ATF Fast and Furious: New documents show Attorney General Eric Holder was briefed in July 2010

[WestVirginiaRebel]

CBS News:

WASHINGTON - New documents obtained by CBS News show Attorney General Eric Holder was sent briefings on the controversial Fast and Furious operation as far back as July 2010. That directly contradicts his statement to Congress.

On May 3, 2011, Holder told a Judiciary Committee hearing, "I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks."

Yet internal Justice Department documents show that at least ten months before that hearing, Holder began receiving frequent memos discussing Fast and Furious.

The documents came from the head of the National Drug Intelligence Center and Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer.

In Fast and Furious, ATF agents allegedly allowed thousands of weapons to cross the border and fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

It's called letting guns "walk," and it remained secret to the public until Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered last December. Two guns from Fast and Furious were found at the scene, and ATF agent John Dodson blew the whistle on the operation.

Ever since, the Justice Department has publicly tried to distance itself. But the new documents leave no doubt that high level Justice officials knew guns were being "walked."

Two Justice Department officials mulled it over in an email exchange Oct. 18, 2010. "It's a tricky case given the number of guns that have walked but is a significant set of prosecutions," says Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division. Deputy Chief of the National Gang Unit James Trusty replies "I'm not sure how much grief we get for 'guns walking.' It may be more like, "Finally they're going after people who sent guns down there."

The Justice Department told CBS News that the officials in those emails were talking about a different case started before Eric Holder became Attorney General. And tonight they tell CBS News, Holder misunderstood that question from the committee - he did know about Fast and Furious - just not the details.
________

Holder is toast.

[Valin]

More Here

[pollyannaish]

I think between this Solyndra...Obama is toast. Beyond simply being voted out of office I mean.

 

He is going to leave disgraced.

[RandyM]

I think between this Solyndra...Obama is toast. Beyond simply being voted out of office I mean.

 

He is going to leave disgraced.

 

 

pollyannaish! Well then, there's the Hope and Change we've been looking for!

[Rheo]

I think between this Solyndra...Obama is toast. Beyond simply being voted out of office I mean.

 

He is going to leave disgraced.

That is my hope and change.

[Geee]

Pajamas Media:

News documents indicate that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder more than likely perjured himself in congressional testimony about Operation Fast and Furious earlier this year.

Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News and William LaJeunesse of Fox News have been the only mainstream media reporters diligently working on the most important scandal in White House history, and it is no surprise that they concurrently released information indicating that the attorney general, who claimed in direct testimony on May 3 of this year in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that he first heard about Operation Fast and Furious “over the last few weeks,” had actually been briefed on the program in a memo by the director of the National Drug Intelligence Center almost a year earlier on July 5, 2010.

A copy of the heavily redacted weekly report posted by CBS News offers direct evidence that not only was the attorney general briefed on Operation Fast and Furious, but that he was briefed on it regularly and was well aware that the program was sending thousands of weapons into the hands of the Sinaloa cartel:

From July 12 through July 16, the National Drug Intelligence Center Document and Media Exploitation Team at the Phoenix Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCTDETF) Strike Force will support the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ Phoenix Field Division with its investigation of Manuel Celis-Acosta as part of OCDETF Operation Fast and Furious. This investigation, initiated in September 2009 in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Phoenix Police Department, involves a Phoenix-based firearms trafficking ring headed by Manual Celis-Acosta. Celis-Acosta and [redacted] straw purchasers are responsible for the purchase of 1,500 firearms that were then supplied to Mexican drug trafficking cartels. They also have direct ties to the Sinaloa Cartel which is suspected of providing $1 million for the purchase of firearms in the greater Phoenix area.

That excerpt stated what the task force would do in the near future, while the same language was used later in the report to show what the task force had done that week:

From July 6 through July 9, the National Drug Intelligence Center Document and Media Exploitation Team at the Phoenix Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCTDETF) Strike Force will support the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ Phoenix Field Division with its investigation of Manuel Celis-Acosta as part of OCDETF Operation Fast and Furious. This investigation, initiated in September 2009 in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Phoenix Police Department, involves a Phoenix-based firearms trafficking ring headed by Manual Celis-Acosta. Celis-Acosta and [redacted] straw purchasers are responsible for the purchase of 1,500 firearms that were then supplied to Mexican drug trafficking cartels. They also have direct ties to the Sinaloa Cartel which is suspected of providing $1 million for the purchase of firearms in the greater Phoenix area.

Attorney General Holder’s eventual criminal defense attorney is certain to state that the attorney general is provided with dozens of reports each week, and that is within the realm of reasonable doubt that he simply overlooked or did not remember the specifics of this memo.

Prosecutors would likely cast doubt on such a claim, citing the fact that the report was named Operation Fast and Furious, that it referred to the number of guns walked by the program at that time (1,500), and that it even noted how much they thought the Sinaloa cartel had budgeted for weapons ($1 million). They will then note that this information was cited twice in each weekly report for both current and future operations.

The prosecutors will more than likely be able to state with a great degree of certainly that Holder was provided this information in x number of weekly reports spanning y number of months in a report that only cites the most important National Drug Intelligence Center cases.

[RandyM]

It appears CBS may actually be trying some investigative journalism. Did I say that? Nevertheless, Holder is slipperier than a greased pig and he has surrounded himself with greasy little piglets. He may eventually resign, but that's as far as it'll go.

[clearvision]

From Fox News

 

EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans are calling for a special counsel to determine whether Attorney General Holder perjured himself during his testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on Operation Fast and Furious, Fox News has learned.

 

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, was sending a letter to President Obama on Tuesday arguing that Holder cannot investigate himself, and requesting the president instruct the Department of Justice to appoint a special counsel.

[Geee]

Let's see. WA has been gone for over two years now and we were saying any day then If it happens now its like 2 years too late!!!!

[Rheo]

Did the White House try to strong-arm a journalist in the wake of the Justice Department’s “Operation Fast and Furious” scandal? CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson says government leaders took a very aggressive tack following her revelations earlier this year.

 

On Tuesday’s Laura Ingraham Show, Attkisson said DOJ spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler and White House associate communications director Eric Schultz yelled and screamed at her over the story.

 

“The DOJ woman was just yelling at me,” Attkisson said. “The guy from the White House on Friday night literally screamed at me and cussed at me. Eric Schultz — oh, the person screaming was Tracy Schmaler. She was yelling, not screaming. And the person who screamed at me was Eric Schultz at the White House.”

 

Attkisson explained the vicious tongue-lashing:

 

“In between the yelling that I received from the Justice Department yesterday, the spokeswoman — who would not put anything in writing — I was asking for her explanation so there would be clarity and no confusion later over what had been said. She wouldn’t put anything in writing,” she said.

 

“So we talked on the phone and she said things such as ‘the question Holder answered was different than the one he asked.’ But the way he phrased it, he said very explicitly, ‘I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.’”

 

Attkisson also said the DOJ and White House representatives complained that CBS was “unfair and biased” because it didn’t give the White House favorable coverage on the developing scandal.

 

“Is it sort of a drip, drip. And I’m certainly not the one to make the case for DOJ and White House about what I’m doing wrong,” she added. “They will tell you that I’m the only reporter, as they told me, that is not reasonable. They say The Washington Post is reasonable, the LA Times is reasonable, The New York Times is reasonable — I’m the only one who thinks this is a story, and they think I’m unfair and biased by pursuing it.”

 

Listen:

 

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/04/cbs-reporter-white-house-doj-yelled-and-screamed-at-her-over-fast-and-furious-scandal/#ixzz1ZqFb9cZy

[RandyM]

Did the White House try to strong-arm a journalist in the wake of the Justice Department’s “Operation Fast and Furious” scandal? CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson says government leaders took a very aggressive tack following her revelations earlier this year.

 

 

I believe her. I'm sure the WH is totally PO'd that a CBS reporter would (gasp) dare to question their actions or motives.

[Valin]

Drip...Drip...Drip....Drip

 

 

Power Line: Reporters: How Reasonable Can They Get?

John Hinderaker

10/4/11

 

This almost made me laugh out loud: via Mark Hemingway at the Weekly Standard, reporter Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News, who is covering the Fast and Furious scandal, is being screamed at by the White House because she isn’t helping to cover it up. Attkisson was interviewed on Laura Ingraham’s radio show:

 

Ingraham: So they were literally screaming at you?

 

Attkisson: Yes. Well the DOJ woman was just yelling at me. The guy from the White House on Friday night literally screamed at me and cussed at me. [Laura: Who was the person? Who was the person at Justice screaming?] Eric Schultz. Oh, the person screaming was [DOJ spokeswoman] Tracy Schmaler, she was yelling not screaming. And the person who screamed at me was Eric Schultz at the White House. …(Snip)

 

Now I could be wrong but believe the most transparent administration in history is getting a little...concerned about this little misunderstanding.

[Valin]

[clearvision]

Thanks Valin!

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans are calling for a special counsel to determine whether Attorney General Eric Holder misled Congress during his testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on Operation Fast and Furious, Fox News has learned.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, was sending a letter to President Obama on Tuesday arguing that Holder cannot investigate himself, and requesting the president instruct the Department of Justice to appoint a special counsel.

The question is whether Holder knowingly made false statements of fact under oath during a Judiciary Committee hearing on May 3. At the time, Holder indicated he was not familiar with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives program known as Fast and Furious until about April 2011.

"I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks," Holder testified.

The Department of Justice defended Holder in a statement Tuesday.

“The Attorney General’s testimony to both the House and the Senate was consistent and truthful," it read. "He said in both March and May of this year that he became aware of the questionable tactics employed in the Fast and Furious Operation in early 2011 when ATF agents first raised them publicly, and at the time, he asked the Inspector General’s office to investigate the matter."

However, newly discovered memos suggest otherwise. For instance, one memo dated July 2010 shows Michael Walther, director of the National Drug Intelligence Center, told Holder that straw buyers in the Fast and Furious operation "are responsible for the purchase of 1,500 firearms that were then supplied to the Mexican drug trafficking cartels."

Other documents also indicate that Holder began receiving weekly briefings on the program from the National Drug Intelligence Center "beginning, at the latest, on July 5, 2010," Smith wrote.

"These updates mentioned, not only the name of the operation, but also specific details about guns being trafficked to Mexico," Smith wrote in the letter to Obama.

"Allegations that senior Justice Department officials may have intentionally misled members of Congress are extremely troubling and must be addressed by an independent and objective special counsel. I urge you to appoint a special counsel who will investigate these allegations as soon as possible," Smith wrote.
________

Will this prosecutor get yelled at?

[Valin]

RCP Video: Issa: Fast And Furious Investigation About A Cover-Up, Deception From DOJ

[Valin]

Townhall: Rep. Labrador: Holder Must Resign

Katie Pavlich

10/6/11

 

Fresh off of President Obama saying he has "complete confidence" in Attorney General Eric Holder's May 3, 2011 testimony to Congress, Rep. Raul Labrador, who sits on the House Ovesight Committee, is calling for Holder's resignation.

 

Mr. Labrador has been critical of potential abuses of the Bureau of Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BAFTE) since his March 17, 2011 letter to Oversight Chairman Darrel Issa urging his committee to conduct in-depth investigations into allegations of weapons being sold, with federal government complicity, to Mexican cartels. Over 1,500 such weapons remain unaccounted for and already one was found at the scene of the death of an American law enforcement officer.

 

Labrador stated, "I first learned about Fast and Furious early this year from several of my constituents. I then asked Chairman Issa to hold hearings on the topic. As I attended the hearings and reviewed the evidence, I was careful to not jump to any conclusions about the extent of Mr. Holder's involvement. However, the recently published documents that directly link Mr. Holder to Fast and Furious have convinced me that he is either lying or grossly incompetent."

 

(Snip)

[clearvision]

Obama today in his presser said it is up to the AG to prosecute any crimes out of Fast and Furious. Hmmm....

[Valin]

Daily Caller: Mark Steyn: Why don’t CNN, NPR, NY Times care about ‘dead Mexicans’?

 

(Click On Link For Audio)

Though reporters asked about it during President Obama’s Thursday press conference, media coverage of the gun-running “Fast and Furious” scandal has generally been lacking.

 

On Hugh Hewitt’s syndicated radio program Thursday, columnist Mark Steyn explained why he hasn’t ignored the story, and attacked the Obama administration’s involvement in the program.

 

“In this case the government of the United States is the gunrunner,” Steyn said. “That is basically what is happening here. There would be no guns running to these Mexican cartels if the United States government hadn’t instituted a program to facilitate it.”

 

Steyn noted the lack of media outrage compared with other scandals in the past.

 

“Now real Mexicans are dead,” he continued. “Does the president of the United States, does his attorney general, does CNN, does The New York Times, does NPR — do they not care about dead Mexicans?

 

(Snip)

[Rheo]

CBS Reporter to O'Reilly: More to Come on 'Fast and Furious'

October 07, 2011

 

 

The CBS journalist also revealed that there was more depth to the issue than meets the eye:

 

ATTKISSON: Well, I would say there have been some pretty incredible developments in the past week. Also, documents- we haven't even had time to report on all of them. There are very sensitive documents and allegations going around. Many of them we haven't reported yet because we need to get more confirmation of them. But what you see on the surface, that we do report in our stories, is really only a part of what may be going on, and we may be reporting in the future when we can get confirmation.

 

[Casino67]

Does anyone watch CBS Evening News? Have they covered this story? Do any of the broadcast networks cover it?

[Rheo]

Does anyone watch CBS Evening News? Have they covered this story? Do any of the broadcast networks cover it?

Nope. Not sure. Definitely not.

[RandyM]

Can you imagine how ATF agents even remotely involved in this fubar operation feel? Every one of them probably knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that their big boss Holder knew about F&F from the earliest stages. Imagine how abandoned they feel right now... how abandoned they've felt for the last three years since Obama took office. The reputations of DOJ and ATF are now so far in the crapper it will take a multitude of Attaboys to overcome this one Aw-Sh!t. Sad.

[Valin]

LA Times: Fast and Furious weapons were found in Mexico cartel enforcer's home

Guns illegally purchased under the ATF operation were found in April hidden in violence-plagued Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, court records show.

Richard A. Serrano, Washington Bureau

October 8, 2011

 

This arsenal uncovered by police in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in April turned out to include weapons from

the ATF's ill-fated Fast and Furious operation. (Associated Press)

 

 

Reporting from Washington

High-powered assault weapons illegally purchased under the ATF's Fast and Furious program in Phoenix ended up in a home belonging to the purported top Sinaloa cartel enforcer in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, whose organization was terrorizing that city with the worst violence in the Mexican drug wars.

 

In all, 100 assault weapons acquired under Fast and Furious were transported 350 miles from Phoenix to El Paso, making that West Texas city a central hub for gun traffickers. Forty of the weapons made it across the border and into the arsenal of Jose Antonio Torres Marrufo, a feared cartel leader in Ciudad Juarez, according to federal court records and trace documents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

 

The smugglers' tactics — quickly moving the weapons far from ATF agents in southern Arizona, where it had been assumed they would circulate — vividly demonstrate that what had been viewed as a local problem was much larger. Six other Fast and Furious guns destined for El Paso were recovered in Columbus, N.M.

(Snip)

 

 

FYI LA Times: Full coverage: ATF's Fast and Furious scandal

[Valin]

Can you imagine how ATF agents even remotely involved in this fubar operation feel? Every one of them probably knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that their big boss Holder knew about F&F from the earliest stages. Imagine how abandoned they feel right now... how abandoned they've felt for the last three years since Obama took office. The reputations of DOJ and ATF are now so far in the crapper it will take a multitude of Attaboys to overcome this one Aw-Sh!t. Sad.

 

 

Not sure I'm willing to say "From The Earliest Stages", but certainly earlier than he said. In addition I have (want?) to think that at some point someone had to say...lets step back and rethink this! Are we really really really sure we want to go with this plan.