Gunwalker: The ATF’s Kenneth Melson Blows the Whistle on the Justice Department
In fact, Melson told the Justice Department’s acting inspector general about the possible role of the DEA and the FBI in April and specifically informed Acting Deputy Attorney General Cole on June 16. Yet Cole was not confirmed as the deputy attorney general until June 28 — and only after Senator Grassley agreed to lift his objection to Cole because Justice agreed to allow oversight into Operation Fast & Furious. But it seems obvious that at the time Grassley made this agreement with the Justice Department, neither Cole nor anyone else at Justice had told Grassley about the vital information it was withholding, particularly the possible involvement of the FBI and the DEA.
The details of Operation Fast & Furious just keep getting worse from the standpoint of prosecutorial ineptitude and incompetence. But with Melson’s testimony, it is also appears that the Justice Department and specifically Deputy Attorney General James Cole have been obstructing Congress and engaging in a cover-up to prevent Congress and the public from finding out just how much the leadership of the Justice Department was involved in this expanding scandal.
A PALADIN IS RIDING FOR COLE AND HOLDER, YES A PALADIN IS RIDING THEIR WAY. I BELIEVE THIS PALADIN IS ISSA. MR. HOLDER MR. COLE CHECK YOUR “6″ OOPS TO LATE. I HOPE!
Have gun, will travel is what this whole scandal is about.
!!! BY THE WAY… HAS ANYONE SEEN THIS DOJ-ARCHIVED HOLDER SPEECH? (BROUGHT TO YOU BY AN ANON. POSTER IN ANOTHER PJ MEDIA BOARD?)
Anon.: “If Holder didn’t know about Project Gunrunner, why did he give a speech about it 2 years ago?”
http://www.justice.gov/ag/speeches/2009/ag-speech-090402.html
Holder speech on April 2, 2009 (according to DOJ site!): “Last week, our administration launched a major new effort to break the backs of the cartels. My department is committing 100 new ATF personnel to the Southwest border in the next 100 days to supplement our ongoing Project Gunrunner, DEA is adding 16 new positions on the border, as well as mobile enforcement teams, and the FBI is creating a new intelligence group focusing on kidnapping and extortion. DHS is making similar commitments, as Secretary Napolitano will detail.”
I would say this is shocking, except that it isnt. I am betting before its all said and done this proves to be the tip of the iceberg.
What *I* can’t understand is why the POTUS (“aitch”) doesn’t RUN to get out in front of this thing. Even with the MSM running from it, the issue will not disappear. The likes of Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly will keep it going. As well, the R House will continue to hold hearings, others will come forward to lighten their own load, etc.
Yet, I digress. The election is barely 16 months away and the longer aitch hides from this, the bigger a campaign issue it will become. (Unless the Repubs just roll over on the deal, as they’re often wont to do!)
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t WANT aitch to fess up. I want this to be another Watergate! (NOT “Whitewatergate!) This one has substance. H*ll, Nixon just looked the other way while his plumbers stole some documents. Before it was over it had conflated into perjury, coverups, money laundering and lots and lots of people going to jail, as well as a potus resigning. So let aitch continue to ignore the problem – just like Nixon did.
But my greater (?) point is, BECAUSE (Forgive the caps but font editing is not available here.) aitch is ignoring this, it just adds that much more to the obvious – THIS is what we call our “leader!” The man is obviously an ID-10-T and the telepromptor can’t instruct him on this one! And D*MN the Republicans if they let this one slip away!
I’d like to say I don’t get any of this. But, sadly, I DO!
In another thread I defined the POTUS as the Pinocchio OTUS which maybe explains part of the problem.
That’s not a bad analogy. But if that’s the case, it’s pretty evident it wasn’t his nose that grew! Check his EARS! (WOW! He must be SOME liar!)
I know, I know. A cheap shot. But that’s the whole point. We can no longer afford to be “nice” with this AOTUS. (Guess what the ‘A’ stands for!) We simply MUST go for the throat – all the way to Nov, aught-12!
Meanwhile, for the threads below encouraging “get out the vote,” there’s more that needs to be done, and NOW! Call your Senator or Rep and insist they demand this investigation go forward; or we’ll get rid of THEM and get someone who will! (Would make a great campaign promise to a budding congressman-wannabe – “Elect me and I’ll investigate aitch!”
Comments?
Another big difference: Obama won’t resign.
It would be a Constitutional crisis with racial demagoguery.
Strong leadership from the Congress and the Chief Justice could do much to re-instate the rule of law. The whole process could expose the false charges of racism for what it is. In doing so, it could expose the President for the worse-than-Nixon figure whom he may prove to be.
Of course the media, academia and other bubbles would support him until they were extremely exposed, hopefully very clearly and unmistakably for the entire country.
This is all as unlikely as it is incredible. But who could predict what we have already seen?
Not to get blustery, but this thread needs to continue to its logical conclusion. With all due respect, I disagree with it being a “Constitutional crisis.” I do agree there would be a racial element. But that’s been true of the entirety of this administration – and none of it has grown legs. So, let them talk!
As for the “crisis,” we heard the same thing during the Clinton impeachment: “A Constitutional crisis in the making!” “The opposition is trying to overturn the election!” (Ad nauseam!)
Excuse me, but an impeachment for “high crimes…” IS Constitutional; it was written into that living document for a REASON. When the POTUS steps outside the boundries of the law, he generally has prosecutorial immunity. The only instrument for bringing him to justice is by way of impeachment. So the question is, how can following the precepts of the Constitution be a crisis?
And there’s more. The “crisis” thus far is that, since his election, aitch has been hiding behind his skin and stonewalling the country on everything from his birth certificate to college transcripts and even his student loans. We elected an “unk, unk” (Ad Agency term for “Unknown.”) just to prove we weren’t racists. Since then we’ve been afraid to approach OUR president about the very transparancy he campaigned on – to avoid being labeled “racists.”
It’s now time to step up and say, “We elected him to prove we weren’t racists. Now we’re going to hold him accountable to prove we aren’t stupid!” The wellbeing of America transcends the importance – self imposed or otehrwise – of any one individual. It’s time he answered to his OWN electorate.
Look, I was initially against the idea of impeachment. People don’t like that kind of distraction while the world is burning. But in this case it’s too late! The world IS burning and this man is too distracted (Or disinterested) to do anything to about it.
Besides, if I’d been around in the 30s and 40s, I might very well have taken on FRD, even if I would have been accused of beating up on a cripple! Yet, I digress. The important thing is to find out how two of our law enforcement officials and 150 or more Mexican police were killed with OUR guns and bring the guilty parties to justice.
Finally, you said “This is all unlikely.” (Your suggestion for addressing the problem.) Again, with all due respect, HOPE is not a plan! America, – The PJM corner of it, anyway! – it’s time to get proactive and stop this insanity. We can’t wait another 18 months for an election. Too much MORE damage can occur in the meantime. We either hide behind our keyboards safely voicing our innocuous little disdain or we do as I suggested in my 2nd post above and hound our Senators and Representatives into calling for a special prosecutor to clean out that rat’s nest at 1600. Your move!
Of course, this is just my opinion. I could be wrong.
Points well taken.
“Constitutional crisis” = cliche
Impeachment could fit the letter of the law. I believe that it is unlikely we will ever find out, and it could provoke the President or his supporters into actions that could cause a real crisis.
I called my Congressman about the veterans’ cemetery scandal. I’ll take your advice and call about this too.
One idea that I have not yet heard anything about is what the President will do during the weeks after an electoral loss and before leaving office. IMHO the issue right now is minimizing the current damage and winning the election. However, if Congress can effectively move with the Mexico scandal, and if it polarizes Hispanic voters away from the President, the President could lose his core base of leftists and uninformed followers.
Nary a peep from our friends at the MSM.
NOW CAN WE START IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS? I know, no one has the balls. silly me. If this ain’t “high crimes and misdemeanors”, then white is black and black is white, day is night and night is day. Ohhhhh.
No sense in even considering impeachment ’til the GOP has a strong majority in the Senate – remember the Clinton case? You can’t count on Dems to turn on their Fearless Leader like they did, say, Tony Weiner, unless signed documents, irrefutable video or audio evidence, or a witness higher up in the administration than Melson is willing to point the finger and name names – figure the odds on that. Like as not Holder will fall on his sword to protect his peeps in the WH, assuming it gets that far.
Agreed. Unfortunately, Congress can only act now through the House Government Oversight committee, which is why Darrel Issa is one of the most hated and feared members of Congress by the Obama administration. Until the Republicans get the Senate back, this is as far as things will go for now.
Once Obama is ousted from office, his administration (including Eric Holder) will be gone, too … so the only remaining question at that point is whether Congress can continue to pursue criminal charges against anyone in the present Justice Department after they’ve left office. The most likely scenario will be charges of lying to Congress, and willfully holding back information from Congressional investigators – which, if it happens at all, won’t be until after a new Administration is in the WH, and the Republicans have the Senate.
Hopefully, the GOP candidate … whoever that is … will use this and other scandals to hammer Obama mercilessly in election debates – and present information gathered by Issa’s committee investigators to hang around Obama’s neck.
Impeachment? No, that’s just not gonna happen. Obama has too many protectors, both in and outside the Administration. George Soros will pay the best lawyers for him. The mainstream media will slant anything negative against him, as they do now. Everyone will scream “racism” at the top of their lungs. Michelle will go back to “not being proud” of her country again – and, of course, we can’t have that, now, can we?
The BEST thing to do is to work to get Obama, easily the WORST President in the history of the Republic, out of the WH, along with all of his cronies … and start fixing all of these messes he’s creating.
The House can impeach. The case is tried in the Senate. Impeachment forces the Senate Democrats and the adminstration to defend Holder, and other DOJ officials, on the merits of the case. If a case can be made, then impeach. A full public airing of the facts takes place. If the facts are as damning as many believe, then an aquital in the Senate that is clearly partisan and political will be very damaging to Democrat prospects in ’12. This is a far different case than Willy’s willy problem: people died in an operation whose supervision may have been motivated more by the political aims of those supporting gun-control than by legitimate law enforcement considerations, and if that is the case, then I think that would make all the difference.
You are absolutely correct. Holder is not a sympathetic figure and there is a legion of offenses where he has either failed to enforce or selectively enforced the law. Add to this lying to Congress on this case and Holder is toast. There is no way Obama is going to defend him on all of these charges while campaigning for more of the same…he will throw him under the bus rather than have a focus on all the dirty linen.
It goes back to Holder’s confirmation: Pardongate should have eliminated him. He is living, walking proof that you can’t pick a turd up by the clean end.
Since it has been proven that one of the guns that was allowed to “walk” was directly responsible for the death of an immigration officer, I wonder if they could bring accessory to murder charges against this gentleman, and agree to drop it if he continues to sing a song we like the words to???? just wondering
Hm. Well, this would have to start by having the House Judiciary committee likely appoint a Special Prosecutor, and have him fully investigate the case and the charges. This whistleblower would probably be granted full immunity in exchange for his testimony (and if I were the SP or Rep. Lamar Smith, the committee chair from Texas, I’d ask DOD to “safe house” him until the trial, in order to keep him away from Holder and his minions.) Then, IF the SP puts a case together, and IF the Judiciary committee places it before the full House for a vote (and with a majority in the House, the Republicans would likely vote for impeachment), then Holder, et al., would be tried before the Senate.
The Democrats, since they are in the minority in both the Judiciary committee and the House, would use delaying tactics to hold this off until after the election; their chief aim would be to protect and re-elect Obama … and, if necessary, throw Holder under the bus at some point, if that meant Obama wins re-election.
I don’t think the Republicans can put this together fast enough to get it before the House and then the Senate, and get a verdict, before the 2012 elections. BUT, if they thought they had enough to nail Holder, then it would be worth pursuing anyway, because nailing Holder means nailing Obama. If there’s absolute PROOF Holder knew about this from the beginning, then you’d have a possible case against the President, as well, because the AG is SUPPOSED to tell him EVERYTHING, BY LAW. So, if Holder knew about it – then, by implication, Obama knew as well … which makes him liable.
The only question is the timing of the whole thing.
Impeach and let the chips fall where they may, and let the democrats in the senate have to defend the guilty. Won’t look good for their re-election. Charge them with criminal charges, and if they get off, charge them for violating the civil rights of the border agent that was killed. This was OK to do to those cops, so ought to be OK with the libs. Doesn’t get any more violated of your civil rights than death, a bunch of government officials need to go to prison..
If they impeach, they don’t even need to convict.
Once he’s on trial, they’ll be able to access every last document the administration has on Gunwalker…and you just let public opinion take the election from there…with or without a conviction.
The House should impeach Cole, now, just on principle for withholding information from Congress.
The tip-off on Watergate is this. Before the first President in American history was forced to resign by the beginning of impeachment proceedings, the first vice-President in American history resigned due to investigations of bribes he may have taken while Governor of Maryland. This is a simple question of probabilities. It’s like, what are the chances that I flip a nickle and it lands ‘heads up’, as a quarter. Watergate was a coup d’etat.
“prosecutorial ineptitude and incompetence.”?? How about dishonest lying scum?
I smell Holder’s involvement. And if he wasn’t directly involved, that’s damning, too.
Of course he was (is) involved; this level of incompetence looks like his hands all over it. But, whether he’s actually personally involved or not, Justice is his bag – he’s the AG, the nation’s top law-enforcement officer (as scary as that sounds), which means all these bucks stop with him.
I can think of at least three situations that have happened since he took office that would require his resignation; but, do you think that’s going to happen? He’s besmirched ATF, the FBI, DEA, and his own Justice Department – all from this one scandal. Any moral, honorable person, with any class, would have resigned by now.
But, look and see who his boss is. What usually happens to workers who are friends of incompetent bosses?
Actually, I think that the top law enforcement official is the president, but, of course, there is precedent for letting that little fact get lost in the MSM rush to cover up for a sorry democrat president.
I totally agree with your scenario; I just think it should include the Felon-in-Chief.
To be specific, the Attorney General of the US IS the nation’s top law enforcement officer; he WORKS for the President, but the AG is by law the CHIEF law enforcement officer in this country. The office’s authority comes from Title 29, Part 2, Chapter 31 of the U.S. Code.
The AG can charge ANYONE with a crime – even the President of the United States, though he (or she) works for the President at his leisure.
The AG is the “boss” of law; everyone from US Attorneys (who directly represent the AG throughout the country), to the US Marshall’s Service, to the FBI, to the entire Department of Justice (which includes the FBI, the DEA, and other law enforcement organizations under his Constitutional authority).
The ONLY exception (and it gets murky at times) are military law enforcement groups, like the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations and the Navy’s NCIS. Since the military has its’ own Uniform Code of Military Justice – which is different and separate from the US Code that you and I live under – it basically operates its’ own judiciary system … except in rare, unusual cases.
Sorry for the lecture, but I wanted to give you a picture of how things are structured.
This had to go right to the top! obama wants to limit guns and he wanted this big scandal about guns to be able to pass legislation and what better way to do it than to let our people and Mexicans be killed by these guns. The black (cough,cough) caucus had this big meeting about guns and never even mentioned this gun running scandal. They are all a joke and for the blacks to be taken seriously they should be putting smarter people in office. This didn’t stop at holder.
Good for Melson for not falling on the sword!
Holder knew this and covered it?
Napolitano also knew about it. How dirty do they have to be before they get in trouble?
According to ace investigative journalist Kathleen Millar, not only Holder and Napolitano but also Secretary of State Hillary Clinton might have been involved.
Frankly I think it highly unlikely that it didn’t also include Obama.
It’s becoming more and more evident by the day that this whole operation was designed to fabricate a justification for more repressive firearms legislation.
The Republicans need to find their backbones – and throw the book at these twerps. Violation of Federal firearms laws, Federal arms export laws and regulations, conspiracy to violate civil rights, and perjury. Accessory to murder, most likely. Convict them, then ship them to Mexico to face charges there.
I like your thinking on most of this. It scares the h*ll out of me that the Rs may take some Quid Pro Quo to let this drop. (Say, a few concessions on spending cuts.) Or, that the R nominee will decide to run a more “civil” campaign and not make hay out of it.
Regarding your last comment; that won’t work. Even if we shipped the whole lot of them to the CSM, (Corrupt State of Mexico) no judge would convict them. The one that did would be gunned down in the streets. (Remember who actually runs that Thugocracy, “America’s Beard!”)
Is it too soon to ask “What did the President know, and when did he know it?” It certainly doesn’t seem like it’s too soon to ask that about the Attorney General.
The rot goes right to the top.
Holder and BHO were in on this from the beginning. BHO himself was talking up the problem of american guns being smuggled to mexico at the same time this operation began!
I bet the folks at DOJ and ATF who know the sordid details are watching their backs.
It’s not the crime. It’s the coverup.
The worst thing is, back in the day, you had journalists and reporters that were after ‘The Truth’. Now, it’s ‘The Narrative’. If we had someone leaking the facts to the Media, providing information and hints on where to look… would they even bite today?
Maybe in two years, when instead of ‘D’ the identifier is ‘R’. But that right there is a condemnation of how ‘independent’ the Media is.
Typically that’s what happens – this case may be different. The crime was purposely helping gun runners arm Meican drug cartels – resulting in the death of Mexican and American LOE’s as well as an unkwon number of Mexican civilians. That’s a hell of a lot more crime than some GOP flunkies breaking into Watergate or Martha Stewart getting a stock tip.
The cover-up is going to cause problems, but that’s a hell of a crime.
Actually, in this case, it’s the crime *and* the coverup. Conspiring to arm drug gangs in Mexico with weapons which result in the death of at least one Border Patrol Agent in the U.S., and (according to news sources) the shooting of as many as 150 police officers in Mexico, along with numerous civilians, well, that’s accessory before the fact to multiple counts of murder. Coverup or not, this is serious stuff…and frankly, at this point, the coverup is small potatoes to the charges that could be brought against whoever was responsible for this.
As for how high up this goes: my guess is that even Holder won’t have his *written* fingerprints on anything that’s discovered. The President certainly won’t. So it won’t matter who *really* directed this, Melson’s the one on the hook. They’re going to string him up for the media, pick up a corner of the rug, grab a broom, and yell “Look, Michelle Bachman made a minor mistake about something in a speech today…” When the dust clears, there will be no scandal.
When the dust clears, someone will get a “tut tut!” and ATF will have a bigger budget. It’ll be tagged as “reorganization” or “overhaul,” but the end result is the BATFEces will have more money, more power, and more boots to put on people’s necks.
Quit the pessimism/fatalism/nihilism already. That’s just an excuse to sit on your butt and not do anything. These scum WILL be brought to trial if WE THE PEOPLE make it happen!
You are a citizen! As such, you have a responsibility to help. Quit doomsaying, and get busy helping Republicans get elected.
Thank you for your thoughts! I agree!
This is different. There is/was no cover up (and can’t be now that the rock has been kicked over). These pieces of human scum called the Administration are simply doing what pieces of human scum do.
This operation directly impacted the government of a friendly, sovereign state, and had to be signed-off on at the highest levels of government; not by someone in the White House, but by someone in the Oval Office.
I support the calls of the the Government of Mexico for the extradition of those responsible, so that they may be held to account before the Mexican People, who have suffered exponentially from this brain-dead operation.
But, only after they’ve faced trial here for their complicity in the deaths of Federal Agents (and others), and faced civil trials for their actions to compensate the families of those who were killed and injured.
Everyone who had a hand in this, at the White House, and at the Departments of State, Justice, Homeland Security, etc., must face the music in a court of law over this travesty.
Mexico is not now and never has been a friend to the United States. In fact the relationship between our nation and mexico more closely resembles a parasite (mexico) that has attached itself to a robust, industrious host. Period.
I would no more support American criminals being subjected to mexican “justice” then I would support mexican murderers escaping an American death penalty because mexico insists we do so.
mexico can administer its drug cartel brand of “justice” on the mexicans.
They have no say whatever regarding American criminals or those found guilty in American courts.
The mexican government has enjoyed the benefits of cartel money for decades. Let it clean its own corrupt and defiled government before it presumes some sort of moral superiority over us.
mexico is not our friend.
Nothing is going to happen to anyone but Melson and maybe Cole. Obama will make an executive order,the new law of the land, and absolve Holder and himself from any wrong doing.
Then both Holder and Obama will be onto their next act of treason.
Oh wait ! Obama already has once again bypassed congress, and through executive order, ICE can now decide whether to prosecute illegal aliens when apprehended. How much do you want to bet that with a wink, wink from the DOJ that none will
be prosecuted.
As always, a big thank you to those who voted for the traitor Obama.
You are all to cool for school.
We all know that the head racists are involved, it was such an easy way to get rid of that old 2nd Amendment to the Constitution that the Progressives and Communists hate so much. They had to get rid of that pesky Amendment so how so that they could start making the omelet that would take so many broken eggs. Can’t make a Stalinist Omelet with all the citizenry armed to the teeth. Time for some impeachment proceedings or isn’t conspiracy to commit murder of Police Offices in a foreign country and our own a crime under this “Gangster Regime.”
So what did Obama, Holder, Napolitano, etc.. know and when did they know it? Yea I know Obama will have full deniability as they always do that but Holder and Napolitano won’t. SOMEONE has to be the fall guy (or gal.)
And who ordered the coverup?
Time for a special prosecutor with full powers. And i do mean FULL POWERS.
If not that, let Mexico have them!
Now is the time to demand a special prosecutor to investigate DOJ and the rest. That would free up Issa to investigate other corruption in the Obama administration.
Who would you choose for special prosecutor? I like Fred Thompson for the job.
Giuliani.
I bet Obama’s glad Congress took his advise and worked thru the 4th of July.
LOL!
Wasn’t Mayor Bloomberg using this for firearms legislation? It seems he got the memo.
I think we are going to have to make a big stink about this and wait until after the election to appoint a special prosecutor. There is no way the senate will go along with this. This needs to be a headline in every paper and on every web site. Yah, I know good luck with that.
In a free country, this development would earn full- first page titles tomorrow morning.
In a marxist regime, this development will not even be heard by the general public.
I just gave you a totalitarianismeter.
If you ask me, this is all going according to plan: Melson is blowing the whistle, shortly followed by him being thrown under the bus to make way for Andrew Traver. Yet another Chicago thug, Traver is even more anti-gun than Melson.
http://michellemalkin.com/2011/06/21/reminder-another-zealot-waiting-in-atf-wings/
I once thought Richard Nixon was a great president, still think he was partly great. He turned the military loose in Southeast Asia; better late than never. I was there in 72 – 73 when we won that war by forcing the North to sign a peace treaty. Everything went to crap later because they lied and congress lied, but that’s a different story…
Nixon got caught up in a 3rd rate burglary at democratic national HQ and it was like he had violated the Pope or something. The media and all the budding socialists in this country hounded him out of office. He was a good man with faults, and they destroyed him.
Now his office is filled by a vile, stinking, pile of evil who has done nothing pro-American since the day he took office. His every word and deed seems to be aimed at destroying this great nation.
Lincoln said “You can fool all of the people some of the time…” so maybe that’s how Obama got elected; or maybe it was the usual way, with dead and ineligible voters. However it was done, Lincoln was certain that “You can’t fool all the people all the time.” – So I don’t understand Obama’s continuing positive ratings.
As far as “Fast and Furious” is concerned: That was NOT a simple ATF operation to catch illegal gun dealers or gun-runners. I’m a “gun-nut” as are most Christian, Veteran, Conservative, Clinger Extremists. The gun bloggers have been following “GunWalker” (as they call it) since late last year when it first got started.
It’s ultimate purpose is to “PROVE” that American gun sales are out of control and are being smuggled into Mexico to arm the drug cartels, and the ONLY WAY to stop the carnage and the flow of drugs is to cancel the 2nd Amendment, CONTROL GUNS, and Joy of Joys – confiscate every civilian owned gun in the country.
And, by the way, isn’t it a funny fact that the “liberal”, “revolutionary”, “power to the people” crowd wants to …
disarm the people ?
Very strange “revolutionaries”.
This single fact tells you everything you need to know about the totalitarians and their plans for all of us.
It’s the conservative counter-revolution they fear.
They walk among us. So many people willing to give up their liberty, conditioned to bark by the media, with the critical thinking skills of Pavlov’s dog. Those with brains are generally too obsessed with their jobs and personal lives to pay attention/peel back the layers of the onion. We are well into the normalization phase. Pray that more of the Ozombified wake up.
This all sounds like treason to me. A simple solution would be to convict a few of these obstructors and take them out and shoot them…publicly. I believe that would put a stop to this for a few decades.
I’ve been saying this for years now, until there are REAL penalties for the corruption and traitorous behavior it will continue unabated :-/.
I recall no lesser authority than the President himself, sometime around Memorial Day, saying something to the effect that the Administration had a number of “low profile” initiatives addressing gun control. As we learned a generation ago, the question, from the perspective of impeachable offenses, is what did he know and when did he know it.
Of course, he might have been referring to something else entirely; after all, the Gun-walker hearings were already underway. So it is hard to argue this growing scandle is or was “low profile,” although they obviously intended it to be so. Certainly, if you watched or listened only to the LSM you wouldn’t know otherwise.
It is becoming increasingly apparent, however, that the scandle goes to the very top of the administration, and increasingly obvious why the democrats outside support groups have been working so hard to discredit Issa.
Thisll, for those of us who actually try to follow the news and inform ourselves, Melson’s testimony comes as a belated but well-received “Happy 4th of July !!”
Perhaps you’re thinking about this item from last April, (which the Wapo apparently thought worthy of publication in their Lifestyle section!):
Calling Bob Woodward…Bob……? Bob???? Yo, Bob…
Just in case I’m not the only one who needs an aide memoire, here’s Obama in April, 2009:
Perhaps some intrepid soul with a better memory for salient events could consider putting together a comprehensive timeline.
[A Preview option! In the nick of time! Thanks Tatler!]
I smell Watergate, friends. This could be big, real big. Within the next few months I’ll bet they get more people to testify against Holder, maybe even Napolitano. Since this operation involved another country, I wonder if Clinton knew about it? But it remains to be seen if the top dog, Obama, will go down because of this. At the very least Holder will.
Extradite Holder and those below him to Mexico.
That’s an interesting point. Why isn’t the Mexican government demanding answers?
They are. Fox News did a report. Some high-up Mexican officials are pissed, and they can’t believe how stupid the operation was.
I can’t figure out the purpose of the letter itself. Grassley/Issa inform Holder that allegations have been made, and then express a “hope” that the DoJ will be more “forthcoming” as the investigation progresses so that the allegations can be supported by hard proof.
DoJ still has the documents and still has the power to destroy whistleblowers. They can do it all in plain sight. Why would Grassley/Issa’s letter scare anyone?
Considering that we’re just now hearing about Melson’s secret testimony, perhaps Issa and Grassley are simply keeping the issue alive in public, while they do their most important work “under the radar” too. Issa made a first real impression on me in a long ago hearing during the Plame affair, where he was the one committee member who had clearly done some serious homework. I don’t think we’ll see the end game here, till he’s turned over every rock, on and off the beaten path.
It’s simple. Holder knows that Congress has some information independently from Melson but he doesn’t know how much Congress knows. Now he’s got to admit more but he doesn’t know how much more. The idea is to either trap him into lying where they already have evidence of the truth or for him to give away more than Melson was willing to give because Holder wants to preserve his own hide more than Obama’s 2nd term.
Does anyone know when a transcript of Melson’s interview will be released?
Oh my gosh, we finally have a scandal in the Obama administration involving a cover up of gross incompetence bordering on accessories to serial criminal homicide before the fact by the Department of Justice that may actually be reported on by the lame stream media. I thought the consolidation of good government and its intelligence community into one organ of state directly accountable to the president was supposed to prevent such pluralistic ignorance among the various agencies and agents fighting crime and collecting intelligence? I can’t wait until I qualify for medicare and those new cutting edge government consolidated health care technologies that will bring us electronic charting at the nurses fingertips to better manage the droolers in four point restraints. Thank you big brother, and sister, for the Robodocs. Do not doctors still kill ninety thousand people a year (CDC estimate) through piss poor prior prescription penmanship and other preventable information errors? Gee, it’s a good thing we all speak english, or the death toll could really get grim.
Those responsible should be extradited to Mexico which is, of course, the party most seriously injured.
While in custody there, Mexican security will certainly be sufficient to protect them from those who don’t want them to speak.
Either way, win.
It looks like the WH wanted to make Melson the fall guy, but he isn’t cooperating, and will take Holder, and possibly others, down with him. Just though of something, Every really good scandal needs to end in “gate” right. What should we call this one, Mexican Gungate?
Hard to beat the short, alliterative “Gungate”.
With respects, I submit, “Walkergate”.
(Just think of the heads that will explode when that name gets into the mainstream in a few years replacing “Watergate” as the ‘biggest’ presidential scandal ever.)
You have to wonder why these Justice Department clowns would go to this extreme to create a reason to slander the firearms industry in this country. Last I checked, the anti-gun lobby represented a pretty small voting block. I guess Obama’s gang is desperate to get even a very few votes. Lets just put this miserable crew out of work next year and end this kind of crap. By the way, If we research what our so-called leaders have been saying, we will begin to smell Hillary Clinton on this one. The DoJ can’t do a stunt like this without State Department compliance.
I don’t doubt it. The Clintons were the ones who asked the military back in the 90′s if they would forcibly disarm Americans. The military answered not only no, but hell no. That’s probably when they started putting people like Casey and Shinseki in there.
#34 Jim Baker:
“Last I checked, the anti-gun lobby represented a pretty small voting block.”
In the U.S., right; but they dominate the U.N.
Don’t expect this to be highlighted in our MSM. The UK press, however, will probably follow it. Seems like anything unflattering to 0 gets printed only in the foreign press (and on blogs like this one). Our press has become an organ of the DNC.
Yesterday, Barack Obama maintained that he only learned about Gunwalker in reading about it in the news.
While the justice dept. has, apparently, been intimidating & muzzling people like Melson, trying to keep them unaware that they are free to respond to Congressional inquiries without Justice Dept. lawyers present.
From the Issa/Grassley letter:
If (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. That approach distorted the truth and obstructed our investigation. The Department’s inability or unwillingness to be more forthcoming served to conceal critical information that we are now learning about the involvement of other agencies, including the DEA and the FBI….Much of that damage has occurred because the Department prevented ATF from being more forthcoming and responsive to questions from Congress. This is the context in which Mr. Melson decided to submit to an on-the-record interview with private counsel, pursuant to our agreement with the Department.
Can’t wait for Hollywood to make a movie about this.
Well, maybe we could send some of our military SPECOPs folks down to teach the Mexican military. Specifically, how to send a raid into a foreign country to kill a terrorist(s) responsible for the deaths of Mexican civilians by the equipping and support of volent factions within Mexico.
If the US can do it than why not Mexico?
Forget the Mexican military, or their Judiciary as well. The level or corruption in the Mexican government is so widespread that dealing with them at that level is next to useless. No, this will eventually boil down to the US military against the drug cartels. And cartel leaders who have the balls to tell us that they will cut off the heads of our agents deserve nothing less than CONSTANT drone attacks, SEAL missions, and several divisions of battle-tested US Army and Marine soldiers to go into Mexico and wipe them out.
An invasion? Maybe. Technically, it would be. But a Republican President would have the balls to tell the American people, “Look, these cartels are threatening agents and our national defense. So, we need to do two things: first, establish a five mile military buffer zone along the border between the US and Mexico. NOTHING gets in or out without the US military knowing about it. Second: we take this conflict to the cartels directly; using all of our spec-ops and military assets to destroy them. NOT defeat them – DESTROY them …. whether the Mexican government likes it or not.”
This is partly their fault anyway – their corruption, their willingness to look the other way while illegals help bring drugs into this country, etc. if they aren’t a part of the solution, they are a part of the problem. Our goal shouldn’t be to overthrow their government; I could care less who runs Mexico. I just want the cartels wiped off the face of the earth.
As far as I’m concerned, they represent a clear and present danger to us … which means the gloves come off. Their billions in illegal gains, vs. our military.
I’d bet on us every time.
did anyone see the report on this on FoxNews this morning where they are saying that the person actually smuggling the guns was a former drug cartel member who had been deported before from the US and now working as an FBI informant. and that the guns more than likely were bought with US Taxpayer money
I hope Congress is able to flush out the entire story and prosecute those involved. It certainly sounds like there are some DOJ officials who need to be sent to jail.
If W were president, Melson would be known as “deep throat”, and the impeachment machine would be gearing up in full force. And, no one got killed at Watergate! This administration with it’s media minions, is a cesspool.
I wonder if Chris Mathews still has that tickle up his leg when he thinks about Obama?
Chris Matthews would do everything in his power to suppress this as would everyone in the Main Stream Media, they have already tried but this won’t stay down, it will choke anyone that tries it, to many cops have been murdered with these HolderGuns, to many lies have been told, even the Police Unions in this country will have to wake up eventually. You just can’t go around killing cops and get away with it.
I hate to be a party pooper, but let’s not forget how “effectively” Republicans have conducted oversight of their friends across the aisle in the past. The Clintons go away with murder and all Newt could conjure was catching the President in commiting perjury in a sexual harassment case. Nothing happened after ATF blew up all those people at Waco. No one even lost their job.
The president just went to war in Libya without even thumbing his nose at the Congress and they did nothing to stop him. The constituiton and the rule of law does not mean anything to Republicans and Democrats. They all have declared themselves above the constitution and rule of law. And so they are one big bi-partisan corropt stain on our Nation and no one has standing to stop them.
I’m with you, Lilly! We’ve got no one to vote for. They are all a bunch of slimeballs. “None is righteous; no, not one.”And the pathetic clowns in office do not have to change because the constituencies which elect them are equally depraved. The problem is that we have become a godless, awful people and deserve that which we brought upon ourselves. Unless and until we do it God’s way, we will continue to enjoy this chaotic, demonic, soulchilling version of life on earth.Its up to each of us, as individuals, to do what is right, and let the chips fall where they may.God’s instructions are in the New Testament- Go, get ‘em!
Impeachment just isn’t gonna happen.
But the House can conduct televised hearings every day from now till November next year. I’d like to see them set up a Special Committee based on Sam Ervin’s old Watergate Committee.
With luck, Obama couldn’t get re-elected dogcatcher.
Just keep grinding away.
I will hope that congress will put these criminals, and I mean holder and obama in prison.
Holder lied to Congress, which has lawful oversight responsibilities.
So impeach Holder, and that scandal will drag itself out into the election year.
If you can’t go after Obama just yet, go after one of his underlings, and especially an underling who would have reason to turn on Obama, Jarrett and the rest of that crowd.
Wait, you mean this isn’t Bushes fault? No wonder the MSM is ignoring the story.
The Weeping Bartender will play golf with his Massa, the highly placed hypocrites will feign shock and disgust, and no one will take any effective action to deal with the revolting reprobate in the Oval Office.
The GOPhers will compromise with the BS,(big spenders, amongst other applicable appellations), Administration in a manner which compromises both law and morality. The MSM will studiously ignore the matter. Bought and paid for, typewriter whores, their mouths are sealed with bills of large denomination.
Additionally, since most of the current batch are, at best, semi-literate, the capacity to report accurately and completely is beyond them. They do their best work with spray cans on stucco walls.
This is an Obama endorsed plan. He is not nearly bright enough to conceive of it; but certainly sufficiently unable to forsee the necessary consequences.
Treason started way before Operation Gun Runner. It started when all efforts were blocked by el senor, and his gang of thugs to ignore the border states, sue AZ, for passing SN-1070 and refusing to knowledge we had a war on our border. What leader refuses to protect it’s own citizen?
He further diverted funding from the border states by cancelling the fence fund ($ left over from the Clinton Ad.) and gifted, 1.6 B. to the cesspool MX. Certainly by now you know that the US has been supporting the war on drug through banking where millions are exchanged 24/7. This method, ” to freeze assets” utilized, right after 911. The continued dumbing down of “all Fed.Laws” for enforcement and deportation has been the edict handed down from Juanita Nap.and Morton for two years. Operation F & F,is hands down, IS gov’t homicide and all agencies including Eric the Red, won’t escape this gov’t blow-.
Frankly, we’re exhausted here protecting the rest of the 49, but Ya all, invited to the party and yes, by all means, bring your guns.
Does anyone besides me find it ironic that the very man who (likely) authorized this operation also won the Nobel Peace Prize?!
Yes, your correct much to the shock of the rest of the world. I’m not certain how this was garnered since this Acron community organizer had one asset. He had an Ivy League education and talked the talked with no resume as a junior senator. I’m certain the back-story must be amazing if we all live that long .
Stay Safe, Carol,AZ
What nobody seems to get is that this was not just incompetence. It is also not just politically motivated, trying to garner support for gun control. The truth is that Holder and Obama’s handlers are directly in a partnership with the drug cartels. The Chicago machine might as well be run by Al Capone. People will be silenced, mark my words, in the old-fashioned, time-tested Mafia style. Cars will blow up. People will be “disappeared.” The families of people who know too much will be directly threatened.
This is the “hope” and “change” you have brought us, you idiots out there who refused to look at this empty suit’s connections and murderous cohorts.
Happy yet?
There is now enough evidence to impeach President Obama for crimes against America.
I think he’s also arming Hezzies.
ATF ‘Gun Walking’ Kenneth Melson – Key Figure in Corruption of the Justice System
____
News regarding the imminent departure of Deputy Director Kenneth Melson in the wake of the ATF ‘gun walking’ scandal may be premature. Convoluted relationships between President Obama, FBI, and US Department of Justice are part of corruption of the US justice system that has reached the level of an unprecedented constitutional crisis…
LINKS:
[1] 11-07-06 PRESS RELEASE: ATF ‘Gun Walking’ Kenneth Melson – Key Figure in Corruption of the Justice System
http://www.scribd.com/doc/59417750/
Do I smell Obozo & Holder impeachment in the air…
Naaaaaaaw…the Gelding Old Party would need a “testicle & spine” implant before that would happen…
Only 19 more months ’til we evict the Marxist in the Oval Office & cancel “Amateur Hour” at the White House.
NOBAMA 2012
“Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink.” P.J.O’Rourke
There’s no time for impeachment but there’s always time for jail. The DOJ will throw some meat to the wolfs and think there safe but the wolfs need to stay hungry and bite them in there a$$
Keep up the good reporting. It seems that there should be a coalescence of interested organizations supporting the Senators to get to the bottom no matter how far into the top one needs to get. Hope this doesn’t get sidelined some how.
A crime was committed within a state. Let the state go after accessory charges. Bypass the federal coverup machine completely. Federal agents do not have immunity from state laws when the commit a criminal act.
You all are right about needing a senate majority of Repubs in order to file Impeachment charges but if America will keep this thing going, supporting those ldrs. calling for Obuma’s head. And not just Impeachment but to charge him, Holder and Napolitano with Treason. There are already several indictable offenses that can be applied, with Op. Gunrunner leading the pack. WE CANNOT ALLOW AN ADMIN. LIKE THIS ONE TO GO UUNPUNISHED FOR THE MURDER OF LAW ENF. OFCRS AND INNOCENT CIVILIANS (MEXICAN). Mexico is demanding the heads of those involved so let’s have the Cartels snatch em’ up and deliver them to Calderon in their inimitable fashion!
Hmm. So only AFTER this operation was made public by the media did Mr. Melson go back and review the “hundreds of documents” related to this operation, and found himself (ahem) shocked by what had been going on. In the agency that he ran. The agency that he is directly and personally responsible for overseeing on a daily basis. Then, after his incompetence comes to light and that blood-sucking grand-stander Issa starts making hay from it, this clown suddenly decides to show up with a lawyer and tell Issa, in a closed hearing, about all of the shocking revelations that he is privy to, no doubt in Exchange for full immunity for himself. Sounds like Mr. Melson went from running Operation Fast and Furious to running his own, one-man sideshow: Operation Save My Own Ass. Yawn. Another Beltway boondoggle being puffed up into a “scandal” meant to pull down Obama. Any scandal will do, of course. Issa has been yipping at the White House’s heels for months now and this is the best he can do? And all of you gun nuts out there who have convinced yourselves that this was all an elaborate plot by the White House to back-door new gun control measures? Give it a rest. There are easier ways to do that than allowing guns to be shipped over the border into Mexico. Americans don’t give a damn about what happens down there. Hell, they barely seem to give a damn about what happens in their own country. But as long as car thief Darrel Issa can keep making sinister insinuations about this on Fox, he will continue barking up this empty tree.