Obama Corruption & Scandal Thread - Solyndra and other crimes.

[Agnostic007]

I see... so that's "not rare".

I find that hard to believe, but hey man... If you say so, I'm going to believe you.

I figured you would find it hard to believe. But thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt anyway. 

[Soul Crusher]

Congressional Inquiries Turn To Houston Over Gun Trafficking Investigation
www.click2houston.com ^ | 5 August, 2011 | Robert Arnold



HOUSTON -- For weeks, congressional leaders have grilled officials with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives about an operation in Arizona called "Fast and Furious." Now, some of those pointed questions are focusing on a gun trafficking investigation conducted by the ATF's Houston office.

According to testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, agents involved in Fast and Furious allowed Mexican drug cartel recruits to buy guns in the United States with the hopes of following the buyers and weapons back to key cartel and smuggling operations. The operation, called "reckless" by some congressional leaders, was aimed at curbing guns bought in the U.S. from reaching the hands of cartel members in Mexico.

"It got people killed," said U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican congressman from California and chairman of the House's Oversight Committee who has been critical of the ATF's operation.

A congressional report showed hundreds of the guns slipped through the cracks during the investigation. A joint staff report prepared for the House Oversight Committee and Senate Committee on the Judiciary claimed some of the Fast and Furious guns wound up in Mexico, some guns were found at crime scenes in the United States and hundreds more are missing.

The report read that Fast and Furious ended when guns that were part of the operation were found at the murder of border patrol agent Brian Terry.

Now, congressional leaders want to know if similar problems happened in Houston during an investigation done under the auspices of an ATF initiative called "Gunrunner." The operation targeted "straw buyers" in border states recruited to legally purchase handguns and high-powered rifles only to hand the weapons over to members of the drug cartels.

"The ATF agents encouraged them to go through with the sales," said Houston attorney


(Excerpt) Read more at click2houston.com ...


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[Soul Crusher]

Gunwalker: Drug Enforcement Agency Admits Involvement
Pajamas Media ^ | August 8, 2011 | Bob Owens



This marks the first admission of knowledge from an agency besides the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Michele Leonhart, the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency, has sent a letter to congressional investigators admitting her agency played a role in a criminal investigation that turned into a de facto gun-smuggling operation run by federal law enforcement agencies.


In mid-July, Senator Charles Grassley and Representative Darrell Issa sent a pair of letters to the heads of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration, asking them to explain their alleged roles in Operation Fast and Furious and to provide specific communications relating to specific agents and managers in those respective organizations.

Fast and Furious is blamed for the deaths of approximately 150 Mexican law enforcement officers and soldiers, along with an unknown number of civilian casualties on both sides of the border. The program was only shut down after Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered in a nighttime desert firefight with criminals armed with at least two Fast and Furious-provided AK-pattern rifles.

The letters from Grassley and Issa were directed to FBI Director Robert Mueller and DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart. According to Richard Serrano of the Los Angeles Times, Leonhart has responded:

The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration has acknowledged to congressional investigators that her agency provided a supporting role in the ill-fated Operation Fast and Furious run by the group’s counterparts at the ATF.

Michele M. Leonhart, the DEA administrator, said DEA agents primarily helped gather evidence in cases in Phoenix and El Paso, and in the program’s single indictment last January that netted just 20 defendants for illegal gun-trafficking.


The development marks the first time another law enforcement agency has said it also worked on Fast and Furious cases other than the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is under two investigations into why it allowed at least 2,000 firearms to be illegally purchased and then lost track of the guns’ whereabouts.

Leonhart’s letter, dated July 22, insists that the DEA is conducting a review of the documentation that the congressional investigators have asked for, even though the agency has not turned over any of the communications at this time.

Leonhart claims that the DEA agents in El Paso and Phoenix were only “indirectly involved in the ATF operation through DEA-associated investigative activity,” and further absolves her agency by claiming that “DEA personnel had no decision-making role in an ATF operations” associated with Fast and Furious.

This claim appears to stand in stark contrast to claims made by the ATF special agent in charge (SAC) of the operation, William Newell, who stated in congressional testimony that the ATF, DEA, FBI, and IRS were all “full partners” in the operation.

It now appears that the “full partners” may be on the verge of a internecine feud to deflect responsibility from their agencies. Unfortunately, it is going to be very difficult for DEA Administrator Leonhart, FBI Director Mueller, and other directors in Eric Holder’s Justice Department to claim they had little or no knowledge of the operation when email records show that they were informed about the program in one or more briefings from ATF’s Newell.

Newell also admitted that he briefed a friend in the White House about the operation, a staffer on President Obama’s National Security Council named Kevin O’Reilly. The Obama administration is standing by its claim that while every director in federal law enforcement and NSC staffers were briefed, the White House knew nothing.


The White House continues to claim they did not know about the gunwalking operation while it was occurring, a position shared by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder as his underlings seem primed to turn upon one another to keep from facing the political and legal consequences of the operation.

The potential for a rending conflict in the executive branch is not limited to the Justice Department.

Gunwalker took place in Arizona, where DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano was both governor and state attorney general, using personnel the secretary had in her own state administration. It is highly unlikely that Gunwalker occurred on Napolitano’s “home turf” and one of her current areas of focus without her knowledge — or advice.

Even the most faithful of left-leaning media outlets are concerned that Gunwalker may eventually be a serious problem for President Obama:

Now that Republicans in Congress won important concessions from President Obama in the debt ceiling debate, the next partisan battle is likely to be over what promises to be the first major scandal of the Obama administration: the botched gun sting known as “Operation Fast and Furious.” The administration should waste no time and come clean about what happened, who approved it, and how it can be avoided again.


Unfortunately, the early signs are that Obama is going to handle this controversy as poorly as he handled the debt ceiling debate.

The writer of that sentiment, Adam Winkler of the Huffington Post, can’t seem to get his head around the fact that Gunwalker is more than a political headache; it’s a deadly serious legal one as well.

Being an accessory to murder is a felony in the United States and Mexico, and that is just one of the many possible criminal charges that federal agents, supervisors, political appointees, and elected officials may face in both U.S. and Mexican judicial systems (for example, the ATF’s Newell).

As Gunwalker continues to unravel, it will be interesting to see who comes forward to testify in exchange for reduced charges or immunity. The line to turn witness could be long, and every indication is that it will point to the highest levels of the Obama administration.



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

[Soul Crusher]

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Gunwalker: Drug Enforcement Agency Admits Involvement
Pajamas Media ^ | August 8, 2011 | Bob Owens
Posted on August 8, 2011 12:39:32 PM EDT by Kaslin

This marks the first admission of knowledge from an agency besides the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.



Michele Leonhart, the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency, has sent a letter to congressional investigators admitting her agency played a role in a criminal investigation that turned into a de facto gun-smuggling operation run by federal law enforcement agencies.

In mid-July, Senator Charles Grassley and Representative Darrell Issa sent a pair of letters to the heads of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration, asking them to explain their alleged roles in Operation Fast and Furious and to provide specific communications relating to specific agents and managers in those respective organizations.

Fast and Furious is blamed for the deaths of approximately 150 Mexican law enforcement officers and soldiers, along with an unknown number of civilian casualties on both sides of the border. The program was only shut down after Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered in a nighttime desert firefight with criminals armed with at least two Fast and Furious-provided AK-pattern rifles.

The letters from Grassley and Issa were directed to FBI Director Robert Mueller and DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart. According to Richard Serrano of the Los Angeles Times, Leonhart has responded:

The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration has acknowledged to congressional investigators that her agency provided a supporting role in the ill-fated Operation Fast and Furious run by the group’s counterparts at the ATF.

Michele M. Leonhart, the DEA administrator, said DEA agents primarily helped gather evidence in cases in Phoenix and El Paso, and in the program’s single indictment last January that netted just 20 defendants for illegal gun-trafficking.

The development marks the first time another law enforcement agency has said it also worked on Fast and Furious cases other than the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is under two investigations into why it allowed at least 2,000 firearms to be illegally purchased and then lost track of the guns’ whereabouts.

Leonhart’s letter, dated July 22, insists that the DEA is conducting a review of the documentation that the congressional investigators have asked for, even though the agency has not turned over any of the communications at this time.

Leonhart claims that the DEA agents in El Paso and Phoenix were only “indirectly involved in the ATF operation through DEA-associated investigative activity,” and further absolves her agency by claiming that “DEA personnel had no decision-making role in an ATF operations” associated with Fast and Furious.

This claim appears to stand in stark contrast to claims made by the ATF special agent in charge (SAC) of the operation, William Newell, who stated in congressional testimony that the ATF, DEA, FBI, and IRS were all “full partners” in the operation.

It now appears that the “full partners” may be on the verge of a internecine feud to deflect responsibility from their agencies. Unfortunately, it is going to be very difficult for DEA Administrator Leonhart, FBI Director Mueller, and other directors in Eric Holder’s Justice Department to claim they had little or no knowledge of the operation when email records show that they were informed about the program in one or more briefings from ATF’s Newell.

Newell also admitted that he briefed a friend in the White House about the operation, a staffer on President Obama’s National Security Council named Kevin O’Reilly. The Obama administration is standing by its claim that while every director in federal law enforcement and NSC staffers were briefed, the White House knew nothing.

The White House continues to claim they did not know about the gunwalking operation while it was occurring, a position shared by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder as his underlings seem primed to turn upon one another to keep from facing the political and legal consequences of the operation.

The potential for a rending conflict in the executive branch is not limited to the Justice Department.

Gunwalker took place in Arizona, where DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano was both governor and state attorney general, using personnel the secretary had in her own state administration. It is highly unlikely that Gunwalker occurred on Napolitano’s “home turf” and one of her current areas of focus without her knowledge — or advice.

Even the most faithful of left-leaning media outlets are concerned that Gunwalker may eventually be a serious problem for President Obama:

Now that Republicans in Congress won important concessions from President Obama in the debt ceiling debate, the next partisan battle is likely to be over what promises to be the first major scandal of the Obama administration: the botched gun sting known as “Operation Fast and Furious.” The administration should waste no time and come clean about what happened, who approved it, and how it can be avoided again.

Unfortunately, the early signs are that Obama is going to handle this controversy as poorly as he handled the debt ceiling debate.

The writer of that sentiment, Adam Winkler of the Huffington Post, can’t seem to get his head around the fact that Gunwalker is more than a political headache; it’s a deadly serious legal one as well.

Being an accessory to murder is a felony in the United States and Mexico, and that is just one of the many possible criminal charges that federal agents, supervisors, political appointees, and elected officials may face in both U.S. and Mexican judicial systems (for example, the ATF’s Newell).

As Gunwalker continues to unravel, it will be interesting to see who comes forward to testify in exchange for reduced charges or immunity. The line to turn witness could be long, and every indication is that it will point to the highest levels of the Obama administration.

[Soul Crusher]

'Top' Justice Department officials told about 'Project Gunwalker' in March 2010
St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner ^ | 11 August, 2011 | Kurt Hofmann
Posted on August 13, 2011 8:59:01 AM EDT by marktwain

Much of the investigation of the "Project Gunwalker" scandal centers on the questions, "Who knew what, and when did they know it?" Attorney General Eric Holder has denied any involvement in the debacle, and indeed in sworn testimony to the House Judiciary Committee in early May claimed that he "probably" had first heard of Operation Fast and Furious only "a few weeks" previously:

Congressman Issa: When did you first know about the program, officially, I believe, called "Fast and Furious"? To the best of your knowledge, what date?
Attorney General Holder: I'm not sure about the exact date, but I probably heard about "Fast and Furious" for the first time over the last few weeks.

That was hard to believe then, given the fact that we know Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) had sent letters to Holder asking about that operation almost three months before the "last few weeks" claim.

And now, if Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) Acting Director Kenneth Melson is to be believed, Holder's claim is looking even more dubious. From the Los Angeles Times:

At that early stage of the program, Acting Director Melson said he warned top officials at the Justice Department that weapons had gotten away. "I wanted to alert my staff as well as the [deputy attorney general's] office that there were instances in which guns were not stopped," he said.
So the Deputy Attorney General knew at least as early as March 2010 that the BATFE had been watching guns being "walked" to Mexico, but didn't think that was worth bringing up to his boss? How likely does that sound?

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

[Soul Crusher]

Gowdy: ‘Impossible to Conceive’ Holder Not Aware of Gunwalker
Pajamas Media ^ | August 15, 2011 | Patrick Richardson




Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) tells PJMedia: "I want to know the day when U.S. law enforcement knew, or should have known, that this had gotten out of control."



Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) told PJMedia last week that it is possible Attorney General Eric Holder wasn’t aware of Operation Fast and Furious, but:


As things started to go south, I think it’s impossible to conceive he wasn’t briefed in on it.

Gowdy, who aggressively questioned ATF Special Agent William Newell at a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform last month, takes issue with whether the investigation was ever going to work in the first place:

I’m not sure I know any more than I did before the hearing; in some ways I know less.

I still have a lot of buddies in law enforcement and they’ve never heard of these investigative techniques, and they ignored all the ones I’m familiar with.

Gowdy contended in the hearing that Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) should have interrogated the first straw purchaser they knew for a fact had sold guns to the cartels. He repeated that sentiment:


When the first gun was recovered in Mexico they should have been pulling people in.

One to question was perhaps Uriel Patino, whom the ATF knew had purchased more than 700 guns illegally. USA Today is reporting that 157 are known to have fallen into the hands of the brutal Sinaloa cartel.

When a gun dealer asked the ATF for guidance when Patino placed a special order for 20 weapons of which the dealer only had four in stock, he was told:

“Our guidance is that we would like you to go through with Mr. Patino’s request and order the additional firearms,” ATF Supervisor David Voth wrote the dealer in an Aug. 25 e-mail.

Even though agents knew then that guns allegedly purchased by Patino had been showing up at crime scenes in Mexico and the U.S.A., Patino was allowed to walk away that day.


He was finally arrested in January. When asked if ATF should have pulled Patino in much sooner, Gowdy said:

You’re asking the same question I asked.

It seems obvious to Gowdy that the traditional technique of offering a deal to Patino to avoid jail time could have been used to infiltrate any trafficking networks which existed.

Gowdy also noted that if the ATF was actually after the cartels, people should have been charged for using a firearm in commission of a federal drug felony. The straw buying charges would have likely netted the buyers only probation time, but drug charges would have meant prison time — and there are laws on the books which would have allowed the buyers to be so charged. Gowdy pointed out that Mexico was unlikely to extradite anyone over a probationary offense, but drug charges are different.

The big problem, said Gowdy, is in getting the information the committee needs to determine what actually happened in this debacle:

We can’t get straight answers on who knew what when. I think [Congressman Darrell] Issa is justifiably frustrated with the lack of document production and what we do get is stuff that’s already in the public domain.


Asked if the officials in charge of the operation — and possibly within the Department of Justice — should be indicted, he refocused the question:

“Oh you can get an indictment. … I dare say I could indict Mr. Issa for stealing my water bottle during the hearing,” he said with a chuckle. “The question is, can you get a conviction?”

That, he noted, is much more difficult in this case because of the cover-up:


I want to know the day when U.S. law enforcement knew, or should have known, that this had gotten out of control. I want to know who knew what when, and what they did about it, and was there a concentrated effort to cover this up.

Gowdy also said Gunwalker is far more serious than people may imagine:

If we didn’t have a debt crisis in this country this would be getting a lot more attention than it is. There’s no way this turns out well for the administration. I just can’t imagine anyone dumb enough to think you could keep this a secret.

[Kazan]

Why does Holder still have a job?

[Soul Crusher]

Why does Holder still have a job?

Because he knows where Obama's skeletons are buried.   


Obama tosses holder under the bus and holder will drop a dime on obama. 


Both have a mutally dependent relationship in this. 




this is another disaster and fisaco of this horrible admn that the delusional pieces of garbage who plan on voting for this junta conveniently ignore. 

[Soul Crusher]

ATF's gun surveillance program showed early signs of failure
LA Times ^ | August 11, 2011 | Richard A. Serrano



Reporting from Washington— In March 2010, the No. 2 man at the ATF was deeply worried. His agents had lost track of hundreds of firearms. Some of the guns, supposed to have been tracked to Mexican drug cartels, were lost right after they cleared the gun stores.

Five months into the surveillance effort — dubbed Operation Fast and Furious — no indictments had been announced and no charges were immediately expected. Worse, the weapons had turned up at crime scenes in Mexico and the ATF official was worried that someone in the United States could be hurt next.

Acting Deputy Director William Hoover called an emergency meeting and said he wanted an "exit strategy" to shut down the program. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for decades had dedicated itself to stopping illegal gun-trafficking of any kind. Now it was allowing illegal gun purchases on the Southwest border and letting weapons "walk" unchecked into Mexico.


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

[Soul Crusher]

ATF promotes supervisors in controversial gun operation (Fast and Furious)
LA Times ^ | 8/15/11 | Richard A. Serrano



ATF promotes supervisors in controversial gun operation

The three, who have been criticized for pushing on with the border weapons sting even as it came apart, receive new management jobs in Washington.
By Richard A. Serrano, Washington Bureau
August 16, 2011


Reporting from Washington— The ATF has promoted three key supervisors of a controversial sting operation that allowed firearms to be illegally trafficked across the U.S. border into Mexico.


All three have been heavily criticized for pushing the program forward even as it became apparent that it was out of control. At least 2,000 guns were lost and many turned up at crime scenes in Mexico and two at the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Arizona.


The three supervisors have been given new management positions at the agency's headquarters in Washington. They are William G. McMahon, who was the ATF's deputy director of operations in the West, where the illegal trafficking program was focused, and William D. Newell and David Voth, both field supervisors who oversaw the program out of the agency's Phoenix office.


McMahon and Newell have acknowledged making serious mistakes in the program, which was dubbed Operation Fast and Furious.


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

[Soul Crusher]

ATF's 'Fast and Furious' firearms tracked to at least 11 violent crimes
Los Angeles Times ^ | 8/16/11 | Richard A. Serrano
Posted on August 16, 2011 8:00:01 PM EDT by Nachum

Firearms illegally trafficked under the ATF’s Fast and Furious program turned up at the scenes of at least 11 “violent crimes” in this country in addition to being involved in the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in southern Arizona last year, the Justice Department has acknowledged to Congress. Although Justice did not provide any details about those crime scenes, it has been learned that the additional violent crimes occurred in cities such as Phoenix, where Operation Fast and Furious was managed, and as far away as El Paso, Texas, where a total of 42

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

[Agnostic007]

ATF promotes supervisors in controversial gun operation (Fast and Furious)
LA Times ^ | 8/15/11 | Richard A. Serrano



ATF promotes supervisors in controversial gun operation

The three, who have been criticized for pushing on with the border weapons sting even as it came apart, receive new management jobs in Washington.
By Richard A. Serrano, Washington Bureau
August 16, 2011


Reporting from Washington— The ATF has promoted three key supervisors of a controversial sting operation that allowed firearms to be illegally trafficked across the U.S. border into Mexico.


All three have been heavily criticized for pushing the program forward even as it became apparent that it was out of control. At least 2,000 guns were lost and many turned up at crime scenes in Mexico and two at the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Arizona.


The three supervisors have been given new management positions at the agency's headquarters in Washington. They are William G. McMahon, who was the ATF's deputy director of operations in the West, where the illegal trafficking program was focused, and William D. Newell and David Voth, both field supervisors who oversaw the program out of the agency's Phoenix office.


McMahon and Newell have acknowledged making serious mistakes in the program, which was dubbed Operation Fast and Furious.


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

What the hell are they thinking?

[tu_holmes]

What the hell are they thinking?

That they are the law and can do what they want.

[Soul Crusher]

Promotions of ‘Fast and Furious’ officials draw Texan’s wrath
The Washington Times ^ | Tuesday, August 16, 2011 | Jerry Seper



A senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday described as “inconceivable” a Justice Department decision to promote key Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) personnel who oversaw the controversial “Fast and Furious” weapons investigation that allowed hundreds of guns to be walked into Mexico.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who last week demanded that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. immediately brief his office regarding the “scope and details of any past or present ATF gun-walking programs” in his state, said until Mr. Holder and the department “come clean” on the gun-walking investigation, “it is inconceivable to reward those who spearheaded this disastrous operation with cushy desks in Washington.”

The ATF has promoted three key supervisors of the controversial sting operation that allowed firearms to be illegally trafficked across the U.S. border into Mexico.

Mr. Cornyn’s comments were in response to a Los Angeles Times‘ article that said three ATF supervisors heavily criticized for pushing the Fast and Furious program forward had been given new management positions at the agency’s Washington headquarters. The three are William G. McMahon, ATF’s deputy director of operations in the West, and William D. Newell and David J. Voth, both of whom oversaw the program out of the agency’s Phoenix office.

Mr. McMahon, who told a House committee he shared responsibility for “mistakes that were made” in the Fast and Furious operation, was promoted Sunday to deputy assistant director of the ATF's Office of Professional Responsibility and Security Operations - which investigates suspected misconduct by employees.

Mr. Newell, former ATF special agent in charge of the Phoenix field division who steadfastly defended the program in his committee testimony, was named as special assistant to the assistant director of the agency’s Office of Management in Washington.

Mr. Voth....


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

[240 is Back]

TX Governor Too Busy Issuing Executive Orders Mandating HPV Vaccinations To Address Gunrunner Case

Great point.

[Soul Crusher]

Skip to comments.

Fast And Furious Promotions?
IBD Editorials ^ | August 16, 2011 | Staff
Posted on August 17, 2011 7:55:08 PM EDT by Kaslin

Scandal: As guns funneled by the ATF into Mexico continue to show up at crime scenes, three key supervisors of an operation that resulted in the deaths of two U.S. agents get moved up instead of fired.

Considering the unmitigated disaster that came from a program allegedly designed to track and capture gun traffickers, we would have expected a wave of resignations and dismissals, starting with Attorney General Eric Holder. Instead, we get kudos and career advancement.

William McMahon, who was the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' deputy director of operations in the West, where the program was focused, as well as William Newell and David Voth, field supervisors in the ATF's Phoenix office, have all received new management positions at ATF headquarters in Washington, D.C.

A cynic would suggest that this was so the agency could keep tabs on the trio in the wake of investigations by Rep. Darrell Issa's House Government Operations and Oversight Committee and other boards. Both ATF and the Justice Department have been pressuring witnesses as well as withholding documents.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who last week demanded that Holder immediately brief his office regarding the "scope and details of any past or present ATF gun-walking programs" in his state, said until Holder and the department "come clean" on the investigation, "it is inconceivable to reward those who spearheaded this disastrous operation with cushy desks in Washington."

It's staggering to us as well. The only desk or table they should be sitting at is one in front of a congressional committee and behind a stack of asked-for documents. That includes Holder, who needs to come clean as to what he knew, when he knew it and who authorized what.

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

[Soul Crusher]

Holder requests Fast and Furious docs from Issa, Grassley for ‘independent’ investigation
Daily Caller ^ | 8/17/11 | Matthew Boyle
Posted on August 17, 2011 11:25:42 PM EDT by Nachum

The Department of Justice says its Office of Inspector General is conducting an independent investigation into the gunwalking Operation Fast and Furious, which Congress is already probing. Attorney General Eric Holder requested a transcript of Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. Darrell Issa from their secret July 4th meeting with Ken Melson, acting Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives director. Holder and other DOJ officials have repeatedly said the DOJ’s Inspector General is doing its own internal investigation into what went wrong with Fast and Furious.

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

[240 is Back]

Scandal: As guns funneled by the ATF into Mexico continue to show up at crime scenes, three key supervisors of an operation that resulted in the deaths of two U.S. agents get moved up instead of fired.

Welcome to 911.  Everyone got a promotion and a raise.  No investigations for the FAILS.

[Soul Crusher]

‘Fast and Furious’ weapons found at more violent crime scenes
Washington Times ^ | 8/17/11 | Jerry Seper
Posted on August 17, 2011 11:46:06 PM EDT by Nachum

Weapons purchased during the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives‘ controversial “Fast and Furious” undercover investigation, which included the sale to “straw buyers” of hundreds of AK-47 assault rifles, have turned up at a dozen violent crime scenes across the Southwest, the Justice Department told a Senate committee. In a letter to Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the committee’s ranking Republican, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the Justice Department confirmed that the illegally purchased weapons recently were found at the sites of at least 11 violent crimes.

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

[Soul Crusher]

Gunwalker: President Obama’s Un-Plausible Deniability
Pajamas Media ^ | August 17, 2011 | Bob Owens



Is it rational to believe the president and his closest advisers had nothing to do with this murderous plot?



I first ran into the concept of plausible deniability during my freshman year of college. A definition:

The term most often refers to the denial of blame in (formal or informal) chains of command, where upper rungs quarantine the blame to the lower rungs, and the lower rungs are often inaccessible, meaning confirming responsibility for the action is nearly impossible. In the case that illegal or otherwise disreputable and unpopular activities become public, high-ranking officials may deny any awareness of such act or any connection to the agents used to carry out such acts.

I was reading Tom Clancy’s Clear and Present Danger at the time, a novel that hinged on a fictional president deciding to change the war on drugs by descending into illegal covert activity.


Twenty-two years later, we are contemplating whether a sitting and all-too-real American president can claim plausible deniability for Operation Fast and Furious, Operation Castaway, and two unnamed but alleged operations in Texas that make up the Gunwalker scandal, which threatens to bring down the administration of Barack Obama.

The public scandal began when ATF whistleblowers disclosed that a multi-agency federal law enforcement operation in Arizona — Operation Fast and Furious — supplied weapons found at the crime scene of murdered U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

It was quickly revealed that federal law enforcement officers, supervisors, and administration appointees ensured that straw purchasers would be able to purchase weapons intended for the Sinaloa drug cartel without the threat of arrest. As federal agents watched — essentially acting as cartel security — 2,020 firearms were purchased, and the majority of them were “walked” by straw purchasers into the hands of the violent drug gang.


Mexican authorities claim that an estimated 150 Mexican law enforcement officers and soldiers, plus an unknown number of civilians have been murdered with weapons “walked” under the eyes of the federal task force. Three U.S. federal agents have also been shot in crimes using Fast and Furious weapons. Two died.

Initially, the Obama administration attempted to scapegoat acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson. When that failed, they colluded with the Washington Post and later possibly the New York Times on attempted character assassinations of Congressman Darrell Issa. Issa, along with Senator Charles Grassley, is leading the charge to investigate the scandal.

A month following Melson’s testimony to Issa’s committee, the Gunwalker landscape has changed considerably. Emails have been unearthed, additional figures with inside knowledge of the operation are testifying, and more congressmen and senators have joined the probe of the Department of Justice to see just how wide and high the administration’s knowledge of and participation in the gunwalking program — or programs — truly went.


All of these evolving disclosures are increasing the pressure on administration officials such as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, both of whom simply must have known of the operations considering the high-level collaboration between multiple agencies under their control.

Which leads to President Obama: how is it possible that the White House was not aware of Fast and Furious while it was occurring? We now know the following:

The #2 man in the ATF, Acting Deputy Director William Hoover, tried to shut Operation Fast and Furious down in March of 2010 but was rebuffed.
Officials with the Justice Department and ATF tried to evade Senator Grassley’s attempts to discover where the guns came from.
A National Security Council (NSC) operative in the White House named Kevin O’Reilly was in direct contact with Bill Newell, the agent in charge of the operation. (Are we to believe that the benign emails released between the two men were their only Gunwalker conversations, and that O’Reilly wasn’t briefing the National Security Council or the president?)

The U.S. attorney involved in Fast And Furious, Dennis Burke, is a long-time Napolitano ally and was her chief of staff while she was governor from 2003-2008. Burke is also on the attorney general’s Advisory Committee border and immigration law enforcement subcommittee. He recently opposed a routine filing by murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s family, in a move that appears designed to protect him in criminal and civil trials regarding Gunwalker.
Emails reveal that every law enforcement director in DOJ was briefed on Operation Fast and Furious. All have been silent on the allegations except the scapegoated Melson and the DEA administrator, who surfaced long enough to deny that her agency was involved in the criminal actions.
The Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Treasury were involved (State and CIA have allegedly had roles in the operation, but these allegations have not been confirmed by evidence).

With this level of cooperation across at least three (Homeland Security, Justice, Treasury) departments and among at least eight directors, with long-term personal contacts between friends and political allies that have been fingered as key players in this scandal, and with the president’s own words and deeds regarding his radical views towards gun rights in this country, is it rational to believe the president and his closest advisers had nothing to do with this murderous plot?

When we see a cover-up being orchestrated, we should rationally assume that the cover-up exists to hide criminal culpability. When we see corruption spread across the highest and most connected levels of government, we should rationally assume that the person at the top, President Obama, likely was involved.

With the latest evidence, Barack Obama and his co-conspirators no longer have plausible deniability. It remains to see how they will fare with criminal culpability, as more whistleblowers come forward from Justice and DHS to avoid prison time themselves.

[Soul Crusher]

ATF Whistleblower: Gunwalker Officials Being Shielded
Pajamas Media ^ | August 19, 2011 | Bob Owens



Former Agent Vince Cefalu tells PJM: Those men weren't being promoted this week, they were being protected via transfers to other positions within the department.



This week, the Bereau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms promoted three of the officials responsible for Operation Fast and Furious:

All three have been heavily criticized for pushing the program forward even as it became apparent that it was out of control. At least 2,000 guns were lost and many turned up at crime scenes in Mexico and two at the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Arizona.

The three supervisors have been given new management positions at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. They are William G. McMahon, who was the ATF’s deputy director of operations in the West, where the illegal trafficking program was focused, and William D. Newell and David Voth, both field supervisors who oversaw the program out of the agency’s Phoenix office.


I asked ATF whistleblower Vince Cefalu what he thought of the promotions, and whether or not it was standard practice to promote ATF officials after a catastrophic operational failure. I even asked if he had heard of another instance where a federal law enforcement officer or manager was promoted after leading an operation that lost firearms which were subsequently used in the shootings of multiple federal agents.

His responses (via email) were as cutting as you might expect from a loyal agent recently fired by the Obama administration for attempting to clean up entrenched corruption:

First: why did they leave out FF ASAC George Gillette? He is one of the most corrupt and culpable guys in that operation. He was transferred to HQ as the liaison to the U.S. Marshals, which is normally a GS (General Schedule) 13 or 14 job. He is filling it as a GS 15?

None of the other three were actually promoted.

They were all placed in protected positions which shields them from public view. The assistant to the assistant director position was created under former Acting Director Mike Sullivan to shield corrupt and exposed managers so as to keep their grade and benefits.

No other law enforcement organization would make any of these moves while a congressional and OIG investigation was still ongoing. They should be in admin positions or on the beach [suspended], since potential criminal charges loom until they are cleared.


McMahon in charge of IA [Internal Affairs, a more common functional name for Office of Professional Responsibility and Security Operations]. S***, that’s like putting [Charles] Manson in charge of sharp objects.

IA has long been the Gestapo arm of our corrupt leadership, and now the very man who allowed Fast and Furious to continue is in charge?

This is appalling.

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) was infuriated when he heard that the Gunwalker conspirators were being protectively cloaked for their apparent crimes on behalf of the administration. Is the Department of Justice attempting to impose omertà so that these key figures don’t testify about what they know of those who authorized Operation Fast and Furious?

Speaking of the those responsible for the initial authorization, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review asked:


Who thought allowing illegal gun sales was a good idea in the first place?

Framed by the newspaper as “the question” that matters, it should be asked as a series of more pointed questions:

Who authorized Operation Fast and Furious (and any similar gunwalking operations) in the Department of Justice? Who in the Department of Homeland Security? Who in the Treasury Department (the IRS was involved)? Who in the State Department?

If State was not notified of Operation Fast and Furious (and any similar gunwalking operations), who had the authority to run this campaign without State’s knowledge?

If Operation Fast and Furious (and any similar gunwalking operations) did not originate within these departments with the authorization of their department heads, where did it originate?

Elsewhere, it was another brutal week for the Obama administration regarding the Gunwalker scandal. Weapons from the plot were identified in eleven more violent crimes in Arizona and Texas. Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich took aim at Acting ATF Director Ken Melson, stating that Melson knew of Operation Fast and Furious almost from the beginning. Melson previously claimed he only found out about the walking of guns after the program was shut down.


And Cornyn also demanded that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder immediately brief his office regarding allegations that gunwalking operations similar to Operation Fast and Furious may have been run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in his state:

I write to express my deep concerns regarding press reports of an ATF “gun-walking” program that allegedly operated in the state of Texas. I request that the Department of Justice immediately brief my office regarding the scope and details of any past or present ATF “gun-walking” programs operated in the state of Texas.

PJMedia discussed the evidence pointing to the possibility of a gunwalking operation in both the Dallas Field Operations area and the Houston Field Operations area more than a month ago. To date, neither the DOJ nor the ATF has been willing to confirm or deny the existence of the alleged programs in Texas, even though guns from an alleged Texas gunwalking operation were used in a cartel ambush that murdered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agent Jaime Zapata and severely wounded ICE Agent Victor Avila.


Senator Cornyn’s request puts the attorney general, the ATF, the DOJ, and the White House in an unsettling position. If Operation Fast and Furious in Arizona is not an isolated incident, as evidence suggests, then the probability that this plot was orchestrated from the highest levels of the Obama administration increases dramatically.



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Silence from team dildo as usual. 

[Soul Crusher]

Gun-running sting gone wildly wrong
The Virginian-Pilot ^ | August 18, 2011 | Masthead Editorial


Operation Fast and Furious was so badly conceived, so incompetently executed and so disastrous in its result that nobody in the federal government wants to take responsibility. So, in the way of all scandals, the trouble is in the continuing coverup.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives program began in Nov. 2009. It was designed to track the flow of illegal weapons by selling them to straw purchasers at Arizona gun shops. It was a horrible idea that got much worse in its execution.

The intention of the program was to follow the 1,400 weapons back to Mexican drug cartels, but the government lost track of them as they were moved back across the border. The result was that hundreds of high-powered guns ended up in the hands of the cartels' soldiers.

Eventually, the American government rediscovered the guns when they turned up as weapons used in the commission of violent crimes in the United States.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the weapons were used in at least 11 incidents, "in several Arizona cities, including Phoenix, where Fast and Furious was managed, as well as in El Paso, where a total of 42 weapons from the operation were seized at two crime scenes."

Two Fast and Furious assault rifles were recovered at the scene after a U.S. border patrol agent was murdered last December. The program ended a month later.

Kenneth E. Melson, the ATF's acting director, has said he became aware of how the operation was being run in January of this year. A Justice Department letter to Congress, obtained by The Times, disputes that, saying Melson was aware of Fast and Furious 13 months before.

The Justice Department - of which the ATF is a part - has been strangely silent on the matter, as has the rest of the administration. That silence fixes nothing and encourages no confidence.

At the risk of cliche, who knew about Fast and Furious, and when did they know it? Does knowledge go beyond the ATF to its bosses at the Justice Department? Did officials in the White House know?

Congress has held hearings. An inspector general is investigating. The time has come for the appointment of an independent counsel to get to the bottom of this.

Hundreds of high-powered weapons, including giant .50-caliber rifles, remain in circulation among Mexico's drug cartels, thanks to federal officials. Someone must be held responsible.

[Soul Crusher]

Unscrambling ATF supervisor’s omelet shows troubling timeline
Gun Rights Examiner ^ | 19 August, 2011 | David Codrea
Posted on August 20, 2011 8:52:47 AM EDT by marktwain

“In an April 13, 2010 email, [an] unnamed gun shop owner told ATF he was worried how he'd be viewed if the guns he sold ended up in the wrong hands,” Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News reported months back.

The response?

ATF Supervisor [David] Voth tried to reassure the cooperating gun shop owner. "I understand that the frequency with which some individuals under investigation by our office have been purchasing firearms from your business has caused concerns for you... However, if helps put you at east we (ATF) are continually monitoring these suspects using a variety of investigative techniques which I cannot go into [in] detail."
Voth, of course, is the supervisor who infamously advised those under his command:

"If you are going to make an omelet, you need to scramble some eggs."
The CBS report was based on a letter Sen. Chuck Grassley had written Attorney General Eric Holder. Concerning Voth’s reply to the nervous gun dealer, Grassley flat-out stated:

As we now know, those assurances proved to be untrue.
Further corroboration for the untruth of Voth’s assurances can be gleaned from another key piece of information. From The Los Angeles Times:

In March 2010, the No. 2 man at the ATF was deeply worried. His agents had lost track of hundreds of firearms. Some of the guns, supposed to have been tracked to Mexican drug cartels, were lost right after they cleared the gun stores.

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

[Soul Crusher]

Fast and Furious update: DOJ to shuffle ATF director Kenneth Melson
Michelle Malkin ^ | 8/30/11 | Michelle Malkin



Both Fox News and the WSJ are out with breaking news about the corruptocracy’s latest dance of the lemons. In the wake of the ongoing Fast and Furious scandal, ATF acting head Kenneth Melson will be shuffled around until the heat dies down…

The acting director of the Justice Department division caught up in a firearms trafficking scandal is being removed from his post, sources told Fox News on Tuesday.

Kenneth Melson, who heads the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, will be reassigned elsewhere in the Justice Department. An announcement is expected late Tuesday morning.

The decision comes in the wake of the embarrassing scandal connected with Operation Fast and Furious. The program tracked illegal gun sales, but has come under federal and congressional investigation after weapons linked to Fast and Furious were found at the scene of a U.S. Border Patrol agent’s murder last year.


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

[Soul Crusher]

Kenneth Melson Resigns As ATF Chief Over 'Fast And Furious' Gun Trafficking Operation
 
The Huffington Post   Alexander Belenky   First Posted: 8/30/11 12:13 PM ET Updated: 8/30/11 12:30 PM


Kenneth Melson is out as head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

Melson has been under fire from Republicans over the scandal surrounding the gun trafficking program Operation Fast and Furious. The Justice Department announced that Melson will be moving back to the Department of Justice to serve in the Office of Legal Programs.

Melson has been under pressure to step aside since earlier this summer, after a House Oversight Committee hearing revealed controversial aspects of the program. ATF agents charged with monitoring the illegal sale and transfer of guns from the U.S. To Mexican drug cartels told lawmakers that, instead of arresting small-time buyers, they were ordered to stand by and let the guns go through, in the hopes of tracing them to larger arms dealers.

After border patrol agent Brian Terry was murdered in a shootout along the Arizona-Mexico border in December 2010, two weapons found on the scene were linked that the Fast and Furious program.

This month, the Justice Department announced that guns from the program had turned up at the scenes of at least 11 crimes in the U.S. In El Paso, Texas, 42 weapons were seized from two crime scenes alone.

Melson “was part of the bad judgment. … This was a program so stupid from the start,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the head of the Oversight Committee, told Fox News in June.

In July, after a review of the program, Melson admitted that, in at least one instance, agents could and should have intercepted the weapons. "I read through those and found ROIs (reports of investigation) that indeed suggested that interdiction could have occurred, and probably should have occurred, but did not occur," Melson told congressional lawmakers.


This article has been updated to reflect the official announcement from the Justice Department.




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Funny how Lurker, Straw, andre, 240, and many others are so silent on this thread.