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Politics : Fast and Furious-----Obama/Holder Gun Running Scandal -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wayners who wrote (529)	7/11/2012 11:34:45 AM
From: joseffy	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 749

Formal complaint seeks disbarment of Eric Holder in DC 07/09/2012 By Matthew Boyle dailycaller.com Attorney General Eric Holder could lose his license to practice law in the District of Columbia, or face some other penalty from the D.C. Bar, now that he has been found in criminal and civil contempt of Congress. Last week, the bloggers who first exposed Operation Fast and Furious, Mike Vanderboegh and David Codrea, filed a formal complaint with the Washington, D.C. Office of Bar Counsel alleging that Holder committed “professional misconduct” during the congressional investigation into the scandal. Because Holder was found in contempt of Congress for his “refusal to comply with a subpoena duly issued by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,” Vanderboegh and Codrea contend, “t would appear that several, if not all of these rules [the D.C. Bar’s rules of professional conduct], have been violated.” Wallace “Gene” Shipp in the Office of Bar Counsel told The Daily Caller that he can’t confirm or deny the receipt of any specific complaint. Vanderboegh and Codrea each published the complaint they jointly registered on their individual blogs “ecause of the serious political ramifications involved, and because some on the Board may be sympathetic to AG Holder’s positions and hostile to those of the House contempt charges, and in order to ensure that this complaint receives proper attention and is not ignored through deliberate indifference.” Arizona Republican Rep. Ben Quayle told TheDC he believes the D.C. Bar should investigate whether the attorney general violated its ethics code. “I think an investigation is definitely warranted since it’s been brought to the bar’s attention,” Quayle said in a phone interview. “He has engaged in dishonesty and misrepresentation to Congress and I think it definitely warrants an investigation by the D.C. Bar.” Quayle added that he doesn’t think Holder’s position as attorney general or his political clout should protect him from any investigation. “He’s a member of the bar and just because he’s attorney general doesn’t make him above the law and above the bar association’s rules of professional conduct,” Quayle said. “I think his conduct in the investigation of Fast and Furious rises to the level of actually looking into whether he violated professional conduct with his conduct in the investigation.” Read more: dailycaller.com

To: Wayners who wrote (529)	12/26/2012 10:40:06 PM
From: joseffy	4 Recommendations Respond to of 749

Lefty Rep. Cummings seeks dismissal of Fast and Furious suit against Holder December 26, 2012 by David Codrea examiner.com Cummings, who refused to provide oversight when the Democrats controlled the committee, is now committed to derailing those who would. A little-noticed brief filed last Thursday by House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Elijah Cummings and fellow Democrats John Conyers, Jr., Henry A. Waxman, Edolphus Towns and Louise M. Slaughter, asks the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss without prejudice the civil complaint by the Oversight Committee against Eric Holder following the Attorney General being found in contempt of Congress for refusing to produce subpoenaed documents related to the Fast and Furious gunwalking investigation. Characterizing the committee’s actions as a “rush toward unnecessary conflict” and referring to such litigation as “unnecessary and premature,” the petitioners ignore official stonewalling now measured in years, documented lies submitted to congressional investigators, and the deliberate indifference shown by Cummings and other Oversight Democrats when publicly asked to look into allegations of waste, abuse, corruption and fraud by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives management long before the public had ever heard about Fast and Furious. Had they provided such high-profile scrutiny, there is every possibility gunwalking attempts would not have been dared, and those killed as a result might still be alive. That Cummings continues to abet the obscuring of administration responsibility is no surprise to long-time observers of the interference he has been running for them throughout the investigation. His minority report issued last January was widely seized by administration apologists as one that absolved Executive branch higher-ups of wrongdoing, even though it never explained why key personnel were pleading the Fifth, and why testimony from other pivotal players was being denied -- from both Justice and the White House. This latest action adds to an October motion by Holder to ask the court to bow out on the supposed grounds that it has no jurisdiction. What the court will decide, and what the Oversight Committee’s options will be should those protecting the administration succeed, are unclear. What is clear are the priorities of powerful special interests, with justice for the victims of a program described as “Watergate with toe tags” not even rating a mention as those who value protecting their positions of power and privilege use every trick in the book to keep a lid on the story -- with near-full cooperation from a supportive press. Perhaps, over two years since news of walked guns being found at the murder scene of a Border Patrol agent were first reported, there are others who should be asked if the investigators are conducting a premature rush to judgment, and if Holder should be let off the hook. They might also be asked if they consider this latest move to be an attempt to sabotage their hopes for truth and justice to prevail. Click here to read Cummings’ Memorandum Amici Curiae. Cummings' objection to Issa ATF subpoena ignores own 'Gunwalker' culpability Does ‘fatally flawed’ minority report on gunwalking ‘absolve’ administration?

To: Wayners who wrote (529)	12/29/2012 10:47:41 AM
From: joseffy	1 Recommendation Respond to of 749

February 2012 • U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee regarding his role in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' gun running operation known as “Fast and Furious.” During the hearing, Holder continued to deny any foreknowledge of the botched operation. Representative Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House committee, led the charge in questioning Holder on his involvement and knowledge. When Issa asked Holder if he had been briefed on the wiretaps presented in this case, Holder responded, "These wiretaps are very voluminous, read well kinds of things. I have not read them." The U.S. Attorney General has an obligation to the American people to know what is going on under his watch, but throughout the hearing Holder continuously tried to distance himself from the activities of his staff. nraila.org

To: Wayners who wrote (529)	12/30/2012 10:08:13 PM
From: joseffy	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 749

Deadly legacy of "Fast and Furious" lives on The U.S. government's botched "Fast and Furious" gunwalking operation is leaving a deadly legacy in Mexico, where weapons related to the operation continue to show up at crime scenes. A Boarder Patrol truck sits along the boarder fence between the United States and Mexico. The "Fast and Furious" gun walking operation was first uncovered following the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry who was gunned down by two men armed with at least two semi-automatics trafficked by "Fast and Furious" suspects. UPI /Art Foxall License photo Dec. 28, 2012 upi.com The U.S. government's botched "Fast and Furious" gunwalking operation is leaving a deadly legacy in Mexico where weapons related to the operation regularly show up at crime scenes. U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley said two guns linked to the operation were found last month after a gun battle between Sinaloa drug cartel members and the Mexican military. Grassley said one of the weapons was lost by federal agents during "Fast and Furious" and the other was originally purchased by George Gillett, who served as Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives field office in Phoenix during the "Fast and Furious" scandal. Grassley, who has asked Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz to investigate the findings, said firearms records suggest Gillett was the purchaser of the weapon. He said it is one of three such records in Gillett's name that list a non-residential address. "Using false home residences on Firearms Transaction Records is a felony," Grassley said. The other weapon was an AK-47 purchased in Arizona by Uriel Patino, who allegedly bought 730 guns illegally under the watch of federal agents. Gillett is still employed by the ATF, despite being recommended for disciplinary action. Grassley said a report by the inspector general called Gillett's supervision and judgment "seriously deficient." "Fast and Furious" was an ATF operation based in Phoenix that allowed gunwalking, in which federal law enforcement agents allowed suspected criminals to buy weapons, with the hopes they would eventually lead them to Mexican drug leaders. Some 2,000 weapons were lost under "Fast and Furious" and not one seizure was made, nor were any drug leaders arrested, officials said. The weapons are believed to still be moving back and forth across the U.S.-Mexican border and will likely show up at crime scenes for years, the Los Angeles Times reported. The Justice Department, which initially denied knowledge of the gunwalking operation when it was first uncovered following the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, has since acknowledged major systemic problems with it. "Fast and Furious" first came to light in January 2011 following the death of Terry, who was gunned down on Dec. 14, 2010, in Arizona by two men armed with at least two semi-automatics trafficked by "Fast and Furious" suspects. Several ATF agents contacted Grassley, who began investigating the case. "Fast and Furious" has its roots in the "Project Gunrunner" initiative by the ATF in 2006, during the Bush administration, to stop drug and gun trafficking between Mexico and the United States. Starting in 2009, ATF encouraged a select number of gun by Text-Enhance">dealers in the Phoenix area to sell weapons to suspicious customers, some of whom would pay for their purchases with large sums of cash. Federal agents asked the gun dealers to contact ATF with names of the purchasers and the serial numbers of the weapons. The goal, ATF officials said, was to see where the guns landed in Mexico. The Justice Department said the blame lay with officials in ATF's Phoenix office. Efforts to uncover the depth of the Justice Department's knowledge of the operation led to a U.S. House vote to hold by Text-Enhance">Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt of Congress for withholding documents requested as part of a congressional investigation. A report issued in October by the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., specifically found fault with five senior Justice Department officials for failing to identify red flags indicating reckless tactics. A number of ATF employees were also recommended for discipline. William McMahon, who was in charge of field operations, has been fired and going into the new year, other ATF managers are expected to lose their jobs. Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Justice Department officials "saw any number of warnings and some even had the gunwalking information right in front of them, yet nothing was done to stop it." Two years after his death, Terry's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against seven government employees, and a gun shop and its owner. McMahon and Gillett are among those named in the lawsuit. Gary Grindler, Holder's chief of staff, announced in December he was leaving the Justice Department. Grindler's conduct was criticized by the inspector general in its review of "Fast and Furious." "Gary Grindler was appropriately faulted by his Department's own inspector general for keeping information about a connection between the murder of a Border Patrol agent and a mishandled department operation away from the attorney general and the Department of Homeland Security," Issa said. "His departure from the Justice Department is warranted and long overdue." Issa said other figures in "Fast and Furious" are currently being evaluated for their conduct. "I expect more departures and discipline to come," he said. Read more: upi.com