'Furious' report slams 'disregard' for public safety as DOJ officials quit

[Valin]

Fox News:

9/19/12

 

A bombshell report released Wednesday on Operation Fast and Furious faulted a range of federal agencies for the failed anti-gunrunning program and accused officials in charge of a "disregard" for public safety. In the wake of the report, one Justice Department official resigned and another retired.

 

The sprawling report by the department's inspector general is the most comprehensive account yet on the deadly operation which allowed weapons to "walk" across the U.S.-Mexico border and resulted in hundreds of firearms turning up at crime scenes in both countries.

 

The report says Attorney General Eric Holder was not made aware of potential flaws in the program until February of last year. But the report cites 14 other department employees -- including Criminal Division head Lanny Breuer -- for potential wrongdoing, recommending the department consider disciplinary action against them.

 

One congressional source told Fox News the report was "more brutal than was expected."

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

If anyone thinks this is over....think again.

[Valin]

More Vids Here

Commitee on oversight and Reform: Operation Fast and Furious

[Valin]

Parents of slain border agent slam DOJ report

Associated Press

9/20/12

 

The parents of a U.S. Border Patrol agent killed with a gun sold in the government's botched "Fast and Furious" gunrunning investigation believe a Justice Department Inspector General's report into the case was mostly an effort to keep Attorney General Eric Holder from being blamed.

 

Agent Brian Terry's father, Kent Terry, also said the former head of the ATF and a senior prosecutor who left the Justice Department after the report's release were getting off easy.

 

"We want whoever's responsible for this penalized, not slapped on the hand and given another pay raise," step-mother Carolyn Terry said. "I want someone to go to jail for what they've done.

(Snip)

 

Someone is not a happy camper.

[Draggingtree]

‘Fast and Furious’ Report Not the End of the Issa-Holder Battle

 

The chairman says an unprecedented level of cooperation, like that shown to the inspector general, could "perhaps eliminate the need for a protracted fight in the courts."

by Bridget Johnson

September 20, 2012 - 5:40 pm

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) strongly signaled that this week’s investigative report fingering 14 federal agents and prosecutors for wrongdoing in Operation Fast and Furious isn’t the end of the congressional probe into the botched gun-walking case.

But to “perhaps eliminate the need for a protracted fight in the courts,” Issa noted, the committee is hoping “we will in the coming days see a level of cooperation we have not thus seen.”

“It would be hopeful that that kind of willingness to have our investigators see what you have seen, would in fact allow this to come to a quicker close,” the chairman said to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, the sole witness at today’s hearing to review the findings of his investigation.

“I want to congratulate him on in fact delivering an extremely comprehensive, strong and independent report. … Although this report will not bring a complete end to the need for us to work with Justice to bring genuine reform to their process, it goes a long way toward that,” Issa said at the opening of the proceedings.

“The conclusions after 19 months of hard work, of course, are greater than some would want and fall short of what others would want. http://pjmedia.com/blog/fast-and-furious-report-not-the-end-of-the-issa-holder-battle/

[Valin]

‘Fast and Furious’ Report Not the End of the Issa-Holder Battle

 

Ya Think!

 

At a minimum Holder is going to be spending a great deal of time in the coming years defending himself on this. And if Obama doesn't grant him a pardon...he'll be spending time & money in court.

[Valin]

This is what a Lie Sounds like.

[Valin]

[Draggingtree]

Posted on Friday, September 21, 2012

Commentary: 'Fast and Furious' and lacking basic oversight

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

The following editorial appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Friday, Sept. 21:

Bad judgment, bad implementation, bad outcome.

That's the assessment that emerges from an inspector general's report into Operation Fast and Furious, a federal weapons-trafficking investigation that came to light after a U.S. border agent was killed in late 2010 and firearms illegally purchased in Arizona and taken to Mexico were found at the scene. (1.usa.gov/Qm0oCc)

Congressional Republicans, including Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, have battered Attorney General Eric Holder over the botched program, in which agents hunting Mexican drug traffickers lost track of thousands of weapons that operatives were buying in the U.S. and taking across the border.

The idea behind the tactic was to delay seizing illegally purchased guns, primarily AK-47-style rifles, until low-level smugglers delivered them to drug cartels.

But the volume of weapons involved overwhelmed the small number of agents working on the operation. Many of the firearms ended up being used in crimes, and two were found where border agent Brian Terry was slain. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/09/21/169308/fast-and-furious-and-lacking-basic.html

[Valin]

Fast and Furious Whistleblower to Fortune Magazine: Take Back Your Smears

Katie Pavlich

9/28/12

 

Fast and Furious whistleblower and ATF Special Agent John Dodson has sent a letter through his attorney Robert Driscoll to Fortune Magazine today, asking the outlet to retract the June 2012 story "The Truth About Fast and Furious" by Katherine Eban after last week's Department of Justice Inspector General Report cleared any wrongdoing by Dodson and Inspector General Michael Horowitz said whistleblowers were vindicated before Congress. From the letter:

 

As you are likely aware, the Justice Department Inspector General has now issued his exhaustive report about Operation Fast and Furious (the “IG Report”). Given its findings, it is clear that Ms. Eban’s purported finding of “the truth” was far from it, and in fact is demonstrably false in many respects. A retraction is in order to correct the record.

 

The story is still posted on CNNMoney.com. Eban is a former Clinton campaign staffer and has spent a good portion of her career as a feminist activist. In her article, (which I rebutted here) Eban argued ATF never intended to let guns walk and upheld corrupt supervisors of the lethal Fast and Furious program while smearing brave whistleblowers, Dodson in particular.

(Snip)

[Valin]

Fast and Furious: DOJ Wants Executive Privilege Lawsuit Dropped

Katie Pavlich

10/16/12

 

In June, President Obama asserted executive privilege over Fast and Furious documents just moments before Attorney General Eric Holder was voted in contempt by the House Oversight Committee. The House Oversight Committee then filed a lawsuit to challenge the executive privilege. President Obama claimed for more than a year Fast and Furious was a "low level, rogue operation" based in Phoenix but asserted executive privilege anyway. Now, the Department of Justice is asking for the lawsuit to be dismissed.

The Justice Department on Monday night sought dismissal of a lawsuit by a Republican-led House of Representatives committee demanding that Attorney General Eric Holder produce records about the botched law enforcement probe of gun-trafficking called Operation Fast and Furious.

(Snip)

If Fast and Furious was really a "low level, rogue operation" then executive privilege shouldn't have been asserted in the first place. The White House national security team was receiving emails about the Fast and Furious program while it was active in 2010, yet the White House has not made officials available for comment or interviews by congressional investigators about their involvement.