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    Last edited by Jolie Rouge; 07-09-2012 at 04:58 PM.
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  3. #57
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    Boehner: House to proceed with Holder contempt vote
    By Doug Powers • June 27, 2012 01:11 PM

    Whatever is in those Fast & Furious documents that the DoJ refuses to turn over (with the White House’s blessing http://michellemalkin.com/2012/06/20...-furious-docs/ ), that information seems to be more important than averting what, if the vote goes ahead, will probably be the first time in history that the House of Representatives has voted to find a US Attorney General in contempt of Congress. As of right now, the vote is still scheduled for tomorrow: http://news.yahoo.com/boehner-house-...144415389.html

    Speaker John Boehner says the House will move forward with a contempt of Congress vote against Attorney General Eric Holder over the botched gun-tracking operation known as Fast and Furious.

    The Ohio Republican told reporters Wednesday that last-minute talks with the White House about releasing documents had failed to avert the vote. President Barack Obama has asserted executive privilege to keep the documents secret, but Republicans say there’s no basis for that.

    Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer admitted that the contempt vote could indeed become somewhat of a bipartisan affair — it’s just a question of how many Dems will vote for contempt: http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/...t-and-furious/

    Now that the politically potent National Rifle Association is keeping score, some Democrats may join House Republicans if there’s a vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress in a dispute over documents related to a botched gun-tracking operation.

    The chief Democratic House head counter, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, declined to tell reporters how many defections he expected, but acknowledged that some in his party would consider heeding the NRA’s call for a “yes” vote.

    So far, three Democrat Reps have said they’ll vote to suppress voters place Holder in contempt of Congress. (Update: That number could climb as high as 20) See article below ... -- >

    On the GOP side, it was mad genius on the part of the Republican leadership to schedule the contempt vote on the same day the Supreme Court will release their ruling on Obamacare. That way, Speaker Boehner will have everybody in the same room so he can make sure nobody spikes the ball if the Court strikes down the law. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun...uling-20120625

    And if the Court upholds all or parts of the law, Boehner can huddle everybody up to start planning how to go about repealing what’s left: http://therightnewz.com/?p=3361


    http://michellemalkin.com/2012/06/27...lder-contempt/


    ************

    Left shrieks over reports that up to 35 House Democrats may back Holder contempt vote
    Posted at 10:42 am on June 27, 2012

    The White House claims House Republicans are engaging in “political theater” http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012...t-issue-fails/ as they prepare to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for refusing to supply subpoenaed documents related to the deadly Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation. http://twitchy.com/2012/06/25/confir...t-on-thursday/

    Not so fast, White House.

    As many as 35 House Democrats are reportedly prepared to vote for the contempt resolution. It appears the GOP’s political “witch hunt” isn’t so political after all, doesn’t it?


    Meanwhile, the family of fallen border patrol agent Brian Terry is still waiting for answers. http://twitchy.com/2012/05/18/house-...f-brian-terry/


    http://twitchy.com/2012/06/27/left-s...contempt-vote/
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    Eric Holder Prepares for Contempt Vote with Barbecue
    By Connor Simpson | The Atlantic Wire – 10 hrs ago

    If you could choose how to spend the night before vote to hold you in contempt of Congress, would you go to a barbecue with the people who hold your fate in their hands? Eric Holder must really like hot dogs.

    Yes, Attorney General Eric Holder spent the night before his contempt vote mingling with the rest of Congress, including the GOP, at a barbecue for their families on the White House grounds. "Oh, to be a fly on the picnic table..." Politico says. A vote is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon when everyone Holder spoke with at the barbecue (excluding husbands, wives and kids) will vote on whether or not Holder will is guilty of contempt of congress.

    The President's opening remarks at the barbecue didn't offer anything juicy, unfortunately. There are no veiled shots at Mitt, no allusions to the contempt vote, or signs of nervousness over the impending SCOTUS decision. He thank everyone for coming, offered to kiss people while posing for pictures, unless they're unshaven. He doesn't like that.

    But, earlier on Wednesday, Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said his office doesn't have any evidence Eric Holder knew of the Fast & Furious program's gun-walking tactics. http://www.tpmmuckraker.talkingpoint...gunwalking.php

    "During the inception and the participation through the death of Brian Terry, we have no evidence nor do we currently have strong suspicion" that Holder knew of the gun-walking, Issa testified to the House Rules committee. "We have just the opposite, have a number of people, including Lanny Breuer, who should have known who’s responsibility was to know, that as part of our ongoing responsibility to figure out who was responsible,"

    "We are now about to find in contempt the attorney general of the United States of America after you just heard that," interrupted Elijah Cummings, ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, and Holder's biggest public defender in this mess.

    "Sure," replied Issa. "It’s not for what the attorney general knew about Fast and Furious, it’s about the attorney general’s refusal to provide the documents." Glad we got that cleared up.

    House Democrats uploaded video of Issa's remarks to Youtube : via TPM http://www.tpmmuckraker.talkingpoint....php%3Fref=fpb

    .
    House set to vote on Holder contempt charge
    By Richard Cowan | Reuters – 46 mins ago

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General Eric Holder faced a contempt of Congress charge on Thursday as the Republican-led House of Representatives was poised to strike back at the nation's top law enforcement officer for refusing to turn over some documents related to a failed gun-running probe.

    If the contempt charge is approved later on Thursday, as expected, Holder would become the first sitting attorney general - and the first presidential Cabinet member - to be accused of the crime of contempt by the full House.

    But the unprecedented vote could be overshadowed by a potentially more historic development on Thursday: the U.S. Supreme Court's upholding of Democratic President Barack Obama's controversial healthcare law - a ruling that was reverberating throughout the country.

    Nevertheless, the House was expected to devote much of its legislative session on Thursday to debating Holder's role in "Operation Fast and Furious," which was aimed at following guns being purchased in Arizona to determine whether they flowed into Mexico for use by drug cartels.

    By early 2011 that investigation had been terminated after disclosures that federal agents had lost track of many of the high-powered weapons, which subsequently were traced to crimes, including the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.

    The tussle between the Obama administration and House Republicans is over the release of a series of documents dating from February 4, 2011.

    The high-stakes fight could jeopardize the jobs of some top Justice Department officials if Congress ultimately finds that they were hiding some important information related to Fast and Furious.

    Conversely, Republicans could be embarrassed if nothing turns up and they devoted so much time and energy amid the need to help the struggling U.S. economy - the top priority of voters in the run-up to the November 6 presidential and congressional elections.

    As the House debates the contempt accusation, Holder will be away from Washington. He is scheduled to speak at the League of United Latin American Citizens annual convention in Florida.

    HIGH-POWERED LOBBYING

    The National Rifle Association, a powerful lobbying organization that opposes gun regulation, has made the Holder contempt move a top priority. It has warned all 435 House members that a vote against the contempt citation would be a black mark against them.

    The NRA has argued that Fast and Furious was actually a back-door move by the Obama administration to lay the ground for new gun regulations by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which ran the southwest border gun-running investigation.

    House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, a Republican with close ties to the NRA, thinks emails and other communications being withheld might spell out more detail on the role of top Justice Department officials, especially after they discovered the law enforcement operation had gone bad.

    But Obama administration officials point out that the Justice Department already has released more than 7,000 documents to Issa's committee and that they showed that top officials in Washington initially knew little about Fast and Furious, which was hatched by law enforcement officials in Arizona.

    The fight between Republicans and Holder escalated last week, after the White House exerted "executive privilege" over the post-February 4, 2011 documents, saying they were protected communications that any administration needs as part of its deliberative process.

    Issa's committee, in a partisan vote last week, charged Holder with contempt after negotiations to resolve the dispute failed. House Republican leaders immediately announced that the full House debate and vote would come quickly.

    House Democrats accused Republicans of acting hastily in this election year, noting that in past contempt of Congress cases it has taken the full House months to consider a vote following a committee recommendation.

    Members of the Congressional Black Caucus rallied to defend Holder, the first black U.S. attorney general.

    "We don't want history to record that we participated in something that is so silly and detrimental to one human being," caucus chairman, Representative Emanuel Cleaver, said in an interview on CNN.

    Cleaver said some Democrats were planning to walk out of the House chamber during the contempt vote to protest the Republican move. "This whole deal stinks and we don't want to be involved in this activity," Cleaver said.

    Besides the contempt of Congress charge, the House also is scheduled to vote on a resolution asking U.S. courts to force Holder to turn over a series of documents being sought by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as part of its long-running investigation of Fast and Furious.

    Republicans are expected to overwhelmingly vote in favor of both initiatives, with opposition from most Democrats, who mainly see the effort as an election-year ploy to tar the Obama administration.

    The few Democrats who have declared they would vote for the contempt charge are moderates, a shrinking force in Congress as they often represent districts that have a conservative bent and face increasingly difficult re-election bids.

    While contempt of Congress charges generally are aimed at forcing officials to produce information to Congress, legal experts point out that they are very hard to enforce and the action could bring months or years of litigation and stalemate.

    http://news.yahoo.com/holder-faces-h...001855369.html

    comments

    I'm curious. If I had access to 2,000 assault rifles and I sold them to Mexican drug lords, how deep would the hole under the jail I would get thrown in be?

    ...

    One simple question for Holder, Revs Al and Jesse, BHO, and anyone else questioning this - is there anything that Holder is to be held accountable for in the performance of his duties as U.S. Attorney General?



    Woulod post more comments ... but Yahoo has deleted over 200 in the last hour or so
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    House finds Attorney General Holder in contempt
    By Richard Cowan | Reuters – 10 mins ago.

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General Eric Holder was found in contempt of Congress on Thursday as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives sanctioned the nation's top law enforcement official for withholding some documents related to a failed gun-running probe.

    The mostly partisan vote of 255-67 marked the first time a sitting attorney general and presidential Cabinet member was cited for contempt by the full House. No Senate vote is necessary in this House contempt citation.

    Many Democrats refused to cast votes, and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi led dozens of her colleagues in a walkout from the House floor in protest.

    The fight over the Obama administration documents revolves around "Operation Fast and Furious," a federal law enforcement program intended to track weapons sold in Arizona that were suspected of being transported to Mexico for use by violent drug cartels.

    In the end, 17 Democrats voted to support the contempt charge, while two Republicans opposed it and 108 Democrats refused to cast votes.

    Reacting to the vote, White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer called it "a transparently political stunt," despite Justice Department efforts to accommodate Congress.

    Holder, in a statement released by the Justice Department, noted that he had ordered an independent investigation of Fast and Furious "as soon as it came to light" and said he "tried to cooperate with the congressional investigation" but was "rebuffed."

    With the House vote, Holder said "an unnecessary court conflict will ensue." He called the House investigation "politically-motivated."

    DOCUMENTS STILL SOUGHT

    The House also voted 258-95 on a resolution asking U.S. courts to force Holder to turn over documents being sought by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as part of its long-running investigation of Fast and Furious. That could lead to a prolonged court fight with an uncertain outcome while a judge weighs the House demand against the Obama administration's claim of executive privilege to protect the documents.

    The unprecedented House rebuke of Holder was overshadowed by the U.S. Supreme Court's upholding of Democratic President Barack Obama's controversial healthcare law - a ruling that was reverberating throughout the country.

    Nevertheless, the House devoted much of its legislative session on Thursday to a sometimes bitter debate over Holder's role in Fast and Furious.

    The Justice Department initially denied that a program was being run that allowed some guns to "walk" into Mexico - a contention it later retracted, raising Republican suspicions.

    According to government figures, between 2007 and 2011, of 99,000 firearms recovered in Mexico and submitted to U.S. law enforcement, more than 68,000 came from the United States. In recent years, those weapons have shifted more and more from handguns to high-powered rifles.

    By early 2011, Fast and Furious had been terminated after disclosures that federal agents had lost track of many of the high-powered weapons, which subsequently were traced to crimes, including the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.

    House Republicans and Democrats have engaged in arguments all year over issues ranging from budget and taxes to contraceptives. Thursday's debate was no exception.

    Republican Representative Darrell Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, called the Arizona law enforcement operation "reckless."

    Issa said the contempt vote was held "because when we asked legitimate questions ... about Fast and Furious, we were lied to. We were lied to repeatedly and over a 10-month period."

    Pelosi accused Republicans of using the election-year contempt charge to undermine Holder's efforts to combat voter suppression in some states.

    "This is something that makes a witch hunt look like a day at the beach," Pelosi told reporters. "It is a railroading of a (contempt) resolution that is unsubstantiated by the facts."

    The tussle between the Obama administration and House Republicans is over the release of a series of documents dating from February 4, 2011, when the Justice Department initially denied that guns were being allowed to "walk" into Mexico.

    The fight could jeopardize the jobs of some senior Justice Department officials if Congress ultimately finds they were hiding important information related to Fast and Furious.

    Conversely, Republicans could be embarrassed if nothing turns up and they devoted so much time and energy to the affair, despite the need to help the struggling U.S. economy - the top priority of voters in the run-up to the November 6 presidential and congressional elections.

    HIGH-POWERED LOBBYING

    The National Rifle Association, a powerful lobbying organization that opposes gun regulation, has made the Holder contempt move a top priority. It has warned all 435 House members that a vote against the contempt citation would be a black mark against them.

    The NRA has argued that Fast and Furious was actually a back-door move by the Obama administration to lay the ground for new gun regulations by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which ran the southwest border gun-running investigation.

    Obama administration officials point out that the Justice Department already has released more than 7,000 documents to Issa's committee and that they showed that top officials in Washington initially knew little about Fast and Furious, which was hatched by law enforcement officials in Arizona.

    House Democrats, meanwhile, have complained that Issa has rejected their calls to investigate Bush administration gun probes similar to Fast and Furious.

    The fight between Republicans and Holder escalated last week, after the White House exerted "executive privilege" over the post-February 4, 2011 documents, saying they were protected communications that any administration needs as part of its deliberative process.

    In a partisan vote last week, Issa's committee charged Holder with contempt after negotiations to resolve the dispute failed. House Republican leaders immediately announced that the full House debate and vote would come quickly.

    While contempt of Congress charges generally are aimed at forcing officials to produce information to Congress, legal experts pointed out that they are very hard to enforce and this action could bring months or years of litigation and stalemate.

    http://news.yahoo.com/holder-faces-h...001855369.html
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    House votes to hold Eric Holder in contempt of Congress
    I]By Rachel Rose Hartman, Yahoo! News | The Ticket – 1 hr 37 mins ago.[/I]

    The full House of Representatives voted on Thursday to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress over the Justice Department's decision to withhold documents related to the failed Fast and Furious gunwalking operation.

    By a vote of 255 to 67, House members voted to hold Holder in contempt, disregarding a protest walkout led by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).

    "This is a sad day for the House of Representatives. It is an irresponsible day for the House of Representatives," House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.) said on the House floor prior to the vote. "It is a day in which the majority party asked us to take an action that has never been taken in the history of America."

    Thursday's vote was the first time a sitting Cabinet officer was held in contempt. Hoyer noted that Congress has issued previous contempt citations to other officials, but that the average time between committee action and consideration was 87 days. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted just last week to advance the measure to the full House.

    A total of 108 Democrats out of protest on Thursday chose not to vote on the measure, with 1 lawmaker voting present.

    Earlier Thursday, the House Democratic caucus voted unanimously to endorse the walkout. Just prior to the vote, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Hoyer joined with the CBC, members of the Hispanic, Asian Pacific American and Progressive Caucuses as well as other lawmakers to exit the House floor in protest, filing out of the chamber in a slow-moving and crowded line.

    "The Republican Leadership has articulated no legislative purpose for pursuing this course of action," the Caucus stated in a letter they previously circulated to colleagues encouraging them to join the walkout. "For these reasons we cannot and will not participate in a vote to hold the Attorney General in contempt. We adamantly oppose this partisan attack and refuse to participate in any vote that would tarnish the image of Congress or of an Attorney General who has done nothing but work tirelessly to protect the rights of the American people."

    Thursday's vote marked the culmination of the Oversight Committee's push to hold the government accountable for the failings of Fast and Furious, a scheme which oversaw the sale of firearms to Mexican drug cartels, though the majority of the weapons went missing.

    The committee opened an investigation into the operation to determine what the government knew and when, especially in light of a Feb. 4, 2011 letter, which the Justice Department later retracted. The letter incorrectly stated that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives "makes every effort to interdict weapons that have been purchased illegally and prevent their transportation to Mexico."

    The Justice Department refused to hand over many of the documents subpoenaed by the committee citing internal deliberations contained in the materials. President Barack Obama backed the decision and personally exerted executive privilege over the documents last week.

    Democrats argue that the Justice Department has been compliant to the extent it is able and that Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and other Republican lawmakers are simply playing politics by targeting Holder.

    "The Congress should be embarrassed about the conduct of this investigation and the charade that brings us to the floor today," Democratic Rep. Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania said on the House floor prior to the vote.

    "The Attorney General can't provide these documents-- the president has protected them under... executive privilege." Fattah added that Republicans have "lost their way" and because of them, Congress is held in high contempt.

    Other Democrats argue that Issa is woefully ignoring gunwalking operations conducted during President George W. Bush's administration.

    But Republicans maintain that they are fulfilling their duty to hold the government accountable and offered the Justice Department many opportunities to comply.

    "The Justice Department did not provide the facts and the information we requested," House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said on the House floor. In addition, Boehner said, the government "admitted to misleading Congress."

    On Thursday, Republicans rejected the Democratic assertion that their fight is simply political in nature.

    "I hear the stuff about witch hunt and about politics and it gets me sick," Florida Republican Rep. Rich Nugent said on the House floor. "As a former law enforcement officer, we should be more worried about what lousy policies that Attorney General Holder is covering up that caused the death of one of our own in protecting this country." Nugent invoked the name of border patrol agent Brian Terry, who was killed on Dec. 2010. Weapons related to Fast and Furious were found at his murder scene.

    Holder, in a statement following the vote, accused Republicans of failing to properly respond to Terry's death.

    "Today's vote is the regrettable culmination of what became a misguided-- and politically motivated-- investigation during an election year," Holder said. "By advancing it over the past year and a half, Congressman Issa and others have focused on politics over public safety. Instead of trying to correct the problems that led to a series of flawed law enforcement operations, and instead of helping us find ways to better protect the brave law enforcement officers, like Agent Brian Terry, who keep us safe — they have led us to this unnecessary and unwarranted outcome.

    The National Rifle Association, which contends the government used the operation to promote stricter gun control laws, inserted itself into Thursday's vote by warning lawmakers last week that it will use the contempt vote to rate lawmakers. The organization's decision placed added pressure on House Democrats in gun-friendly districts. Hoyer conceded that some members would change their votes accordingly.

    Seventeen Democrats joined with 238 Republicans to hold the attorney general in contempt, a number Republicans say invalidates talk of political theater. "False and partisan allegations
    by the White House and some congressional Democrats about the Oversight Committee's efforts were undermined by the votes of 17 Democrats," Issa said in a statement following the vote. "These Members resisted the pressure of their own leadership and the Obama Administration to support this investigation on the House floor."

    Issa, who noted that the vote could have been avoided if the Justice Department had released the pertinent documents, warned that the Republicans' fight is not yet over. "Unless President Obama relents to this bipartisan call for transparency and an end to the cover-up, our fight will move to the courts where we will prevail in getting the documents that the Justice Department and President Obama's flawed assertion of executive privilege have denied the American people," Issa said.

    Following the contempt resolution Thursday-- which centered on criminal charges-- the House passed a vote of civil contempt, which could advance to federal courts.

    http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/h...204937230.html


    Democrats Who Voted for Holder Contempt, Republicans Who Didn't
    By W. James Antle, III on 6.28.12 @ 5:15PM

    Here is the full list of the 17 Democrats who voted for the contempt resolution: Jason Altmire,John Barrow, Dan Boren, Leonard Boswell, Ben Chandler, Mark Critz, Joe Donnelly, Kathy Hochul, Ron Kind, Larry Kissell, Jim Matheson, Mike McIntryre, Bill Owens, Collin Peterson, Nick Rahall, Mike Ross, Tim Walz.

    Here are the two Republicans who voted against it: Scott Rigell and Steve LaTourette.

    All relative moderates within their conferences.

    http://spectator.org/blog/2012/06/28...ted-for-holder
    Last edited by Jolie Rouge; 06-28-2012 at 04:12 PM.
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    Black Caucus chairman vows 'something dramatic' during Holder contempt vote
    By Justin Sink - 06/28/12 09:26 AM ET

    The chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus said Thursday that he and other Democrats will walk out of the scheduled contempt vote against Attorney General Eric Holder in protest.

    "We don't want history to record that we participated in something that was so silly and so detrimental to one person," Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) told CNN on Thursday, adding Republican actions had forced his caucus to consider doing "something dramatic."

    The Missouri congressman accused Republicans of succumbing to "pathological partisanship" and said the move to hold Holder in contempt for refusing to turn over documents related to the Fast and Furious gun-tracking program "has absolutely no value to the republic."

    "Some of us just don't want to observe an injustice taking place. Eric Holder is a good and decent man and shouldn't get caught up in this presidential political season," Cleaver said.

    Cleaver would not say how many Democrats he expected to leave the chamber during the vote, but said he didn't expect that party leadership would exit with his supporters. Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the House's No. 3 Democrat, is a member of the CBC. "I doubt seriously that will happen, because they'll be needed on the floor," Cleaver said.

    http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...um=twitterfeed


    "We don't want history to record that we participated in something that was so silly and so detrimental to one person,"


    comments

    The Black Caucus is only doing this so they don't go down on the roll card as voting against contempt charges. This is only self presevation. They know Holder and Oba-mao are guilty of something bad. They simply don't want to go on record as being among those supporting them. They can also tell No-bammy and Holder that they supported them(symbolically), when in reality they really didn't as no vote is as good as a yes vote. Another lie from another bunch of dem's should suprise nobody.

    ...

    There is nothing silly or detrimental in investigating the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry or Ice Agent Jaime Zapata. What is silly is the argument that the AG is being held in contempt due to the color of his skin as opposed to the content of his character!!!!!

    ..

    Good luck with that Cleaver. Remember when Walker opponents left the State of Wisconsin to protest? Maybe you guys could leave the Country in protest.

    ..

    So the Black Caucus plans to not show up for work? Anyone surprised by that?
    Last edited by Jolie Rouge; 06-28-2012 at 03:52 PM.
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    Oversight Chair Darrell Issa makes Justice Department perfidy part of the official Operation Fast & Furious record.
    Moe Lane ~ Friday, June 29th at 9:30PM EDT

    A ways down below the fold is a description of a wiretap application by the Department of Justice (not the wiretap application itself) that had been provided to the House Oversight Committee by a whistle-blower, in response to Oversight’s investigation of the Justice Department’s Operation Fast & Furious debacle. The information found in it would normally be not accessible to anybody outside of the committee – the information that it is describing is under court seal – but Oversight Chair Darrell Issa put said description in the Congressional Record, secure in the knowledge that the Speech & Debate Clause of the Constitution almost certainly protects him from any sort of retribution. And, since it’s in the Congressional Record, it’s now by definition in the public record.

    So let’s go.

    To summarize, if Issa is providing an accurate summation of the aforementioned wiretap application, it apparently makes it clear that one or more of Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco, and Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Keeney knew as early as March of 2010 that:

    •Various individuals were planning to illegally resell firearms in Mexico;

    •That these individuals had already purchased large numbers of firearms, many of which were later found in Mexico;

    •The various methods by which these individuals planned to illegally resell, and in fact illegally sold, these firearms;

    •That surveillance on the individuals in question had already failed on several occasions;

    •That guns purchased by these individuals had already been found at Mexican crime scenes;

    •And that the individuals in question did not have the personal resources to make the purchases in question.

    …and we know this because, to quote Darrell Issa, these individual “signed these applications on behalf of Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer.” All of this is in flagrant disagreement with the administration’s position, which is essentially that nobody sufficiently important to be embarrassing to the administration knew the details of Operation Fast & Furious prior to Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s (whose name Democrats keep forgetting) murder (with Fast & Furious firearms found on the scene) in December of 2010.

    Put more shortly: the Justice Department knew that there was a criminal conspiracy to run guns into Mexico; they had an obligation to stop it; they didn’t, leading to the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of victims; and, hey! There’s a bunch of incriminating signatures on some incriminating authorization forms. And, oh, yeah, the Justice Department lied about all of it. Particularly the part about just when they knew all of this was happening.

    And now you know why Congress officially holds Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt. Because frankly, so do I.

    http://www.redstate.com/moe_lane/201...urious-record/
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    Addendum: the below is a portion of House Oversight Chair Darrell Issa’s presentation on 06/28/2012. It is directly taken from the Congressional Record. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-20...2012-06-28.pdf


    MARCH 2010 WIRETAP APPLICATION STATES THE MAIN SUSPECT HAD INTENT TO ACQUIRE FIREARMS FOR THE PURPOSE OF TRANSPORTING THEM TO MEXICO

    According to the wiretap application obtained by the Committee, as early as December 2009, the task force had identified the main suspect in Fast and Furious (Target 1), a figure well-known to our investigation. The affidavit provides transcripts of entire conversations obtained through a prior DEA wire intercept. These conversations demonstrate that key suspects in Operation Fast and Furious were running a firearms trafficking ring. In one conversation that took place on December 11, 2009, Unknown Person 1 asks, ‘‘Can you hold them [firearms] for me there for a little while there?’’ Target 1 responds, ‘‘Well it’s that I do not want to have them at home, dude, because there is a lot of . . . uh, it’s too much heat at my house.’’ Unknown Person 1 then asked where he could store the firearms and Target 1 responds, ‘‘[m]ake arrangements with that guy [Straw Purchaser X], call him back and make arrangements with him.’’ The affidavit acknowledges that while monitoring the DEA target telephone numbers, law enforcement officers intercepted calls that demonstrated that Target 1 was conspiring to purchase and transport firearms for the purpose of trafficking the firearms from the United States to Mexico,

    MARCH 2010 WIRETAP APPLICATION STATES THAT NEARLY 1,000 FIREARMS HAD ALREADY BEEN PURCHASED, AND THAT MANY WERE RECOVERED IN MEXICO

    The Probable Cause section of the affidavit shows that ATF was aware that from September 2009 to March 15, 2010, Target I acquired at least 852 firearms valued at approximately $500,000 through straw purchasers. As of March 15, 2010, twenty-one straw purchasers had been identified. Between September 23, 2009, and January 27, 2010, 139 firearms purchased by these straw purchasers were recovered—81 of which were in Mexico. These recoveries occurred one to 49 days after their purchase in Arizona.

    MARCH 2010 WIRETAP APPLICATION DESCRIBES HOW SMUGGLERS WERE BRINGING FIREARMS INTO MEXICO

    The wiretap affidavit details that agents were well aware that large sums of money were being used to purchase a large number of firearms, many of which were flowing across the border. For example, in the span of one month, Straw Purchaser Z bought 241 firearms from just three cooperating FFL,s. Of those, at least 57 guns were recovered shortly thereafter either in the possession of others or at crime scenes on both sides of the border. The wiretap affidavit even shows that ATF agents knew the tactics the smugglers were using to bring the guns into Mexico.

    According to the affidavit: The potential interceptees conspire with each other and others known to illegally traffic firearms to Mexico. The potential interceptees purchase firearms in Arizona and transport them to Mexico or a location in close proximity of the United States/Mexico border. The potential interceptees deliver the firearms to individual(s) both known and unknown who then transport them into Mexico and/or the potential interceptees transport the firearms across the border and deliver them to customers both known and unknown.

    The fact that ATF knew that Target 1 had acquired 852 firearms and had the present intent to move them to Mexico should have prompted Department officials to act. Department officials should have ensured that the firearms were interdicted immediately and that law enforcement took steps to disrupt any further straw purchasing and trafficking activities by Target 1. Similarly, by way of example, if Criminal Division attorneys were reviewing a wiretap affidavit that showed that human trafficking was taking place for the purpose of forcing humans into slavery, the attorneys should act to make sure such a practice would not continue. Accordingly, Target l’s activities should have provoked an immediate response by the Criminal Division to shut him and his network down.

    MARCH 2010 WIRETAP APPLICATION CONTAINS DETAILS OF DROPPED SURVEILLANCE

    The wiretap affidavit also describes firearms purchases by individual straw purchasers. For example, Straw Purchaser Y purchased five AK–47 type firearms on December 10, 2009, and surveillance units observed Straw Purchaser Y travel from the FFL where he made the purchase to Target l’s residence. The next day, surveillance units observed Straw Purchaser Y purchase an additional 21 AK–47 type firearms, and within an hour, arrive at Target l’s home.

    On December 8, 2009, agents observed Straw Purchaser Z purchase 20 AK–47 type firearms. While Straw Purchaser Z was making this purchase, Z saw a commercial delivery truck arrive at the gun store with a shipment of an additional 20 AK–47 type firearms. Straw Purchaser Z then told FFL employees that he wanted to purchase those additional firearms. Later that same day, Straw Purchaser Z returned to the FFL to buy them. After Straw Purchaser Z left the FFL with the firearms, Phoenix police officers conducted a vehicle stop on Straw Purchaser Z’s vehicle and identified two of the passengers as Straw Purchaser Z and Target 1. The officers observed the firearms in the bed of the truck and asked the subjects about the firearms. Straw Purchaser Z told them he had purchased the firearms and they belonged to him. ATF agents continued surveillance until the vehicle arrived at Target l’s residence.

    The very next day, nine of these firearms were recovered during a police stop of a third person in Douglas, Arizona, on the U.S.-Mexico border. Five days later, Straw Purchaser Z bought another 43 firearms from an FFL. On December 24, 2009, Straw Purchaser Z bought even more firearms, purchasing 40 AK–47 type rifles from an FFL. All of these rifles were recovered on January 13, 2010, in El Paso, Texas, near the U.S./Mexico border. Although the individual found in possession of all these guns provided the first name of the purchaser, agents did not arrest the individual or the purchaser. Though the wiretap application states that agents were conducting surveillance of known straw purchasers, none of these weapons were interdicted. No arrests were made.

    MARCH 2010 WIRETAP DETAILS HOW FAST AND FURIOUS FIREARMS HAD BEEN FOUND AT CRIME SCENES IN MEXICO

    The wiretap affidavit also details the very sort ‘‘time-to-crime’’ for many of the firearms purchased during Fast nd Furious. For example, on November 6, 2009, November 12, 2009, and November 14, 2009, Straw Purchaser Y purchased a total of 25 AK–47 type firearms from an FFL in Arizona. On November 20, 2009—just eight days later—Mexican officials recovered 17 of these firearms in Naco, Sonora, Mexico. Another straw purchaser, Straw Purchaser Q, purchased a total of 17 AK–47 type firearms from an FFL on November 3, 2009, November 10, 2009, and November 12, 2009. Then, on December 9, 2009, Mexican officials recovered 11 of these firearms in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, along with approximately 421 kilograms of cocaine, 60 kilograms of methamphetamine, 48 additional firearms, 392 ammunition cartridges, $2 million in U.S. currency, and $800,000 in Mexican currency.

    Once again, although ATF was aware of these facts, no one was arrested, and ATF failed to even approach the straw purchasers. Upon learning these details through its review of this wiretap affidavit, senior Justice Department officials had a duty to stop this operation. Further, failure to do so was a violation of Justice Department policy.

    STRAW PURCHASERS HAD MEAGER FINANCIAL MEANS

    The affidavit provides details of the straw purchasers’ financial records. As of March 15, 2010, just four straw purchasers had spent $373,206 in cash on firearms. Yet, these same straw purchasers had only minimal earnings in Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. Straw Purchaser Q earned $214 per week, while Straw Purchaser Y earned only $188 per week. Straw Purchaser Z earned $9,456.92 during FY 2009, and Straw Purchaser X did not report any income whatsoever.

    Name Money spent on firearms by 3/15/10 FY 2009 income*
    Straw Purchaser Y …………………… $128,580 $9,776
    Straw Purchaser Q …………………… 64,929 11,128
    Straw Purchaser X …………………… 39,663 None reported
    Straw Purchaser Z …………………… 140,034 9,456
    Total ………………………………. $373,206

    *Incomes based on weekly incomes detailed in wiretap application.

    These straw purchasers did not have the financial means to spend tens of thousands of dollars each on guns. Yet, ATF allowed them to continue acquiring firearms without approaching them to inquire how they were able to obtain the funds to do so. ATF also failed to alert the FFLs with this information so that they could make more fully informed decisions as to whether to continue selling to these straw purchasers.

    CONCLUSION

    The wiretap affidavit reveals a remarkableamount of specific information about Operation Fast and Furious. The affidavit reveals that the Justice Department has been misrepresenting important facts to Congress and withholding critical details about Fast and Furious from the Committee for months on end. As the primary investigative arm of Congress, our Committee has a responsibility to demand answers from the Department and continue the investigation until we get all the facts.
    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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    Issa Puts Wiretap Details in Congressional Record
    1:53 PM, Jun 29, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPER

    Roll Call reports the latest news in the Fast and Furious scandal: http://www.rollcall.com/news/darrell...-215828-1.html

    In the midst of a fiery floor debate over contempt proceedings for Attorney General Eric Holder, House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) quietly dropped a bombshell letter into the Congressional Record.

    The May 24 letter to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), ranking member on the panel, quotes from and describes in detail a secret wiretap application that has become a point of debate in the GOP’s “Fast and Furious” gun-walking probe.

    The wiretap applications are under court seal, and releasing such information to the public would ordinarily be illegal. But Issa appears to be protected by the Speech or Debate Clause in the Constitution, which offers immunity for Congressional speech, especially on a chamber’s floor.

    According to the letter, the wiretap applications contained a startling amount of detail about the operation, which would have tipped off anyone who read them closely about what tactics were being used.

    Holder and Cummings have both maintained that the wiretap applications did not contain such details and that the applications were reviewed narrowly for probable cause, not for whether any investigatory tactics contained followed Justice Department policy.

    The wiretap applications were signed by senior DOJ officials in the department’s criminal division, including Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco and another official who is now deceased.

    http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/...on_595780.html
    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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    .
    Holder? Prosecuted? White House says forget it
    By Olivier Knox, Yahoo! News | The Ticket – 7 hrs ago.


    The Department of Justice will not prosecute Attorney General Eric Holder after the Republican-led House of Representatives voted to hold him in contempt of Congress, the White House said Friday. "Prosecutions will not take place in this circumstance," spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One as President Barack Obama headed to wildfire-ravaged Colorado. Carney dismissed the contempt vote, which grew out of Holder's refusal to turn over Justice Department documents tied to the Fast and Furious operation, as "pure politics."

    The department sent House Speak John Boehner a letter underlining this point, saying it won't bring Holder's contempt citation before a federal grand jury nor will it pursue any other actions to prosecute him.

    The Fast and Furious operation aimed to track how firearms sold in America end up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) in Arizona observed suspected straw buyers purchasing weapons, but lost track of many of the guns involved. Two of the weapons were later recovered at the scene of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry's fatal shooting.Republicans have accused the ATF of "gun-walking," in which guns are deliberately allowed to flow to suspected criminals. The tactic has come to be associated with Fast and Furious, though a recent Fortune Magazine investigation cast doubt on whether it was ever part of that operation, and suggested that the ATF's inability to curtail weapons flows stemmed from lax gun laws.

    Carney noted that Obama had invoked executive privilege over the documents sought by Republicans in Congress. "It is an established principle, dating back to the administration of President Ronald Reagan, that the Justice Department does not pursue prosecution in a contempt case when the president has asserted executive privilege. The assertion of executive privilege makes the contempt matter moot, if you will," he said.

    So what's next for Eric Holder? "He's going to continue his excellent work as attorney general of the United States," Carney said.
    .
    http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/h...194850560.html

    comments

    It's a bewilder. DOJ refused to defend the Marriage Act never asking Congress. Now, they said it does not matter what Congress has decided they will not comply regardless.

    ..

    The House represents the American people's interests, this is basically the executive branch telling the people that they're above our laws/judgement.

    ..

    I honestly can't think of any good reason for withholding those documents. If any of you liberals know of one, let the rest of us in on it.
    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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    White House Blocks Testimony of Willing Fast and Furious Witness
    Written on April 9, 2012

    The congressional investigation into Operation Fast and Furious has hit another road block or should I say another White House block.

    The joint investigation is headed up by Sen Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee; and Rep Darrell Issa (R-CA) who is the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Over the past six months, they have waded through thousands of pages of documentation and interviewed dozens of individuals including US Attorney General Eric Holder.




    Among the mountains of documents they climbed through were a number of e-mails from Kevin O’Reilly. O’Reilly is a former member of the National Security staff and his emails indicate that he was smack dab in the middle of what is turning into a major scandal. Grassley and Issa sent a formal request to the White House to allow them to interview O’Reilly.

    According to an interview with Rep Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) (who also serves on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee with Issa) and Megyn Kelly with Fox News, Grassley and Issa just received a letter from Kathryn Ruemmler, White House Counsel, stating that the White House refuses to allow the interview to take place. Even though O’Reilly’s attorney has indicated that his client is willing to testify as to everything he knows about Fast and Furious, the White House is not willing to allow him to testify.

    http://visiontoamerica.org/9110/whit...rious-witness/
    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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