jeunesse & Laura Prabucki

Published July 20, 2011
| FoxNews.com

 When the Operation Fast and Furious indictment was announced back in January, it was depicted as a big bust. Twenty suspects were charged with numerous counts of conspiracy, money laundering, gun running and drug trafficking. The defendants faced 5 to 20 years on a single count.

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.

Fox News paid a visit to some of the straw buyers in the Phoenix Metro area last week. What we found were young men, many living with their parents, who were apparently just looking to make some quick money.

"A straw buyer is usually a kid who is 18-25, who needs a couple hundred extra bucks and knows somebody who knows somebody that has a way to make a couple extra bucks," said Adrian Fontes, an attorney for the accused ringleader of this Operation. His client, Manuel Celis- Acosta is the only one still in jail.

"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.

Former U.S. Attorney Melvin McDonald says the defendants' release suggests that Operation Fast and Furious is not only a scandal, it was a failure.

" It's pretty scary," says McDonald. " You'd think a lot of people probably would not get out , they'd be detained because of the risk."

The parents of some of the straw buyers claim their sons just got caught up with the wrong crowd.

The mother of 18-year old Dejan Hercegovac, who bought more than 30 guns, said, "He didn't know anything.. he was just a kid."

The father of Erick Avila- Davila, a 25-year old who bought 12 guns, said he didn't know what his son was up to and only found out when he was arrested.

" When I ask him what he did, he just told me 'I'm sorry dad'."



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/20/operation-fast-and-furious-straw-buyers/#ixzz1Slo93AxU

[Soul Crusher]

Gunwalker: Testimony Reveals Eric Holder’s Obfuscation Tactics
Pajamas Media ^ | July 20, 2011 | Patrick Richardson



ATF Acting Director Ken Melson's testimony shows just how far the DOJ has gone to impede the investigation and to protect political appointees.


Attorney General Eric Holder continues to duck responsibility for Operation Fast and Furious, which allowed more than 2,500 weapons, including thousands of AK-47 variants and .50 caliber sniper rifles, across the Mexican border and into the hands of the cartels. The weapons were used to murder Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and an estimated 150 Mexican nationals.


In May of this year, Holder was called to testify in front of Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-CA) House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to answer questions about the program — which Holder claimed he’d first heard of in the media.

Issa and Sen. Chuck Grassley, (R-IA), ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, have been complaining for months now that the Department of Justice has been obstructing the investigation, to the degree of possible witness tampering.

Holder’s Justice Department finally responded to a letter from Issa and Grassley. But according to a new letter from them, Holder is merely continuing to obfuscate, a fact underscored by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Acting Director Ken Melson initially being prevented from briefing or testifying to Congress, as his eventual personal testimony states.


According to the latest release from Issa and Grassley:

“It was very frustrating to all of us, and it appears thoroughly to us that the Department is really trying to figure out a way to push the information away from their political appointees at the Department,” ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson said of his frustration with the Justice Department’s response to the investigation in a transcribed interview.

Indeed, Melson’s testimony makes it clear he feared the consequences of not coming clean from the beginning, as Issa and Grassley state in their letter:

[A]fter receiving [Senator Grassley's initial] letter, our first instinct and intuition was to directly march over to Senator Grassley’s office and brief him on what Fast and Furious was for purposes of explaining the concept and the role it played and how it got there, and where ATF was going in it. And we expressed that desire to the [Deputy Attorney General]‘s office.

The DOJ did not permit Mr. Melson to brief Senator Grassley. Instead, the Department devised a strategy to withhold information from the senator. Mr. Melson testified further:

I sat in [the office of the Associate Deputy Attorney General with responsibility for ATF] one day when they were writing the letter to Senator Grassley about him being only a ranking member and not the chair of the committee. I sat there across the desk from [him], as I recall, and said, this is really just poking [Senator Grassley] in the eye. What’s the sense of doing this? Even if you say you can’t give it to him, he’s going to get it through the back door anyhow, so why are we aggravating this situation.


Congress had demanded answers as far back as February 10, and was possibly lied to in an open hearing:

Instead of providing Congress answers from the individuals best-positioned to provide them, Mr. Melson and his staff were muzzled. The decision to withhold information at the earliest sign of congressional interest set the Justice Department on a course that required Congress to aggressively pursue testimony and documents elsewhere. As you now know, this was entirely avoidable. The Department’s leadership chose to protect its own interests at the expense of exposing the leadership of a subordinate agency to Congressional scrutiny.

While Congress waited, ATF’s senior leaders examined how and why Fast and Furious happened. Mr. Melson and his staff identified institutional problems. They concluded that the Phoenix Field Division needed new supervision and reassigned every manager involved in Fast and Furious. Mr. Melson wanted to share this important development with Congress to show that ATF was taking the allegations seriously. The Department resisted. Mr. Melson observed that “[t]he [Deputy Attorney General's] office wasn’t very happy with us, because they thought this was an admission that there were mistakes made. Well, there were some mistakes made.” (Emphasis in original)

The DOJ went so far as to refrain from telling Melson he had not just the option, but the right to appear before Congress without a DOJ handler and with his own attorney. Issa’s staff had to tell Melson this.


Even more damning, DOJ not only prevented Melson from testifying before Congress, they prevented him from communicating with his own department:

Part of the problem, and one of the things that frustrated me was that I have not been allowed to communicate to the troops about anything. So, for example, earlier on, I wanted to do a broadcast that just talked about the case, because everybody was wondering what’s this case about? What are you doing at headquarters? How come you were not issuing press releases and how come you were not ordering press conferences and pushing back and things like that? And I was told not to do that.

Then after we wanted to do several things to talk to our people about what this case was about, what it wasn’t about, and you know, where we were going and the fact that we were cooperating as much as we could with the committee and with the Department, but we were restrained from doing that. And even after your hearings on the — was it the 16th or whatever that Wednesday was, we wanted to do the same thing, and they said, well, let us read it first. So we finally drafted something and sent it over to them. I don’t know whether we ever got it back, but it has restrained our ability to work with our people.


Melson’s testimony also makes clear DOJ is trying to protect political appointees:

But I think the way it was handled went sideways and it could have been avoided with perhaps a more thoughtful approach to what was going on instead of such a strident approach to it. I think there could have been accommodations made between the Hill and ATF and DOJ as to how information was shared. It was very frustrating to all of us, and it appears thoroughly to us that the Department is really trying to figure out a way to push the information away from their political appointees at the Department.

This is an understatement of British proportion. There are ten pages to this letter, and far more information. It’s clear that there has been a concerted effort by Eric Holder’s DOJ to block the congressional investigation and to protect political appointees, plus a willingness to throw anyone who doesn’t fall directly in line to the wolves.

They’ve also been happy to use the failed operation to push for more gun control.

Yet Issa and Grassley do not appear inclined to back down until all of the answers are public.

[Soul Crusher]

latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-0722-fast-furious-emails,0,5029419.story

latimes.com

ATF sought to downplay guns scandal, emails show

As Sen. Charles Grassley and congressional investigators looked into the Fast and Furious operation and the killing of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, ATF officials took steps to throw them off the trail.

Richard A. Serrano

Washington Bureau

3:41 PM PDT, July 21, 2011

Reporting from Washington

advertisement

Two days after U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry was killed in December, the top ATF supervisors in Phoenix said in internal emails that weapons found at the scene in Arizona came from a failed agency sting operation.

But nearly two months later, when U.S. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) inquired about the origin of the guns, senior officials in Washington with the Justice Department and its Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were evasive.

Grassley asked whether the guns were "used" in the killing. According to agency emails obtained by the Tribune/Times Washington bureau, the Justice Department response to Grassley said that "these allegations are not true." The response made no acknowledgement that the guns were even there.

DOCUMENTS: Read the emails

ATF officials, speaking not for attribution because the probe is ongoing, said they saw a distinction between the guns being found at the scene and "used" in the killing. They said the FBI had determined that neither of the two AK-47 semiautomatics was the one that killed the agent.

The parsing of the response to Grassley fit a pattern of ATF and Justice Department officials seeking to minimize the depth of the problems with the sting operation run by the ATF's Phoenix field office.

The goal of the sting operation, dubbed Fast and Furious, was to observe but not prevent a series of illegal gun purchases in the hopes that agents could follow the guns and learn about smuggling routes into Mexico. The program, which began in November 2009, largely failed. ATF lost track of many of the weapons. Along with the two guns found at the Terry shooting, nearly 200 more were found at crime scenes in Mexico.

After the death of Terry and Grassley's inquiries, the agency sought to close ranks. In an email on Feb. 3, ATF supervisors were told "you are in no way obligated to respond to congressional contacts or requests for information.... You are not authorized to disclose non-public information about law enforcement matters outside of ATF or the Department of Justice to anyone, including congressional staff."

In addition, in a series of emails to William J. Hoover, the ATF's acting deputy director, bureau officials discussed what steps to take to throw Grassley and congressional investigators off the trail.

Grassley and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, are investigating who in Washington approved the program and why it was not shut down months before ATF ultimately halted it.

Grassley started asking questions in late January, when he received tips that two of the weapons found near Terry's body were Fast and Furious guns. He sent two letters to the ATF, saying "this raises a host of serious questions that the ATF needs to address immediately." He added that, if they were indeed Fast and Furious guns, then "the ATF may have become careless, if not negligent, in implementing" the program.

According to the internal emails, two days after Terry's killing on Dec. 14 the top two ATF field supervisors in Phoenix were openly discussing that Fast and Furious guns were found at the scene. George T. Gillett Jr., then the acting special agent in charge, sent his boss, William D. Newell, the agent in charge, a "narrative of incident/activity" about the death.

It said Jaime Avila bought three AK-47s a year earlier from a Phoenix-area store and two "were recovered in the area" of Terry's killing. "In summary," the email said, "Avila admitted to ATF agents that he straw purchased these firearms for an unidentified Hispanic male."

After Grassley's inquiries, Hoover received an internal email alerting him that the bureau was "receiving reports that Grassley's staff is contacting current and former ATF field agents to inquire about the open investigation into the Brian Terry murder" and Fast and Furious. According to one email, ATF officials believed that Grassley was growing more suspicious because "ATF is not answering" his concerns.

They seemed further alarmed when they learned a mid-level ATF supervisor "called to the carpet" an employee who had spoken with Grassley's staff. The employee "was ordered to write a memorandum disclosing everything" he told the senator's staff. The email said Grassley's office had expressed concern that the ATF supervisor may have violated federal laws intended to protect whistle-blowers.

As the agency continued to work on a written response to Grassley, an email to Hoover proposed a "watered-down" account of what was found at the site of the Terry killing. As an aside, the email added that Grassley was "at best imposing an unobtainable standard on ATF."

ATF finally sent Grassley a two-page response Feb. 4, under the signature of Assistant Atty. Gen. Ronald Weich. It largely defended the Fast and Furious program and devoted one paragraph to the Terry killing: The agency could not comment about "pending criminal investigations."

According to one email, it was sent with the approval of acting ATF Director Kenneth E. Melson. "He's good to go with it," it said.

Hoover praised the response. "Nice touch partner," the No. 2 man at ATF said about a colleague's work on the letter.

Indeed, several senior ATF and Justice Department officials dispatched emails congratulating one another. "You're a natural leader," one told Hoover. "The men and women are lucky you've stayed the course."

Whether Grassley and his staff would be satisfied with their response, they were left to wonder. As one official put it, "Whether or not they buy in, you are the man for supporting us like that."

DOCUMENTS: Read the emails

richard.serrano@latimes.com

Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times