'Fast and Furious' ATF Official Granted Paid Leave to Take 6-Figure Job at JP Morgan

CNS News
Susan Jones

The long-awaited inspector general's report on the Justice Department's botched gun-running scheme is finished, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said on Wednesday.

But along with that news comes more questions: Issa and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are demanding to know why a top ATF official involved in Operation Fast and Furious remains on paid leave from ATF -- while simultaneously drawing a six-figure salary from J.P. Morgan, a major investment bank.

In a letter to the acting head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Issa and Grassley asked why the Justice Department would approve such a special arrangement for Bill McMahon.

(Pardon the goofy player)

“Under any reading of the relevant personnel regulations, it appears that ATF management was under no obligation to approve this sort of arrangement,” wrote Issa and Grassley. “Given McMahon’s outsized role in the Fast and Furious scandal, the decision to approve an extended annual leave arrangement in order to attain pension eligibility and facilitate full-time, outside employment while still collecting a full-time salary at ATF raises a host of questions about both the propriety of the arrangement and the judgment of ATF management.” Issa and Grassley say the ATF has made it possible for McMahon to "double dip for nearly half a year by receiving two full-time paychecks -- one from the taxpayer and one from the private sector."  They noted that the treatment of McMahon is "in sharp contrast" to how the ATF has treated whistleblowers such as Special Agent John Dodson, "who is told he must wait until the Inspector General’s report is complete before the agency will even consider his simple request for a statement retracting the false statements made about him by agency leadership.” Issa and Grassley noted that ATF approved the arrangement for McMahom before the Justice Department inspector general finished his report on the failed gun tracking scheme.

 As for the IG report examining Fast and Furious, as well as the Justice Department's knowledge of and response to it, Issa said the report is done: "We know that the IG report is finished, we know that it's at Justice, and we know that we can't see it. We're hoping, though, that they will release it," Issa told Fox News's Greta Van Susteren on Wednesday. Issa said he's "positive" that the IG's report "is going to say the same thing our report has said, which is -- this is somebody (Bill McMahon) who is responsible for and signed documents that he told our committee he didn't see, didn't know about. Now, the only question is -- did he not read them and sign them?" "We're dealing with somebody who should have been fired from ATF," Issa added. According to the final congressional report on Fast and Furious, William McMahon was a supervisor at ATF headquarters who served as a "crucial link" between ATF headquarters and the Phoenix Field Division. "He received a wealth of information about Fast and Furious” -- including the fact that straw purchasers had bought over 900 firearms, many of which ended up in Mexico -- "but did not view it as his role as supervisor to ask questions about events in the field. He has publicly admitted to having failed in his duty to read information presented to him about the case."

The report says McMahon rubber stamped critical documents that came across his desk without reading them. McMahon also "gave false testimony to Congress about signing applications for wiretap intercepts in Fast and Furious," the report says.  Operation Fast and Furious began in the fall of 2009 as part of a plan to track guns illegally purchased in the U.S. to Mexican drug cartels. The ATF lost track of most of the 2,000 weapons that were allowed to "walk" into Mexico, and two of the straw-purchased guns ended up at the scene of a U.S. border agent's murder. (Issa told Fox News that news of McMahon's double-dipping will produce "more outrage for the family of fallen Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.) According to the final congressional report, "From the outset, the case was marred by missteps, poor judgments, and an inherently reckless strategy." Issa, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has accused Attorney General Eric Holder and other Justice Department officials of undermining his investigation into Fast and Furious.

Mexican official: CIA 'manages' drug trade

Refreshing News

The US Central Intelligence Agency and other international security forces "don't fight drug traffickers", a spokesman for the Chihuahua state government in northern Mexico has told , instead "they try to manage the drug trade".

Allegations about official complicity in the drug business are nothing new when they come from activists, professors, campaigners or even former officials. However, an official spokesman for the authorities in one of Mexico's most violent states - one which directly borders Texas - going on the record with such accusations is unique.

"It's like pest control companies, they only control," Guillermo Terrazas Villanueva, the Chihuahua spokesman, told last month at his office in Juarez. "If you finish off the pests, you are out of a job. If they finish the drug business, they finish their jobs."

Accusations are 'baloney'
Villanueva is not a high ranking official and his views do not represent Mexico's foreign policy establishment. Other more senior officials in Chihuahua State, including the mayor of Juarez, dismissed the claims as "baloney".

"I think the CIA and DEA [US Drug Enforcement Agency] are on the same side as us in fighting drug gangs," Hector Murguia, the mayor of Juarez, told during an interview inside his SUV. "We have excellent collaboration with the US."

Under the Merida Initiative, the US Congress has approved more than $1.4bn in drug war aid for Mexico, providing attack helicopters, weapons and training for police and judges.

More than 55,000 people have died in drug related violence in Mexico since December 2006. Privately, residents and officials across Mexico's political spectrum often blame the lethal cocktail of US drug consumption and the flow of high-powered weapons smuggled south of the border for causing much of the carnage.

Drug war 'illusions'

"The CIA wants to control the population; they don't want to stop arms trafficking to Mexico, look at [Operation] Fast and Furious,” he said, referencing a botched US exercise where automatic weapons were sold to criminals in the hope that security forces could trace where the guns ended up."The war on drugs is an illusion," Hugo Almada Mireles,professor at the Autonomous University of Juarez and author of several books, told . "It's a reason to intervene in Latin America."


The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms lost track of 1,700 guns as part of the operation, including an AK-47 used in 2010 the murder of Brian Terry, a Customs and Border Protection Agent.


Blaming the gringos for Mexico's problems has been a popular sport south of the Rio Grande ever since the Mexican-American war of the 1840s, when the US conquered most of present day California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico from its southern neighbour. But operations such as Fast and Furious show that reality can be stranger than fiction when it comes to the drug war and relations between the US and Mexico. If the case hadn't been proven, the idea that US agents were actively putting weapons into the hands of Mexican gangsters would sound absurd to many.

'Conspiracy theories'


"I think it's easy to become cynical about American and other countries' involvement in Latin America around drugs," Kevin Sabet, a former senior adviser to the White House on drug control policy, told . "Statements [accusing the CIA of managing the drug trade] should be backed up with evidence… I don’t put much stake in it."

Villanueva's accusations "might be a way to get some attention to his region, which is understandable but not productive or grounded in reality", Sabet said. "We have sort of 'been there done that' with CIA conspiracy theories."

In 1996, the San Jose Mercury News published Dark Alliance, a series of investigative reports linking CIA missions in Nicaragua with the explosion of crack cocaine consumption in America's ghettos.
In order to fund Contra rebels fighting Nicaragua's socialist government, the CIA partnered with Colombian cartels to move drugs into Los Angeles, sending profits back to Central America, the series alleged.

"There is no question in my mind that people affiliated with, or on the payroll of, the CIA were involved in drug trafficking," US Senator John Kerry said at the time, in response to the series.

Other newspapers, including the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, slammedDark Alliance, and the editor of the Mercury News eventually wrote that the paper had over-stated some elements in the story and made mistakes in the journalistic process, but that he stood by many of the key conclusions.


Widespread rumours


Acceptance of these claims within some elements of Mexico's government and security services shows the difficulty in pursuing effective international action against the drug trade."It's true, they want to control it," a mid-level official with theSecretariat Gobernacion in Juarez, Mexico's equivalent to the US Department of Homeland Security, told of the CIA and DEA's policing of the drug trade. The officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said he knew the allegations to be correct, based on discussions he had with US officials working in Juarez.

Jesús Zambada Niebla, a leading trafficker from the Sinaloa cartel currently awaiting trial in Chicago, has said he was working for the US Drug Enforcement Agency during his days as a trafficker, and was promised immunity from prosecution.

"Under that agreement, the Sinaloa Cartel under the leadership of [Jesus Zambada's] father, Ismael Zambada and 'Chapo' Guzmán were given carte blanche to continue to smuggle tonnes of illicit drugs... into... the United States, and were protected by the United States government from arrest and prosecution in return for providing information against rival cartels," Zambada's lawyers wrote as part of his defence. "Indeed, the Unites States government agents aided the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel."


The Sinaloa cartel is Mexico's oldest and most powerful trafficking organisation, and some analysts believe security forces in the US and Mexico favour the group over its rivals.

Joaquin "El Chapo", the cartel's billionaire leader and one of the world's most wanted men, escaped from a Mexican prison in 2001 by sneaking into a laundry truck - likely with collaboration from guards - further stoking rumours that leading traffickers have complicit friends in high places.

"It would be easy for the Mexican army to capture El Chapo," Mireles said. "But this is not the objective." He thinks the authorities on both sides of the border are happy to have El Chapo on the loose, as his cartel is easier to manage and his drug money is recycled back into the broader economy. Other analysts consider this viewpoint a conspiracy theory and blame ineptitude and low level corruption for El Chapo's escape, rather than a broader plan from government agencies.

Political changes

He wants to open a high-level dialogue with the US about the drug war, but has said legalisation of some drugs is not an option. Some hardliners in the US worry that Nieto will make a deal with some cartels, in order to reduce violence.After an election hit by reported irregularities, Enrique Pena Nieto from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) is set to be sworn in as Mexico's president on December 1.

"I am hopeful that he will not return to the PRI party of the past which was corrupt and had a history of turning a blind eye to the drug cartels," said Michael McCaul, a Republican Congressman from Texas.
Regardless of what position a new administration takes in order to calm the violence and restore order, it is likely many Mexicans - including government officials such as Chihuahua spokesman Guillermo Villanueva - will believe outside forces want the drug trade to continue.

The widespread view linking the CIA to the drug trade - whether or not the allegations are true - speaks volumes about officials' mutual mistrust amid ongoing killings and the destruction of civic life in Mexico.
"We have good soldiers and policemen," Villanueva said. "But you won't resolve this problem with bullets. We need education and jobs."

Obama Contributor, Who Helped Enact Assault-Weapons Ban, Ran ‘Fast and Furious’

CNS News
Fred Lucas

Dennis K. Burke, who as a lawyer for the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 1990s

Former U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke

was a key player behind the enactment of the 1994 assault-weapons ban, and who then went on to become Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano’s chief of staff, and a contributor to Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential primary campaign, and then a member of Obama's transition team focusing on border-enforcement issues, ended up in the Obama administration as the U.S. attorney in Arizona responsible for overseeing Operation Fast and Furious.

When Obama nominated Burke to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, Burke told the Arizona Capitol Times he believed he understood what the president and his attorney general wanted him to do.

“There’s clearly been direction provided already by President Obama and Attorney General Holder as to what they want to be doing, and this is an office that is at the center of the issues of border enforcement,” said Burke.

Over the course of several days, CNSNews.com left multiple telephone messages with Burke for comment on this story. He did not respond.

Dennis K. Burke has had a long career working as an aide and political appointee to Democratic elected officials. From 1989 to 1994, he was a counsel for the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, working in that capacity for several years on an assault-weapons ban, which was finally enacted on Sept. 13, 1994 as the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. That act expired on Sept. 13, 2004. (See NYT: Dennis Burke, Sen. DeConcini, Weapons Ban.pdf)

From 1994-95, Burke served in the Clinton Justice Department in the Office of Legislative Affairs, and in 1997-99, he was an assistant U.S. attorney in Arizona.

From 1999 to 2003, Burke was chief deputy and special assistant to Arizona Attorney General Janet Napolitano.

In 2003, when Napolitano became governor, Burke became her chief of staff. He stayed in that job until the fall of 2008, when he left to help Democratic political campaigns, including then-Sen. Obama’s presidential campaign.

Department of Homeland Security
Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show that on Jan. 9, 2008, while working as Gov. Napolitano’s chief of staff, Burke contributed $2,000 to then-Sen Obama’s presidential primary campaign. Since 1997, according to FEC records, Burke has contributed a total of $16,350 to various Democratic candidates.

After Obama was elected in November 2008, Burke joined his presidential transition team, serving on the Immigration Policy Working Group.

Eight days before Obama’s inauguration, on Jan. 12, 2009--while Burke was working on the transition team--Obama met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C. At that meeting, Obama “pledged” to take action to stop the flow of guns from the United States to Mexico.

Obama also decided to put Burke’s old boss, incoming Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, in a leadership role in making the gun-trafficking problem a top priority.

“President-elect Obama expressed support for efforts in the border states in both the United States and Mexico to eradicate drug-related violence and stop the flow of guns and cash,” incoming White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement at the time. “He told President Calderón that he intends to ask the Secretary of Homeland Security to lead an effort to increase information sharing to strengthen those efforts. He pledged to take more effective action from the United States to stem the flow of arms from the United States to Mexico.”

When Napolitano became Homeland Security secretary, Burke moved from the Obama transition team to become her senior adviser. On Feb. 25, 2009, a little more than a month after Obama had made his “pledge” to Calderon, Napolitano testified in the House Homeland Security Committee. She stressed that stopping the flow of guns to Mexico was a top priority of the Obama administration and key focus of her work.

Former Obama chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.

Responding to a question about violence on the border, Napolitano said the administration was going to work with the Mexican government on the issue. Then she said: “Secondly, it is looking at, government-wide, at what we can do to stop the southbound export of weaponry, particularly assault-type weapons and grenades that are being used in that drug war.”

Napolitano further noted that drug cartels were targeting Mexican government officials and law enforcement officers, and that, given the seriousness of the threat, Obama’s national security adviser, the attorney general, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Customs (of which the Border Patrol is part) would all be working on the issue.

Eric Holder warns of ‘constitutional crisis’

Politico
Tim Mack
Josh Gersten

Under threat of a House contempt citation over the botched Fast and Furious gun-walking operation, Attorney General Eric Holder spoke in a conciliatory tone Tuesday about his willingness for “compromises” to avoid what he called “an impending constitutional crisis” over the withholding of documents in response to a congressional subpoena.

“We are prepared to make – I am prepared to make - compromises with regard to the documents that can be made available,” said Holder in a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“I want to make it very clear that I am offering – I myself – to sit down with the Speaker, the chairman, with you, whoever, to try and work our way through this in an attempt to avoid a constitutional crisis, and come up with ways, creative ways, in which to make this material available. But I’ve got to have a willing partner. I’ve extended my hand, and I’m waiting to hear back,” he added in response to a question about the subpoenaed documents posed by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa.)

Holder’s remarks were his most aggressive public offer yet to wheel and deal with Congress to head off a dramatic contempt showdown — Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has scheduled a vote on the citation for June 20 in his committee.

After using the phrase “constitutional crisis” at least three times, Holder noted two hours into the hearingthat “constitutional conflict” might be a better term.

At issue between Republicans and Democrats are the withholding of Justice Department documents in response to a Congressional subpoena. The DOJ claims that previous administrations have reserved the right to withhold deliberative documents.

“There is a basis for the withholding of these documents… the tradition has always been, by members of the Justice Department, whether they were Republicans or Democrats, to withhold deliberative material,” argued Holder. “We have reached out to Chairman Issa, members of the leadership on the House side, to try to work our way through these issues.”

One possible area of compromise appeared to be the issue of wiretap applications related to Fast and Furious that are confidential because they are under a court-ordered seal.

“Will you seek the court’s permission to release the affidavit so that people can read them… and if there’s any problem with something sensitive, could the judge make a decision to remove any truly sensitive information before release?” asked Grassley.

House GOP still mulling Holder contempt

Politico
John Bresnahan

House Republicans are not ready to proceed with a contempt citation against Attorney General Eric Holder over the Fast and Furious scandal, but there are clear signals that that GOP patience with the Justice Department is wearing thin.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday night that Speaker John Boehner had “given the green light” to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, to pursue a contempt citation against Holder and the Justice Department for failing to comply with the panel’s probe into the hugely controversial program.

But GOP leadership aides and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee say no decision has been made to take such a dramatic step. They acknowledge, however, the possibility of bringing contempt proceedings has been discussed in leadership sessions.

“While there are very legitimate arguments to be made in favor of such an action, no decision has been made to move forward with one by the Speaker or by House Republican leaders,” a senior GOP leadership aide said.
“The Justice Department has not fully cooperated with the investigation into gunwalking that occurred in Operation Fast and Furious. The House Oversight Committee continues to make necessary preparations to hold Attorney General Holder in contempt if the Justice Department refuses to change course and stop blocking access to critical documents,” a spokesman for Issa added.

Is Eric Holder Mastermind or just Absent-minded?

The Examiner
William Holder

Attorney General (AG) Eric Holder admitted lying to Congress May 2011 when he testified he learned of Fast and Furious (F&F) “…last few weeks”. His defenders say he misunderstood the question.

Last Thursday, the 2ndof February 2012, Eric Holder said he made sure F&F was over “as soon as he learned about its tactics…” (Cockerham, 2012)

Note how one Holder testimony reduces the other testimony to nonsense.

The essential question about gunrunning and Fast and Furious (F&F) is:

What did AG Eric Holder know, and when did he know it?

A) On May 3, 2011, Oversight Committee chair, Rep. Darrell Issa, asked AG Holder, "When did you first know about the program, officially I believe known as Fast and Furious, to the best of your knowledge, what date?"

B) AG Holder testified, "I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks."

Attorney General (AG) Eric Holder admitted lying to Congress May 2011 when he testified he learned of Fast and Furious (F&F) “…last few weeks”. His defenders say he misunderstood the question.

Last Thursday, the 2ndof February 2012, Eric Holder said he made sure F&F was over “as soon as he learned about its tactics…” (Cockerham, 2012)

Note how one Holder testimony reduces the other testimony to nonsense.

The essential question about gunrunning and Fast and Furious (F&F) is:

What did AG Eric Holder know, and when did he know it?

A) On May 3, 2011, Oversight Committee chair, Rep. Darrell Issa, asked AG Holder, "When did you first know about the program, officially I believe known as Fast and Furious, to the best of your knowledge, what date?"

B) AG Holder testified, "I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks."
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C) Holder's May 3, 2011 testimony under oath was perjury.

D) Holder’s testimony last Thursday depends on last May’s testimony.

So, what do we know about what Eric Holder really knew?

On October 3rd, 2011, CBS reporter Cheryl Atkisson obtained five Department of Justice (DOJ) memos to and from Holder subordinates detailing various aspects of the F&F smuggling program showing Holder had received weekly briefings on F&F from as early as July of 2010 -five months before Tucson District Border Agent, Brian Terry was murdered in the Arizona desert with an F&F-smuggled weapon.

Reading the DOJ emails in question makes both the AG’s testimonies under oath ridiculous.

One email in particular is specially damning: on Oct. 17, 2010, Deputy Assistant AG/ Criminal Division, Jason Weinstein, emailed Deputy Chief of the National Gang Unit, James Trusty, questioning the wisdom of having Assistant AG, Lanny Breuer, attend a press conference questioning F&F, "…given the number of guns that have walked." http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/2011/10/holder-should-fire-his-aides-or-get-fired-himself#ixzz1lLctyGnm

The words show knowledge that walking guns is smuggling guns.

Report Unloads on ATF for Mexican ‘Gunwalking’

Wired

Days before Attorney General Eric Holder is once again hauled before Congress to testify for Operation Fast and Furious, a new report sheds light on whether high-ranking officials knew, or have been honest about, one of the biggest failures in Justice Department history: a disastrous plan by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to allow gunrunners to “walk” firearms into the hands of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel.

These questions are crucial because Fast and Furious has not only become a huge political issue, it also determines who will take responsibility for allowing thousands of guns to move unimpeded into a war zone south of the U.S.-Mexico border. The gunwalking operation — an attempt to build cases by not stopping but monitoring the flow of U.S. straw-purchased weapons to Mexico’s cartels — eventually saw the ATF lose track of more than 2,000 guns, many in the hands of cartel hitmen.

Hundreds of weapons recovered at crime scenes in Mexico were later traced to Fast and Furious, including AK-47 variant rifles discovered at the scene of a Dec. 14, 2010, shootout between border bandits and a Border Patrol BORTAC tactical unit in Arizona. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was killed in the fight.

But Fast and Furious wasn’t the first operation to run guns. The report, released by House Democrats, describes the plot as “the latest in a series of fatally flawed operations run by ATF agents in Phoenix and the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s Office,” beginning with the 2006-2007′s Operation Wide Receiver. In the beginning, Phoenix-based ATF agents “went forward with plans to observe or facilitate hundreds of suspected straw firearm purchases,” according to the report. Faced with the risk of losing track of the guns, Wide Receiver was shuttered.
In two cases, named the “The Hernandez Case” and “The Medrano Case,” the ATF watched groups of conspirators cross into Mexico carrying straw-purchased guns. In “Medrano,” smugglers snuck more than 100 firearms into Mexico while under observation by the ATF.

Fast and Furious was much bigger, with greater potential rewards — and risks — for field agents, involving “a sizable network the operation of straw puchasers [the ATF] believed were trafficking military-grade assault weapons to Mexican drug cartels.” But then the operation went badly wrong. Guns disappeared, or appeared after gunfights with the Mexican military or in stash houses. Then agent Terry was shot.

Fast and Furious: Issa Issues Subpoena for AZ U.S. Attorney, Patrick J. Cunningham

Nice Deb

AWR Hawkins, Big Government reports:

I just received an email from Congressman Darrel Issa’s office, containing a copy of a letter that was just sent Patrick J. Cunningham, Chief of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona. The letter announces that Cunningham has just been subpoenaed for “repeated refusals to testify voluntarily” before the House Oversight Committee, concerning accusations that he relayed inaccurate and misleading information to the Justice Department in preparation for its initial response to Congress.

Go to Big Government to see the copy of the letter. Cunningham is required to appear before the House Oversight Committee on January 24.
Eric Holder is set to testify on Feb 4:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa today announced that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has been scheduled to testify on February 2 about the Department of Justice’s knowledge of, and response to, gunwalking that occurred in Operation Fast and Furious. The Attorney General will be asked to address management deficiencies within the Department that occurred both during and after the conclusion of Operation Fast and Furious. This will include the Department’s steadfast refusal to disclose information following the February 4, 2011 letter to Senator Grassley, which the Department has withdrawn because it contained false information denying allegations made by whistleblowers about Operation Fast and Furious. The committee’s investigation has found documentation that numerous members of the Justice Department knew the letter to Congress contained false information both before it was sent and later withdrawn.

“The Department of Justice’s conduct in the investigation of Operation Fast and Furious has been nothing short of shameful,” said Chairman Issa. “From its initial denials that nothing improper occurred, to efforts to silence whistleblowers who wanted to tell Congress what really happened, to its continuing refusal to discuss or share documents related to this cover-up, the Justice Department has fought tooth and nail to hide the full truth about what occurred and what senior officials knew. Attorney General Holder must explain or reverse course on decisions that appear to put the careers of political appointees ahead of the need for accountability and the Department’s integrity.”

UPDATE:
John Hinderaker: Holder’s United Front on Fast and Furious Crumbles:

In an ominous development for the Obama administration, Patrick Cunningham, chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona, has told the House Oversight Committee that he will assert his privilege against self-incrimination rather than testify before the committee next week.
**
… it would seem to be a bright line rule that any time a high-ranking official of the Department of Justice pleads the Fifth, a major scandal is under way.

But is some kind of fix in?

Sipsey Street Irregulars: FINALLY. Fifth Amendment Time in the Gunwalker Scandal. FOX breaks the story I knew was coming yesterday: “Federal official in Arizona to plead the fifth and not answer questions on ‘furious’” But, is the fix in? Issa staff reported to have witheld information from Grassley. “The roach motel of press inquiries.”

It is complex because this event comes at what may be a critical juncture in the investigation which some are interpreting as a reluctance on the part of the Issa committee to fully explore the many leads they have already developed because of their political sensitivity.

“I won’t say that the fix is in, but the Committee seems to be buying into the ‘Made-in-Phoenix’ line pushed by the White House,” said one source with inside knowledge of the investigator’s work. This seems to be reflected in the subpoena letter from Issa to Cunningham. From the Politico story linked above:

“Senior Justice Department officials have recently told the Committee that you relayed inaccurate and misleading information to the Department in preparation for its initial response to Congress,” wrote Issa. “These officials told us that even after Congress began investigating Fast and Furious, you continued to insist that no unacceptable tactics were used.”

The White House is happy for Issa to go after Cunningham for this is consistent with their denial that the White House had anything to do with gunwalking. Indeed, from the evidence above it would seem that the White House has determined Cunningham to be one of the designated sacrificial goats to that end.

Bob Owens:

Sure. Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler, Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich, ATF Director Kenneth E. Melson, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Michele Leonhart, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller, U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota/Chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee/Acting ATF Director B. Todd Jones, top federal prosecutors in the southwest and White House staffers were all aware of Operation Fast and Furious. So let’s blame it all on the one guy in Arizona.

Stay tuned…

When a Prosecutor takes the Fifth

The Examiner
William Heuisler

That single action turns our Justice system upside down.

 Certain officials - Prosecutors, Judges and Policemen - are held to a higher standard because they have the power to imprison the rest of us. What are we to think when a Federal Prosecutor refuses to aid a Federal Investigation that will prosecute smugglers, liars, and murderers?

 On January 19th, 2012, the chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona refused to testify before Congress about Operation Fast and Furious - a part of Attorney General Eric Holder’s “Project Gunrunner” - the gun-running scheme that smuggled thousands of combat weapons to Mexican drug cartels, and was the proximate cause of the murder of an American Law Enforcement officer.

 Patrick J. Cunningham, Arizona Chief Criminal Investigator for the United States Attorney’s Office in Phoenix is hiding behind the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution that states “...nor shall any person…be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself”. US Attorney Cunningham as much as said he will not answer questions about Fast and Furious because his answers might tend to incriminate him. He responded to the Congressional subpoena through his lawyer.

US Attorney Cunningham was ordered on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 to appear before the House Oversight Committee regarding his leadership in Arizona’s Operation Fast and Furious that sent more than 2,000 guns to the Sinaloa drug smuggling Cartel. His participation in the gunrunning operation was evident through testimony of witnesses like Kenneth Melson (Serrano, 2011) ex-ATF Director, and presence in meetings about Project Gunrunner:


 (http://www.grassley.senate.gov/judiciary/upload/Judiciary-ATF-06-15-11-Documents-Cited-in-Grassley-testimony.pdf) According to Senator Charles Grassley’s June 15, 2011 congressional testimony the “Southwest Border Strategy Group” met on October 27, 2009 to discuss Operation Gunrunner, and smuggling guns into Mexico. Present were, Assistant AG Lanny Breuer, Kenneth Melson, Director, ATF, William Hoover, Deputy Director, ATF, Michele Leonhart, DEA, Robert Mueller, Director FBI, Justice Department Directors of - Organized Crime, Drug Enforcement Task Force, Bureau of Prisons, and U.S. Marshals – US Attorneys of four Border States and Todd Jones, Chairman of Eric Holder’s Advisory Committee. (Owens, 2011)

The “Southwest Border Strategy Group” purpose was self-evident: Set goals and methods (strategies) for F&F on the Southwest (Arizona) border.

Tucson District Border Patrol Agent, Brian Terry, was killed with a military-grade assault weapon smuggled to criminals with the aid and approval of the ATF and the Department of Justice’s U.S. Attorney in Phoenix, Arizona.

US Attorney Cunningham is either admitting guilt, or protecting the guilty.

Owens, B. (2011). Pajamas Media. Email confirms “Gunwalker” known throughout Justice Department. http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/email-confirms-gunwalker-known-throughout-justice-department/?singlepage=true

Serrano, R. (2011). Los Angeles Times. Angry Former ATF Chief blames subordinates for Fast and Furious. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/24/nation/la-na-fast-furious-20111225

Angry former ATF chief blames subordinates for Fast and Furious

Los Angeles Times
Richard A. Serrano

In a deposition with congressional investigators, Kenneth E. Melson faults agents, supervisors and top aides for the gun sale program that has been linked to drug cartel violence.

Kenneth E. Melson

Reporting from Washington — In a confidential deposition with congressional investigators, the then-head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives blamed agents, field supervisors and even his top command for never advising him that for more than a year, his agency allowed illegal gun sales along the southwestern U.S. border.

The deposition, which was taken in July and was recently obtained by the Washington bureau, shows that Kenneth E. Melson was irate. Even his chief intelligence officer at ATF headquarters was upset with the operation, dubbed Fast and Furious, but did little to shut it down, Melson complained. "He didn't come in and tell me, either," Melson said. "And he's on the same damn floor as I am."

But B. Todd Jones, Melson's replacement as acting director of the agency, said in an interview that Melson allowed overzealous field agents and supervisors to go beyond approved tactics.
Pointing out that the ATF has had five acting directors in the last six years, Jones said the resulting weak management structure has given some field agents a license to operate independently of Washington.

"There was a vacuum. Fast and Furious went off the rails, and there were plenty of opportunities to pivot so none of this would happen," Jones said.

Murder cover up, Chicago-style

The Examiner
William Heuisler

Reported this morning: President Obama is now abetting Eric Holder’s cover-up of a murder. No one should be surprised, that’s just the Chicago Way.

Chicago Way? The current Boss of  “The Outfit” in Chicago, Johnny “Bananas” DiFronzo, has escaped numerous murder convictions due to many years of cover-ups and many missing witnesses. (Calder, 2011)

The Obama Administration has now sealed court records containing culpable information and detailed reports on Mexican drug smugglers murdering U.S. Border patrol agent, Brian Terry, with a gun knowingly smuggled to criminals by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, under orders from US Attorneys, in fulfillment of Attorney General Eric Holder’s illegal program, proudly called “Gunrunner”.

The murder of Tucson District U.S. Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry, was the direct result of Project Gunrunner, and its ugly stepchild, Operation Fast and Furious. Project Gunrunner has lived up to its name. Since his triumphal speech introducing "Gunrunner" in Cuernavaca, Mexico on April 2nd, 2009, AG Eric Holder’s Justice Department has directed, and abetted smuggling (Gunrunning) thousands of combat-style weapons to Mexican drug cartels.

Now Eric Holder’s "Capo" is covering for his appointed henchman.

The Obama administration is hiding information about Brian Terry’s murder from his family and the American public by sealing the case. This means evidence in a murder investigation (and accessory to murder investigation) will now be kept from the news media and the public. (Hemingway, 2011)

The rifle used to kill Agent Brian Terry almost a year ago in Arizona’s Peck Canyon was part of Operation Fast and Furious – Arizona’s part of Project Gunrunner. That murder weapon can be directly traced to orders given by the Attorney General of the United States. (Attkisson, 2011)
Will a Chicago style cover-up succeed?

Attkisson, C. (2011). CBS News. Investigation. New Fast and Furious Docs released by White House.  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20114184-10391695.html

Calder, P. (2011). Organized Crime Reportage. Pal Joey and forgotten “Family Secrets”. http://www.newcriminologist.com/oc/home.asp?nid=2229

Hemingway, M. (2011). The Blog. Obama Administration seals records of murdered Border Patrol Agent. http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-admin-seals-records-murdered-border-patrol-agent-implicated-fast-and-furious_610783.html

Holder’s Hollywood manqué: About Death

The Examiner
William Heuisler

Tucson’s “Wide Receiver” is the latest government gun-smuggling code.

Hollywood could have invented cute names for ATF agents smuggling guns to criminals. Maybe even introduced a plot twist where a brave Border agent is murdered because of gun smuggling. But even Hollywood would realize Eric Holder’s Project Gunrunner - and all its foul brood - is about Death.

The American people are slowly learning about a sinister scheme, concocted in the US Government's Executive Branch, that was then enabled by Chiefs of nearly every Federal Law enforcement Agency. Gunrunner, Fast and Furious and Wide Receiver are all stylized, trivialized names for government agents who helped smuggle American guns to Mexican drug cartels.

Playful names mask deadly crimes and deep corruption too serious to invent. ATF agent whistleblowers say that ATF's Operation Fast and Furious (with Justice Department direction) enabled thousands of weapons to be smuggled into Mexico and sold to drug cartels.

The smuggling, gun-walking project called Gunrunner (proudly announced in 2009 by Attorney General, Eric Holder in Cuernavaca, Mexico) has cost the lives of Tucson Sector Border Agent, Brian Terry and ICE Agent, Jaime Zapata, along with hundreds of Mexican military and law enforcement.

We learn more about this bizarre Hollywood manqué disaster through e-mails and phone calls between ATF’s Phoenix Chief, Bill Newell, and a White House National Security Staff member, Kevin O’Reilly.

Newell email (09.03.10)(pdf)
Arizona Gunrunner Impact Team 
chart(pdf)
O'Reilly email (09.03.10)(pdf)

(Attkisson, 2011)

ATF Chief Agent (Phoenix) and National Security Staff member (White House) talked and wrote about Fast and Furious, always avoiding names. But they slipped. They carelessly mentioned a group called “OCDTF”. Newell sent O’Reilly e-mail photographs including a .50 caliber rifle that Newell says, "Was purchased in Tucson as part of an OCDTF case."

This is a significant admission. OCDTF means “Organized Crime Drug Task Force” - a joint task force that operates under the Department of Justice, and includes US Attorneys, ATF, DEA, FBI, ICE and IRS.

Newell admits OCDTF smuggled guns in Tucson as part of Fast and Furious.

And then a little plot twist: Congressional investigators Issa and Grassley asked to interview O'Reilly by September 30. But the Administration said O'Reilly is on assignment for the State Department in Iraq. (Attkisson, 2011)

Convenient. This script would be laughable if reality were not so deadly.

No matter what these cuff-linked, capitol-city heroes dream up for politics, a wide receiver plays in a game.

Holder’s schemes are not games. Gunrunner has always been about Death. Gunrunner means gun smuggler; Fast and Furious means car chases. And Americans should never forget the common denominator - the ultimate moment, the final play – is desert death, a spray of bullets, or a spike of black-tar heroin in a ruined arm.

Attkisson, C. (2011). CBS News. Investigation. New Fast and Furious Docs released by White House. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20114184-10391695.html

Gunrunner: betrayal and denial

The Examiner
William Heuisler

A third weapon smuggled by Fast and Furious was evidently found at Border Agent, Brian Terry’s murder scene.        

FBI investigators have, until yesterday, been able to conceal the fact that a Simonov Type-56 Russian semi-automatic rifle was also found at the Terry murder scene along with two AK-47s. (LaJeunesse, 2011)

Why was the Simonov SKS rifle concealed for so long by the FBI? Who gave the order?

The Terry murder is a betrayal of Law Enforcement that began with a decision to corrupt the Law for political purposes. Who had the power to make that decision?

On Wednesday, Attorney General (AG) Holder denied knowledge of Fast and Furious, the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Gunrunner-off-shoot that smuggled 2,000 weapons to Mexican criminals. Two (now three) of those ATF-smuggled guns turned up at the murder of Tucson District Border Patrol Agent, Brian Terry.

AG Holder apparently wants us to forget his 2009 speech praising Gunrunner in Cuernavaca, Mexico. (Holder, 2009).

Citing a review by his own Justice Department, Holder said, “We’ll certainly see, I think, at the end of that exactly who was involved, exactly who made the decisions in what was clearly, I think, a flawed enforcement effort.  But the notion that somehow or other that this thing reaches into the upper levels of the Justice Department is something that at  this point I don’t think is supported by the facts. And I think as we examine and as all the facts are in fact revealed, we’ll see that that is not the case.”  (Ryan, 2011)

Involved? We know who had to be involved with an FBI cover-up. Now, what about the White House?
In March, President Obama denied knowledge of Gunrunner on Univision TV, “There may be a situation here in which a serious mistake was made. If that’s the case, then we’ll find out and we’ll hold someone accountable.” http://vidayfamilia.univision.com/es-el-momento/obama-y-la-educacion/article/2011-03-29/transcript-of-president-obamas-townhall

But there are solid White House-Gunrunner connections. Outgoing ATF director Melson told Darrell Issa's Congressional Committee on Government Oversight orders for Gunrunner and Fast and Furious came from the White House.

In fact, Friday before Labor Day the Congressional Committee revealed that Dan Restrepo, senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs at the National Security Council,had received memos from the Arizona head of the  “Fast and Furious" gun-smuggling scheme. (IBD editorial, 2011)

Memos to update the White House? Who is Restrepo? According to the Investors Business Daily, Restrepo, in his position on the Security Council, has for years blamed U.S. gun dealers for violence in Mexico and has called for a U.S. assault weapon ban. During the meeting between President Calderon and President Obama, Restrepo told Mexican media, “The U.S. will work to inhibit the flow of weapons ... across our border". Restrepo has also worked for closer US ties with Fidel Castro and Cesar Chavez. (IBD editorial, 2011)

Prior to his appointment to the National Security Council by President Obama, Restrepo was director of the Americas Project at the Center for American Progress, a George Soros think tank, whose Chief Executive Officer is John Podesta.

Why would a US Attorney send Dan Restrepo memos on Fast and Furious gun smuggling?

Holder, E. (2009). Justice News. United States Department of Justice. Attorney General Eric Holder at the Mexico/ United States Arms Trafficking Conference. http://www.justice.gov/ag/speeches/2009/ag-speech-090402.html

IBD Editorial (2011). Investors.com. Investors Business Daily. A White House “Gunrunner”? http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/584023/201109071801/A-White-House-Gunrunner-.htm

LaJeunesse, W. (2011). Fox News. Third gun linked to Fast and Furious identifiedat Border Agent’s murder scene. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/09/exclusive-third-gun-linked-to-fast-and-furious-identified-at-border-agents/#ixzz1XTOWpyUG

Ryan, J. (2011). ABCNews. AG Holder distancesrole of top DOJ officials from gun scandal. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/09/ag-holder-distances-role-of-top-doj-officials-from-gun-scandal/and-denial#ixzz1XVMQchjd

The first Fast and Furious fall guy

The Examiner
William Heuisler

Today Attorney General Eric Holder began the cover up for the Fast and Furious gun smuggling scheme that was the proximate cause of the murder of Tucson District Border Agent, Brian Terry.

Acting director Kenneth Melson of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) was demoted to a senior adviser in Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal Policy. Supposedly, he will be advising the Attorney General (AG) on legal matters. Note: Melson was transferred, not fired and released from DOJ aegis.

Minnesota U.S. Attorney, Todd Jones will take over as acting ATF director.

Melson has become the first Obama Administration sacrifice to Congress’s investigation of ATF’s disastrous gun-walking scheme - born as Operation Gunrunner - called Fast and Furious in Arizona. ATF’s Fast and Furious initiated and carried out sales of thousands of firearms to straw purchasers who transferred them to Mexican drug cartels.

The Fast and Furious investigation began after ATF whistleblowers advised Congress they had been ordered to monitor sales of thousands of guns in Arizona and trace them to Mexican drug cartels. But agents said the weapons were just allowed to disappear. Last December, two of these Gunrunner/Fast and Furious weapons were found at the Arizona murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry

Today Attorney General Eric Holder began the cover up for the Fast and Furious gun smuggling scheme that was the proximate cause of the murder of Tucson District Border Agent, Brian Terry.

Acting director Kenneth Melson of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) was demoted to a senior adviser in Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal Policy. Supposedly, he will be advising the Attorney General (AG) on legal matters. Note: Melson was transferred, not fired and released from DOJ aegis.

Minnesota U.S. Attorney, Todd Jones will take over as acting ATF director.

Melson has become the first Obama Administration sacrifice to Congress’s investigation of ATF’s disastrous gun-walking scheme - born as Operation Gunrunner - called Fast and Furious in Arizona. ATF’s Fast and Furious initiated and carried out sales of thousands of firearms to straw purchasers who transferred them to Mexican drug cartels.

The Fast and Furious investigation began after ATF whistleblowers advised Congress they had been ordered to monitor sales of thousands of guns in Arizona and trace them to Mexican drug cartels. But agents said the weapons were just allowed to disappear. Last December, two of these Gunrunner/Fast and Furious weapons were found at the Arizona murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

DOJ obstructs murder investigation

The Examiner
William Heuisler

Agent Brian Terry's Funeral

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has deliberately undercut investigations into the murder of Tucson District Border Patrol Agent, Brian Terry. Apparently DOJ will do anything to avoid blame for the effects of their Gunrunner/ Fast and Furious gun-smuggling operations.

Two days after the former Marine and Border Agent was killed, on December 14th, 2010, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Phoenix supervisors confirmed AK47 rifles from the Terry murder scene were from Operation Gunrunner’s “Fast and Furious” smuggling scheme to deliver nearly 2000 combat weapons to Mexican drug cartels. (Serrano, 2011)

Emails sent by ATF supervisors two days after Terry's killing openly discuss Fast and Furious guns found at the murder scene. George Gillett, acting special agent in charge, sent his boss, William Newell, a "narrative of incident/activity" about the Border Agent’s death. The email narrative said Jaime Avila bought three AK-47s a year earlier from a Phoenix-area store and two "were recovered in the area" of Agent Terry's killing. "In summary," the email said, "Avila admitted to ATF agents that he straw purchased these firearms for an unidentified Hispanic male." (ATF emails 2011)

Two months later, the United States Department of Justice clumsily tried to obstruct the Terry murder investigation.

In response to Senator Grassley’s question about the Terry murder gun, DOJ emailed, "these allegations are not true", and made no acknowledgement the guns were even there. Then DOJ reversed themselves and made a specious distinction between guns “found” at the murder scene and guns "used" in the killing. (Serrano, 2011)

More obstruction in a February 3rd email to ATF supervisors: "You are in no way obligated to respond to congressional contacts or requests for information...not authorized to disclose non-public information about law enforcement matters outside of ATF or the Department of Justice to anyone, including congressional staff." (ATF emails, 2011)

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In emails to William Hoover, ATF acting deputy director, bureau officials even discussed what steps to take to throw Grassley and congressional investigators off the murder trail. An email to Hoover actually proposed obstruction: a "watered-down" account of what was found at the site of the Terry killing. (Serrano, 2011) (ATF emails, 2011)

Lastly, in a cynical parody of reality on July 19th, spokeswoman for Attorney General, Holder, Tracy Schmaler, said to Senate investigators, “Fighting criminal activity along the southwest border - including the illegal trafficking of guns to Mexico - has been a priority of this administration and this Department of Justice.” (Seper, 2011)

Faced with lying to Congress, suborning perjury, and poisoning a murder investigation, what should Americans do when their Justice Department obstructs justice?


ATF emails (2011). Los Angeles Times data desk. ATF emails in Agent’s shooting death. http://documents.latimes.com/atf-emails-agent-shooting/

Serrano, R. (2011). Latimes.com. ATF sought to downplay guns scandal emails show. http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-0722-fast-furious-emails,0,2978238,print.story

Seper, J. (2011). The Washington Times. House to question ATF officials on guns to Mexico. Meddling by Justice a key issue. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/20/house-to-question-atf-officials-on-guns-to-mexico/

Non-lethal nonsense kills

The Examiner
William Heuisler

Brian Terry

Agent Terry’s family wants to know why their son was outgunned in the desert.

According to the Associated Press, today Tucson District Border Partol Agent Brian Terry's parents have requested U.S. District Judge James Teilborg to allow them to be a party in the case against Jaime Avila and 19 gun and drug smugglers connected with their son’s murder on December 14 th, 2010.

They want to know why Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) supplies Mexican smugglers with AK 47s and Barrett 50 caliber rifles, but Tucson District Border Patrol supplies half the members of its elite interdiction Tactical Teams with beanbag guns. They apparently wonder why politically correct American policies would rather use “non-lethal” force against criminals - no matter the risk to Agents.

On March 4th Senator Grassley on the Judiciary Committee asked Alan Bersin, Commissioner of the ATF:

“As you know, I am investigating the connection between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) operation “Fast and Furious” and the firefight on December 14, 2010 that claimed the life of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) Agent Brian Terry. Terry’s attackers were apparently armed with assault rifles originally purchased as part of ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious. The BORTAC unit used thermal binoculars to identify the rifles and demanded that the suspected aliens drop their weapons. Yet, according to an affidavit filed by FBI Agent, Scott Hunter (US District Court, 2011) even after the aliens refused to disarm themselves, the BORTAC unit was under standing orders to first use non-lethal bean bag rounds. The aliens responded with gunfire, and Agent Terry was killed in the ensuing exchange.” (US Senate 2011)

According to the Judiciary Committee record, Agent Brian Terry’s brother, Kent Terry, has said that of the four individuals in the BORTAC unit, only two were armed with standard firearms at all. Two carried only beanbag guns. These agents did not even have the means to defend themselves.
After the World Trade Center attacks in 2001 Departments of Customs and of Border Patrol were placed under overall supervision of The Department of Homeland Security.

Was Secretary of Homeland Security (Arizona’s former Governor) Janet Napolitano, aware some agents were patrolling the dangerous Arizona desert virtually unarmed?

Eric Holder for the defense?

Examiner

Murdered Border Agent Brian Terry

William Heuisler

1) Why was murdered Border Agent, Brian Terry, outgunned in December of  2010?
   
2) Was "Operation Gunrunner" * an enterprise planned and promoted by the US DOJ?       
                             
3) Will Criminal Liability re: Arizona Revised Statute 13-303, or Conspiracy 13-1003, or Facilitation 13-1004, be charged against Directors of the Departments of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, ATF or Justice, DOJ?

4) When will Defense Attorneys be calling Attorney General, Eric Holder as a witness?

Each question is reasonable. In Holder’s 2009 Cuernevaca speech he bragged of his “Operation Gunrunner” *. (Holder, 2009) Gunrunner has smuggled over 1,700 firearms to Mexico’s drug cartels.

Two of those firearms were recovered from the scene of Agent Brian Terry’s murder by drug smugglers 40 miles south of Tucson in December of 2010.

On March 16th, 2011, Senator Grassley (Judiciary Committee) asked Chief of Customs Border Patrol, Bersin (CBP) to explain information that, “according to several Agents”: 

“CBP officials allegedly stopped Jaime Avila near the border in the spring or summer of 2010. He allegedly had the two WASR-10 rifles in his possession that were later found at the scene of Agent Brian Terry’s murder… CBP officials contacted ATF, or an Assistant US Attorney, who allegedly instructed CBP to allow Avila to proceed without seizing the weapons.” (Grassley, 2011)
The CBP Chief has not explained why a US Attorney would authorize Avila’s release.

Imagine a Defense Attorney representing a suspect who was abetted by a U.S. Agency in  an accused crime. That attorney will certainly demand discovery of Agency records and Agents involved with his client’s alleged crime. The prosecutor will be forced by a Judge to name relevant policies and people in ATF or DOJ to satisfy that discovery.

Evidence of perjury?

Examiner
William Heuisler

Attorney General Eric Holder gave a false sworn statement before the House Judiciary Committee in May of 2011…carelessly forgetting a speech he gave in April of 2009.

 At the May 3rd Judiciary Committee hearing, Congressman Darrell Issa asked Eric Holder, “When did you first know about the program officially, I believe, called Fast and Furious? To the best of your knowledge, what date?”

Holder responded: “I’m not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.” (Hollingsworth, 2011)

According to CBS News investigative correspondent, Sharyl Attkisson, about Operation Fast and Furious - widely known as Operation Gunrunner, "Holder's office at first vehemently denied ATF has ever knowingly allowed weapons to get into the hands of suspected gunrunners for Mexico's drug cartels." (Attkisson, 2011)

Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s mother has demanded to know who authorized the ATF weapon smuggling that caused the death of her son in the desert south of Tucson.

She will find her answer in a two-year-old speech of Attorney General Eric Holder.

In a speech recorded in the Justice News, (Justice Department’s site of record) the Attorney General himself announced Operation Gunrunner back in 2009:

In Cuernavaca, Mexico, on April 2, 2009, Eric Holder said: "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.

Is Eric Holder above the law?

Examiner
William Heuisler

Last December, drug smugglers killed Border Patrol Agent, Brian Terry in the Arizona desert south of Tucson. Will repercussions from that murder bring down Attorney General Holder?

Brian Terry’s mother announced on June 23rd that her family would sue top government officials, including Attorney General Holder and President Obama, to find out who is ultimately responsible for a Gunrunner-smuggled AK47 combat rifle that killed her son.

"I want whoever decided this program and knew about it to be held responsible. I want justice for my son. He served his country. He was a Marine. He was a police officer. He was a border patrol agent. My son was a true American hero,"  (KGUN (2011)

 Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Agent John Dodson, told the House Oversight committee regarding “Fast and Furious” (Gunrunner). “Well, every time we voiced concerns… every day being out here watching a guy go into the same gun store buying another 15 or 20 AK-47s or variants or five or ten pistols. Guys that don’t have a job…and he is walking in here spending $27,000 for three Barrett .50 calibers…and you are sitting there every day and you can’t do anything.”  (Nemerov, 2011)

According to House Oversight Committee reports, many line agents objected that ATF and Department of Justice (DOJ) leadership prevented them from interdicting illegally purchased firearms. Finally - after the death of Brian Terry - some agents blew the whistle and faced punishment from ATF leadership.

“The Department of Justice has repeatedly and steadfastly denied that any guns were walked under 'Operation Fast and Furious' (Gunrunner). According to Eric Holder’s interpretation, “…a gun is walked only when an ATF agent physically places an AK-47 into the hands of a straw purchaser and then lets that straw purchaser walk out of sight”. http://oversight.house.gov/images/stories/Reports/ATF_Report.pdf

The facts of Gunrunner are well established. But when House Oversight Committee Chair, Darrell Issa, subpoenaed DOJ for Gunrunner documents, the Congressional Committee received hundreds of pages with whole sections of many pages redacted (blacked out) by Justice Department Administrators.

Last December, drug smugglers killed Border Patrol Agent, Brian Terry in the Arizona desert south of Tucson. Will repercussions from that murder bring down Attorney General Holder?

 Brian Terry’s mother announced on June 23rd that her family would sue top government officials, including Attorney General Holder and President Obama, to find out who is ultimately responsible for a Gunrunner-smuggled AK47 combat rifle that killed her son.

"I want whoever decided this program and knew about it to be held responsible. I want justice for my son. He served his country. He was a Marine. He was a police officer. He was a border patrol agent. My son was a true American hero,"  (KGUN (2011)

ATF Director wanted to watch

Examiner
William Heuisler

Brian Terry

Last week, Representative Darrell Issa, Chair of  the House Government Oversight Committee, revealed how the Acting Director of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) evidently wanted to be personally involved with selling guns to criminals.  In fact, E-mails of ATF supervisors describe how Director Kenneth Melson requested personal Internet access to ATF cameras hidden in Arizona gun shops so the Director could observe firearm sales to criminals.

Why is that important? Remember how our Border Patrol Agents were outgunned by a gang of criminals in the desert 40 miles south of Tucson near Rio Rico? Remember, on December 14, 2010, when an AK-47 round killed Border Patrol Agent, Brian Terry of Tucson?

Two AK-47s found at the scene had serial numbers listed among nearly 2,000 weapons ATF and DOJ had allowed sold to members of drug cartels in Mexico. ATF named the operation, “Fast and Furious”. Many call the disaster, ”Gunrunner” or “Gun walker”.

 Skeptics should read, The Department of Justice’s Operation Fast and Furious: Accounts of ATF Agents, which is full of testimony from ATF field agents who fought with their supervisors over orders to ignore gun sales to criminals. Among the findings:

1) At least one agent was cautioned that if he didn’t stop complaining about the dangerous nature of the operation, he would find himself out of a job, and lucky to be working in a prison.

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2) “Operation Fast and Furious contributed to the increasing violence and deaths in Mexico”. ATF officials seemed unconcerned about deaths of Mexican law enforcement officers, soldiers, and innocent civilians. One noted you had to “scramble a few eggs to make an omelet.”

3) Senior ATF personnel, including Acting Director Melson, and senior Department of Justice officials, were aware of, and supported, the operation.

4) When asked by Issa’s Oversight Committee how many of 1,750 specific weapons that “walked” under orders of the ATF and DOJ could have been interdicted, if agents were allowed to act as they were trained, “agents answered they could have stopped every single one”. (Government oversight 2011)

Last week Senator Lautenberg  of  New Jersey sent a letter to the President asking why his administration "has not shown the leadership to combat gun violence." Could that be a tasteless joke? How could the Senator from New Jersey not be aware of Operation Gunrunner?
Government Oversight (2011). House Government Oversight Committee Report on BATF. http://oversight.house.gov/images/stories/ReportsATF_Report.PDF