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  1. #34
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    Chairman Darrell Issa of the House Government Oversight Committee today sent Atty. General Eric Holder a letter demanding he turn over all subpoenaed documents by Feb. 9th, or face "contempt" charges. Said Issa to the embattled A.G.: "[Your] actions lead us to conclude that the department is actively engaged in a COVER-UP." This follows Friday's bombshell email disclosure that Holder was told of the potential link between the murder of border agent Brian Terry and 'Fast and Furious' months before he testified before Congress. As the walls close in on him, Holder is scheduled to appear before Issa's committee this Thursday at 9 a.m. Will Obama sacrifice him to save his regime?


    Jan 31, 2012
    Issa threatens Holder with contempt over Mexico gun probe

    By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY


    The chairman of the House's chief investigative committee today threatened Attorney General Eric Holder with contempt of Congress if he failed to provide additional documents in the panel's ongoing inquiry into allegations that federal agents allowed hundreds of weapons to flow to Mexico and into the hands of drug cartel enforcers.

    In a four-page letter, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., charged that the Justice Department was actively attempting to "obstruct'' the panel's investigation and that documents sought under an October subpoena be delivered by Feb. 9.

    "If the department continues to obstruct the congressional inquiry by not providing documents and information, this committee will have no alternative but to move forward with proceedings to hold you in contempt of Congress,'' Issa wrote.

    The chairman's letter comes just two days before Holder is scheduled to appear before Issa's committee to discuss the botched gun-trafficking investigation known as "Operation Fast and Furious.''

    The Justice Department said it has provided "numerous'' officials and witnesses for testimony and interviews, as well as thousands of pages of documents related to the operation.

    Monday, the chief of the Arizona U.S. attorney's office criminal division, Patrick J. Cunningham, left his post, the latest casualty of the scandal, Main Justice reports. He announced his intention to resign two weeks ago.

    Cunningham has declined to testify before Issa's committee, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

    http://content.usatoday.com/communit...co-gun-probe/1

    BLOG: Fed prosecutor to assert the Fifth in gun-smuggling probe http://content.usatoday.com/communit...ggling-probe/1
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  3. #35
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    Fast and Furious showdown:[i]Holder/Obama defend bloody culture of contempt;
    Update: Fortress Holder, Stonewall City; vid clips added, Dems advise, “Don’t answer”

    By Michelle Malkin • February 2, 2012 09:16 AM


    Forget Klownald Trump. This is your story of the day. Attorney General Eric Holder is on Capitol Hill day, facing another round of questions from relentless GOP watchdogs led by House Oversight and Govenrment Reform chair Darrell Issa.


    The grilling comes as Border Patrol agent Brian Terry’s family files suit against the lying ATF: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,6431783.story

    The family of slain U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry charged Wednesday that the top federal prosecutor in Phoenix lied to them about the guns found at the crime scene in an attempt to hide the weapons’ connection to the ATF’s failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation.

    Terry was killed in December 2010, allegedly by Mexican bandits carrying at least two AK-47 semiautomatic rifles that had been purchased in Arizona as part of Fast and Furious. The operation was intended to catch drug lords using illegal weapons, but the ATF immediately lost track of 1,700 firearms.

    The Terry family alleged that then-U.S. Atty. Dennis K. Burke told them last March that the two weapons came from a store in Texas and were not part of Fast and Furious.

    The family made their allegations in a “notice of claim” stating that they intend to sue the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Justice Department for $25 million. They called the gun-tracking operation “abominable, reckless, nonsensical.”

    Burke has resigned and has declined to discuss Fast and Furious. But the family’s claim notice strongly suggests that the federal government initially sought to keep Fast and Furious under wraps and hoped it would not be linked to the slaying.

    House GOP leaders repeat what whistleblowers have been telling us from the start: Top White House/DOJ knew. They knew: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012...officials-had/

    op Department of Justice officials had extensive knowledge of and involvement in Operation Fast and Furious, claims a new report released Thursday, hours before Attorney General Eric Holder’s scheduled testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

    The report released by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, top lawmakers investigating the botched gunrunning operation, claims Justice Department officials in Washington and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were involved in the coordination in the early stages of the operation.
    Related Interactive

    Report released by Issa and Grassley on Fast and Furious

    Republican lawmakers Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) released a new report suggesting top Department of Justice officials had extensive knowledge of and involvement in Operation Fast and Furious.

    Justice headquarters “had much greater knowledge of, and involvement in, Fast and Furious than it has previously acknowledged,” the memo reads.

    Rep. Issa’s preview statement in the advance of the hearing is here: http://oversight.house.gov/index.php...id=12&Itemid=1

    L ate last year, after months of investigation, the Justice Department finally acknowledged the allegations were true. Fast and Furious was both reckless and flawed.

    The Justice Department, however, has been less than forthcoming in cooperating with the efforts of Congressional investigators to determine exactly what happened and who was responsible:

    • The Justice Department has delivered fewer than 8% of the 80,000 documents we know it has identified as being related to this flawed operation.

    • It has refused to allow investigators access to numerous witnesses who participated in the operation – one witness, after being served with a subpoena, invoked his Fifth Amendment right to protection against self-incrimination rather than answer questions.

    • Justice Department now asserts that many documents pertaining to internal discussions and decision making about its response to Operation Fast and Furious are off-limits to investigators.

    The American people deserve better from our nation’s top law enforcement agency. Thursday’s hearing will feature the nation’s top law enforcement official, Attorney General Eric Holder, who will be asked to explain his decision to withhold this factual evidence from investigators. What he is concerned this information would reveal? Why is the Department trying to keep its internal discussions about Operation Fast and Furious from after February 4, 2011 secret? Why did it take nearly nine months for the Justice Department to acknowledge its earlier denials were false? Why did senior Justice Department officials who knew about and received briefings on the operation fail to stop it? Should Americans have confidence in their chief law enforcement agency even though these same officials remain in their posts?

    There is now broad bipartisan agreement that the congressional investigation into Operation Fast and Furious has exposed a serious and deadly failure of government. We know that the life of a brave Border Patrol agent has been lost along with countless Mexican citizens who have been victimized by guns from Operation Fast and Furious. Attorney General Holder has acknowledged that the danger created by Fast and Furious will continue for years.

    This hearing is not about controversial struggles between gun control advocates and supporters of the Second Amendment. It is about the unifying, and what should be bipartisan, expectation that the Justice Department be held to a high standard and that those who failed to meet this standard should be held accountable. I look forward to Attorney General Holder’s testimony.
    After Issa threatened contempt charges against the Department of Justice Obstructionists, DOJ responded with…more obstruction:

    The Justice Department response Wednesday rejected Issa’s February 9, 2012, deadline to produce all demanded documents. Cole called the deadline “impossible” to meet because of the broad scope of the request.

    He did not directly refer to the threat of a contempt charge by Issa.

    …The hearing Thursday will not be the end of the battle over Operation Fast and Furious. The Justice Department’s inspector general continues to work on a detailed account of the origins of the operation, and who was involved. The report is not expected to be complete for at least a couple more months.

    Holder has promised when it is completed, he is prepared to make individuals accountable. But Holder says he has no plan to seek resignations or administer discipline until that report is complete.
    Last edited by Jolie Rouge; 02-02-2012 at 06:58 PM.
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  4. #36
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    Washington knew what it was getting when it confirmed corruptocrat Eric Holder. http://michellemalkin.com/2011/11/30...older-brigade/ Innocent people have paid with their lives. Ignoring this man and his boss’s utter, systematic contempt for the rule of law has yielded deadly consequences.

    America, let’s not make that mistake again.

    ***

    Update:Go to my Twitter account for live-tweeting of the hearing. http://www.twitter.com/michellemalkin


    Most jaw-dropping moment so far: Indignant Holder demanding he get “credit” for his work at DOJ.


    Running joke: Every time gun-control Democrats call for more “tools.” There are plenty enough of them in charge in Washington.


    Side note: Donald Trump stepping on this important hearing tells you everything you need to know about his purported interest in advancing conservative/GOP interests. Circus, circus.


    Video clips:

    GOP Rep. Issa’s opening statement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...YZLKNcigk#t=0s

    GOP Rep. Patrick Henry underscores that there’s been no accountability for 13 months:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...aC9hB0gfc#t=0s

    GOP Rep. Anne Marie Buerkle confronts Holder with Terry family’s plea for action.
    At the five-minute mark, you can’t hear it, but Democrats advised Holder: “Don’t answer:”
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...HtpGxGJd0#t=0s


    http://michellemalkin.com/2012/02/02...e-of-contempt/


    comments

    None of the crimes committed against this nation and its citizens will be pursued, let alone prosecuted simply because those in government are complicit in some manner. Translation: the majority in government are criminals themselves.

    ...

    I’m looking at this a little differently than some. I’m thinking that Eric Holder (and a cadre of other higher ups in DOJ, FBI and BATFE) are putting their “fall guys” in place and that is another reason they are delaying. Once they get their scapegoats in place, they’re gonna let them take all the blame and all the punishment. Mr. Issa is to be commended to pushing forward. Holder knows too much and Obeyme will find a way to make sure he’s not prosecuted. So, this is going to drag on for a while to get Obeyme past the upcoming election. These are people with no scruples. Remember when the Clintons used “cut outs” to take the rap for them. Same thing.

    As far as doing something individually? I say write any and all Congress people, whether they are representing you or not and tell them we are really angry about this. Even if they don’t respond–it will get chatter going on amongst them because all they care about is getting reelected.

    ...

    It’s too bad the MSM will spend all of its time trying to figure out how to make Romney the nominee while showing that he doesn’t care for the poor.

    And I’m sure you understand that the DNC only cares about Mexicans and Hispanics to organize them to vote Democrat.

    As el Rusbho once noted, if the Hispanics were voting Republican consistently, the left would suddenly be in favor of border control and would have snipers there.

    ...

    All the while, our government does nothing to protect American citizens and the innocent Mexican citizen.

    A lot of the problem is that the Mestizo peoples of Mexico that live in Mexican States along or near OUR border, are treated as second-class citizens in their own country.

    Nearer the Federal District in central Mexico, many of the Mexicans are fairer skinned, certainly more “European” in appearance. They have thumbed their noses at the mixed-blood Mexicans for centuries now.

    Look at the Mexican soap operas on TV. The maids and gardeners all look like extras in a spaghetti western. The fairer Mexicans are all rich, drive nice cars, and have huge mansions.

    I have long felt that it is our duty to arm the Mexican peoples, but only to enable them to overthrow their own corrupt government.
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    SHOCKER: Two American brothers of a Mexican casino magnate who fled drug and fraud charges in the U.S. and has been seeking a pardon enabling him to return have emerged as major fund-raisers and donors for President Obama’s re-election campaign. The casino owner, Pepe Cardona, jumped bail in Iowa in 1994 and disappeared, and has since been linked to violence and corruption in Mexico - suspected of orchestrating the assassination of a business rival and making illegal donations to Mexican officials. | Giving guns to Mexican cartels to kill U.S. Border Agents...getting campaign cash from Mexican criminals and alleged murderers..."Change" Mexican criminals can believe in!

    Obama to Return Major Donations Tied to Fugitive
    By MIKE McINTIRE Published: February 6, 2012


    Two American brothers of a Mexican casino magnate who fled drug and fraud charges in the United States and has been seeking a pardon enabling him to return have emerged as major fund-raisers and donors for President Obama’s re-election campaign.

    The casino owner, Juan Jose Rojas Cardona, known as Pepe, jumped bail in Iowa in 1994 and disappeared, and has since been linked to violence and corruption in Mexico. A State Department cable in 2009 said he was suspected of orchestrating the assassination of a business rival and making illegal campaign donations to Mexican officials.

    When The New York Times asked the Obama campaign early Monday about the Cardonas, officials said they were unaware of the brother in Mexico. Later in the day, the campaign said it was refunding the money raised by the family, which totaled more than $200,000.

    As recently as January of last year, one of Mr. Cardona’s brothers in Chicago, Carlos Rojas Cardona, arranged for the former chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party to seek a pardon from the governor for Pepe Cardona, according to prosecutors in that state. None was forthcoming.

    Last fall, Carlos Cardona and another brother in Chicago, Alberto Rojas Cardona, began raising money for the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee. The Cardona brothers, who have no prior history of political giving, appeared seemingly out of nowhere in the world of Democratic fund-raising, Democratic activists said.

    The money Alberto Cardona raised put him in the upper tiers of fund-raisers known as bundlers, according to a list released last month by the campaign. He and Carlos Cardona each gave the maximum $30,800 to the Democratic National Committee, and a lesser amount to a state victory fund. A sister, Leticia Rojas Cardona of Tennessee, donated $13,000 to the national committee, and another relative in Illinois gave $12,600, records show. There is no record of Pepe Cardona making a donation.

    Although the two brothers live and work in Chicago, they maintain ties to Pepe Cardona in Mexico. Alberto Cardona operates an advertising agency in Mexico that has worked for political candidates backed by his brother, according to public records and Mexican news reports. Public records also show that the domain name for the Web site of a restaurant Pepe Cardona owns is registered to Alberto Cardona.

    Obama campaign officials said most of the money raised by the Cardona brothers came from themselves and other relatives, donations of about $200,000. In addition, the campaign was identifying other donations, believed to total less than $100,000, that was bundled from other people. “On the basis of the questions that have been raised, we will return the contributions from these individuals and from any other donors they brought to the campaign,” said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign.

    Pepe Cardona is one of the largest players in Mexico’s violent and tumultuous casino trade. In 2007, he survived an assassination attempt that was attributed to members of organized crime. The State Department cable, which was part of the cache made public by WikiLeaks, said he was suspected of illegally funneling $5 million into Mexican political campaigns in 2006.

    Multiple messages left for Alberto and Carlos Cardona over several days were not returned. A sister-in-law, Sarah Westall of Minnesota, said in a telephone interview that it would be wrong to tar other members of the family with the negative publicity surrounding Pepe Cardona.

    Ms. Westall, who is married to another Cardona brother, Gabriel, said Alberto and Carlos took up Democratic fund-raising because their extended family had long been involved in helping the Latino community and because they supported the president. There were no other reasons beyond those, she said. “I understand that it looks real bad,” she said. “But the rest of the family are really good people. Pepe is actually a good person too.”

    Whatever the family’s motivation, the president cannot pardon someone for state crimes. On Monday, Democratic fund-raisers who have had encounters with Alberto and Carlos Cardona expressed surprise upon learning about their family history. Manuel Sanchez, a Chicago lawyer who is deeply involved in Latino outreach for the Obama administration, said he first met them in December at a finance committee meeting for the president’s campaign in Washington.

    He said he had been told that they were involved in “marketing and advertising.” They impressed him as “very smart young guys who wanted to support the president,” he said. “I did get the distinct impression that both of them are very well-to-do and successful in their businesses,” Mr. Sanchez said, adding that he “had no idea” they had a brother in Mexico or what his background was.

    In Johnson County, Iowa, the authorities are well acquainted with Pepe Cardona’s past.

    One of nine children of Mexican parents who grew up in Iowa, Pepe Cardona, who was born in Mexico, was active in civil rights issues at the University of Iowa and became president of the Student Senate. While at the university in 1990, he was accused of misspending student government money, and a year later he was criminally charged with defrauding associates in a telemarketing company he started, according to court records. He was sentenced to five years in prison, and while free pending an appeal, he was arrested in New Mexico on charges of trying to smuggle marijuana across the border, court records show. He pleaded guilty to federal drug charges in 1994, but disappeared while out on bail, later surfacing in Mexico.

    In 1998, federal prosecutors obtained approval from a judge to quash the drug indictment, wiping clean Pepe Cardona’s federal court record. However, his current legal status in Iowa, where a county judge had ordered him jailed in 1992, is more precarious. On Monday, the Johnson County attorney, Janet Lyness, said there was still an outstanding warrant for his arrest on a probation violation charge. She said that at least twice over the last four years, a lawyer approached the Iowa governor’s office asking about a pardon for Pepe Cardona.

    The last such request came in the final days of the term of Gov. Chet Culver, a Democrat, and was filed by Gordon Fischer, a lawyer who is a former chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party. In his pardon application, Mr. Fischer explained that he knew Pepe Cardona from his days at the University of Iowa. Mr. Fischer declined to comment on Monday, citing attorney-client privilege.

    Ms. Lyness, also a Democrat, said she had been told that the application had been initiated by members of Pepe Cardona’s family in the United States. She opposed it, and it was not granted. “I can think of few people who are less deserving of a pardon than Pepe Rojas-Cardona,” Ms. Lyness wrote in her response to the pardon request, adding that it would be “a travesty of justice.”

    The first campaign donations by Alberto and Carlos Cardona came shortly after news articles revealing Pepe Cardona’s criminal past appeared in the United States and Mexico last fall. One of them, a long exposé in September by a Mexican magazine, Proceso, chronicled Pepe Cardona’s relatively swift rise to fortune and notoriety in Mexico after fleeing the American authorities. He obtained Mexican gambling licenses, and with help from investors in Louisiana, he started opening casinos in and around Monterrey, eventually becoming known as Mexico’s “casino czar.”

    The article reported that Tango Media, an advertising company it said is owned by Alberto Cardona, worked on the campaigns of politicians favored by Pepe Cardona in communities where he owned casinos. It also said Carlos Cardona was involved in one of Pepe Cardona’s business deals.

    A review of public records found that several of the Cardona brothers’ business activities have intersected in the United States and in Mexico, sharing common addresses and doing work for one another’s companies. For instance, another brother, Arturo Rojas Cardona — Pepe’s main business partner in his casino and entertainment businesses — has an architecture and design firm that has done work for his brothers in the United States, including Alberto Cardona.
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    The nature of Alberto Cardona’s business is not exactly clear. On campaign finance reports, he listed his employer as Tango Latin, a Chicago company that seems to be connected to Tango Productions, a small video production, marketing and photography studio that Carlos Cardona listed as his employer.

    A check of public records found that Alberto Cardona is the registered owner of domain names for the Web sites of Tango Media and 40 West, a restaurant owned by Pepe Cardona, both in Mexico. Ms. Westall, the sister-in-law, said she did not know what sort of dealings Alberto and Carlos had with Pepe Cardona, but she added that it would not be unusual for large families to help each other in their business activities. “If someone in the family does Web design, and Pepe needed someone to do that, he would hire that person first,” she said. “In Mexico, that’s the way it works.”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/us...tive.html?_r=1
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    Sadly, Eric Holder Might Never Face Justice
    By Donald Pennington | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Tue, Feb 7, 2012

    Who knew it could happen? In a report from Feb. 2, Fox News' Megyn Kelly made a valid point when she and fellow host Bill O'Reilly said Attorney General Eric Holder would survive the investigation into Operation Fast and Furious.

    What a terrible loss for the family of Brian Terry -- to have suffered his death in the first place but to also deal with the likelihood of never seeing those responsible facing any repercussions -- this event is a solid black eye on the face of the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. A report from ABC News shows the government is attempting to hold someone accountable -- but it might end up unsettled.

    Like millions of others, I'm of the opinion everyone involved in the fiasco of the gunwalker sting operation gone wrong should be held accountable. But as Kelly pointed out, government agencies often enjoy immunity from lawsuits like the one filed by Terry's family in this report from ABC 17 News and proving advance knowledge of the possibility of someone's death would be difficult at best anyway.

    Having seen intra-agency emails shared by NPR News and learning these types of "gunwalker" sting operations were also done under the Bush administration, I'm inclined to believe, perhaps, nothing was done with malicious intent.

    While the conspiracy theorist in me can't help but see some sort of nefarious pattern aimed at destroying the Second Amendment, the honest man in me must admit to the possibility of pre-judging the affair out of a mistrust of government. I'm saying I could have been wrong in believing Holder and the Obama administration are somehow "evil" in this. We could all be.

    Like any other citizen, I'm forced to wait to see what government officials turn up in their investigations. I'm not defending Holder or any other bureaucrat. If criminal actions uncovered, then hang them. But so far, all any of us really know is the Terry family has suffered an incalculable loss and for that, we should all be sorry.

    Let's hope Holder and his staff at the Department of Justice cooperate fully with the investigation. Terry's family deserves as much.

    http://news.yahoo.com/sadly-eric-hol...XN0Aw--;_ylv=3
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    Fast and Furious follow-up: Issa, Grassley press Holder on ICE officer Jaime Zapata’s murder
    By Michelle Malkin • February 27, 2012 04:09 PM


    Just delivered to corruptocrat AG Eric Holder’s office: A joint letter from House Oversight and Government Reform chair Darrell Issa and Senate GOP Judiciary Committee ranking member Charles Grassley pushing the DOJ for answers after relations that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) “was aware of straw buying by Manuel Barba during a several month span of which one of the weapons found at the murder scene of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Officer Jaime Zapata was purchased…One of the major flaws found in the tactics used in Operation Fast and Furious, where gunwalking was known to occur, was the failure to conduct surveillance of individuals known to be trafficking weapons to Mexico, which allowed such firearms to reach the border. Issa and Grassley said that the same irresponsible tactic appears to have been used as the ATF allowed guns to cross the border in Texas.” Full letter reprinted below.

    Sharyl Atkisson of CBS News reported last week that a second gun tied to Zapata’s murder has been linked to ATF gunwalking operations. Nobody bothered to inform the Zapata family about the prosecution and sentencing of Manuel Barba: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_16...ver-operation/

    Prosecutors recently sentenced a Texas man, Manuel Barba, for trafficking a weapon connected to the murder of Immigration and Customs (ICE) Agent Jaime Zapata. Nobody was more astonished to learn of the case than Zapata’s parents, who didn’t know that Barba had been arrested or linked to their son’s murder.

    “The family was obviously surprised to learn that there was a case involving a weapon linked to the Zapata incident,” attorney Trey Martinez told CBS News. Martinez represents Zapata’s parents and the surviving ICE agent in the assault, Victor Avila. “They were surprised they had never been contacted in the capacity as victims so they could give a response or some kind of reaction at the time of sentencing.”

    Barba was sentenced to 100 months in prison on January 30th. When we asked why the Zapatas weren’t contacted, prosecutors in Houston told CBS News they only handled the weapons charges: conspiracy, false statements and exportation/receipt of firearms. Zapata’s actual murder “is being handled by another U.S. Attorney’s office and … is separate and apart from the firearms case that was handled by our district,” said a spokeswoman. She added the firearms offenses “are crimes that do not involve victims in the legal sense of the word and therefore, notifications are not part of the legal process.”

    In a related development, CBS News has obtained documents showing that Barba was under ATF surveillance for at least six months before a rifle he trafficked was used in Zapata’s murder. Zapata’s government vehicle was ambushed by suspected cartel thugs in Mexico Feb. 15, 2011.

    http://michellemalkin.com/2012/02/27...apatas-murder/

    comments

    Nobody was more astonished to learn of the case than Zapata’s parents, who didn’t know that Barba had been arrested or linked to their son’s murder.
    Pornstache Holder: I was going to tell them but I hadn’t read the memo yet!

    ...

    Issa and Grassley said that the same irresponsible tactic appears to have been used as the ATF allowed guns to cross the border in Texas.”
    Well, then, I’d say ATF irresponsibility should be cause for Issa and Grassley to demand ATF be disbanded.

    As some blogger put it, “Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency.”

    ...

    7. Why was Barba not arrested in October 2010 when ATF obtained audio evidence that Barba was obliterating serial numbers before trafficking weapons to Mexico?

    8. Why was Barba not arrested in December 2010 when ATF knew he had been unlawfully receiving firearms from straw purchasers while under indictment?
    The DOJ has supposedly had their IG doing an independent investigation of what occurred here.

    That has been going on for over a year and still not a peep as to when her report will be ready.

    What has she been doing going on all those vacations with Michell O?

    ...

    How many more brave federal agents have to die before these idiots are held accountable?

    Last edited by Jolie Rouge; 02-27-2012 at 02:40 PM.
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    Fast and Furious follow-up: Issa, Grassley press Holder on ICE officer Jaime Zapata’s murder
    By Michelle Malkin • February 27, 2012 04:09 PM


    February 27, 2012
    VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION

    The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
    Attorney General
    U.S. Department of Justice
    950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
    Washington, DC 20530

    Dear Attorney General Holder:

    For almost an entire year, we have been requesting that the Department provide information about the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF’s) knowledge regarding Otilio Osorio’s straw purchasing activities. We are interested in him because he was the straw purchaser of the weapon used in the murder of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agent Jaime Zapata on February 15, 2011.

    Letters from Senator Grassley on March 4, 2011, and March 28, 2011 provided documentation that, on September 17, 2010, ATF traced trafficked weapons to Otilio’s brother and co-habitant, Ranferi Osorio, as well as the Osorio brothers’ next-door neighbor, Kelvin Morrison. Senator Grassley further inquired why these facts did not prompt ATF to conduct a “knock and talk” with these individuals or begin conducting surveillance on them.

    On November 9, 2010, as part of a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigation, ATF witnessed Otilio and Ranferi Osorio providing 40 weapons with obliterated serial numbers to an undercover ATF informant for the purpose of trafficking the weapons to Mexico. Surprisingly, they were not arrested for another three and a half months. Senator Grassley further inquired why they were not arrested at the time they were observed to be in possession of weapons with obliterated serial numbers, which is a crime. He asked whether ATF or DEA continued to surveil the Osorio brothers between early November and their arrest, following the discovery that Otilio Osorio’s weapon was used in the murder of Agent Zapata. Inexplicably, the Department has failed to provide substantive responses to any of these letters, including a subsequent follow-up letter on this matter, sent jointly on October 25, 2011.

    ATF has tried to distinguish this case from Operation Fast and Furious and to justify its failure to intervene. In one news article on the Osorio brothers, ATF North Texas spokesperson Tom Crowley is quoted as saying: “[T]aking them down and arresting them at that time would have possibly jeopardized that investigation. . . . None of the tactics used in this investigation were anything similar to what was used in Arizona’s Fast and Furious, including intentionally walking firearms across the border.”[4] Yet failure to conduct surveillance of individuals known to be trafficking weapons to Mexico was a core problem with the tactics used in Fast and Furious. Lack of surveillance is what allowed such firearms to reach the border. The same irresponsible tactic appears to have been used in this matter.

    Now, news reports indicate that this may have been an issue with a purchaser of another one of the weapons found at Agent Zapata’s murder scene.[5] Records indicate that ATF opened a case against Manuel Barba in June 2010,[6] approximately two months before he took possession on August 20, 2010, of the rifle which was later trafficked to Mexico and also used in the murder of Agent Zapata.[7] Additionally, the documents show that ATF had indications in October 2010 that Barba was obliterating serial numbers on weapons, the possession of which would have been a prosecutable offense.[8] At least as of December 13, 2010, ATF also was aware that Barba was still under indictment for a 2006 state case, and thus had been unlawfully receiving firearms while under indictment.[9] However, a warrant was not issued for Barba’s arrest in this case until February 14, 2011.[10]

    To assist us in better understanding of the circumstances leading up to the murder of Agent Zapata, please answer the following questions:

    1. Did ATF have any contact with Barba, such as a “knock and talk,” between June 7, 2010, when Barba’s case was opened, and August 20, 2010, when he received the weapon that would later be used in the murder of Agent Zapata?

    2. When did ATF agents first contact Barba in connection with this case?

    3. Records indicate Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) interviews were conducted in this case by early October 2010. When were FFLs first contacted by ATF in this case?

    4. What information about Barba or the individuals known to be working with him as straw purchasers was communicated to the FFLs?

    5. What cooperation did any FFLs agree to provide ATF in this investigation?

    6. Did any FFLs ever provide ATF with advance or contemporaneous (within three days) notice of purchases by the individuals suspected to be working with Barba as straw purchasers?

    7. Why was Barba not arrested in October 2010 when ATF obtained audio evidence that Barba was obliterating serial numbers before trafficking weapons to Mexico?

    8. Why was Barba not arrested in December 2010 when ATF knew he had been unlawfully receiving firearms from straw purchasers while under indictment?

    9. How many weapons were purchased between June 7, 2010, and February 14, 2011, by the straw purchasing ring associated with Barba?

    10. How many weapons purchased between June 7, 2010, and February 14, 2011, by the straw purchasing ring associated with Barba were interdicted?

    Thank you in advance for ensuring your response arrives no later than March 9, 2012. Should you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact Ranking Member Grassley’s staff at (202) 224-5225 or Chairman Issa’s staff at (202) 225-5074.
    Sincerely,

    ___________________________ ___________________________
    Darrell Issa, Chairman Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member
    Committee on Oversight and Committee on the Judiciary
    Government Reform U.S. Senate
    U.S. House of Representatives

    cc: The Hon. B. Todd Jones, Acting Director
    Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

    The Hon. Michele M. Leonhart, Administrator
    U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

    The Hon. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member
    U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

    The Hon. Patrick Leahy, Chairman
    U.S. Senate, Committee on the Judiciary



    http://michellemalkin.com/2012/02/27...apatas-murder/
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

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    exico asks Biden to stop US arms, money flow
    By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ | Associated Press – 22 hrs ago
    l

    MEXICO CITY (AP) — President Feliple Calderon told Vice President Joe Biden on Monday that Mexico wants the United States to do more to halt the flow of weapons and drug money to south of the border.

    Calderon's request came during a meeting in the presidential residence in Mexico City, where Biden is on a one-day visit. He heads to Honduras on Tuesday.

    Mexico's president "repeated the urgent need to strengthen actions against the trafficking of weapons into our country and money laundering," his office said in a statement.

    Mexico says U.S. weapons help fuel drug-related violence that killed at least 47,715 people in Mexico from December 2006 through September 2011.

    The statement said the two leaders "reaffirmed the commitment of their government to consolidating shared responsibility, confidence and mutual respect, as the basis of cooperation in all fields."

    Biden is also meeting with candidates in Mexico's July 1 elections.

    The frontrunner, Enrique Pena Nieto, said he told Biden that his Institutional Revolutionary Party is committed to fight against organized crime, despite recent scandals that have tied party members to drug traffickers. "The discussion is not whether we should our shouldn't fight against it but what we can do to achieve better results," he told reporters.

    Pena Nieto said Biden assured him the U.S will work with and respect whoever is elected president. Mexico cannot reelect its president after a 6-year term.

    Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the candidate of the leftist Democrat Revolution Party, said following his meeting with Biden that he had suggested "a new bilateral relationship with the United States based on cooperation for development."

    "The problems with crime and lack of safety have their origins in the lack of welfare, and that is why it is very important that in bilateral relations, priority be given to development," said Lopez Obrador, "so that there are jobs, welfare and we can put the country on the right track and be able to decrease migration."

    http://news.yahoo.com/mexico-asks-bi...221253517.html

    comments

    I have the solution, it's called "SECURE THE BORDER!!!!"

    ...

    I'll bet if the US and mexico both put amrmed military all along the border with orders to shoot to kill anyone trying to cross and a death sentence to all drug dealers the drug war would be won in a matter of weeks.

    ...

    When will Obama write a letter of apology to Mexico?

    ....

    Wait a second, let me get this right....Mexico is asking the US to tighten its borders? Seriously? Mexico is asking this? This has to be a joke. The same Mexico that allows tons of illegal narcotics and illegal aliens to cross over everyday? That Mexico?

    ...

    Lets tax all money that leaves the US for south america. Make a deal with mexico, no more guns from us, no more illegals from you
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

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    3/20/2012
    Obama Administration Let Main Fast & Furious Suspect Go
    Patterico @ 12:02 am


    Got the big fish but he promises to catch an even bigger fish if you let him go?

    If you’re the feds, the answer is clear.

    Throw him back: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,3662110.story

    Seven months after federal agents began the ill-fated Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation, they stumbled upon their main suspect in a remote Arizona outpost on the Mexican border, driving an old BMW with 74 rounds of ammunition and nine cellphones hidden inside.

    Detained for questioning that day in May 2010, Manuel Fabian Celis-Acosta described to agents from theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives his close association with a top Mexican drug cartel member, according to documents obtained this weekend by the Times/Tribune Washington Bureau.

    The top Fast and Furious investigator, Special Agent Hope MacAllister, scribbled her phone number on a $10 bill after he pledged to cooperate and keep in touch with investigators.

    Then Celis-Acosta disappeared into Mexico. He never called.
    Shocking!

    Me, I might put the big fish on the hook and use him as bait for the bigger fish. That waym rather than simply throwing him back, I have him on the hook.

    But that’s me, a simple state prosecutor. If only I were as smart as the feds . . .

    http://patterico.com/2012/03/20/obam...us-suspect-go/

    comments

    Imagine the coverage if this were applied to a GOP Administration - or GW directly. It would be on the lead story, front page, headline of every MSM outlet.

    ...

    It’s funny how governments work.

    We have state prosecuters working their fingers to the bone, trying to keep guns out of the hands of drug gangs so folks don’t get killed, while the feds are busting ass trying to arm drug gangs so folks do get killed.

    ...

    10.Patterico, or anyone else in law enforcement, would you ever do something like this, letting a weapons smuggler go free on a simple promise, without orders from higher-ups to do this?

    ..

    11.He could have been “disappeared” by the cartel after being snitched out by a cartel member inside the BATFE, maybe Hope herself. Anything is possible with this cluster****.

    ..

    In a related case also run by ATF’s Phoenix office, CBS News has reported a grenade parts trafficker named Jean Baptiste Kingery was caught smuggling 114 disassembled grenades in a tire in 2010, but was released. The same prosecutors faulted in Fast and Furious allegedly refused to bring charges saying grenade parts are “novelty items” and the case “lacked jury appeal.” Mexican authorities arrested Kingery a year later at a stash house with enough materials for 1,000 grenades.

    And Eric Holder tsk-tsks the entire matter, The Inspector General has been investigating Fast and Furious for more than a year. Attorney General Eric Holder, who’s denied knowing about any gunwalking, has said use of the “inappropriate tactics is neither acceptable nor excusable.”
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

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    [b]Katie Pavlich exposes “Fast and Furious: Barack Obama’s Bloodiest Scandal and the Shameless Cover-Up”
    By Michelle Malkin • April 16, 2012 10:09 AM

    Townhall.com editor and rising star Katie Pavlich debuts her first book today — and it’s a blockbuster. “Fast and Furious: Barack Obama’s Bloodiest Scandal and the Shameless Cover-Up” targets the corruption, incompetence, obstructionism, lawlessness, and anti-gun radicalism of the Obama White House.

    Pavlich supplies readers with damning documents, new scoops, interviews with whistleblowers, and a must-have guide to the biggest stain on the Obama administration. http://nation.foxnews.com/janet-napo...ious-testimony

    Be sure to read pp. 158 – 163, where Pavlich reports on a possible third gun traced to the death of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

    Pavlich writes at Townhall today: http://townhall.com/columnists/katie...st_and_furious

    In my new book, Fast and Furious: Barack Obama’s Bloodiest Scandal and Its Shameless Coverup, I document the conspiracy of senior Obama officials to subvert the Second Amendment, which led directly to the murders of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, I.C.E. Agent Jaime Zapata and countless, faceless lives in Mexico. It debunks the Obama administration’s lies, denials and excuses. This administration was willing to use humans as collateral damage to push a political agenda, and had no shame in doing so. Now, the administration has no shame in covering up their reckless actions.

    Since just moments after Brian Terry was killed in the Arizona desert on December 15, 2010 by Mexican cartel thugs, carrying AK-47s provided to them by the Obama Justice Department through Operation Fast and Furious, the FBI, Homeland Security, ATF, Justice Department and the White House have been engaged in a full scale cover-up. These are simply names of government agencies, but who are the people behind the cover-up?

    I unravel a tangled web connecting President Obama, Eric Holder, Janet Napolitano and a number of advisors and political appointees behind Fast and Furious. These officials have deep loyalties to each other and their anti-Second Amendment ideology dating as far back as the Clinton Administration. In fact, many key Fast and Furious players have deep ties to Chicago and helped craft the 1994 Clinton assault weapons ban legislation.

    If the majority of American people knew Fast and Furious like they know Solyndra or the GSA scandal, they would be outraged. Despite very few exceptions, the media has been complicit in the cover-up of Obama’s bloodiest scandal by ignoring and refusing to report about it. Why? To protect the President. This scandal, one that has left hundreds of bodies in its wake, would be deadly to the administration. This is the scandal that will bring President Obama down in November, so long as the American people know its details.
    Sunlight is the best disinfectant. Pavlich’s book is a solar flare over 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

    If you read one book this campaign season (and I’m talking to you, too, candidates), make it this one.



    Vet the prez, vet the corrupt attorney general, and then boot them out of office for the safety and security of our nation.

    http://michellemalkin.com/2012/04/16...less-cover-up/
    Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

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