Inspector General Report on Fast and Furious Leaves Biggest Questions Unanswered
The early comments regarding Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report on Operation Fast and Furious reveal a media both ignorant of the case and eager to defend the Obama administration.
David Ingram of Reuters: “[The report] cleared Attorney General Eric Holder of any wrongdoing. … Screw-ups of ‘systemic’ scope that risked public safety but no cover-up.”
Media Matters (which has been closely, unethically coordinating with DOJ Spokesperson Tracy Schmaler) claims:
The right-wing media’s conspiracy theory that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Operation Fast and Furious was hatched as a nefarious plot by the Obama administration to impose draconian gun control upon the United States has been debunked by an independent investigation into the failed gun trafficking sting.
Both reactions dishonestly reflect the contents of the 483-page report. It neither clears Attorney General Eri Holder or any of his subordinates of possible criminal action nor addresses possible synchronicity between the gunrunning plot and the desires of key cabinet-level officials to enact gun-control measures.
The report actually spends just 194 pages discussing Operation Fast and Furious itself, after spending considerable time exonerating Bush-era officials from Democratic and Obama administration claims that they ran a similar operation.
What Inspector General Horowitz’s report does not discuss is perhaps more telling than what it shares. Horowitz does not address:
- strong evidence of the existence of other gunwalking operations that happened in parallel with Operation Fast and Furious, including a Texas-based ATF gun-walking operation which supplied weapons used in the ambush of ICE Agents Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila;
- documents showing the existence of an ATF gunwalking operation in Indiana that provided weapons to fuel Chicago’s gang wars, dubbed “Gangwalker”;
- evidence of a parallel State Department program that sent guns to the Zetas drug cartel.
Horowitz doesn’t debunk or refute allegations of these parallel programs. His report expresses no interest in the well-documented parallel operations concurrently run by other elements of the Obama administration.
The Foreign Military Sales program (run by the Defense Department) and the Direct Commercial Sales program (administered by the State Department) provided tens of thousands of weapons to the cartels by providing them to known corrupt state and non-state actors. The latter program saw roughly 25% of the guns diverted to the cartels. The Obama administration responded by dramatically increasing sales to Mexico, to the point that by 2009 we were providing more weaponry to Mexico than we were providing to Iraq and Afghanistan.
There is no way that an operation as wide and deep as Operation Murder and Mendacity could be carried on behind the backs of the Attorney General and President except in a ridiculous “B” movie.
For argument sake, let’s assume that such an operations was “carried on behind the backs of the Attorney General and President.”
This is the “Sergeant Schultz defense,” sometimes also referred to as the “dumb CEO defense,” “dummy defense,” “ostrich defense,” or the “idiot defense.”
It may shield the Attorney General and President from charges of “malicious intent,” but under no circumstances does it shield them from being incompetent boobs.
Neo said “It may shield the Attorney General and President from charges of “malicious intent,” but under no circumstances does it shield them from being incompetent boobs”
But one should carry the life in jail, the “dummy” defense should carry homelss pennyless and jobless for life.
Holder didn’t know about it, huh?
Well, O.K., then, but I have a question.
Would Holder have refused to prosecute me, a small-business owner, if one of my employees had committed some crime in the name of my company? If I truly hadn’t known about it, could I have gotten away with the defense that I didn’t know?
I’d guess that Holder would have told me that the owner of a company is always responsible! Holder would have had me in a Federal Prison just as soon as possible.
Holder “owns” the DoJ. He is responsible!
Oh, you mean like John Corzine. Look, he did not know and nothing happened to him.
Except he is a bit richer.
This is what a banana republic looks and feels like. Politicians and the media are scum.
When a radical, racialist regime grabs the reins of power, this is the predictable result.
In fact, one would have to believe in the tooth fairy to think otherwise. To be sure, the regime has to fall, otherwise calling it a banana republic will be too kind.
This is what becomes of the highest law officials in America when the above takes place – http://adinakutnicki.com/2012/07/30/the-racialist-potus-seeks-transformation-via-raced-based-classroom-edicts-say-it-aint-so-commentary-by-adina-kutnicki/
BEATING them back is not only the right (no pun intended) thing to do, it is nation-saving!
The early comments regarding Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report on Operation Fast and Furious reveal a media both ignorant of the case and eager to defend the Obama administration.
Sooner or later I’m going to stop believing that the Propaganda and Lies Ministry is “ignorant” of the facts.
When Dirty Barry starts carrying a Journolist 457 Magnum Force Multiplier, his “pocket press” in his holster and he pulls it out every time he gets in trouble, and EACH AND EVERY instance of “ignorance” is ALWAYS in his favor, I’m going to stop believing in “coincidence” and start believing there is a pattern here.
(this is not directed at Bob, whose blog…in full disclosure…was my first place to comment years ago and whom I admire greatly)
I just wish to point out that I no longer intend to give “the benefit of the doubt” about motivation to the propagandists. There is ample evidence to suggest that their motivations and intent are clear and unmistakeable. 457 conspirators who got caught and the rest who have not yet been.
They are liars, traitors, and co-conspirators.
That’s my starting point.
Obama blames Bush for Fast and Furious. It took a while, but Obama found his Blame button.
http://news.yahoo.com/president-obama-falsely-claims-fast-furious-program-begun-154000510–abc-news-politics.html
Obama is a pathological liar.
My strong impression of ATF is that it is composed of congenital idiots.
Who was responsible for Ruby Ridge? ATF
Who was responsible for Waco? ATF
Who was responsible for gun-walking? ATF
This kind of record in the military would get the unit disbanded and the expertise spread among other, smarter units while the f’-ups would be reduced in rank and sent someplace where they could do no more harm. But they certainly wouldn’t be allowed to handle firearms or sharp objects.
Like Button!
And don’t forget that Holder edited the report before it could be released. That is not what I call an independent report.
Do you have some evidence of that? I ask because that’s not the way department IGs work. I don’t say you’re wrong. I just want to know if it’s been confirmed by a reliable source.
The report doesn’t convey directly that Obama and Holder are engaged in a massive coverup. But after reading enough of the report, that is what I got out of it. The utter malfeasance and incompetence committed by Holder’s underlings, which includes making a fool out of the already foolish and totally incompetent AG and which left hundreds dead, leads me to believe there is way more to this than we know, much more that came out of this report.
Why Obama and Holder think the TRUTH will not be revealed at some point is beyond me….oh wait, that invincibility from prosecution delusion. It’s not that hard to figure out what happened. Obama gave a Mexican drug cartel permission to run drugs into America in exchange for weapons they used to wage war on other drug cartels. Obama set up a money laundering scheme through his crony bankers that reaped his cut of the mammouth sums of cash that flowed from those drug sales in our country. Really, who doesn’t understand what happened by now? It is a lie that FnF was a scheme by the Justice Dept. to end our 2nd Amendment rights. Obama knows Americans “cling to their guns.” Holder is just an Obama toady. Really, people, you dont need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
As much as I would like to believe this theory, a mere shred of evidence to support it would be helpful.
Another like button!
And we still do not know who provided $10 million dollars in line item funding for Gunwalker in the Stimulus Bill that was written very early in the Obama administration?
The only way Eric Holder didn’t know about an ATF operation to let guns walk across the border and create an international incident is if he deliberately created a structure and bureaucratic environment to isolate himself from the information, which makes Holder the Sargent Schultz of the DOJ.
No, if he created a mechanism that allowed FnF to happen, all the while he was protected from any backlash: then he is guilty.
Timing was all wrong. The time to toss a sacrifice of the sleigh is early, while the horse’s are still strong. Then the wolves stop to feed and it is sometimes possible to get away. Wait to long and the wolves just kill the sacrifice and keep going, wolves being smart enough to know they can come back and feed later.
The timing of this release indicates panic in the White House. External polls show a steady decline in the 0bumblers re-election changes. In honor of Talladega (Trucks on the 6th, sprint cars on the 7th);
Mitt drafted into the final turn and now has pulled out to pass. Obama has the lead by a bumper but he has the pedal through the floorboard. You can smell the cam burning and hear the wrist pins flopping around. He appears to be a few ponies short of a herd but there is no quit in the boy. If his engine holds together down the home straight, he gets the flag.
Mitt meanwhile, is implacable and relentless. Everything is running smooth, the gauges are in the green at 80% of throttle. All he needs to do is shift into high gear and blow past the Obumbler.
Congress is going home to fight their re-election battles. If one wants to sneak something past Congress, now is the time. A month earlier and we could be in the middle of an impeachment hearing on Holder. Not good visuals a little over a month before election. Iffy elections at that. Timing makes fast and furious a non-issue for this campaign. It makes it a killer issue in the next campaign but the Obama administration is just honoring the immediate threat. Lose this election and the next means nothing to them.
Remember, this isn’t about the Democrats but Obama. The Democratic party is just cannon fodder. That is all they have been since 2010.
If this report had came out 1 1/2 years ago, Fast and Furious would today be a Jeopardy Question; “Obama Scandals for 100 Alex.”
PBUH- Place Bomb Under Hood
“of the sleigh” should be “OFF the sleigh” Us thick fingered, fat headed, elderly gentlemen need edit buttons. After a certain age, edit buttons, prunes and a sturdy cane are the finer things in life.
“I say we pull out and nuke ‘em from orbit. It’s the only way to make sure.”
- FO Ripley.
It’s been established that Newell and O’Rielly had a back channel connection at the WH. That seems to be a very big unanswered question. How can any conclusions be made without that information. The OIG report answers very little except that Dodson and the other whistle blowers were right. It’s good that this report is out of the way.
Horowitz refuses to address the possible criminality of Obama administration officials at all.
I thought the original IG was a woman and Holder sycophant. This “report” sure took a hell of a long time, coming up on 2 years now since agent Terry’s murder.
Oh wait, they named a border crossing after the slain agent last week. That should mollify agent Terry’s parents. (not)
So now will the dept. of injustice release all those requested documents to Issa’s committee, un-redacted ?
Last night, Charles Krauthammer more or less declared F&F over and said Issa had been wasting his time.
sure looks like the pub’s and dem’s want this murder for hire to go away. go figure.
hundreds, maybe thousands of latino’s killed by guns handed out to known murderers and these same people make up one of obozo’s biggest ‘useful idiot’ crowds. if i were mexican i would be livid about this obvious coverup. he!!, serial killers don’t kill this many people.
if there is nothing to it, why refuse to cooperate (destroy email evidence?) and claim ‘executive privilege’? that’s a card only played when somebody has the snake by the tail. its not a defense for honest men and women.
“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.”
Warrant-less Spying Bill Passes House, Moves to the Senate THURSDAY, 13 SEPTEMBER 2012
http://www.rightsidenews.com/2012091417023/us/homeland-security/warrantless-spying-bill-passes-house-moves-to-the-senate.html