House Panel Recommends Contempt Case Against Holder

[Valin]

Lawmakers: 'Ominous' video a warning to ATF whistle-blowers after 'Furious'

7/19/12

 

The head of ATF recently warned employees that they will face "consequences" if they don't "respect the chain of command," in what Republican lawmakers are decrying as an "ominous message" meant to frighten would-be whistle-blowers in the wake of the Operation Fast and Furious scandal.

 

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa., and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., fired off a letter Wednesday to Acting Director B. Todd Jones saying the message "could be interpreted as a threat" and urging him to clarify.

 

"It was scary," Issa told Fox News on Thursday, in reference to Jones' video message to employees.

 

(Snip)

 

[pollyannaish]

Wow. That is a very thinly veiled threat.

 

Choices and consequences. Standard of conduct. Playing by the rules of the road. Making poor choices, appropriate way of raising concerns. Hots spots.

 

I'd be totally freaked out. That is clearly threatening. And what is the accelerated change he is speaking of?

[Valin]

@pollyannaish

 

Never talk about family business to outsiders...Capiche!

Ya got a good thing goin here...be a shame if something happened to it.

[righteousmomma]

I hold Holder and the entire administration and the current Democrats as entirely contemptable cases.

[Valin]

I hold Holder and the entire administration and the current Democrats as entirely contemptable cases.

 

The problem is even if they are voted out, we'll be living with the results of this for a very long time....I direct your attention to the Carter Administration.

[Draggingtree]

Obama Administration To Increase Fast & Furious After Aurora Shootings

 

 

The Obama Administration: Where Irony Goes To Die

 

Posted by streiff (Diary)

Friday, July 27th at 1:00PM EDT

 

The only saving grace of having a president devoid of principles, experience, or class is that he and his sycophants, when under pressure, routinely push forward statements and ideas that are so bizarre as to be unbelievable outside a very low-brow comedy routine.

For instance. Having suffered through 40 months of economic mismanagement unlike anything we’ve experienced since FDR, we’re told by the president, with no apparent sense of irony, that the private sector is “doing fine” and it is the government sector, that sector which is loss center on the national ledgers, that is hurting. Ordinarily, hovering with 15+% unemployment (U-6) is not considered “doing fine” and reducing government workers would be seen a good thing for the economy. The same applies with Obama’s essay into economic philosophy where we found that all business success flows from government expenditures via his infamous “somebody else made that happen” comment.

Now we are seeing read more http://www.redstate....rora-shootings/

[Valin]

@Draggingtree

 

 

2. Expand Obama’s new requirement issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives that gun shops in border states report customers who purchase two or more domestically made assault weapons within five business days. The courts have upheld the reporting requirement, and it could be expanded nationwide without congressional action. Gun-control advocates credit Obama for taking the initial step on tracking multiple sales in border states (where Mexican cartel violence has risen), but a national system could help make multiple assault-weapon purchases more visible and traceable.

 

Now I'm Gonna admit to three things right at the start.

A. I'm not a lawyer

B. I'm not a gun control "expert"

C. I'm not the brightest bulb on the tree

 

That said, I always thought assault weapons were banned, and you had to get a special permit from the Federal government to buy & own one.

 

It appears to me the Administrations policy on this...(and many many many other things) subject can be summed up with a quote from Animal House..." I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part."

 

 

PS does this mean foreign made assault weapons are exempt? You can buy any kind of assault weapon in whatever quantity you want in say Kansas? Its not a border state.

[Valin]

H/T Right Scoop

Cross posted Coffee Shop

[Casino67]

Rep. Adams is a real bulldog. Seems as though she will take on anyone without fear. Glad she is on our side.

[nickydog]

She is one tough cookie. I like her! I, too, am glad she is on our side.

[Valin]

@Casino67 @nickydog

 

Without help (translation MONEY) she may not be,,,

 

From The Right Scoop

 

Rep. Adams was elected in 2010 in what the Democrats call the “Red Wave” and has an incredible and inspiring personal story. Due to the Florida redistricting fiasco, Rep. Adams was plopped in to a primary against twenty year incumbent and Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, John Mica.

 

Rep. Mica who co-authored the bill that created everyone’s favorite molestation agency, the TSA, is also known for his devout love of earmarks. Rep. Mica reportedly requested $4 billion in earmarks during his tenure, $13 million of which went to his daughter’s client. But it gets better. Turn’s out, Rep. Mica is also President Obama’s “biggest cheerleader.” His words.

 

 

Talk is cheap.

Sandy Adams.com

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Darrell Issa to Sue Eric Holder Monday

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa plans to sue Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday for refusing to provide documents related to the "Fast and Furious" gun-smuggling operation.

 

"The committee expects to file the civil contempt suit against the attorney general Monday," a Republican source said. The suit will be filed in the federal district court for the District of Columbia.

 

The action is the latest escalation in the dispute between House Republicans and the Justice Department over the documents, which relate to a botched gun-smuggling operation.

[Valin]

Darrell Issa to Sue Eric Holder Monday

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa plans to sue Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday for refusing to provide documents related to the "Fast and Furious" gun-smuggling operation.

 

"The committee expects to file the civil contempt suit against the attorney general Monday," a Republican source said. The suit will be filed in the federal district court for the District of Columbia.

 

The action is the latest escalation in the dispute between House Republicans and the Justice Department over the documents, which relate to a botched gun-smuggling operation.

 

Another Self-Inflicted Wound for Eric Holder

John Yoo

8/13/12

 

 

 

White House stubbornness has forced the House to file suit against Eric Holder to force him to turn over documents related to the Fast and Furious investigation. Nancy Pelosi's claims that the lawsuit takes money away from growing the economy and enforcing voting laws is truly laughable. If the administration were truly interested in those noble goals, all it would have to do is turn over the documents. But perhaps forcing the House to spend money on lawyers to pursue these civil contempt charges is another failed Obama Administration effort at a stimulus program.

 

This inanity should not obscure the fact that there are important, conflicting issues here. Congress has every right, as part of its oversight powers, to find out who is responsible for the bizarre DOJ gun-running program that resulted in the death of a U.S. law enforcement official. The Justice Department should try to keep confidential any information that is directly related to sensitive law enforcement programs -- for example, we do not want to publicly reveal the names of drug cartel informants.

 

The usual way to resolve this conflict is for DOJ to show the documents to the committee staff in a closed meeting -- that is what often happened during the congressional investigations into the Clinton Whitewater scandals (in which I participated as general counsel to Senator Orrin Hatch).

(Snip)

 

 

So the question is...What do they have to hide?

 

[Valin]

House Republicans vs. Holder

The Oversight Committee sues for Fast and Furious documents.

Scott Coffina

8/16/12

 

The House of Representatives has filed a civil lawsuit against Attorney General Eric Holder, seeking to enforce its subpoena for documents related to the Department of Justice’s ill-conceived Fast and Furious gun-running operation. Some members of Congress will claim that this action is a personal, or even racist, attack on the attorney general, while many in the media will dismiss the lawsuit as a ploy to score political points. But such responses will trivialize a critical investigation into Fast and Furious, which armed criminals and left one of our Border Patrol agents dead.

 

At issue in this lawsuit are documents that could explain what the Justice Department leadership learned about Fast and Furious between February and December of 2011 that caused the department to completely reverse its original denial of whistleblower complaints about the program. In a February 4, 2011, letter to Senator Charles Grassley, the department denied that ATF “sanctioned” the sale of assault weapons to straw purchasers who then transported them to Mexico, and claimed that the department always attempts to interdict guns that have been purchased illegally. Just eight months later, the attorney general and other senior DOJ officials testified that the whole Fast and Furious operation was “fundamentally flawed and . . . its tactics must never be repeated,” and in December 2011, the department took the extraordinary step of formally withdrawing its February 4 letter entirely.

 

(Snip)

 

As the showdown moves to the court system, there is political risk and legal uncertainty for both sides. The House faces a skeptical public, fueled by a chorus of lawmakers and commentators making rather outrageous allegations about the motives behind the proceedings. Meanwhile, the administration risks a public backlash over the perception that it is covering up embarrassing information about a tragically misguided law-enforcement operation. Those are considerations for each side to weigh as they decide whether to press their case or reach a political compromise. On the legal front, the gravity of the investigation into Fast and Furious and the Oversight Committee’s obvious need to understand what caused the Justice Department to recognize that its initial explanation of the operation was profoundly wrong, tip the balance of equities decidedly in the committee’s favor.

[Draggingtree]

Major report released on Fast and Furious, DOJ official resigns

By: Curt | 0 views

Fox News:

A major report released Wednesday on the Operation Fast and Furious scandal faulted a range of federal agencies for the failed anti-gunrunning program — and has resulted in the resignation of one Justice Department official.

Jason Weinstein, the deputy assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division, is resigning in the wake of the Justice Department inspector general report on Fast and Furious. The report essentially concludes that he is the most senior department official who was in a position to stop Fast and Furious. http://floppingaces.net/most_wanted/major-report-released-on-fast-and-furious-doj-official-resigns/

[Draggingtree]

Breaking: DOJ’s Inspector General’s office insulates Attorney General Holder from Operation Fast & Furious.

 

By: Moe Lane (Diary) | September 19th at 03:10 PM | 0

Executive summary: the Inspector General for the Department of Justice did an independent – no, let’s be honest; it was an “internal” – investigation into the horrifically botched multi-agency program known as Operation Fast & Furious (OF&F). For those who don’t remember, OF&F was that program where we let Mexican drug gangs illegally buy guns, didn’t keep track of the guns, and pretty much watched |

[Draggingtree]

Grassley: IG report proves White House Executive Privilege claims specious

 

By: Neil W. McCabe

9/19/2012 06:24 PM

The Republican senator leading the inquest into Fast & Furious said he has a mixed reaction to the Sept. 19 Justice Department Inspector General report on the operation that day.

“Operation Fast and Furious was the height of irresponsibility on the part of a number of people from the ATF Phoenix field office all the way up to the Justice Department headquarters,” said Charles E. “Chuck” Grassley (R.-Iowa), who with Rep. Darrell E. Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is trying to piece together the facts as to what really happened inside the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives program that facilitated the flow of illegally purchased firearms into the hands of Mexican crime organizations.

The 512-page report, “A Review of ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious and Related Matters,” contains many details

http://www.humanevents.com/2012/09/19/grassley-doj-ig-fast-furious-leaves-questions-unanswered/