Three Key ‘Fast and Furious’ Questions Still Unanswered
The congressional investigations into the gunwalking plot known as Operation Fast and Furious largely faded from the public eye over the past month, yet there is a growing conviction among legislators of both parties that a grueling political battle is ahead.
Those determined to uncover the truth behind Fast and Furious are being opposed by Democratic congressmen and Obama administration officials such as Deputy Attorney General James Cole. Cole has objected to the House Oversight Committee’s investigation and the actions of Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa. His recent combative letter to Issa received sympathetic coverage at progressive site TPMMuckraker:
Rep. Darrell Issa’s drive to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt is “unwarranted,” “unprecedented” and “ill-advised,” a top Justice Department official said in a letter to the California Republican, who is chair of the House Oversight Committee, on Tuesday.
Deputy Attorney General James Cole also wrote that the committee’s “core questions” on the flawed gun trafficking operation known as Fast and Furious “have been answered.”
Cole suggested that the lack of documents showing high-level discussions about the tactics used in Fast and Furious show the problem grew out of offices in Arizona and that top Obama administration were not aware that ATF agents were telling gun shop dealers to sell large quantities of weapons to individuals they suspected were “straw purchasers” for Mexican drug cartels.
“Far from reflecting a ‘cover-up,’ as some have claimed, the lack of documents makes clear that these tactics had their origin in the field in Arizona and not among Department leaders in Washington,” Cole wrote.
Cole’s assertions would be laughable, were it not for the hundreds of bodies linked to Fast and Furious weapons and their almost certain role in a recent spike in violence in northern Mexico that has resulted in bodies turning up by the dozens.
The deputy attorney general — who is also suspected of having a role in the plot — is correct when he claims the congressional investigation is “unprecedented.” Never in American history has an administration stood accused of facilitating the smuggling of thousands of weapons in an attempt to generate murders as propaganda for undermining the constitutional rights of Americans.
Multiple Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents have testified under oath that the explicit intent of the operation was to have guns purchased by straw purchasers be smuggled over the border and recovered at Mexican crime scenes. The entire plot hinged upon Mexican citizens being killed with walked guns. As one supervisor said to an agent complaining about the deaths that would occur: “If you’re going to make an omelette, you’ve got to break some eggs.”
Cole did not try to refute these facts: he simply lied in stating that “core questions” about Fast and Furious “have been answered.” More than 18 months after Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was gunned down by a cartel “rip team” led by an FBI informant, the Department of Justice has refused to answer the three most basic questions about the gun-walking plot:
- Who conceived this radical departure from normal law enforcement practices? Who conceived an operation requiring the deaths of hundreds or thousands of Mexican nationals for its success?
- Which Department of Justice officials saw that Operation Fast and Furious needed hundreds or thousands of firearms to be given to the cartels and recovered at the scenes of crimes, knew that the crimes in question were likely to be murders of Mexican nationals or U.S. citizens along the Mexican border where the cartels operate, and approved the operation anyway?
- Knowing that Operation Fast and Furious could be the political and criminal albatross that drives away moderates and Latino voters and destroys his chances of winning a second term, why does President Obama refuse to appoint a special prosecutor or to call for Eric Holder and his direct reports to resign?
Yet another installment in the Republican fairy tale without end – one of these days, just you watch, those Republicans will get really mad, and then you’ll see. Wake me when this pantomime of futility is over, for now, I’m Rip Van Winkle on this one – the corruption in the federal government is systemic and boundless – you know, Bob, it takes a grisly humor to write that there will be a “grueling political battle ahead.” Mencken would be proud of this piece.
Sadly, the hundreds of dead Mexicans are not a fairy tale.
Well, you certainly seem to embody Mencken’s comment about underestimating intelligence.
First of all you’re no Judge and to try to pass yourself off as one in disingenuous. That means your a liar.
Second, it seems those you consider dodo’s (everyone with an opinion not like yours) outnumber you. Do we have some insight that you don’t? Duh, I guess so – it’s called Truth, and neither you not the Holdermeister will be able to stand up against it forever. He’s going down, it’s just a matter of time.
You can follow him if you like. You can join the poker game near the boiler.
The difference is that when it’s a Republican scandal, the Democrats do not have to look like “bad guys”; the media pushes it for them.
Publicising a Democratic scandal (not-sex-related) is an uphill battle; no wonder they’re so mad about Citizen’s United.
Congress looking into claims of an administration allowing illegal arms deals is NOT unprecidented. A Democrat controlled House was very interested in CIA arms deals during Iran/Contra. Of course the only law being broken back then was the ever changeing Boland Amendment, which the dems. changed every time the CIA thought they had managed to comply with the law. Still, Lawrence Walsh was appointed to investigate and prosecute. If we needed a special prosecutor for Iran/Contra we REALLY need a special prosecutor for Fast & Furious. And please, not the Blago/Democrat cover-up king Patrick Fitzgerald.
It’s still unfortunately true; unequal MSM treatment of Republican and Democratic scandals affects the public. Imagine if the media were treating this like they did Iran-Contra.
As far as I’m concerned, everyone who went to jail over Watergate was a political prisioner.
Strange how the very same people attempting to make America communist are the first people who would be shot for incompetence and treason.
Timothy – Why incompetence and treason ?
I think ‘just because it’s time’ will do nicely – thank you!
So here’s the state of things:
1 – (Republican) House leaders have sent a letter to Holder telling him to cooperate with Issa. They didn’t set a deadline.
2 – If Holder complies with the subpoena issued by Issa last October, Issa will go through the documents and draw up a report.
3 – If Holder doesn’t comply by mid-June, Issa will issue a contempt order. “No prosecutorial action is likely from that move” (the Politico article). Really?
Why is it that, at this moment, eight Departments within the Executive Branch do not have a Senate confirmed Inspector General? That includes State and DoJ.
Easy answer. A tyrant does not have Inspectors General.
Why should we be surprised that those who conceived and approved Fast & Furious, were perfectly comfortable knowing the operation would result in the deaths of many. Hasn’t history shown us that Marxists are perfectly comfortable with the deaths of millions in order to advance their agenda?
Slight correction: the agenda of the far Left is the death of millions; the ideology is simply a justification. From no-reason abortion to new ice-age/global warming/climate change, every event justifies poverty, slavery, and finally, death. Mass-killing is the hallmark of end-stage Leftism.
“Far from reflecting a ‘cover-up,’ as some have claimed, the lack of documents makes clear that these tactics had their origin in the field in Arizona and not among Department leaders in Washington,” Cole wrote.
OK, let’s assume this is true(not that it is by a long shot). But if it’s true, then why wasn’t any of the local agents or administrators that were responsible for this operation in Arizona either fired or brought up on charges? To date, nobody has even lost their job over this, let alone had to face formal criminal charges. And you still can’t tell me that an operation of this magnitude did not have the approval of at least somebody in Washington. The Federal Government just doesn’t work that way. People at all levels of government are in CYA mode all the time, so they’re not about to risk their necks on a huge operation that has the potential of getting a lot of people killed. In this case, we lost not only a US border agent, but hundreds of Mexican citizens as well.
I hate it when people within our own government openly lie to us. Speaks poorly for the officials at the Department of Justice as well as the other people who work for it.
The question, as usual, is who benefits? I see no benefit from this program as instituted other than political. It’s pretty obvious, but the repubs seem afraid to go frontal and call it for what it is.
DAG James Cole is personally implicated in the authorization and cover-up and now he is the chief letter writer now that Ron Weich has left for UMBC Law School. Dennis Burke has resigned, and Cunningham is not talking. The OIG, Cynthia Schnedar, is doing a great job of not producing anything, because to do so would invite more scrutiny and accountability, and the release of documents. The bottom-up narrative that Elijah Cummings repeats so well, doesn’t seem to work, so release the lawfully subpoenaed documents and we’ll get closer to the truth.
this is an accidental opening and opportunity to dig into the rot that is this illegal administration. this needs to become front and center come Fall, right in the face of the citizens. agents involved promoted and transferred = coverup. the joke that was once our media wouldn’t report on it if pix of holder and o-barry surfaced showing them both maching gunning innocent latinos. just misuse power, seal the records and ignore. ignoring a rotting sore can be dangerous in the long run. we can only pray our conservative pol’s are not too corrupted themselves to see this for what it really is.
Dave, do you honestly believe there is enough integrity in Congress or the candidates to clear this up? Romney has the SAME POSITIONS on every issue as Obama. Not some, EVERY SINGLE ISSUE.
don’t know how to answer that dd. we must have faith that some of these people have honor, but the results are very telling. i do see how pub’s and dem’s are constantly voting to take away our rights. one would think the American people would already be up in arms about the constant shrinkage of our rights. the frog in the pan analogy seems very appropriate here.
we have many enemies and live such a sheltered life that it appears we really don’t understand how much we are hated throughout the world. this real life manchurian candidate getting where he did, with everything about his past covered up, protected and even forged, tells its own tail of how many traitors we have living among us. and then there’s that dumbing down/stupid thing that gives him such an easily deceived, homogeneous and obedient constituency.
That’s completely false.
Because Republican cronies in charge (and doing the exact same things) are the exact opposite of Democrat cronies in charge?
One difference: the drive-by media won’t let Romney get away with as much. They won’t let him get away with a F&F… and they also won’t let him get away with fixing the budget.
Campaign idea for Mitt Romney:
If I am elected, the Department of Justice will NOT be used as a propaganda or political arm of the White House. I will declassify “Fast and Furious” documents, and all DoJ personnel who had any part in authorizing gun-walking activities will lose their jobs and benefits, and be investigated for possible criminal behavior in the deaths of American and Mexican nationals.
I’ll go one better. The DOJ will be defunded and ATF and FBI moved to the DOD. Every department in the DOJ has been radicalized. The American people should never trust them. So they all must go.
States can handle civil rights issues (?) and ask for help when necessary for inter-state crimes or federal crimes. Look at how the DOJ in destroying our voting system. Destroying our national sovereignity with illegal immigration. Etc, etc.
Nope the DOJ must go.
“The DOJ will be defunded and ATF and FBI moved to the DOD.”
NO.
Never, ever have domestic law-enforcement under the direct authority of the military. That is as big a mistake as giving the revenue section police powers.
The real solution is a full house-cleaning at DOJ. Anyone near retirement age should be retired right now. Anyone proven to have been involved in this operation should be fired, stripped of all benefits, and prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law.
Holder & Co. should be looking at jail time.
As for BATFE, it has once more proven that its corporate obsession with attacking the Second Amendment overrides everything else, including common sense. The agency must be abolished, and every single employee prohibited from ever working for government, in any capacity, ever again.
Harsh words, I know, but this rogue agency has been a blot on American law enforcement since Nixon created it out of the original bureau FDR created (out of the old Alcohol & Tobacco Tax Division of Treasury, i.e. the “Revenooers”), to enforce the National Firearms Act in 1935. In 77 years, it has accomplished absolutely nothing of value, and has helped make the American people terrified of their own government.
It needs to go. Now.
clear ether
eon
One can only declassify the records that haven’t already gone through the DOJ paper shredder or that were on hard drives that weren’t incinerated. You know, the ones that directly link Obama and Holder to the grand scheme.
Besides, I’m sure we can rely on our dedicated watchdogs in the press to ferret out the truth in all this. Woodward and Bernstein are already under cover (of their desks).
Great idea-providing Obamaaho doesnt pardon every sigle cabinet member before they can get tried and convicted.
Issa, Perez and the other DoJ pinhead will provide the remaining F&F paperwork when:
-The DoJ’s done suing AZ for a near-verbatim of the Fed Law on the books, LEGALLY passed immigration law that’s been gutted by the 9th. As well as DoJ’s Perez THREATENING to remove Federal funds to Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office altogether if it continues doing their job, or something. As well as removing said MCSO and replacing it with a Federal law enforcement/ TSA-like s hotheads in its place. In essence Perez and the DoJ is putting illegal alien’s safety, well-being AHEAD of Maricopa County’s citizenry. ‘My People’ and Perez’s despicable actions, intent in AZ has everything to do with melanin-only.
-The DoJ has already neutered Alabama’s LEGALLY passed immigration bill recently.
-The DoJ’s busy investigating, threatening (same thing) to take over ANOTHER police department in Florida for the Zimmerman/ Martin investigation. Anyone else catch Holder’s FL conference? This F&F stuff is horrible, but his pandering, praising of Sharpton and other a-holes, bigots was nauseating.
-’My People’ is also bust trying to turn Voter I.D. LAWS into, yep, ‘racism’ or ‘class’ fiction.
I know there’s more, though that’s enough. Holder, after the Marc Rich and terrorist pardons.. he should have been disbarred with Slick Willy. Instead.. what a sickening display of graft and utter lack of class, commitment to THE PEOPLE our majority body politic truly is.
I think the Republicans are managing the case so it peaks closer to the election.
The best Democratic action would be to give the appearance of movement, but that would really alienate its daffy base.
No, Bob. The Illiberal base’s mantra is, ‘Hear no evil, see no evil. If heard thy evil, wait for Illiberal kleptocrat pol to speak of no evil and again see no evil’.
Look at how many people believe, ‘Uhbama-math’. The Cic’s ‘magically erased’ QE1, QE2, stimulus, Cash for Clunkers, Cash for Caulkers, preferential loans etc., from his ‘totals’.
Remember when the CiC was saying from his pulpit, ‘Pass this bill’, people cheering.. and there was and continues to be.. 8 + months later.. NO BILL!
Guy’s a dunderhead. His fawning, hero worship crowd is equally and at times more mind-numbingly stupid.
But with th emedia blackout, what difference does it make?
Rep Issa became a lot less interested in investigating when testimony showed this began as a Baby Bush era “Operation Gunrunner” and that BHO only double-downed on the slow moving “Gun-walker” program. BHO also added the “Operation Castaway” out of Tampa to arm Central American gangs. This is a bi-partician attack on the Second Amendment….with a pending bi-partician cover-up.
Keep repeating that, and maybe on day you’ll actually believe it.
There is more than a little difference in an operation that arrests the suspects as the guns go from the straw buyers to the gun runners and the Obama operation that wanted and allowed the weapons to go into Mexico so that they can be used to kill Mexicans.
The only question is what is more heinous. Is it sending guns to Mexico so that they can be used to kill Mexicans so we can see where the guns end up or sending guns to Mexico to kill Mexicans for a political wedge to subvert the Constitution?
Issa has not become one iota less interested. Bush-era Operation GunRUNNER was operated in coordination with the Mexican government. Guns and their transporters were tracked and intercepted just as they crossed the border. If I remember correctly, they lost track of ONE gun.
Operation Fast and Furious was made with NO coordination with the Mexican Goivernment – not even the ATF Liaison Officer in Mexico. The guns were not tracked and officers who, on multiple occations, requested permission to intercept guns as they crossed the border were ordered to “Stand Down!”
Apples and oranges, Faux
How do we keep the DOJ or any government body from becoming “politicized”? Progressives feel that laws should be selectively applied and interpreted to achieve social “fairness” and should be adjusted to the whims of the current majority. They feel that the primary occupation of all appointed and elected officials should be political activism toward that end. Given that perspective, they believe that simply upholding the Constitution and other laws as they are written is in itself a “politicized” approach intended to maintain an unfair status quo. So we can keep huffing and puffing about this all we want – there is no convincing them.
After the next election, presuming that Romney wins, can a special prosecutor be appointed to investigate?
P.S. “Knowing that Operation Fast and Furious could be the political and criminal albatross … why does President Obama refuse to appoint a special prosecutor or to call for Eric Holder and his direct reports to resign?”
Given the premise contained within, a better question is this: Why doesn’t Romney announce that, in addition to approving Keystone, he’ll appoint a special prosecutor on day one of his administration? Assuming he can appoint one, then we’re one declaration away from turning this into a very public controversy. What is the political downside to Romney making this declaration?
The other story here is the complete lack of interest by the MSM in F&F. They were apoplectic over Watergate, a third rate burglary where no one died, but they can’t be bothered to report on F&F where at least 200 Mexicans are dead, along with Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
But the Press hated Nixon, and they *heart* Obama. And they don’t want to do anything that might endanger his reelection.
“Those determined to uncover the truth behind Fast and Furious are being opposed by Democratic congressmen…”
The same party that rightfully sought to prosecute Richard Nixon for the crime of covering up the bugging of a Democratic party office. How our country has changed.
When administrations change, outgoing cabinet secretaries submit pro forma resignations. If Romney wins, he should not accept Holder’s, keep him the the AG’s office, and THEN get a special prosecutor appointed.
Timing!
Holder’s position is increasingly untenable, and the later he is thrown under the bus, the worse it will look. Many other more inevitable things are to happen between now and November: The first one will be the SCOTUS arbitrating the immigration case between the State of Arizona and the DOJ, as if there was not already enough tensions between the two. The Speaker of the house has already spoken in favor of a contempt of congress move. This may take a while to arrange, but as long as between now and November? I hope to see a cascade of embarrassments before November, starting with the SCOTUS arbitration on Obamacare, perhaps the most spectacular of all dominoes yet to fall.
Sorry about mentioning it, because all of these things reasonably fall in the “unexpected” category, right?
AHolder, Incompetano, Burke, Melson , Perez, and all the other Dept of Injustice commies will be pardoned by Obamaaho after he loses-for crimes they should have been tried and convicted for 2 years ago.
I will say who is the father of this mass murder plot….Who got up and said we are working on gun control UNDER THE RADAR….there someone has to say it…..It was 0b0m0, Clinton and Holder…This is easy….I suspect 0samb0 to give presidential clemacy to Holder after the election…on all his misdeeds….He needs to be brought up also on why no investigation into the New Black Panthers…..Again another climacy
The third question is your real agenda and has been from the beginning. The other two are simply bombastic dog whistles your all choking on.
Black Panthers——BOO!
142 Democrats in Congress disagree.
The cover-up is always worse than the crime before the crime is finally uncovered.
Given that this particular thing resulted in the deaths of several hundred people, we haven’t reached that point yet.
Two things:
1)”the Department of Justice has refused to answer the three most basic questions about the gun-walking plot:”. Seriously? Is this for real? Does any rational person expect the DOJ and/or Holder to answer the questions truthfully?? Dictators and wannabe dictators don’t consent to demands from those over which they rule. Wake up! If you believe they will, I have a bridge for sale.
And 2)”The vote could be Democrats’ way of signaling they, too, are tired of Team Obama’s stonewalling over Fast and Furious.” Puhleeze, all the Dems are in the same boat as the aforementioned dictator wannabes. ALOT of heads will roll when this comes out, electorally and otherwise. Do you really think the Dems are going to aid in their utter obliteration this November? Do you think they have a scintilla of honor among them? I am not kidding. All guilty parties will fight to the end by whatever means necessary, it’s the Chicago way.
Btw, if anyone has any evidence to dispute my assertions, I LOVE to see it.
Semper Fi DD-and you are correct in more ways than the media will ever acknowledge. Obamaaho would NEVER even be in this position, except his PARTY put him there. His PARTY voted for Obama”care”less, they voted for TARP, they voted for crap and tax, they protect there fellow ideological commies like AHolder, Incompetano and Obamaaho on F/F. The ENTIRE D party hates America, hates freedom and are nothing other than Joe Stalin/Hitler wannabes. the 2nd amendment is all that stands between us and them. F/F was designed to undermine the 2nd amendment.
If this idea was hatched by low level agents or officials in Arizona, how come nobody can tell us whose idea it was. Surely DOJ’s IG would have uncovered that by now, right? Cole’s big lie is that nobody in Washington was involved or even aware.
Gary Fouse
DEA retired
The IG in DC is an AHolder syncophat. Shes , like the local prosecutors in Az, part of the problem by being in on the cover-up. Dennis Burke, the former local prosecutor in Phoenix, is a former chief of staff for Janet Incompetano when she was governor of AZ. Any coincidence? Incompetano spent all her time as governoir trying to undermine Sheriff Arpaio and Sheriff Bable in Maricopa and Pinal counties-now you know why she went to DC? AHolder and Obamaaho were more than happy to use her and the power of the Feds to get even with Arpaio and the other local sheriffs here.
“Far from reflecting a ‘cover-up,’ as some have claimed, the lack of documents makes clear that these tactics had their origin in the field in Arizona and not among Department leaders in Washington,” Cole wrote.
Mr. Cole has the option of admitting that Washington leaders remained ignorant as humans were slaughtered due to DoJ criminal acts, or that Washington executives were directing their employees to commit crimes. One is grounds for firing managers, the other is grounds for criminal actions against individuals.
There are no other options. Who are these people?
Basically speaking a bunch of criminal trying to see what they could get away with just like the kids raiding the cookie jar who place the blame on anyone beside themselves even when caught in the act!
It’s curious. While the congressional oversight goes nowhere the Holder boys have been suing the state of Arizona, for just about every thing having to do with alleged violations of immigration law and the rights of undocumented aliens. Brian Terry, the agent killed by the “rip team,” was murdered in Arizona. Surely the Arizona Attorney General and the local Sheriff have ultimate criminal jurisdiction? Surely, based on the public record so far, they could articulate the probable cause required to get bench warrants issued from an Arizona Superior Court judge for the arrest of various Holder federal officials? Surely there is enough facts to articulate negligent manslaughter at the least? Do these federal officials have sovereign immunity?
In case you dont know-the local DA at the time of agent Terrys death was DENNIS BURKE- whos part of the cover-up.
I did not know that. I’m surprised a local elected DA would be in the bag for the U.S. Department of Justice, and apparently the elected Sheriff and the Attorney General also?
Even with the death of agent Terry, I’m afraid between clemency’s and a
blanket pardon,everyone involved will walk.The shredders have been working since this hit the blogs,so we can expect documentation to be scarce.this started at the top,and will be `buried to avoid a Constitutional crisis and outright riots
right next to Obumma’s history since birth and education documents.