ATF Project Gunrunner

As someone who is only in his mid 20's I must sit back and think this is what my parents experienced during Watergate. Mind you the media climate was already rather harsh towards Nixon, It is this type of once in a generation moment where such gross misconduct by the government comes to light. I think I just might be telling my kids about this in 15 or 20 years.
 
Word Of The Day...

SHELLACKING :D
As I watch...
I applaud the folks on the oversight committee. It seems I never gave this procedure due credit. I thought for sure some would be trying to "soften" the blows to the witness panel.

I am impressed!

Brent
 
While I'm still waiting on a transcript from the Melson interviews, there's a great deal of alarming, credible evidence here.

From: Gillett, George T. Jr.
To: Newell, William D.
Cc: Voth, DavId J.
Sent: Thu Dec 17 13:27:49 2009

GS Voth and Mr. Leadmon are speaking on a regular basis, so the fines of communication are now the equivalent of the proverbial fire hose. During one of their conversations, Lorren told Voth that Ray Rowley received a briefing on the investigation this week and mentioned the possibility of needing to shut the investigation down due to the large number of guns that have already been trafficked. Therefore, I spoke with Ray Rowley today and explained that even though the Identified straw-purchasers bought approximately 175 guns last week alone, we have slowed down the FFl on future purchases and are obtaining intelligence directly related to this investigation from the current DEA wire tap. Ray did express some concern regarding the total number of guns that have been purchased by this straw-purchase scheme.
Click to expand...

Carlos Canino, Acting ATF Attaché in Mexico, expressed similar thoughts to mine on the whole situation:

You don't lose guns. You don't walk guns. You don't let guns get out of your sight. You have all these undercover techniques, all these safety measures in place so guns do not get out of your custody or control. I mean, I mean, you could follow, you could do a surveillance for 1,000 miles . . . either use planes, trackers, you use everything under the sun, but at the end of the day, those guns do not leave your control. At some point those guns do not get into the streets.
Click to expand...

Walking away from one, walking away from one gun when you know that that gun is going to be used in a crime when you, I mean, there is no, there was no gray area here guys. There was no gray area here. We knew that these guys were trafficking guns into Mexico. There is no gray area.
Click to expand...
 
Can't wait to see the transcript for this; but it looks like Newell is getting roasted alive. And apparently Newel briefed Kevin O'Reilly (going on memory, may have mangled last name) with the National Security Council (i.e. White House) on Fast and Furious some time ago.

Apparently, the Committee has an email from Newell to O'Reilly with Newell saying "You didn't get this from me..." Wonder if Newell was surprised to learn that today?

I'm getting the idea that the Oversight Committee has quite a bit of its own information that DOJ is unaware of :D

Looks like McMahon is angling to be the designated fall guy, though how he is going to be the fall guy when people higher than him have already admitted knowledge of the program, I'm not real sure.
 
I loved the Three Stooges references. And it appears that no quarter will be afforded to anyone on the committee's hit list. Even the antis on the panel were careful about what they said and asked. the fire is getting turned up under the Fast and Furious kettle.
 
Did anyone get a chance to review that .pdf released by Issa this morning? I've been too busy today to read it and was hoping someone could give me the highlights.
 
I guess Issa's trip to Mexico paid off... check out this report from Sharyl Attkisson:

"The Oversight Committee has used internal documents and information to showing where Fast and Furious weapons have shown up and been used in Mexico. It reveals more recoveries than Department of Justice has disclosed to the Committee in official answers ... and yet it's still only a partial picture.
The Department of Justice had no comment on that aspect of the report."

As many times as the Congressional Oversight Committee has nailed DOJ for withholding relevant information, you think they would start getting a foggy idea that overproduction would be a better approach than withholding.

And it looks like the testimony has now set up a new possible fall-guy for Fast and Furious:

"But according to ATF witnesses, on March 5, 2010 ATF intelligence analysts told ATF and Justice Department leadership (including Main Justice Trial Attorney Joe Cooley) that straw firearms purchases in Fast and Furious had exceeded 1,000 and the weapons were ending up in Mexico. When concerns were raised, one witness present quoted Cooley as saying the movement of so many guns to Mexico was "an acceptable practice." The Justice Department had no comment on that."

And in other fun news in the summary of yesterday's hearings by CBS, Lanny Breuer continues to deny direct knowledge of Fast and Furious, despite his name on the wiretap approvals and despite testimony from at least 3 ATF agents that he knew about and was involved in the program. Breuer is saying that the wiretap applications are "narrow" in scope and that an Assistant AG would normally review those. If I were Joe Cooley, I'd be dialing up some lawyers right now.
 
Who was the black lady who said that everyone was in the pocket of the NRA? I was only able to listen to snippets of her conversation and missed what her name was.

Thoroughly enjoyed the parts I could watch yesterday.
 
Who was the black lady who said that everyone was in the pocket of the NRA?
Click to expand...

That would be Rep. Eleanor Norton, the non-voting Congressional Representative for the District of Columbia. She is a member of the House Oversight Committee as well. She is also the same one who helpfully suggested that there should be a law making straw purchasing illegal yesterday.
 
So here it is, FINALLY, the real reason behind Fast & Furious is revealed.

So they could get more power & more money through seizures. It’s ALWAYS about the money & the power, ALWAYS!!

And the GALL of these people, to stand there & declare that they need these powers in order to stop the trafficking, when THEY are the ones who are responsible for the trafficking to begin with!!!

Liberal Playbook 101: When desiring power, create a fake problem so that you can offer a solution that gives you that power you desire.

This is pure Twilight Zone!!!

Link to the article:
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/amid-unanswered-questions-fast-and-furio


.
 
“Today’s criminal organizations are increasingly sophisticated. They know no borders,” Holder said. “They threaten the stability of our financial system, and the promise of a competitive marketplace. And their operations are putting far too many American businesses, government institutions, consumers, and citizens at risk.”
Click to expand...
Sounds like a spot-on description of the federal government!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top