Attorney General Holder Changes His Testimony on Fast and Furious
Today before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder substantially changed his previous testimony about the Fast and Furious scandal, an Obama administration undercover gun operation that sold more than 2,000 guns to Mexican drug cartels.
Holder now repudiates the controversial program, calling it “unacceptable” and “flawed.” He says he was “bothered” by the program and that it was “inappropriate.” He did not say, however, that the undercover operation violated any federal laws.
The program was initiated in 2009 by the administration and executed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), a division of the U.S. Department of Justice. The bureau reports to the attorney general.
Guns linked to Fast and Furious were used in the killing of two U.S. agents and an estimated 200 people in Mexico.
Holder contradicted his previous statement that he personally became aware of the ATF program only a “few weeks” before his May 2011 testimony. Now, Holder admits he knew about the controversial gun running operation as early as the beginning of the year.
Acting as if he was still confused about the Fast and Furious program, he said: “Like each of you, I want to understand why and how” the gunwalking program came about. He says he is looking to to the Department’s inspector general “to learn” who had thought up the program and implemented it.
Dissatisfied with Holder’s response, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) asked the attorney general: “Are you winging this?”
His May 2011 denial of knowledge about the program contrasted with internal Justice Department memos that had circulated to Holder’s office as early as February of this year. The contradiction in his earlier testimony has prompted some members of Congress to call for Holder’s resignation.
Holder now concedes that as early as February he had learned about Fast and Furious, and that at the time he had directed agents to make corrections to the undercover operation.
Previously, Holder and officials at the Department of Justice had stonewalled congressional inquiries into the undercover operation.
Holder defended his deputy, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, who on February 4, 2011 sent an erroneous and misleading letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee about Fast and Furious. Ranking Judiciary Committee Sen. Charles Grassley (R-KS) wanted to know if any Justice Department official “was accountable” for the submission of erroneous information to Congress. Holder told Sen. Grassley that Breuer did not offer to submit his resignation when his answers to the Senate were discovered to have been factually misleading and erroneous. Holder added he did not ask for Breuer’s resignation.
Holder claims he cannot be expected to “know about each and every program on a daily basis.” He said he “did not see” many documents that had his name on them referring to Operation Fast and Furious.
He blamed his staff for not forwarding the memos to him.
This whole Fast and Furious scandal makes me angry beyond words. Of course Holder changed his testimony, because his previous story has been shot full of holes. Now we are to conclude that he doesn’t know what’s going on inside his Department of Justice, and as soon as that is proven to be another lie, he’ll change his testimony again. But he will never, never take responsibility, and if Barack Obama continues to cover for him, they both deserve to go to jail. I never thought I would say that about an American president, after enduring eight years of the “Bush war criminal” nonsense.
THIS WHOLE GOVERNMENT LIES…….ITS SO BAD WHEN YOU CAN’T TRUST YOUR GOVERNMENT…….WE MUST TAKE THEM DOWN BEFORE 2012, THIS IS A MUST..
“Senator Leahy said “we have a to take some steps here in the United States” to curtail gun shipments into Mexico.”
Given that it was ATFE and Justice who were actively promoting gun shipments into Mexico, any whose jaw doesn’t drop at such a statement isn’t paying attention.
Right. If congress really wants to stop firearm trafficking to Mexico, then disband the BATFE and FBI immediately.
Did he get his name right?
A reprehensible scumbag totally unfit to serve (except for time in jail)!
(Holder) says he is looking to to the Department’s Inspector General “to learn” who had thought up the program and implemented it.
For a long time, months at least, both Obama and Holder have referenced this IG every time the phrase “fast and furious” comes up.
At some point in time, the hackneyed, repetitive & knee jerk referencing of an Inspector General investigation (an IG who is, reportedly, a Holder confidante) should make anybody in listening range burst out in derisive laughter.
Well. Holder is a criminal and racist, he and the Failed President where aware of this illegal program from the beginning and were creating a CRISIS for new gun control laws (2nd Amendment) along with Hillary at the UN concerning gun registration worldwide. Back in 2009 they were all spouting about 90% guns into Mexico came from the US = BULLSHIT (It is about 10%), then the Gifford shooting stirred the pot a little. The cartels do NOT even want the AUTO weapons the ATF/DEA/FBI/HOLDER/OBAMA walked into Mexico, they get them on the cheap from the black market worldwide, (AK47 – AR15 – 50 CALS). The Cartels want AUTOS like M4 M14, Military cause they are light, reliable, and the ammo is cheap and standard worldwide.
Now, I believe they are accessory to murder since 2 border guards have been murdered, along with 300 Mexicans with THEIR weapons THEY walked. They both should resign or be impeached immediately. NOT, he has the balls to blame Congress today and tighter 2nd Amendment gun REGS. You see THEIR goal of the left is to ban all AUTO weapons like the AK47 and AR15 which is why they were chosen for walking.
I believe Holder will have a more difficult time in the House testimony under oath next month with ISSA on his ass. I hope America survives less then a year with these criminals in charge.
Nuff Said
Feinstein, Schumer & Leahy are not honest brokers in this mess.
So what else is new ?
Senator Leahy said, “we have a to take some steps here in the United States, to curtail gun shipments into Mexico.”
When I heard this I was incensed to say the least … this guy; in collusion with Holder, is acting like it’s America’s fault and keeps alive the “guns to Mexico” narrative that preceded the Gunwalker debacle. These people are not only despicable; they are – by the looks of it – amoral. That being the case; they have no business being a part of our government … NONE.
I hope Issa and Co. go for the throat on this; because failure to do so will be justice denied … not only to the families of the victims, but every single one of us.
Hey, now. I agree with Leahy. We should do more to stop guns from going to Mexico. Disband the BATFE and FBI immediately. Repeticio es mater estudiorum.
So his defense is that he doesn’t read?
Ewwwww!
Either that or his defense is that he is incompetent. Oh, but he shouldn’t have to resign, either.
Perhaps he prefers to let his people do that for him and later tell him whatever they think he would like to hear.
I listened to a little bit of this absurd hearing, and I heard Senator Whitehouse suggesting that lots of emails are sent which are addressed to the Attorney General, but it is actually his staff that reads all of the emails and then notifies him of important ones, and that this is longstanding practice. He then went on to suggest that this practice had “resulted in confusion”, but that it was a good idea to maintain the current system, rather than only have important memoranda actually have the Attorney General’s name on them, because it makes people feel good to think that they are sending messages to the Attorney General of the United States, even if he is not reading them (!!!!!?????). This may be longstanding practice, but I fail to see why the current system should be maintained, since the AG can just claim ignorance and blame his staff whenever he wants to (HELLO?? ACCOUNTABILITY?? TRANSPARENCY???). The absurdity of Feinstein and Schumer’s commentary makes me believe that they should both go down with this scandal – these people have no interest whatsoever in the rule of law.
Holder couldn’t even find it in his heart to apologize to the surviving family of the murdered border agent….all he did when questioned if he wanted to was to deflect like he always does…..pathetic…..
Annnnd, perfectly timed, there’s a new “distraction”. Given that her lawyer is Gloria Allred, it’s pretty obvious too.
Two different stories? Put him in the cell with Scooter Libby anyone?
Holder is a disgrace and hopefully his incompetence has finally given him enough rope to hang himself. Franken is a politically correct partisan hack who panders to the basest emotions of faddists.
It is just a shame that we have an US Attorney General that will do double talk in light of the many lives that were lost under this program. It is so troubling and not to mention the lame stream media is only concerned about Herman Cain’s supposed groping and misconduct. People are livid at this administrations inablity to accept responsibility for anything they do or know about. It seems to me that judges are corrupt, the administration is corrupt and no good standing American can see a way to do anything about it. God help us.
Didn’t Holder lie under oath? Changing his story at this stage should be nothing less than perjury.
Agreed! These lines from the article seem pretty conclusive:
Holder contradicted his previous statement that he personally became aware of the ATF program only a “few weeks” before his May 2011 testimony. Now, Holder admits he knew about the controversial gun running operation as early as the beginning of the year.
This administration will do anything to obfuscate the truth. They know no shame. Why do I question their loyalty to America?
Nothing Holder does or says is surprising anymore. I found this appearance every bit as disgusting as his prior LIAR LIAR performances before the House.
The good news with both Holder and Napolitano is that they are both every bit as arrogant as Obama. Both love their insulated seats of power in the liberal temple. Neither will ever voluntarily step aside – until Obama forces them to.
Which means this all will continue unabated right through the presidential campaign season. Along with Solyendra and unemployment on the economy – the cronyism these two exhibit nightly are the kinds of gifts that are priceless to whoever Republicans nominate.
I agree, but the Republicans aren’t using any of this ammunition to their advantage. What is wrong with them? They need to forget the PC talk and start fighting back. They are spineless. Mr. Nice Guy will not win the election next year. Getting down in the gutter with the Liberal/Communist Obama thugs is what needs to be done. They need to dish it out by the truck loads. There’s so much there to work with you’d think they’d start using it to their advantage. Come on Republicans, get on the ball and take this communist president down.
If Eric Holder did not know about the gun running tasks of the ATF, why did he give this speech in 2009?Attorney General Eric Holder at the Mexico/United States Arms Trafficking Conference CUERNAVACA, MEXICO ~ Thursday, April 2, 2009
http://www.justice.gov/ag/speeches/2009/ag-speech-090402.html
Well Wahington76, I was going to post link to very same presser, but from a slightly different URL:
http://www.atf.gov/press/releases/2009/04/040209-speech-doj-ag-holder-arms-trafficking-conference.html
Sooo, if Holder briefed Mexican government on 4/2/2009, he well knew of it back in February 2009, to have time to wiggle around and ensure he was satisfied with briefing he was going to present.
We need Holder out of office, YESTERDAY!
But I’m very dismayed with Issa and Grassley! They are both aware of this above presser, I and another 5000+ patriotic Americans have personally informed them of this, but with Holder giving testimony to Congress today, nobody had the nerve to once again grill him on when he first learned of Gunrunner. SPINELESS!!!
As Holder still promotes the same old LIE, with slightly revised date.
It’s a for sure deal, plans for this were in place prior to Obama inauguration. But only part of the reasoning was to alter firearm regulations here in the states. Obama was personally involved in initial planning of this, but it’s like Issa and Grassley are terrified to find factual evidence leading to that. When an operation such as this had a price tag of $3 Billion 740 Million, it’s a sure thing Obama had a reasonably good understanding of what the programs entailed.
When you look at how Obama has unsecured our southern border, and the quantity of Lebanese who have migrated to northern Baja in particular (200+K), the other part of this reasoning was to arm Hezbollah. Far more effective than bowing and kissing the hand of a Saudi prince…
If *I* know Hezbollah is in northern Baja and elsewhere in Mexico, you can rest assured Obama knows much more about this from his daily briefings.
The problem is that the legal process takes longer than the election process. We always have to wait for the next election to rid ourselves of these scum.
Many of them do eventually end up in prison, but by then, the damage is done.
This dude needs to be impeached and removed, but there isn’t the political will to do that.
Project Gun Runner (Fast and Furious) was launched under the orders of President Barack Obama with the full knowledge of Attorney General Eric Holder. Deputy Attorney General David Ogden announced the Obama Administration’s new and aggressive ‘comprehensive plan’ on March, 24, 2009. The plan was aimed at disrupting gun trafficking between the United States and Mexico.
Full C-SPAN Video Link 3-24-2009 http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/MexicoBor&…
Holder, a trendsetter ,leading from behind !
Is Franken gay? I wasn’t aware there was a problem with gay bashing of children on military bases, federal reservations, parks and national monuments? Indian reservations maybe, they can be rather conservative and traditional when it comes to the kids. Surely if two hundred gay children had died from spiked Happy Meals served by religious homophobes (excluding Muslims of course) as the FDA looked on and assisted with that tainted meat Happy Meal spiking we would have heard about it? Surely Holder’s Department of Justice would be bringing civil rights violation charges against those homicidal homophobic food servers for Happy Meal hate crimes, especially with all those corporate Ecoli priors? Perhaps he would even prosecute the officials at FDA for providing the tainted meat? Surely?
Gee, I wonder whether Holder speaks Spanish. If he does, there is a wonderful phrase in Spanish to cover his situation: “Se me cayo.” [That's missing an accent or two, sorry.] It means, literally, “It fell [from] me.” Which is to say, I dropped something and it wasn’t my fault. Yep, fits Holder perfectly. Do you suppose his Mexican counterparts would agree? Yeah, right, thought not.
Mr. Holder has no shame. He is arrogant and it became quite apparent when he couldn’t find the words to apologize to the Brian Terry family. The Republicans in the Senate are not aggressive enough. Let’s hope Issa and his colleagues in the House do a better job when he goes before their committee. This disgraceful AG needs to go!!!!
Holder claims he cannot be expected to “know about each and every program on a daily basis.” He said he “did not see” many documents that had his name on them referring to Operation Fast and Furious.
He blamed his staff for not forwarding the memos to him.
I sure hope they have their resumes updated. Sounds like those “unemployment” numbers might be about to rise.
As a CFR globalist I have a great idea. Let’s tell the unwashed Americans that Americans are selling guns to folks in Mexico, and that those same guns are being used to murder just about anyone. That way, we can get really tough gun laws, so the unwashed Americans can no longer buy what we like to call assualt weapons. I really hate the Constitution, and Bill of Rights those sorry arse unwashed Americans cling to. Not to mention their Bibles, and weapons. What a bunch of uncool Nationalists!
News flash: “The Department of Justice has been caught selling weapons to illegal aliens in order to make weapons look like the problem. Two border patrol agents have been murdered by Mexican Nationals running drugs with some of those walked guns.”
Oh s###!
Holder has only two options to admit he is a LIAR or to admit he is incompetent. So come on you Black RACIST what is it LIAR or INCOMPETENT. Either way he is not fit to occupy the office he does.
Holder is not only a pathological liar, he is a dangerous sociopath. This man will kill as many people as necessary, destroy as many careers as he can, indulge in any illegality to gain his ends.
Do you mean to tell me that Eric Holder has changed his story (under oath) to a Congressional Investigation isn’t that kinda like perjury no he must be under the first stages of dementia or Alzheimer’s (you know that it can start in the early forties) or could it be possible that he is completely Incompetent?
This could not be possible another man who seems to have the same qualities nominated him into his position so one can only surmise that the two if them together know all about this horrid affair and were working in tandem to usurp the law of our land, using reckless and illegal efforts to attempt to enact further gun laws to disarm law abiding citizens…this can not stand, a real attorney would pursue this from the first mention of such an operation!!
No one was killed in “Watergate” by Nixon but many have died just because of this one insidious and illegal endeavor by Obama, Holder, Nopalitano, and I say Hillary Clinton…impeachment should be the least of any of these peoples problems, get the word out to as many as possible and call, email everybody including your local congressman or senator, this can not continue!
…. Holder claims he “did not see” many documents that had his name on them referring to Operation Fast and Furious ….
He been taking dodging lessons from the “reverend” Wright’s fascist followers?
…. He blamed his staff for not forwarding the memos to him ….
Former President George Walker Bush must be relieved to be getting a break?
———————————————————————————Acting as if he was still confused about the Fast and Furious program, he said: “Like each of you, I want to understand why and how” the gunwalking program came about. He says he is looking to to the Department’s inspector general “to learn” who had thought up the program and implemented it.
———————————————————————————
Why did some one not point out to him, at that time, that unlike each of them, he was the person directly responsible for the actions taken, whether he was aware of it or not (and just who believes THAT fairy tale?).
Holder and co. might want to start watching their backs. . . . how many deaths are they responsible for? How many of the dead have family members who might be willing to deal with the problem themselves. . . to some folks, payback is a very serious thing.
Why has the rule of law been suspended for this administration? If you are black and a Democrat, does that make you so stupid that the laws for ordinary people do not apply, or are you just a member of the ruling elite, and beyond the reproach of the legal system and the laws just do not apply to your priviledged status?
The DOJ talking points for FF that they have settled on:
There are 3 spurious and demonsterious false statements.
1.Fast in furious was regional and didn’t involve main justice.
2.Bush did it , that wide receiver and fast in furious were the same.
3.That its 2nd amendment’s fault
The argument that Fast and Furious was regional is absurd. Fast in furious was a multi agency OCDETF task force case which requires DOJ approval to even establish.
Wide receiver was a regional case. Shut down when Billy Hoover, (ATF’s assistant director for the office of field operations), learned from William Newell, (then ATF’s special agent in charge of the Phoenix field division), that the Mexican government lost track of the suspects once they crossed the border.
The Obama Administration and DOJ are corrupt and and need to be prosecuted fully!