The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Politics & RKBA => Topic started by: Marshal Halloway on June 14, 2011, 12:38:46 PM
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The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing entitled, "Obstruction of Justice: Does the Justice Dep't Have to Respond to a Lawfully Issued & Valid Congressional Subpoena?" The hearing will examine the constitutional questions raised by the Department of Justice's refusal to comply with a Congressional subpoena.
The hearing is the first in a series on Operation Fast and Furious conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Monday June 13, 2011:
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Thanks for the link Marshal. 8)
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The case boils down to this: Is the BATFE above the law? They seem to think so. Hopefully they'll be informed otherwise, though I'm not holding my breath.
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The case boils down to this: Is the BATFE above the law? They seem to think so. Hopefully they'll be informed otherwise, though I'm not holding my breath.
There is that pesky little matter of next year's budget. At the end of the day Congress will win if it straps its balls on.
FQ13
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Darrell Issa, Department of Justice feud heats up
The Obama administration and Rep. Darrell Issa seem to be headed for their biggest showdown yet as the House oversight committee chief prepares for a Wednesday hearing into an undercover, federal gunrunning investigation that lost track of weapons later found at the scene of a Border Patrol agent’s murder in Arizona.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/56995.html
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There is that pesky little matter of next year's budget. At the end of the day Congress will win if it straps its balls on.
FQ13
They have to find them first....
Did you guys see any of the Waco hearings? That all went away with a tsk, tsk - do try not to do that again.
I hope the nuetered, poll gazing politicians will pull their heads out of their butts on this investigation - but that's asking a lot.
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Oversight Is Delivering Answers on the Administration's Deadly Project Gunrunner
oversightandreform:
"Operation Fast and Furious: Reckless Decisions, Tragic Outcomes" Panel 1:
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Hope it amounts to something but am afraid it's much ado about nothing or business/bullshit as usual!
JMHOFWIW
Richard
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"Operation Fast and Furious: Reckless Decisions, Tragic Outcomes." Panel 2
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"Operation Fast and Furious: Reckless Decisions, Tragic Outcomes." Panel 3
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Issa staffer: Gunrunner investigation points much higher than ATF director
A spokesman for House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa told The Daily Caller the congressman expects his investigations into the Justice Department’s gun walking programs to point to a much higher political appointee than acting ATF director Kenneth Melson.
Melson is widely expected to resign some time in the next couple of days in the face of political pressure from Issa’s investigations into Project Gunrunner and Operation Fast Furious.
Even if Melson resigns, Issa spokesman Frederick Hill said the Committee expects to find much more and continue with investigations.
“The investigations are far from over,” Hill told TheDC. “It’s quite certain that Kenneth Melson was not the principal architect of this plan nor was he the only high-ranking official who knew about and authorized this operation.” (WHAT DID THEY KNOW? Top two ATF officials ‘briefed weekly’ on ‘Fast and Furious’)
Project Gunrunner and Operation Fast and Furious were programs that involved ATF officials allowing guns to be taken into Mexico with the ultimate apparent goal of tracking the larger Mexican drug cartels’ arms market.
http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/21/issa-staffer-gunrunner-investigation-points-much-higher-than-atf-director/
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I'd like them to keep investigating but will it get any airplay? :-\
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Melson will be thrown under the bus,.....than the spindoctors will play to the oblivious, uninformed, and indifferent masses...."Nothing to see here folks,....move along...."""
Meanwhile, keep watch for the other hand. It went straight to the top within the DOJ, (AG Holder),....who doesn't wipe his *** without BHO keeping in the know,...
But it's plausible deniability to protect the Anointed One. The big picture of Fast & Furious was meant to get some form of public outcry for 2nd Amend. reform against evil "military/assault" rifles...
They are dirty, low down, back stabbing, anti gun folks with an agenda. They have not stopped, they will not stop, and sadly there are many within our gov't that encourage it to continue.
I'm stunned Rebeca Peters, formerly of IANSA, hasn't been given a regulatory Czar position with this admin.
Oh, wait, ....just a Hezbollah sympathizer for the chair of American/Islamic relations,....
sorry,...
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In my perfect world, here's how it would play out:
- Anybody who touched this and DIDN'T say anything would be fired without benefits, extradited to Mexico, and permanently barred from federal service.
- The whistleblower would be the new head of the ATF.
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In my perfect world, here's how it would play out:
- Anybody who touched this and DIDN'T say anything would be fired without benefits, extradited to Mexico, and permanently barred from federal service.
- The whistleblower Uncle Ted would be the new head of the ATF.
FIFY ;D
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(http://media.townhall.com/Townhall/Car/b/110622beelertoon_c20110622032941.jpg)
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Wayne LaPierre on Lou Dobbs 062211
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The Daily Show weighs in.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-june-21-2011/the-fast-and-the-furious---mexico-grift (http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-june-21-2011/the-fast-and-the-furious---mexico-grift)
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The Daily Show weighs in.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-june-21-2011/the-fast-and-the-furious---mexico-grift (http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-june-21-2011/the-fast-and-the-furious---mexico-grift)
No offense to you Ichi, but WHY should I care what a comedian / entertainer / loudmouth says about it?
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No offense to you Ichi, but WHY should I care what a comedian / entertainer / loudmouth says about it?
If you are so upset by him then don't click the link. Even though I disagree with him on almost everything, I do find him humorous. YMMV.
I also thought it of note that 1.) such a left wing tool even addressed it, and 2.) he did not attack gun laws but the idiocy of the F&F program.
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No offense to you Ichi, but WHY should I care what a comedian / entertainer / loudmouth says about it?
Because when you have lost Stewart, you KNOW it was felony STUPID.
You really should watch it, he really does nail it.
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http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/fired-gunrunner-whistleblower-vince-cefalu-speaks-pjm-exclusive/?singlepage=true
‘Gunrunner’ Whistleblower Vince Cefalu Speaks
Earlier this week, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent a letter to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Deputy Director William J. Hoover, insisting on assurances there would be no reprisals against the ATF agents who have chosen to testify about the failed Operation Fast and Furious — the operation Issa has called “felony stupid.”
Just a day later, ATF Special Agent Vince Cefalu received notice ATF wants to terminate his employment after more than 30 years with the agency. Cefalu is one of the founders of CleanUpATF.org, a message board dedicated to addressing abuses within the ATF. He is one of the most vocal critics of the heads of the organization.
He said the main reason given in the four-page document for his termination is “lack of candor.”
Four years ago, what originally landed Cefalu in trouble was a case called “Road Dog“. In that case, local law enforcement was allegedly using an illegal wiretap — something Cefalu resisted:
I threw the locals under the bus. … I became the most vocal critic and they got sick of my s***.
He’s since spent four years in a do-nothing job, with ATF managers hoping he’d get the message and retire:
They put me in a cage, paid me full salary, and hoped it would break me down mentally and I would retire.
Since he did a three-part series of interviews about the problems in ATF with CNN’s Anderson Cooper last May, Cefalu says he’s been given only 122 minutes of work:
Not GS-13 investigative work either. Changing batteries or filling cars with gas.
Cefalu said he’s suffered persecution in several other ways as well:
[Acting Director] Ken Melson can’t even respond to a letter from a committee chairman. … I can’t fart in public without being accused of violations. I’ve submitted to seven internal affairs investigations since I blew the whistle. Without an attorney present, I answered every question.
I’m representing dozens of agents [in greivance cases]. They take me out of play, they take a bunch of these cases out of play.
Cefalu says there should be prosecutions in the failed Operation Fast and Furious case, also known as “Gunwalker.” When asked if ATF had violated the law in this case, he responded:
Of course if violates the law! They conspired to traffic firearms, you can’t do that under color of law. … There was no intent to follow the guns, this never had a chance of succeeding. It was a failed plan from the beginning.
He also says there is no huge gun-trafficking operation, no “Iron Pipeline” of firearms traveling from the U.S. to Mexico — just lots of buyers who can make a couple thousand dollars selling weapons across the border.
In addition, he has some more explosive allegations: he says the Mexican government was not made aware of the operation, and neither was the U.S. ambassador to Mexico.
And he says people within the Justice Department had to be aware of the operation — contrary to what Attorney General Eric Holder claimed. Cefalu says no one runs a major operation like this without getting approval from their boss.
Despite all of it, Cefalu said he just wants to see the agency he loves cleaned up:
It breaks my heart, it’s shameful to me. … I’m afraid the agency will be abolished because of the actions of a few self-serving individuals.
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Cefalu is afraid the agency will be abolished? Well, he seems to be a lawful guy but I'll be glad if it is abolished and does not return.
Before we were in such a enlightened and tolerant society anyone black or white could go to the feed store and buy dynamite. I still have the auger we used to drill under stumps so we could blow them up. A little dynamite was a whole lot cheaper than heavy equipment for clearing an area up. After you blew a stump the "good news" bees (hornets) would show up and patrol the area....the biggest danger was staying upwind so that the smoke wouldn't give you a headache.
For those under 50 you may not understand how or even believe that such freedom can and did exist without the house falling down.
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Cefalu is afraid the agency will be abolished? Well, he seems to be a lawful guy but I'll be glad if it is abolished and does not return.
Before we were in such a enlightened and tolerant society anyone black or white could go to the feed store and buy dynamite. I still have the auger we used to drill under stumps so we could blow them up. A little dynamite was a whole lot cheaper than heavy equipment for clearing an area up. After you blew a stump the "good news" bees (hornets) would show up and patrol the area....the biggest danger was staying upwind so that the smoke wouldn't give you a headache.
For those under 50 you may not understand how or even believe that such freedom can and did exist without the house falling down.
My Dad showed me how to set a charge before I started school. He was digging us a new well.
I remember him coming home PO'd one day, (must have been around 1968 ) because the guy at NH Explosives actually wanted to see his Drivers License before he'd sell him a case of dynamite. Back then if you bought a case they threw in the (non electric ) caps free. The only catch was, you could not transport them together, if the caps were in the glove box, the dynamite had to be in the back.
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My Dad showed me how to set a charge before I started school. He was digging us a new well.
I remember him coming home PO'd one day, (must have been around 1968 ) because the guy at NH Explosives actually wanted to see his Drivers License before he'd sell him a case of dynamite. Back then if you bought a case they threw in the (non electric ) caps free. The only catch was, you could not transport them together, if the caps were in the glove box, the dynamite had to be in the back.
You could still get dynamite here in 1986 with a 30 day permit (3 sticks will lift a GE fridge a significant amount).
All that changed in the 90's.
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Cefalu is afraid the agency will be abolished? Well, he seems to be a lawful guy but I'll be glad if it is abolished and does not return.
The ATF was never meant to be a "law enforcement" orginization, anymore than the secretaries working at your local PD are "law enforcement" officials. The ATF became law enforcement to justify increased budgets and pay raises to the "higher ups", untill eventually the ATF became the "higher ups"
Every bureaucratic entity is just like any living organism. They are growing or dying. It doesn't matter if it's private industry or government bureacracy. With no checks and balances they grow out of control, just like cancer.
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Every bureaucratic entity is just like any living organism. They are growing or dying.
May I suggest RoundUp (mixed on the heavy side) or Chlorine injections? That should bring it under control.
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;)
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As I've said,....they fired the whistleblower 1 week after Congressional Hearings for an "incident" in 2005.
It goes ALL the way up.....
http://thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/06/robert-farago/atf-death-watch-25-obama-knew-about-atf-gun-smuggling/
ATF Death Watch 25: Obama Knew About ATF Gun Smuggling
Posted on June 29, 2011 by Robert Farago
“As you know,” President Obama told a press conference today, “my attorney general has made clear that he certainly would not have ordered gun-running to pass through into Mexico.” So Department of Justice Chief Eric Holder would have ordered ATF-enabled gun running that didn’t past through into Mexico?” No matter how you parse it, the President of the United States responded to a question about his knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious with weasel words. The chickens that armed Mexican drug thugs with American firearms—one of which drug thugs shouldered to murder U.S. Border Patrol Brian Terry—are coming home to roost. Clearly, All the President’s Men have prepared President Obama’s defense for a scandal that threatens to eclipse Watergate, with similar results . . .
It’s only a matter of time before President Obama says “Yes, I knew of the ATF program, but I didn’t know that smuggled guns were allowed into Mexico.”
Which is complete and utter horse-shit.
As an ATF agent told Representative Darrell Issa at Congressional hearings on Gunwalker, the Bureau was over the moon about the fact that agency-enabled guns were showing-up at Mexican crime scenes. That’s how the ATF measured their success. There is no way they’d brief the Prez on the program’s progress without sharing the stats. No. Way.
First things first . . .
The President’s comments reveal the White House’s short term Gunwalker strategy: throw ATF Acting Chief Melson and Attorney General Holder under the bus, allow Department of Homeland Security jefe Janet Napolitano to exit gracefully, draw a line under the scandal and call it good.
As Brad would say, nope. If there wasn’t a paper trail between Melson’s mess and his boss (Attorney General Holder) and his boss’s boss (President Obama), Melson would have already taken one for the team. But there is so he can’t.
Melson will appear at Representative Issa’s Gunwalker hearings in July. He will profess the ATF’s good intentions, fail to recall, refuse to surrender key documents (again, still) and then take the fifth. All hell will break loose.
Lest we forget, this is a criminal investigation. Not only did Agent Terry eat ATF-enabled lead, but Gunwalker’s gunrunning violated an international treaty. Not to put too fine a point on it, this is some serious shit. No wonder Obama dodged the bullet at his press conference . . .
The investigation is still pending. I’m not going to comment on a current investigation. I’ve made very clear my views that would not be an appropriate step by the ATF, and we’ve got to find out how that happened.
As soon as the investigation is completed, I think appropriate actions will be taken.
Notice the passive construction and verbal tick: “I think [emphasis added] appropriate actions will be taken.” Not “I will take appropriate actions.” Call me an over-analytical nit-picking pedant, but Obama couldn’t promise some Gunwalker clock-cleaning ’cause it’s his timepiece that’s lousy with lethal lint (or something like that).
In any case, this is President Obama’s “I did not have sex with that woman.” If it’s revealed that the president did know about the ATF’s Gunwalker crime gun recovery stats, he will claim ignorance. “I do not recall that part of the briefing.”
And then he’ll repeat his assertion that the greater good—stopping Mexican cartel carnage—is the real issue. Just as he shrugged off questions about violating the U.S. Constitution to unleash helicopter gunships on Libyan troops.
Meanwhile, is there anyone who believes that the Department of Justice submitted all-black documents to Rep. Issa’s investigators to protect the rights of suspected shooter Osorio-Arellanes, the career criminal currently rotting in a Texas prison, or his three alleged cohorts, mysteriously released and deported by the feds immediately after Terry’s murder?
Is there anyone who believes that the Department of Justice (DOJ) submitted all-black documents to Rep. Issa’s investigators to protect the rights of the ATF, DOJ, DHS, DEA and State Department officials who knew about Uncle Sam’s anti-gun running gun running operations?
Of course not. The DOJ is stone-walling for one reason and one reason only: the Obama administration knew about and approved this operation at the highest levels. Including the President of the United States.
I repeat, Barak Obama is up to his eyeballs in Gunwalker. For it was he who stood side-by-side with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and blamed U.S. gun stores for the cartel-related violence bedeviling our number two crude oil supplier. Knowing full well what his people were doing about it.
You could say that Gunwalker was the ATF doing the “‘Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?” routine. No doubt that’ll be the president’s story, at some point. But it’s not true. What did he know and when did he know it? He knew about the recovered guns sometime between his press conference with Calderon and today’s weasel word fest.
Truth be told, President Obama has shown his willingness to sidestep legal niceties when the ends justify the means (e.g. Bin Laden’s assassination, Libya, Guantanamo). In some ways, Gunwalker was a marriage made in heaven, a union between a rogue agency with delusions of grandeur and inadequate oversight and an American president who considers himself above the law.
Sound familiar? And that, friends, is just the obvious part of this scandal. As I’ve said before, U.S. complicity with Mexican drug cartels and corruption on both sides of the border is the cake underneath the icing. No matter. Obama lied and Agent Terry died. There’s more than enough here to bring down the President.
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Why also is Sen. Harry Reid delaying confirmation hearings for ATF Nominee Andrew Traver,...inside Chicago anti gun buddy,?????
Cause this is one HOT potato,....and I hope all responsible fry accordingly....
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Harry can't afford to lose any Latino votes and knows it. That is why he is pushing DREAM now.
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By Richard A. Serrano, Washington Bureau
August 16, 2011
--SNIP--
The three supervisors have been given new management positions at the agency's headquarters in Washington. They are William G. McMahon, who was the ATF's deputy director of operations in the West, where the illegal trafficking program was focused, and William D. Newell and David Voth, both field supervisors who oversaw the program out of the agency's Phoenix office.
--SNIP--
McMahon was promoted Sunday to deputy assistant director of the ATF's Office of Professional Responsibility and Security Operations — the division that investigates misconduct by employees and other problems.
Kenneth E. Melson, the ATF's acting director, said in an agency-wide confidential email announcing the promotion that McMahon was among ATF employees being rewarded because of "the skills and abilities they have demonstrated throughout their careers."
Newell was the special agent in charge of the field office for Arizona and New Mexico, where Fast and Furious was conducted. On Aug. 1, the ATF announced he would become special assistant to the assistant director of the agency's Office of Management in Washington.
Voth was an on-the-ground team supervisor for the operation, and last month he was moved to Washington to become branch chief for the ATF's tobacco division.
--SNIP--
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-atf-guns-20110816,0,7676977.story
More and comments at link.
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Meanwhile the whistle blower got canned.
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Its pretty standard CYA. Ballsy, and hopefully stupid, but a solid ploy. You promote the guys who did wrong, therefore saying that no wrong was done, it was SOP, kosher, and above board. Nothing to see here folks, move along. In effect "I dare you to say it wasn't". Here's hoping it bites them in the ass. >:(
FQ13
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Meanwhile the whistle blower got canned.
The real reason for the promotion is, I would imagine, to insure there are some friendlies around after the adminsitration is gone. They have to go with the flow because if the big guys go down so do they. Typical lawyer politician trick to protect their six.
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Anyone consider the fact that maybe someone is buying their silence? For a while anyhow - the heat gets too hot, then they'll squeal, but for now, they are richer and more powerful than before. They've been bought.
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Anyone consider the fact that maybe someone is buying their silence? For a while anyhow - the heat gets too hot, then they'll squeal, but for now, they are richer and more powerful than before. They've been bought.
And threatened at the same time. Its classic cartel Plato O Plomo. "I just promoted you because I know you'll be loyal. Look how easy that was. Now, if I think you're going to be disloyal? Well, that's easy too."
FQ13
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This from FOX
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/16/senator-blasts-atfs-reported-promotion-supervisors-in-ill-fated-gun-operation/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fpolitics+%28Internal+-+Politics+-+Text%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo
A top Republican senator slammed the Justice Department for reportedly promoting the supervisors of the failed anti-gunrunning sting operation Fast and Furious, which is under a federal and congressional investigation after weapons linked to program were used in a December attack in Mexico that killed a U.S. border patrol agent.
The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives promoted three key supervisors of Operation Fast and Furious who came under fire for pushing the program even after it clearly spiraled out of control.
The three supervisors -- William Newell and David Voth, both field supervisors who managed the program out of the agency’s Phoenix office, and William McMahon, who was the ATF’s deputy director of operations in the West -- are being transferred to Washington for new management positions at the agency’s headquarters, the newspaper reported.
“Until Attorney General (Eric) Holder and Justice Department officials come clean on all alleged gun-walking operations, including a detailed response to allegations of a Texas-based scheme, it is inconceivable to reward those who spearheaded this disastrous operation with cushy desks in Washington,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Cornyn sent a letter to Holder last week demanding answers following reports of alleged Texas-based “gun-walking” programs similar to “Fast and Furious.”
Holder insists that he didn’t know about the operation as it was being carried out. But Republican leaders say he should have known.
Spokesmen for the ATF did not return phone calls to the newspaper seeking comment.
At a congressional hearing in June, three ATF agents said they were repeatedly ordered to step aside while gun buyers in Arizona walked away with AK-47s and other high-powered weaponry headed for Mexican drug cartels. So far, 20 small-time gun-buyers have been indicted, but the investigation is still under way.
ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson admitted last month to congressional investigators that his agency, in at least one instance, allowed sales of high-powered weapons without intercepting them -- and he accuses his superiors at the Justice Department of stonewalling Congress to protect political appointees in the scandal over those decisions.
The operation was designed to track small-time gun buyers up to major weapons traffickers along the U.S. border with Mexico. Critics estimate that 1,800 guns targeted in the operation are unaccounted for, and about two-thirds of those probably are in Mexico.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/16/senator-blasts-atfs-reported-promotion-supervisors-in-ill-fated-gun-operation/#ixzz1VGX02Qyf
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Holder insists that he didn’t know about the operation as it was being carried out. But Republican leaders say he should have known.
LIE!!!!! The Asst. AG not only knew he promoted it on C-Span back in Jan. 10.
Here's the Best Part:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/atf-responds-to-inaccurate-news-reports-regarding-fast-and-furious-personnel-127966138.html
WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following statement is from Scot Thomasson, chief, Public Affairs Division, Office of Public and Governmental Affairs, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF):
"Recent media reports have inaccurately characterized personnel changes involving ATF agents associated with the Fast and Furious operation as promotions. Special Agents Voth, Newell and McMahon were laterally transferred from operational positions and moved into administrative roles, they were not promoted. They did not receive salary or grade increases nor did they assume positions with greater responsibility.
On May 13, 2011, Deputy Assistant Director McMahon, Field Operations was reassigned to a position within the Office of Professional Responsibility and Security Operations back filling a position that had been vacant for over a year. His transfer was one of six other transfers announced on that day involving various other positions.
On August 1, 2011, Special Agent Newell, who had been selected as Country Attache Mexico City, was reassigned to the Office of Management to assist with the OIG investigation and Congressional inquiry.
Furthermore, Special Agent Voth was reassigned to a headquarters position, a lateral move into a program area.
These transfers/reassignments have never been described as promotions in any of the documents announcing them."
Contact: Public Affairs Division
(202) 648-8500
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See, we had it all wrong.... Oh, but there's more:
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The public scandal began when ATF whistleblowers disclosed that a multi-agency federal law enforcement operation in Arizona — Operation Fast and Furious — supplied weapons found at the crime scene of murdered U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
It was quickly revealed that federal law enforcement officers, supervisors, and administration appointees ensured that straw purchasers would be able to purchase weapons intended for the Sinaloa drug cartel without the threat of arrest. As federal agents watched — essentially acting as cartel security — 2,020 firearms were purchased, and the majority of them were “walked” by straw purchasers into the hands of the violent drug gang.
Mexican authorities claim that an estimated 150 Mexican law enforcement officers and soldiers, plus an unknown number of civilians have been murdered with weapons “walked” under the eyes of the federal task force. Three U.S. federal agents have also been shot in crimes using Fast and Furious weapons. Two died.
Initially, the Obama administration attempted to scapegoat acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson. When that failed, they colluded with the Washington Post and later possibly the New York Times on attempted character assassinations of Congressman Darrell Issa. Issa, along with Senator Charles Grassley, is leading the charge to investigate the scandal.
A month following Melson’s testimony to Issa’s committee, the Gunwalker landscape has changed considerably. Emails have been unearthed, additional figures with inside knowledge of the operation are testifying, and more congressmen and senators have joined the probe of the Department of Justice to see just how wide and high the administration’s knowledge of and participation in the gunwalking program — or programs — truly went.
All of these evolving disclosures are increasing the pressure on administration officials such as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, both of whom simply must have known of the operations considering the high-level collaboration between multiple agencies under their control.
Which leads to President Obama: how is it possible that the White House was not aware of Fast and Furious while it was occurring? We now know the following:
* The #2 man in the ATF, Acting Deputy Director William Hoover, tried to shut Operation Fast and Furious down in March of 2010 but was rebuffed.
* Officials with the Justice Department and ATF tried to evade Senator Grassley’s attempts to discover where the guns came from.
* A National Security Council (NSC) operative in the White House named Kevin O’Reilly was in direct contact with Bill Newell, the agent in charge of the operation. (Are we to believe that the benign emails released between the two men were their only Gunwalker conversations, and that O’Reilly wasn’t briefing the National Security Council or the president?)
* The U.S. attorney involved in Fast And Furious, Dennis Burke, is a long-time Napolitano ally and was her chief of staff while she was governor from 2003-2008. Burke is also on the attorney general’s Advisory Committee border and immigration law enforcement subcommittee. He recently opposed a routine filing by murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s family, in a move that appears designed to protect him in criminal and civil trials regarding Gunwalker.
* Emails reveal that every law enforcement director in DOJ was briefed on Operation Fast and Furious. All have been silent on the allegations except the scapegoated Melson and the DEA administrator, who surfaced long enough to deny that her agency was involved in the criminal actions.
* The Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Treasury were involved (State and CIA have allegedly had roles in the operation, but these allegations have not been confirmed by evidence).
With this level of cooperation across at least three (Homeland Security, Justice, Treasury) departments and among at least eight directors, with long-term personal contacts between friends and political allies that have been fingered as key players in this scandal, and with the president’s own words and deeds regarding his radical views towards gun rights in this country, is it rational to believe the president and his closest advisers had nothing to do with this murderous plot?
When we see a cover-up being orchestrated, we should rationally assume that the cover-up exists to hide criminal culpability. When we see corruption spread across the highest and most connected levels of government, we should rationally assume that the person at the top, President Obama, likely was involved.
With the latest evidence, Barack Obama and his co-conspirators no longer have plausible deniability. It remains to see how they will fare with criminal culpability, as more whistleblowers come forward from Justice and DHS to avoid prison time themselves.
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/gunwalker-president-obamas-un-plausible-deniability/?singlepage=true
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I urge more info, that the MSM WILL NOT COVER, is found here...
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/
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Your just saying that cuz he's black.
Actually, 2 of them are black, ones a tax evader and the last one is an idiot.
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Your just saying that cuz he's black.
Actually, 2 of them are black, ones a tax evader and the last one is an idiot.
No wonder they work for the feds.
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http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=46339
When the Watergate break-ins took place in 1972, President Richard Nixon knew nothing about them. But once he found out, he acted quickly to keep them secret, and it was his role in the cover-up that eventually led to his resignation in August 1974. Excerpts of recorded conversations between figures in the Operation Fast and Furious U.S.-Mexico gunrunning scheme are becoming ominously reminiscent of the 1970s watershed event in American politics.
In the historically monumental Watergate scandal, Nixon’s role in the cover-up was verified when he handed over personal tape recordings of conversations he’d had in the Oval Office on the subject.
That was 1974, and this is 2011, and in an eerie twist of fate, another batch of recordings has turned up that might reveal more about Fast and Furious than the current administration wants anyone to know: In fact, it might create more of a storm than Obama & Co. can weather.
The recordings, which seem to have been made in March 2011, are of conversations between Andre Howard, owner of Lone Wolf Trading Company in Glendale, Ariz., and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agent Hope McAllister. Lone Wolf was one of the gun stores used for Fast and Furious sales to straw purchasers.
Although the recordings have been turned over to congressional investigators and the Inspector General, excerpts that were released to the public make it sound like the gun dealer was extremely concerned that news of Fast and Furious was going to reach a House member or senator who would take action on it.
Howard’s concern arose from a March 9 letter from Rep. Lamar Smith (R.-Tex.) and other members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, demanding that Attorney General Eric Holder come clean about Fast and Furious. The House committee had been spurred into action by the testimony of ATF whistle-blower John Dodson.
Of the four excerpts released to the public, the first one best demonstrates the angst of those involved in the operation and the necessity for everyone, including Holder, to be sure their stories matched up:
HOWARD: "[Dodson’s] more toxic than you realize. I can tell you because I asked him, 'How much of this f-----g file did you release?' ”
McALLISTER: "Mmm hmm."
HOWARD: "He said basically the underlying case file. I said, 'Okay, who’d you release it to? F-----g [Sen.] Patrick Leahy!' Okay? Wasn’t just [Sen. Chuck] Grassley, it was Leahy, alright? Leahy, as we both know, has adjourned this inquiry right now, okay, with no plans to reconvene it. So your people were successful to that end." (Italics added.)
McALLISTER: "Right."
HOWARD: "Obviously that’s good. However these idiots from …"
McALLISTER: "… The House?"
HOWARD: "Yeah, and that I don’t know. What is troublesome with this [is] I expected [Rep.] Darrell Issa’s signature to be on this [but] it wasn’t. He’s your biggest thorn. He hates Holder."
McALLISTER: "Yeah. Where’s he out of?"
HOWARD: "Darrell Issa?"
McALLISTER: "California."
HOWARD: "Lamar Smith, you know’s, out of Texas, I don’t know. Holder has to respond to this tomorrow."
McALLISTER: "Yeah, he’s gonna respond."
HOWARD: "I know he is. And I assure you the media isn’t gonna like his response, because basically it’s gonna mirror what he’s told Grassley."
McALLISTER: "Yeah."
HOWARD: "He can’t deviate." (Italics added.)
McALLISTER: "Well if, I mean, I’ve seen a rough copy of what our U.S. attorney here has sent up. Whether or not he has the balls to actually use it or not, I doubt it. But I mean, it’s pretty aggressive. The way I see it, our local U.S. attorney is extremely aggressive. [But] when it gets to D.C. …"
HOWARD: "Who, [Assistant U.S. Attorney] Emory [Hurley]?"
McALLISTER: "No, the U.S. attorney."
HOWARD: "Burke, yeah, used to work under Clinton. …Talking about [Dennis] Burke?"
McALLISTER: "Mmm hmm."
HOWARD: "Yeah, well ..."
McALLISTER: "But the problem is, once it gets to D.C., it just gets … well, you know."
HOWARD: "Discombobulated—that’s a good term for it. Yeah, I get that."
Even from a cold transcription, it’s evident that Howard is as nervous as a cat about Fast and Furious becoming public knowledge. It’s also evident that McAllister is confident of how U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke had handled things, but not very confident about how things will go once everything is shifted to D.C. It is important to note that Burke was the one who tried to cover up the ties between the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and Fast and Furious. He retired last month without facing any criminal prosecution for his role in the mess.
Interesting too, is that as Howard wraps up the first excerpt of the recordings, it appears he understood how widespread the federal involvement in Fast and Furious had been. He knew that it wasn’t just the ATF, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the FBI too:
HOWARD: "Let me tell you, you got more people out there now talking about this f-----g thing than anything I've ever seen. … People are not shutting the hell up … and that goes from DHS to f-----g FBI to everybody. I’m hearing it hypothetically on every fringe."
Judging from the tenor of these recordings, particularly the consternation on the part of Howard, these excerpts may only scratch the surface of the immensity of the crimes hidden behind the door marked Fast and Furious.
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Obama's Watergate... now there is a happy thought.
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Wouldn't it be nice to see him ducking into the chopper in admitted disgrace ;D
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Wouldn't it be nice to see him ducking into the chopper in admitted disgrace ;D
Perp walk would be better.
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Perp walk would be better.
From the White House to the Big House...
suggested by a whistful Crusader (sigh)
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It's actually Watergate Times Three.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/09/watergate_times_three.html
September 19, 2011
Watergate Times Three
By Robert J. Mack
You think Richard Nixon's presidency was the worst scandal ever? Well, so far, anyway.
It all started with a tape holding a door open at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., discovered by a security guard 39 years ago on June 17, 1972. That discovery started a sinister chapter in America's history, fueled by the fervent investigative work of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of The Washington Post and ending with the president, Richard M. Nixon, exiting the White House in disgrace on August 9, 1974.
A similar Watergate scandal could erupt for Barack Obama. The only difference is that there may be three of them.
The insane Solyndra loan, the LightSquared cronyism, and the Operation Fast and Furious gun-running debacle have all come into America's consciousness at the same time. How could the government invest in a solar panel start-up that had no prospects for any kind of success, and to the tune of $535 million dollars? Why would a four-star Air Force general say that the White House tried to pressure him to change his testimony before the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee to make it more favorable to a company tied to a large Democratic donor? What were directors at the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the ATF thinking when they persuaded gun dealers to allow more than 2,000 firearms to get in the hands of drug lords in Mexico, resulting in over 200 deaths?
These are questions that demand answers. And the American people are not mesmerized enough by the star power of their president to avoid those answers and where they might lead.
Are the current body blows to the president's political stature of these humiliating events, not to mention the legal ramifications, enough to distract voters next year from returning him to the progressive throne? If Obama had provided any explorer's gold or spices to lard the treasury from the first term, then maybe all might be forgiven, assuming no laws were broken. But with Obama's poll numbers in the toilet over the economy (and the awkward question of competence in the air), Americans are ticked off. And when the populace gets mad, watch out. Royalty's crowns get removed unceremoniously when the people revolt. And, so far, Obama, the king of the progressives, has taken a "let 'em eat cake" position about the three scandals.
"What did the president know and when did he know it?" This was the famous question posed by then Senator Howard Baker during the Watergate hearings. Will this question be raised about Obama? MSNBC will continue, no matter what, to carry the president's water. But the Washington Post and ABC News have broken stories based on emails leaked to them in the Solyndra scandal, and with more hearings coming, it will be difficult to maintain radio silence on the scandals mushrooming.
We can expect underlings who will be scapegoated and have to walk the plank, as Bob Haldeman and John Erlichman did in the Watergate saga. As a matter fact, two federal officials have already been reassigned, and a third has resigned in the Operation Fast and Furious scandal. The acting director of the ATF, Kenneth Melson, has been reassigned by Attorney General Eric Holder. Dennis Burke, Arizona's U.S. Attorney who approved the operation, resigned immediately, and Emory Hurley, a Phoenix U.S. Attorney's Office prosecutor involved in the operation, has been reassigned to civil cases. But will there be a John Dean who will not willingly go loyally and quietly? Will, for instance, Eric Holder resign in shame over the Fast and Furious disaster but tell all? Considering his ego, he just may be Obama's John Dean.
When hubris invades a leader's mindset, he can do no wrong. And when he can do no wrong, then all those who question his actions are questioning his authority and must be eliminated. This was the fatal flaw of Richard Nixon's presidency regarding Watergate. His paranoia about those on the left who were out to get him finally did him in. The fact that he used his power to try to destroy people's lives constituted the criminal element in the tragedy. Fortunately, we did have the Watergate hearings, and Nixon quit before there was a constitutional crisis.
Obama is no Nixon, locking himself in the White House, getting inebriated, and praying with his secretary of state -- at least not yet anyway. And right now that's a very good thing for him because he has enough to worry about with his ridiculous jobs initiative, his poll numbers, and the failed "Arab spring" turning out Islamic extremists. The smoking guns, if any, are waiting to be discovered, perhaps in the vast data archives the White House must maintain.
For a guy trying to quit smoking, Barack Obama is facing a lot of stress. Pass the Nicorette.
*****
I hope it all "blows up" and renders BHO as useful as tits on a boar, and gives new meaning to the term "lame duck".
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*THIS ARTICLE CREDIT IS TO SIPSEY STREET IRREGULARS** THEIR CONTENT. Just spreading the word ;-)
Official ATF documents as well as sources in Arizona and Washington D.C. confirm that in at least two instances in 2010, an agent of the United States government purchased Kalashnikov-pattern semi-automatic pistols from licensed federal firearms dealers with taxpayer money and delivered those weapons directly into the hands of cartel smugglers.
In a letter dated June 1, 2010, then Phoenix ATF Group VII supervisor David Voth instructed a Federal Firearms Licensee in Arizona as follows:
Dear Sir,
Per Section 925(a)(1) of the Gun Control Act (GCA) exempts law enforcement agencies from the transportation, shipment, receipt, or importation controls of the GCA when firearms are to be used for the official business of the agency.
Please accept this letter in lieu of completing an ATF Form 4473 for the purchase of four (4) CAI, Model Draco, 7.62x39 mm pistols, by Special Agent John Dodson. These aforementioned pistols will be used by Special Agent Dodson in furtherance of the performance of his official duties. In addition, Special Agent Dodson has not been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. If you have any questions, you may contact me at telephone number 602-605-6501.
Sincerely,
(Signature)
David Voth
ATF Group Supervisor
Phoenix Group VII
In the lower left-hand margin of the one-page letter is the hand-written notation:
"Picked guns
up 6/10/10
Paid Cash"
"Paid Cash" is underlined.
The existence of this letter provided to these reporters by a previously reliable source familiar with the Fast and Furious investigation, coupled with interviews of other sources across the country which put it into context, provides startling proof that the Federal government did not merely "lose track" of weapons purchased by "straw buyers" under surveillance by the ATF and destined for the Mexican drug cartels. In an undercover operation ordered by Fast and Furious supervisor David Voth, the U.S. government purchased firearms with taxpayer money from licensed firearms dealers, instructed them to conduct the sales "off the books," and used an ATF agent, John Dodson, to deliver them directly to people that Dodson believed were conducting them across the border.
According one source close to the Issa committee and knowledgeable of its workings, this revelation "puts a stake in the heart of the 'botched sting operation' lie." He continued, "There never was any 'sting,' there was only a deliberate effort to provide weapons to the DTO's (Drug Trafficking Organizations)." He added, "this was one hundred percent us -- our money, our guy, our (gun)walking."
This source also provided context and explanation of how the letter came to exist in the first place.
(It should be noted that although we would never reveal our sources for any story, it is important in this case for the readers to understand where we did NOT get it. Neither John Dodson nor his lawyer provided us this letter. Nor did they pass it through to us via a third party, as the DOJ has been known to do lately.)
"Dodson was given this undercover assignment by Voth," said the source, "to purchase weapons directly and provide them to the smugglers. He was operating under cover, pretending to be a 'straw buyer.'" He continued, "I think Dodson demanded the letter from Voth to cover both himself and the FFL (Federal Firearm Licensee). He didn't want to be hung out to dry" by Voth.
A source also said that the undercover assignment was an effort by Voth to "dirty him (Dodson) up," pointing out that by the time of the undercover assignment that Dodson's vocal opposition to "letting guns walk" was well known to his superiors in the Phoenix ATF office.
Sources also describe a second letter from Voth to another FFL authorizing Dodson to purchase two more Draco pistols. One source stated flatly: "Issa and Grassley have copies of both letters, and have had for a long time."
Subsequent to this undercover weapons buying and transfer to cartel smugglers by Dodson, say the sources, "Dodson just about came apart all over them (his supervisors)." In a "screaming match" that was heard throughout the Phoenix office by many employees, Dodson yelled at Voth and Assistant Special Agent in Charge George Gillett, "Why not just go direct and empty out the (ATF) arms room?" (to the cartels), or words to that effect.
After this confrontation, say the sources, ATF managers transferred Dodson to a post as "liaison to the intel guys at FBI" in the Phoenix office. For clarification, it is worth noting that the Brian Terry murder investigation was at this time being carried out by the criminal investigations side of the FBI out of the Tuscon office, not Phoenix.
Sources describe continuing harassment of Dodson as his access to the Phoenix office building was restricted. "They removed him from the (Fast and Furious) case as politically unreliable," said another source, adding, "And of course after the Terry murder all the shots were being called by D.C."
After the death of Brian Terry, the "rumor" post on the ATF agent's website, CleanUpATF.org and the initial coverage by these reporters in the early weeks of January, 2011, "things got ugly" for Dodson. Blamed by his immediate supervisors as well as many of his fellow agents in the Phoenix office for "treason" as one source described it, Dodson's existence at the Phoenix office was described as "precarious" by one D.C. source. The threats to his life were perceived to be so great that "solitary range days" were arranged by a sympathetic supervisor so Dodson could practice marksmanship in safety. "He (the supervisor) didn't want him (Dodson) to eat one in the back" in a range "accident," said the source.
Dodson has not given any more interviews of late. "Not since the hearings as far as I know," said one source, and it is not because he hasn't been asked.
"They're (the Justice Department) coming at him hard, looking for anything they can use against him," said another. "Can you blame him for keeping his head down?"
Although our sources firmly agree that Senator Grassley and Congressman Issa have both of the Voth/Dodson letters, we are forwarding copies of the June 1, 2010 letter to staffers of both men, asking for comment on this story and an explanation as to why they have not previously released the letters.
Given the fact that it is a weekend, these reporters do not expect any reaction until later on Monday morning.
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Here's a link Letter implicates ATF in committing straw purchases for Gunwalker
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/breaking-letter-implicates-atf-committing-straw-purchases-for-gunwalker
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David Codrea, and Mike Vanderboegh, have covered this from day one, and it is growing, and growing, and yet the MSM, gives it a snippet or a very brief "mention".
There are now audio tapes, a vanishing "third" gun at the crime scene of Border Patrol Agent Terry's murder, Congressman Issa stating the DOJ is obstructing and stonewalling,...Similar ops in Tampa, Houston, even Indiana coming fwd.
An ATF agent committed suicide in AZ, (we're told it's not related),....folks re-assigned, emails and doc's shredded or deleted.....still hundreds and hundreds of these guns still out there, OBTW, a couple of RPG's, and grenades (available at any gun show)...Dealers raising red flags, as an unemployed "migrant worker" bought a couple hundred firearms.... ???
Issa is ready to appoint a Special Prosecutor, and another hearing in Oct, and another by the end of the year.
As Sipsey Street Folks say: Open Up A Second Front! Keep the pressure on, email your reps. and Senators.
Or pay no attention to that man behind the curtain folks,....nothing to see here.....Holder and BHO knew nothing....all is well.
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BTW, David Voth is one of three ATF management involved in this who got a promotion. His is apparently a real promotion - higher pay grade - than the other 2 who basically got a lateral move.
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/26/us-government-bought-and-sold-weapons-during-fast-and-furious-documents-show/
U.S. Government Used Taxpayer Funds to Buy, Sell Weapons During 'Fast and Furious,' Documents Show
By William Lajeunesse
Published September 26, 2011
Not only did U.S. officials approve, allow and assist in the sale of more than 2,000 guns to the Sinaloa cartel -- the federal government used taxpayer money to buy semi-automatic weapons, sold them to criminals and then watched as the guns disappeared.
This disclosure, revealed in documents obtained by Fox News, could undermine the Department of Justice's previous defense that Operation Fast and Furious was a "botched" operation where agents simply "lost track" of weapons as they were transferred from one illegal buyer to another. Instead, it heightens the culpability of the federal government as Mexico, according to sources, has opened two criminal investigations into the operation that flooded their country with illegal weapons.
Documents Detail ATF Involvement in 'Fast and Furious'
The following documents detail the role the ATF played in buying and selling weapons as part of its controversial "Fast and Furious" operation.
Operation Fast and Furious began in October 2009. In it, federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives encouraged gun stores to sell weapons to an arms smuggling gang, then watched as the guns crossed the border and were used in crimes. Each month, the agency allowed hundreds of guns to go South, despite opposition from some agents.
All told, the gang spent more than $1.25 million for the illegal guns.
In June 2010, however, the ATF dramatically upped the ante, making the U.S. government the actual "seller" of guns.
According to documents obtained by Fox News, Agent John Dodson was ordered to buy six semi-automatic Draco pistols -- two of those were purchased at the Lone Wolf gun store in Peoria, Ariz. An unusual sale, Dodson was sent to the store with a letter of approval from David Voth, an ATF group supervisor.
Dodson then sold the weapons to known illegal buyers, while fellow agents watched from their cars nearby.
This was not a "buy-bust" or a sting operation, where police sell to a buyer and then arrest them immediately afterward. In this case, agents were "ordered" to let the sale go through and follow the weapons to a stash house.
According to sources directly involved in the case, Dodson felt strongly that the weapons should not be abandoned and the stash house should remain under 24-hour surveillance. However, Voth disagreed and ordered the surveillance team to return to the office. Dodson refused, and for six days in the desert heat kept the house under watch, defying direct orders from Voth.
A week later, a second vehicle showed up to transfer the weapons. Dodson called for an interdiction team to move in, make the arrest and seize the weapons. Voth refused and the guns disappeared with no surveillance.
According to a story posted Sunday on a website dedicated to covering Fast and Furious, Voth gave Dodson the assignment to "dirty him up," since Dodson had become the most vocal critic of the operation.
"I think Dodson demanded the letter from Voth to cover both himself and the FFL (Federal Firearm Licensee). He didn't want to be hung out to dry by Voth," a source told the website "Sipsey Street Irregulars."
Subsequent to this undercover operation, sources told Sipsey, "Dodson just about came apart all over them (his supervisors). In a 'screaming match' that was heard throughout the Phoenix office by many employees, Dodson yelled at Voth and Assistant Special Agent in Charge George Gillett, 'Why not just go direct and empty out the (ATF) arms room?" (to the cartels), or words to that effect.'
After the confrontation, ATF managers transferred Dodson to a more menial job. Months later, after the death of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, Dodson blew the whistle and went public about the federal government's gunrunning operation.
****
Never let a good scandal/cover up go to waste,...."Yet Holder takes the "I Didn't Know Anything",.....and BHO,...never heard of it, yet White House Staffers received emails regarding the SHTF.....after Patrolman's Terry's Murder.
Where's the accountability? or the Kentucky Hemp...????/This is becoming accessories to murder.
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By
Sharyl Attkisson September 26, 2011 11:36 AM
An administration official Congress wanted to interview before the end of the month may be unavailable. That's according to a new letter from a White House counsel to members of Congress investigating the ATF Fast and Furious "Gunwalker" scandal.
On September 9th, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) asked the White House to make former National Security Advisor Kevin O'Reilly available for an interview before the end of September to help "determine the extent of the involvement of White House staff in Operation Fast and Furious."
Emails already obtained by Congress show O'Reilly communicated about gun trafficking efforts with then-Special Agent in Charge of ATF's Phoenix office William Newell as early as summer of 2010. In the email exchanges O'Reilly asked Newell if it was okay to share the information with other White House staffers. Congressional investigators are seeking all related communications.
The new letter from the President's counsel doesn't say O'Reilly can't be interviewed by Congressional investigators, but neither does it provide an availability date. Instead the letter states that
O'Reilly, who has moved from the White House to the State Department from where he was tasked, is "currently on a previously scheduled assignment to Iraq."
The members of Congress also asked for other documents and communications within the White House staff regarding Fast and Furious by September 23rd. No materials were provided, but the President's Attorney indicated some could be handed over by the end of this week.
In Operation Fast and Furious, ATF allegedly allowed thousands of weapons to "walk" onto the streets and into the hands of Mexico's drug cartels.
President Obama has said neither he nor Attorney General Eric Holder approved of or knew about any gunwalking. Further, a spokesman for the administration has said nobody in the White House knew of any gunwalking tactics.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20111626-10391695.html
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Didn't they settle these issues with Nixon ?
This defiance of Congress, based on historical precedents set with Nixon, and the Reagan era Iran Contra issues is enough to start handing out jail terms.
Oops, I forgot, these are Dems, it's different for them.
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Hmmm...assigned to Iraq,Can you say "Roadside B*O*M*B"? I knew You could ::)
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Hmmm...assigned to Iraq,Can you say "Roadside B*O*M*B"? I knew You could ::)
Poor O'Reilly. He's gonna spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder, keeping he back to a wall and trying not to fall asleep.
On the bright side, it might not be all that long.
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By William Lajeunesse
Published September 21, 2011
The inspector general of the Department of Justice undermined and obstructed a congressional investigation by releasing secret tape recordings that corroborate allegations of misconduct in "Operation Fast and Furious," according to a letter written by Rep. Darrell Issa and Sen. Charles Grassley.
The two lawmakers leading the probe into the Obama administration scandal claim Justice Inspector General Cynthia Schnedar compromised their investigators' ability to get to the truth and potentially prosecute those responsible for selling thousands of weapons to the Mexican drug cartels.
Schnedar failed to even listen to the recordings before handing them over to the actual targets of the investigation, the letter alleges.
--SNIP--
The tapes Issa and Grassley refer to were recorded by Andre Howard, owner of the Lone Wolf Trading Co., after he suspected the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was lying to him about the guns they recruited him to sell to buyers of the Sinaloa Cartel.
On two occasions Howard taped Hope MacAllister, the lead agent in the Fast and Furious case.
--SNIP--
MUCH more at link http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/21/audio-tapes-reveal-more-details-in-fast-and-furious-gunrunner-scandal/
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Hmmm...assigned to Iraq,Can you say "Roadside B*O*M*B"? I knew You could ::)
That will be easier to pass off than a "suicide."
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That will be easier to pass off than a "suicide."
You mean multiple rounds to the back of the head with an untraceable pistol in "gun free" DC, like Vince Foster ?
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Video
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2011/09/28/ac-babeu-fast-and-furious.cnn
Sheriff Paul is one of the good guys.
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2011/09/28/fast-and-furious-just-might-be-president-obamas-watergate/
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Sent to me by a friend:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2011/09/28/fast-and-furious-just-might-be-president-obamas-watergate/
Why a gunrunning scandal codenamed “Fast and Furious,” a program run secretly by the U.S. government that sent thousands of firearms over an international border and directly into the hands of criminals, hasn’t been pursued by an army of reporters all trying to be the next Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein is a story in itself.
But the state of modern journalism aside, this scandal is so inflammatory few realize that official records show the current director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), B. Todd Jones — yes the individual the Obama administration brought in to replace ATF Director Kenneth Melson Aug. 30 in an effort to deflect congressional criticism — also has questions to answer about his involvement in this gunrunning scandal.
Fast and Furious was an operation so cloak-and-dagger Mexican authorities weren’t even notified that thousands of semi-automatic firearms were being sold to people in Arizona thought to have links to Mexican drug cartels. According to ATF whistleblowers, in 2009 the U.S. government began instructing gun storeowners to break the law by selling firearms to suspected criminals. ATF agents then, again according to testimony by ATF agents turned whistleblowers, were ordered not to intercept the smugglers but rather to let the guns “walk” across the U.S.-Mexican border and into the hands of Mexican drug-trafficking organizations.
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2011/09/28/fast-and-furious-just-might-be-president-obamas-watergate/
"official records show the current director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), B. Todd Jones — yes the individual the Obama administration brought in to replace ATF Director Kenneth Melson Aug. 30 in an effort to deflect congressional criticism — also has questions to answer about his involvement in this gunrunning scandal."
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This hole is wide and deep.............. funny thing is, the folks that need to be buried in it will squeeze out of it. >:(
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The do seem to breed some outstanding sheriffs out there in AZ.
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A 'Furious' revelation
Feds sold guns to drug gangs
This just might be the smoking gun we’ve been waiting for to break the festering “Fast and Furious” gun-running scandal wide open: the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives apparently ordered one of its own agents to purchase firearms with taxpayer money, and sell them directly to a Mexican drug cartel.
Let that sink in: After months of pretending that “Fast and Furious” was a botched surveillance operation of illegal gun-running spearheaded by the ATF and the US attorney’s office in Phoenix, it turns out that the government itself was selling guns to the bad guys.
Agent John Dodson was ordered to buy four Draco pistols for cash and even got a letter from his supervisor, David Voth, authorizing a federally licensed gun dealer to sell him the guns without bothering about the necessary paperwork.
“Please accept this letter in lieu of completing an ATF Form 4473 for the purchase of four (4) CAI, Model Draco, 7.62x39 mm pistols, by Special Agent John Dodson,” read the June 1, 2010, letter. “These aforementioned pistols will be used by Special Agent Dodson in furtherance of performance of his official duties.”
On orders, Dodson then sold the guns to known criminals, who first stashed them away and then -- deliberately unhindered by the ATF or any other agency -- whisked them off to Mexico.
People were killed with Fast and Furious weapons, including at least two American agents and hundreds of Mexicans. And the taxpayers picked up the bill.
So where’s the outrage?
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/furious_revelation_OhK6TBqPlEpRglHjsSbiBI
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imagen the out cry and witch hunt that would be going on if Bush was Still Pres.
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By Sharyl Attkisson
September 30, 2011 9:35 PM
WASHINGTON - Late Friday, the White House turned over new documents in the Congressional investigation into the ATF "Fast and Furious" gunwalking scandal.
The documents show extensive communications between then-ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix office Bill Newell - who led Fast and Furious - and then-White House National Security Staffer Kevin O'Reilly. Emails indicate the two also spoke on the phone. Such detailed, direct communications between a local ATF manager in Phoenix and a White House national security staffer has raised interest among Congressional investigators looking into Fast and Furious. Newell has said he and O'Reilly are long time friends.
--SNIP--
The White House counsel who produced the documents stated that some records were not included because of "significant confidentiality interests."
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20114184-10391695.html
More (including pdf of documents) at link
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20114184-10391695.html
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also:
September 30, 2011
Categories:
* Miscellaneous
White House sends Hill Fast & Furious docs, but withholds some
The White House sent another installment of documents to Congress on Friday detailing White House staffers' knowledge about the controversial "Operation Fast & Furious" gunrunning probe run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives.
However, the chief counsel to President Barack Obama, Kathryn Ruemmler, indicated that the White House was withholding an unspecified number of internal e-mails exchanged among three National Security Staff aides.
"These internal NSS emails are not included in the enclosed documents because the [Executive Office of the President] has significant confidentiality interests in its internal communications," Ruemmler wrote in a letter to House Oversight & Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). The letter, posted here, was obtained Friday by POLITICO.
The latest batch of 102 pages of records partially duplicated information previously sent to Congress and didn't appear to include any smoking guns showing that White House officials were aware that the operation involved allowing hundreds or thousands of guns to flow essentially unimpeded from the U.S. to Mexican drug cartels.
"As today's production makes clear, none of the communications between ATF and the White House revealed the investigative law enforcement tactics at issue in your inquiry, let alone any decision to let guns 'walk,'" Ruemmler wrote in response to a letter Issa and Grassley sent to National Security Adviser Tom Donilon earlier this month.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/0911/White_House_sends_Hill_Fast__Furious_docs_but_withholds_some.html
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Published October 04, 2011
| FoxNews.com
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.
The question is whether Holder committed perjury during a Judiciary Committee hearing on May 3. At the time, Holder indicated he was not familiar with 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.
However, a newly discovered 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."
--SNIP--
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/04/house-republicans-to-request-special-counsel-to-probe-holder-on-fast-and/#ixzz1ZpoprYPq
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Saw this on the news last night. The weasles have already started the "I get so many memos" bullshit.
I hope they hang the lying prick(s).
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Saw this on the news last night. The weasles have already started the "I get so many memos" bullshit.
I hope they hang the lying prick(s).
Holder's PR people said he "misunderstood" the question during the hearings. Can you say "What a c...k?"
pecos
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New spin is that it happened under Bush as well. Operation wide receiver. It was supposedly putting RFI of some sort in the guns or cases but the RFI tracking failed to work.
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Holder's PR people said he "misunderstood" the question during the hearings. Can you say "What a c...k?"
pecos
Would that defense hold up for any of us?
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Would that defense hold up for any of us?
No better than for Nixon, But We aren't dems, they're special.
That's why Wrangel has been in front of the ethics committee so many times with no punishment.
If this were a Republican the Impeachment hearings would already be in session.
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Eric Holder should be fired immediately, but I'm not holding my breath. Obama should be impeached and removed from office. This guy has no respect for the rule of law or the american people much less, the constitution!
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That's why Wrangel has been in front of the ethics committee so many times with no punishment.
Rangel did get a nasty themed note put in his file.......I bet that scared the crap out of him. ::)
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This is why I don't much care about a politicians Veteran status, Wrangel, like Murtha, is a veteran who is a POS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_B._Rangel#2008.E2.80.932010:_Ethics_issues_and_censure
n late November 1950, after the Chinese intervention into the war, this unit was caught up in heavy fighting in North Korea as part of the U.N. forces retreat from the Yalu River. In the Battle of Kunu-ri, the 2nd Infantry was assigned to hold a road position near Kunu-ri while the rest of the Eighth Army retreated to Sunchon, 21 miles further south. On the night of November 29, the 2nd Infantry was attacked by gradually encircling forces of the Chinese Army, who set up a fireblock to cut off any U.S. retreat. The eerie blare of Chinese night-fighting bugle calls and communication flares[15] piercing the freezing air led to what Rangel later described as a "waking nightmare, scene by scene, and we couldn't see any possible way out of the situation."[16] During the day of November 30, the order came to withdraw the 2nd Infantry in phases, but the 503rd Artillery Battalion was sixth of eight in the order and could not get out in daylight when air cover was possible.[17]
On the night of November 30, Rangel was part of a retreating vehicle column that was trapped and attacked by Chinese forces.[11][18] In the subzero cold, Rangel was injured in the back by shrapnel from a Chinese shell.[19] He later wrote that the blast threw him into a ditch and caused him to pray fervently to Jesus.[18] Up and down the line of the retreat, unit cohesion disappeared under attack and officers lost contact with their men.[20] There was screaming and moaning around him and some U.S. soldiers were being taken prisoner,[10] but despite feeling overwhelming fear Rangel resolved to try and escape over an imposing mountain: "From the rim of that gully it just looked like everything had to be better on the other side of that damn mountain."[18]
Others nearby looked to Rangel, who though only a private first class had a reputation for leadership in the unit and had gained the nickname "Sarge".[18] Rangel led some 40 men from his unit over the mountain during the night and out of the Chinese encirclement.[10] Other groups were trying to do the same, but some men dropped from the severe conditions or got lost and were never heard from again.[21][22] By midday on December 1, U.S. aircraft were dropping supplies and directions to Rangel's group and others, and had a raft ready to take them across the Taedong River; groups from the 503rd Artillery reached Sunchon that afternoon.[21][23] Overall, no part of the 2nd Infantry suffered as many casualties as the artillery;[24] it tried to save, but eventually lost, all its guns,[25] and nearly half of the battalion was killed in the overall battle.[26]
Rangel was treated first at a field hospital, then moved to a general hospital well behind the lines in South Korea where he recuperated.[27] He eventually returned to regular duty, then was rotated back to the U.S. in July 1951.[27]
Rangel was awarded a Purple Heart for his wounds, the Bronze Star with Valor for his actions in the face of death, and three battle stars.[28] His Army unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation[nb 2] and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation.[28] In 2000, Rangel reflected to CBS News that
"Since Kunu Ri – and I mean it with all my heart, I have never, never had a bad day."[11]
The part about his ethics violations is considerably longer.
2008–2010: Ethics issues and censure
[edit] Letterhead use and Rangel Center fundraising
In July 2008, The Washington Post reported that Rangel was soliciting donations to the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York from corporations with business interests before his Ways and Means Committee, and was doing so using Congressional letterhead.[109] Such companies and individuals included AIG, Donald Trump, and Nabors Industries, and by this time Rangel's efforts had helped raise $12 million of the $30 million goal for the center.[109] Government watchdog groups and ethics experts criticized Rangel's actions, with the dean of the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management saying Rangel "has crossed the line".[109]
Rangel denied any wrongdoing and asked the U.S. House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, commonly known as the House Ethics Committee, to determine if his use of Congressional letterhead while arranging meetings to solicit contributions for the Center had violated any House rules.[99] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed to Rangel's request.[99]
[edit] Renting Harlem apartments at below-market rates
The New York Times reported in July 2008 that Rangel rents four apartments at below-market rates in the Lenox Terrace complex in Harlem. It reported that Rangel paid $3,894 monthly for all four apartments in 2007. In contrast, the landlord's going rate for similar apartments in the building was as high as $8,125 monthly. Three adjacent apartments were combined to create his 2,500-square-foot (230 m2) home. A fourth unit is used as a campaign office, which violates city and state regulations that require rent-stabilized apartments to be used as a primary residence. Rangel received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from one of the landlord’s owners, according to the paper. Rangel said his rent does not affect his representation of his constituents.[61]
Congressional ethics experts said the difference in rent between what Rangel was paying and market rates, an estimated $30,000 per year, could be construed as a gift, exceeding the $100 House of Representatives gift limit.[61] In late July, the House voted 254–138 to table a resolution by Republican Minority Leader John Boehner that would have censured Rangel for having "dishonored himself and brought discredit to the House", by occupying the four apartments.[110]
[edit] House parking garage
A September 2008 New York Post article reported that Rangel had been using a House parking garage as free storage space for his Mercedes-Benz for years, in apparent violation of Congressional rules. Under IRS regulations, free parking (here, worth $290 a month) is considered imputed income, and must be declared on tax returns.[111] In July 2010 the House Ethics Committee ruled that Rangel had committed no violation, since in practice the parking policy was only applied to Congressional staff and not to members themselves.[112]
[edit] Taxes on Dominican villa rental income
Rangel was accused of failing to report income from his rental of a beachside villa he owns in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. A three-bedroom, three-bath unit, it has rented out for as much as $1,100 per night in the busiest tourist season.[113]
Labor lawyer Theodore Kheel, a principal investor in the resort development company and frequent campaign contributor to Rangel, had encouraged him to purchase the villa. Rangel purchased it in 1988 for $82,750. He financed $53,737.50 of the purchase price for seven years at an interest rate of 10.5%, but was one of several early investors whose interest payments were waived in 1990.[114]
In September 2008, Rangel's attorney, Lanny Davis, disclosed that Rangel had failed to report on his tax returns or in congressional disclosure forms $75,000 in income he had received for renting his Dominican villa. That month, Rangel paid $10,800 to cover his liability for the related back taxes.[115][116] He had owed back taxes for at least three years. The Ways and Means Committee writes the U.S. tax code, and as such his failure to pay taxes himself led to heavy criticism.[116]
A September 14, 2008, New York Times editorial called for Rangel to step down temporarily from his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee while his ethical problems were investigated.[117]
On September 24, 2008, the House Ethics Committee announced that it would investigate whether Rangel had violated its code of conduct or any law or other regulation related to his performance of his duties.[118] On November 23, 2008, The New York Post reported that Rangel took a "homestead" tax break on his Washington, DC, house for years, while simultaneously occupying multiple New York City rent-stabilized apartments, "possibly violating laws and regulations in both cases."[119] In January 2009, Republican Representative John R. Carter introduced the Rangel Rule Act of 2009 (H.R. 735), a tongue-in-cheek proposal that would have allowed all taxpayers to not pay penalties and interest on back taxes, in reference to Rangel not yet having paid his.[120]
[edit] Defense of tax shelter
refer to caption
Rangel receives book written by US Consul General Gregory Slayton, in Bermuda in 2009
In November 2008, following reports by The New York Times, Republican Congressmen asked the House Ethics Committee to look into Rangel's defense of a tax shelter approved by his Ways and Means Committee. One of the four companies that benefited from the loophole was Nabors Industries, which opened headquarters in Bermuda as a foreign corporation.[121] Under the loophole, Nabors receives tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks. In 2004, Rangel had led opposition to the tax breaks.[121] Nabors donated $1 million in 2006, and $100,000 later, to the City College of New York school named after Rangel.
Its CEO said the donations were unrelated to Rangel's February 2007 promise to oppose closing the loophole.[121] He denied there was any quid pro quo, and called the article about it "malarkey".[122] Rangel said The New York Times had ignored facts and explanations, and denied the charges.[121][123][124] The House Ethics Committee voted in December 2008, to expand its investigation of Rangel to the matter.[125] Eventually the Ethics Committee would not make a specific charge over this matter but did include it in the supporting documentation for the overall charge that Rangel had solicited Rangel Center donations from those with business before his committee.[126]
[edit] Unreported assets and income
On September 15, 2008, it was disclosed that: a) Rangel had omitted from his financial reports details regarding his sale of a Washington, DC home; b) discrepancies existed in the values he listed for a property he owns in Sunny Isles, Florida (varying from $50,000 to $500,000); and c) inconsistencies appeared in his investment fund reporting. He apologized, saying "I owed my colleagues and the public adherence to a higher standard of care, not only as a member of Congress, but even more as the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee." Republicans called for his removal as chair. Rangel said there was no justification for that, as the mistakes were errors of omission, that would not justify loss of his position.[127]
In August 2009, Rangel amended his 2007 financial disclosure form to report more than $500,000 in previously unreported assets and income. That doubled his reported net worth. Unreported assets included a federal credit union checking account of between $250,000 and $500,000, several investment accounts, stock in Yum! Brands and PepsiCo, and property in Glassboro, New Jersey. Rangel also had not paid property taxes on two of his New Jersey properties, which he was required by law to do.
The ethics issues led by December 2008 to some loss of standing for Rangel, to Republicans trying to tie him to all Democrats, and to some Democrats privately saying it would be best if Rangel stepped down from his Ways and Means post.[128] In late 2008 and again in September 2009, the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named Rangel one of the 15 most corrupt members of Congress.[129] Media pieces compared Rangel's woes with those of ethically challenged past Ways and Means chairs Wilbur Mills and Dan Rostenkowski.[75] Pelosi, a long-time friend of Rangel's, withheld any possible action against Rangel pending the House Ethics Committee report.[73] Rangel evinced impatience with that body, saying "I don't have a complaint now, except that it's taking too goddamn long to review this thing and report back."[75] On September 3, 2009, The Washington Post called on Rangel to resign his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee, given the ethical issues that had surfaced. Another Republican resolution was put forth to force him out of his chairmanship. However, Rangel stayed in place and mostly maintained his role in House leadership and policy discussions,[73] including the Obama health care reform plan[75] (opposition to which, he suggested, was partly due to racial prejudice against President Obama).[130] Nevertheless, his influence was diminished by the questions surrounding him.[75]
[edit] Caribbean trips
In May 2009, the non-profit National Legal and Policy Center filed an ethics complaint against Rangel and other members of Congress for trips, taken in 2007 and 2008 to Caribbean islands. The trips had been sponsored by Carib News Foundation, a New York non-profit funded by corporations with interests before Congress and the Ways and Means Committee.[131] This, combined with the duration of the trips, seemed to violate House rules. The Ethics Committee agreed the following month to investigate the matter.[132]
On February 26, 2010, the Ethics Committee issued its report.[133] It determined that Rangel had violated House gift rules, by accepting reimbursement for his travel to the conferences.[134] It found that he had not known of the contributions, but concluded that he was still responsible for them and was required to repay their cost.[134] Five other members were cleared of having violated rules, but were also required to repay their trips.[134] Rangel disagreed with the committee's finding, saying:
Because they were my staff members who knew, one of whom has been discharged, [the committee has decided] that I should have known. Common sense dictates that members of Congress should not be held responsible for what could be the wrongdoing, or mistakes, or errors of staff.[131]
Pelosi said she would not take any action against Rangel pending further committee findings, as his staff had been more at fault and he had not broken any law.[131] The Ethics Committee continued to investigate the charges against Rangel relating to obtaining rent-stabilized apartments, fundraising, and failure to disclose rental income from his Dominican villa.[131]
[edit] Stepping aside as House Ways and Means Chair
After a February 2010 House Ethics Committee report criticizing him for taking sponsored Caribbean trips, the White House backed off its prior support of Rangel somewhat, and within days 14 Democratic members of Congress publicly called on Rangel to step aside as Ways and Means chair.[135][136] Other Democrats were concerned that Rangel would impede Democrats' efforts to maintain their majority in the 2010 House elections, but did not say anything publicly out of respect and personal affection for Rangel.[135]
Momentum quickly built against Rangel, with 30 or more Democrats planning to oppose his continued chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee, in a full House vote being pushed by Republicans.[137][138] Democrat Paul Hodes of New Hampshire noted:
I think we're in a zero-tolerance atmosphere, and I think ... Washington should be held to the highest ethical standards. I have the greatest admiration for Mr. Rangel's service to this country. He's been a great public servant. This is very, very unfortunate, but I think it's necessary.[137]
On March 3, 2010, Rangel said he would take a leave of absence as chair, pending issuance of the Ethics Committee's report.[139] Pelosi granted his request, but whether such a leave was possible was unclear and the House Speaker pro Tempore said that a resignation had taken place and that Rangel was no longer chair.[1][139] Observers opined that it was unlikely that Rangel would ever be able to regain the position.[138][139] Several Democrats said they would return or donate to charity campaign contributions given to them by Rangel.[138] Representative Sander M. Levin of Michigan took over as acting chair.[140]
[edit] House ethics committee charges
On July 22, 2010, a bipartisan, four-member investigative subcommittee of the House Ethics Committee indicated it had "substantial reason to believe" that Rangel had violated a range of ethics rules relating to the other charges.[141] The matter was referred to another, newly created, special subcommittee to rule on the findings.[141][142]
Rangel negotiated with the Ethics Committee. But participants in the talks characterized him as unwilling to admit wrongdoing in connection with several of the charges, and anxious about preserving his legacy. No settlement was reached.[143]
On July 29, 2010, Rangel was charged by the committee with 13 counts of violating House rules and federal laws.[144] Rangel's lawyers continued to insist that he had not intentionally violated any law or regulation, had not handed out political favors, and had not misused his office for personal financial gain.[144] Rangel somberly said only this on the day the charges were announced:
Sixty years ago, I survived a Chinese attack in North Korea. And as a result I wrote a book that, having survived that, that I haven't had a bad day since. Today I have to reassess that.[145]
[edit] Re-election campaign of 2010
By 2010, Rangel's continuing difficulties, together with the death a few months prior of Percy Sutton and the scandal around, and abandoned election campaign of, Governor David Paterson (Basil Paterson's son), marked the end of the era of Harlem's "Gang of Four".[60][146]
Rangel faced several Democratic primary challengers for his seat in 2010: Vincent Morgan, whose grassroots campaign bore many resemblances to Rangel's own against the scandal-plagued Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., in 1970;[147] Adam Clayton Powell IV, who had previously challenged Rangel in 1994; labor activist and past primary candidate for statewide office Jonathan Tasini; and former Obama campaign official Joyce Johnson.[46][141] While Rangel's fund-raising was down from previous years, and he had paid nearly $2 million in legal fees, he still had far more cash available for the campaign than any of his challengers.[46][141]
On September 14, 2010, Rangel prevailed in the primary election, gaining 51 percent of the vote against Powell's 23 percent and lesser amounts for the other contenders.[148] He then won the November 2, 2010, general election easily, garnering 80 percent of the vote against Republican Michel Faulkner's 10 percent and smaller amounts for third-party candidates.[149]
[edit] House ethics trial and censure
On November 15, 2010, Rangel's formal ethics trial began.[150] He walked out of the hearing at the start, saying that he was unable to afford representation after having paid his previous lawyers over $2 million, and arguing unsuccessfully that the proceeding should be delayed until he could arrange for a legal defense fund.[150]
The following day, Rangel was found guilty on 11 of the 12 charges against him by the adjudicatory subcommittee of the House Ethics Committee (2 of the original 13 charges having been combined).[151][152] Two of the charges were focused on his actions with regards to soliciting funds and donations for the Rangel Center from those with business before the Ways and Means Committee; four were for improper use of Congressional letterhead and other House resources in those solicitations; one was for submitting incomplete and inaccurate financial disclosure statements; one was for using one of his Harlem apartments as an office when he had Congressional dealings with the landlord; one was for failing to pay taxes on his Dominican villa; and two reiterated these charges in describing general violations of House rules.[153]
Two days later, a near-tears Rangel pleaded for "fairness and mercy", but to no avail;[154] the full Committee voted 9–1 to recommend that the full House approve a sanction of censure upon Rangel.[155] The committee stated that "Public office is a public trust [and Rangel] violated that trust."[154] Censure is the strongest penalty the House can impose short of outright expulsion from Congress.[155] The Committee also said that Rangel should make restitution for any unpaid taxes.[155]
Supporters of Rangel argued that by comparison with previous cases, a reprimand would be a more fitting punishment for Rangel's trangressions than censure.[156] Rangel repeatedly insisted, as he had all along, that nothing he had done was with the aim of enriching himself.[157] It was to no avail. On December 2, 2010, a motion was made in the full House to censure Rangel. Ethics committee chair Zoe Lofgren emphasized that it was Rangel's "accumulation of actions" that warranted the stiffer penalty, and said that the treatment of Rangel should set a new precedent, not follow old ones.[158] A motion to amend the resolution in favor of reprimand was voted down 267–146.[157] The House of Representatives then voted 333–79 to censure Rangel.[158] Per custom, Rangel went to the well of the House to hear Speaker Pelosi solemnly read the formal measure of censure.[159] It had been 27 years since the last such measure and Rangel was only the 23rd House member to be censured.[159] Rangel asked to speak and said, "I know in my heart I am not going to be judged by this Congress. I’ll be judged by my life in its entirety."[157]
You need to read the whole article, this guy has has been a big part of creating todays problems.
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The guys over at JPFO are running the story. Their thinking is that it is not likely to lead to any improvement for 2A supporters.
Here is an excerpt and a link.
Rumors are surfacing regarding the U.S. Department of Justice’s plans to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE). The blood soaked debacle of BATFE’s "Operation Fast and Furious", the blatantly felonious scheme of running guns to murderous Mexican drug cartels, may have put the nail in the coffin for what is almost certainly America’s most sordid federal agency.
http://jpfo.org/kirby/kirby-frying-pan.htm
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They have certainly racked up a record, to include Waco, Ruby Ridge, and now Fast and Furious. They started out as an incredibly corrupt bunch of "Revenuers" in moonshine country.
I understand that if no other law enforcement organization would have you ,you could always get a job with the BATF. THe bottom of the barrel.
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I saw some mention of this some where else as well.
I won't get my hopes up, it didn't happen after Ruby Ridge where they murdered a 16 year old a mother and a dog, and wounded a bystander in order to get a guy less than a year in jail for being entrapped.
It didn't happen after they incinerated 26 men women and children who hadn't broken any laws in Waco.
I doubt it will happen now.
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It just might.
I can see the current administration burying the whole bureau to cover up Fast and Furious. Make such a big deal it that everyone will think enough has been done to correct the situation.....Holder will be leading the charge with such vigor folks won't believe anyone could be that hypocritical...
Not to say the functions duties of the BATFE will go away, they would just be transferred to an existing agency or to a new one created for the job...and now operating with a "clean" record...no Waco, no Ruby Ridge and no Fast and Furious...just hard working ex-BATFE folks.
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Lets just say It is going to happen... what would most likly happen?
A few higher level guys would retire/forced out/transfered ( we all know they won't be fired)
The departments will be broken up and reorganized.
...
...
...
In the end, only the name changes.
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yes...they might become an arm of the FBI, adding it's power and authority to the functions of the BATFE under what ever name the new group is given..
But, politically, it will appear that the maximum corrective action has been taken. What more could be done than disband the whole rogue agency that conducted the dreadful activity? And the retribution was lead by Eric Holder who's Righteous Wrath destroyed those who besmirched the reputation of him and the Justice Department.
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I'd actually like the A and the T to go back to the deaprtment of the treasury.
The F and the E are a little more complicated... yeah in a perfect world they could go back too, but we all know that won't happen.
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12:21 PM, Oct 6, 2011 • By JOHN MCCORMACK
While new evidence indicates that Attorney General Eric Holder was aware of the U.S. government's "Fast and Furious" program--which let guns fall into the hands of Mexican criminals--President Obama said today that he has "complete confidence" in Holder.
"I have complete confidence in the Attorney General Holder in how he handles his office," Obama said at a news conference today. "He has been very aggressive in going after gunrunning and cash transactions that are going to these transnational drug cartels in Mexico. There has been a lot of cooperation between the United States and Mexico on this front. He's indicated he was not aware of what was happening in Fast and Furious. Certainly I was not. And I think both he and I would have been very unhappy if somebody had suggested that guns were allowed to pass through that could have been prevented by the United States of America. He's assigned an Inspector General to look into how exactly this happened and I have complete confidence in him and I have complete confidence in the process to figure out who in fact was responsible for that decision and how it got made."
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-i-have-complete-confidence-eric-holder_595102.html
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By Richard A. Serrano
October 5, 2011, 3:04 p.m.
Two top supervisors at ATF headquarters in Washington -- the deputy director and the assistant director for all field operations -- have been reassigned as the beleaguered agency attempts to remake itself amid the fallout from a failed gun-tracking operation along the Southwest border called Fast and Furious, according to two sources briefed on the changes.
William J. Hoover, the No. 2 man at ATF, will become special agent-in-charge of the agency's Washington field office, while Mark Chait, who ran all of the field investigations around the country, is being reassigned as head of the Baltimore field office.
Thomas Brandon, who was sent to Phoenix to run the field office there and help it recover from the repercussions of Fast and Furious, will be taking Hoover's spot as deputy director.
The new assignments, along with other job changes, were announced today by Todd Jones, the U.S. attorney in Minneapolis who was named acting head of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives this year. He succeeded ATF chief Kenneth Melson, who was reassigned to a lower-level position in the Justice Department.
--SNIP--
Hoover had broad supervision over Fast and Furious, was given routine updates on the "gun walking" operation, and grew concerned over the number of firearms getting into Mexico without any U.S. indictments on this side of the border.
He tried to get it shut down six months after it began in the fall of 2009. But he failed, and the program continued until January of this year. During that time, a U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed in Arizona and two Fast and Furious weapons were recovered at the scene.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-atf-personnel-20111005,0,6002965.story
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We'll see how this holds up in the coming hearings this Fall, and continuing investigations through next year.....When the heat gets too hot for BHO,....
Holder will be thrown under the bus. Perhaps, the whole lot of them can be impeached or forced to resign.
Oh, pay attention to this "leetle move" to have BHO's records sealed......
I wonder why they would want that?
http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/10/05/democrats-introduce-bill-to-seal-up-obamas-presidential-records/#comment-124543
Democrats Introduce Bill to Seal Up Obama’s Presidential Records
According to Judicial Watch, Rep. Edolphous Towns (D-NY) has introduced the Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2011. That bill would do with Obama’s presidential records what Obama has already done to his personal and collegiate records: Seal them up.
In an obvious effort to protect President Barack Obama, a group of congressional Democrats has introduced legislation to create an official process that will allow the commander-in-chief to keep presidential records secret after he leaves office.
Ironically, Obama revoked a similar George W. Bush order in one of his first official acts as president. In 2001 Bush penned an executive order severely limiting public access to his presidential records. Shortly after swearing in, Obama killed it as part of his much-ballyhooed commitment to government transparency. At the time, the new president claimed that he was giving the American people greater access to “historic documents.”
—
If the Democrats’ proposed measure (Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2011) becomes law, former presidents will be allowed to assert a new “constitutionally based privilege” against disclosing records of their liking. Here is how it would work; the Archivist of the United States would be required to notify the former president, as well as the incumbent, of intentions to make records public. Anything that either the former or current president claims should be kept private won’t be released.
The veteran Brooklyn congressman (Edolphus Towns) who recently introduced the law in the U.S. House has yet to explain why it’s necessary.
This looks like a sign of surrender to me. Why seal up Obama’s records now, if you think he’s strong to get re-elected next year?
And, how many Solyndras and executive directives to punish various enemies may be lurking in those records?
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Looks like the Democrats have found their angle into sidelining Fast and Furious.
Say hello to "operation: Wide Reciever"
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_b91080d8-0e03-5907-b807-5317e1c473f9.html (http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_b91080d8-0e03-5907-b807-5317e1c473f9.html)
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/10/05/business-us-atf-bush-era-probe_8717448.html (http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/10/05/business-us-atf-bush-era-probe_8717448.html)
I really am not sure about posting this next link. The personal bias is very clear, but...
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/wide_receiver_the_bush_administration_had_its_very_own_atf_gun_walking_scandal.php#more (http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/wide_receiver_the_bush_administration_had_its_very_own_atf_gun_walking_scandal.php#more)
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/10/mexico-wide-receiver-reaction-guns-weapons-left-right.html (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/10/mexico-wide-receiver-reaction-guns-weapons-left-right.html)
And the obligatory "opinions" that follow.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/furiously_unraveling_f6fpYY4OXSJg62rFIrFiUI (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/furiously_unraveling_f6fpYY4OXSJg62rFIrFiUI)
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I mentioned this before. They are spinning everything they can and MOST of the MSM is abetting them.
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Videos at links
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=46637
Flashback to November 2, 2008. Remember this guy?
If you don't, that is King Samir Shabazz, a member of the New Black Panther Party. He, along with fellow NBPPer Jerry Jackson, were accused of old-fashioned voter intimidation at a Philadelphia polling place on Election Day 2008. After the election, the Justice Department brought a voter-intimidation case against the NBPP and that's where J. Christian Adams comes in. Adams and his DoJ colleagues began building the case but, before they could collect enough evidence, the superiors in the Justice Department told he and his colleagues to drop the case.
As Adams said in a Washington Times op/ed, the 'dismissal of the Black Panther case was motivated by a lawless hostility toward equal enforcement of the law.' Adams resigned his position after the shenanigans from DoJ came to light.
Now out with his new book Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department, Adams sat down with me to discuss what happened on Election Day and how the DoJ did their best to cover it up as soon as the story started to break...
Plus, as Andrew Breitbart is reporting over at Big Government, some pictures that were originally meant to be published in Injustice, obtained by Breitbart, show President Obama at a rally in Selma, Ala. in 2008 marching with NBPP leader Malik Zulu Shabazz. This was also the same Malik Zulu Shabazz whose name was on the White House visitor log in July of 2009. In the words of Desi Arnaz, someone has "got a lot of 'splainin' to do!"
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=46664
Oh, what a tangled web that DoJ weaves, huh? In part one, J. Christian Adams, author of Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department informed us that, when the NBPP case broke, the lawyers within DoJ put the kibosh on the case as fast as they could so Fox News wouldn't find out! Now, Christian is back. This time, he's talking about why Eric Holder stepped in, and also talks about the term 'racialist,' and why the DoJ is filled with individuals that subscribe to this way of thinking.
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ATF, like IRS and Secret Service are part of the Treasury Dept.
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That book will only get airplay on FOX or slammed on the other channels. For the most part it will be a nonevent.
The questions we need to have answer's for are basicly:
1. If you're so vehemently opposed to Fast and Furious, why aren't you screaming about Wide Reciever?
2. If you say that Fast and Furious is an act of war becasue illegal arms were given to terrorist drug cartels in Mexico and are being used to destabilize the country, aren't Bush and his A.G. equally as guilty?
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ATF, like IRS and Secret Service are part of the Treasury Dept.
Tom you might want to check that fact. I do believe the ATFE was transfered to DOJ a few years ago. They were under Treasury.
Pecos
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That book will only get airplay on FOX or slammed on the other channels. For the most part it will be a nonevent.
The questions we need to have answer's for are basicly:
1. If you're so vehemently opposed to Fast and Furious, why aren't you screaming about Wide Reciever?
2. If you say that Fast and Furious is an act of war becasue illegal arms were given to terrorist drug cartels in Mexico and are being used to destabilize the country, aren't Bush and his A.G. equally as guilty?
1- Because Wide Receiver seems to have actually led to arrests and convictions which F&F has not.
2- Wide Receiver was a criminal investigation launched with "Probable cause". F&F was a propaganda stunt used to support Pelosi's BS "Iron River" attack on gun rights.
So NO, Bush and his AG are not guilty of attempting to subvert our Constitutional rights.
Additionally, the Bush operation did not get any Americans killed and since he did not get caught he did not lie about it.
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Isn't this a great country! If you are a high placed official in the federal government and you are an accomplis in breaking the law you are simply reassigned within your branch of the government!
What a country!
Pecos
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Must have been part of their "punishment" for Waco.
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Op Wide Receiver, actually arrested the straw purchasers, and the buyers. Right there, with old fashioned stake outs and warrants.
Now we have this LIE. http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/
Question: Yes, Madam Secretary, on the issue of arms, part of the problem -- I mean, the question basically is, do you -- how success do you expect to be in this effort to clamp down on the trafficking of arms going into Mexico, where part of the problem is, you know, all these (inaudible) along the border? I mean, do you expect to go up against the people who sell these arms, which is part of the problem? I mean, maybe you can be successful in stopping arms, but if you don't do anything -- do something on the source of this illegal business, how can you expect to have a real impact on this issue?
Secretary Napolitano: Several things. One is, first of all, you've got to interdict the arms. You've got to stop them from going into Mexico. That's why we're increasing the southbound inspections. That's why we're moving the technology to the border to help with screening going into the border. We're coordinating with Mexico because they can do more by way of southbound screening on their side of the border.
But then the Department of Justice, moving their agents down there, as David said, and increasing tracing, that will help us identify who are -- who is putting those arms into the arms -- those guns into the arms of the traffickers moving south. And out of that, there can reasonably be seen more prosecution of actual arms dealers who are intentionally and knowingly putting arms into the hands of the smugglers.
So that is part of the reason why the Department of Justice is such an essential part of this initiative on Mexico. (Emphasis supplied, MBV.)
*****
Remember, It's not just DOJ. It's a smorgasbord including the State Dept. DEA, DHS, and FBI. Probably more as investigations move fwd.
But Holder and BHO, knew nothing about it....Hillary is being shielded,....but yes, it is getting that big....
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Thanks guys! :)
This is why I wanted to bring this up and ask you the questions. I knew I would get the informed answers here. 8)
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The convenient re-assignment of ATF Agent Kevin O'Reilly to IRAQ,...(really)? as to avoid Congressional hearings speaks volumes...
When you’ve got bad news, release it on Friday. The White House followed that dictum yesterday by surrendering carefully selected documents to Congressional investigators exploring the link between Operation Fast and Furious and the Obama Administration. CBS has obtained records that prove that then-ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix office (and Fast and Furious coordinator) Bill Newell and then-White House National Security Staffer Kevin O’Reilly were schmoozing about F&F by phone and email. [Click here for the pdf.] The White House said the two men never discussed the fact that ATF guns were walking. Riiiiight. That’s why O’Reilly’s now in Iraq, “on assignment,” where he can’t be contacted . . .
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/10/robert-farago/atf-death-watch-91-doj-considers-eliminating-atf/
OBTW, AZ, ATF Agent Jesse Raponi,....just happened to kill his wife and himself at 37 years old, this Spring...while his 3 children ran to neighbors....No reason, no motive, One short SNIP of a story,....nothing to see here....no follow-up.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/04/06/20100406murder-suicide-flagstaff.html
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The convenient re-assignment of ATF Agent Kevin O'Reilly to IRAQ,...(really)? as to avoid Congressional hearings speaks volumes...
When you’ve got bad news, release it on Friday. The White House followed that dictum yesterday by surrendering carefully selected documents to Congressional investigators exploring the link between Operation Fast and Furious and the Obama Administration. CBS has obtained records that prove that then-ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix office (and Fast and Furious coordinator) Bill Newell and then-White House National Security Staffer Kevin O’Reilly were schmoozing about F&F by phone and email. [Click here for the pdf.] The White House said the two men never discussed the fact that ATF guns were walking. Riiiiight. That’s why O’Reilly’s now in Iraq, “on assignment,” where he can’t be contacted . . .
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/10/robert-farago/atf-death-watch-91-doj-considers-eliminating-atf/
OBTW, AZ, ATF Agent Jesse Raponi,....just happened to kill his wife and himself at 37 years old, this Spring...while his 3 children ran to neighbors....No reason, no motive, One short SNIP of a story,....nothing to see here....no follow-up.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/04/06/20100406murder-suicide-flagstaff.html
The agent was Daniel Raponi. Jesse was his wife.
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Must have been part of their "punishment" for Waco.
Just more of th e9/11 aftermath bull shit that went down.
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Eric Holder claims he did not have any knowledge of Fast and Furious until a few weeks before his March hearings before Congress..So when did this story actually break..From what I can find Senator Grassley was on this at least as far back as 2/11 when Assistant Attorney general Ronald Weich (2/4/11) denied allegations into project Gunrunner. Boarder Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered on 12/14/2010.. How can this administration deny knowledge of this when $10,000,000.00 was funded directly for Project Gunrunner in the H.R. 1 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009..aka Obama Stimulus Package..This project did not just magically appear! This current adminstration should all be up on felony charges...
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No doubt they should, Bob. Holder is on the record as having talked up the whole Gunrunner program back in '09 quite proudly IIRC.
My guess is he won't be AG very long, but he will not do time or even stand trial.
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It was done when the DHS was created and the Border Patrol and Customs was made part of it.
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Probably wind up at Goldman Sachs or SEIU.
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Probably wind up at Goldman Sachs or SEIU.
He'll be reassigned within the Department.
Pecos
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By Sharyl Attkisson
October 7, 2011
In a letter to Congress, Attorney General Eric Holder has gone on the record with the most details yet about what he and other Justice Department officials knew about ATF's Fast and Furious operation, even though memos surfaced earlier this week showing multiple briefing memos mentioning Fast and Furious were sent to him as early as July of last year.
Holder says that his testimony to Congress, stating he first heard of Fast and Furious earlier this year, "was truthful and accurate... I have no recollection of knowing about Fast and Furious prior to the public controversy about it."
In his letter, Holder also criticized the House Committee investigating Fast and Furious, saying he cannot sit idly by "as law enforcement and government employees who devote their lives to protecting our citizens be considered 'accessories to murder'."
--SNIP--
The Attorney General says that while he was sent received memos on Fast and Furious, they are "actually provided to and reviewed by members of my staff and the staff of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General."
--SNIP--
Holder blamed Congress for failing to consider whether "additional tools are needed to stem the flow of guns to Mexico" and warned "until we move beyond the current political climate..nothing is going to change."
--SNIP--
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20117477-10391695.html
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Holder blamed Congress for failing to consider whether "additional tools are needed to stem the flow of guns to Mexico" and warned "until we move beyond the current political climate..nothing is going to change."
Hopefully that 'change' will be in Jan. 2013.
I pray that the dilwad is forced to resign before then!!
Never confess, always deny, make counter accusations....the sacred mantra of criminals and liars.
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I hope he refuses to fall on the sword and brings Obama down!
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I did not have sexual relations with that woman comes to mind!
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I hope he refuses to fall on the sword and brings Obama down!
He'll get Vince Fostered before that happens.
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He'll get Vince Fostered before that happens.
WINNER ! ! !
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It is the Chicago way!
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Does it ever occur to these people that if they were not such arrogant shitheads they might not need so many Secret Service agents ?
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It was done when the DHS was created and the Border Patrol and Customs was made part of it.
the coasties too :'(
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A lot of good information at Sipsey Street Irregulars here:
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/
If you check the right side of the screen part way down there is a section called Project Gunwalker Scandal Resources which includes six volumes so far of David Codrea"s Journalist Guides to the scandal.
There is a lot of information and links on the Sipsey Street sight that you won't find elsewhere if you care to back for the last year or two.
Pass this on to all you know.
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Nice to see that Sharyl Attkisson is not letting the abuse, screaming, threats, et al. from the WH slow her down. Maybe, just maybe, we have finally found a true reporter in the MSM instead of the usual brown-nosed sycophants.
And Holder is a blatant liar IMHO. But then, his lips are moving and he is a politician.
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I have no recollection of that, Senator.
What a collection of bovine scatology!!
Pecos
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The Attorney General says that while he was sent received memos on Fast and Furious, they are "actually provided to and reviewed by members of my staff and the staff of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General."
Isn't this excuse akin to the defense used by all the big business executives use when they get caught in their respective scams? It didn't work for most of them.
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Isn't this excuse akin to the defense used by all the big business executives use when they get caught in their respective scams? It didn't work for most of them.
Exactly right. It shows that they are not competent to be in the position they hold.
Then again, they might not have had a BWhore in their pocket.
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October 9, 2011 | Fox News Sunday
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Hot Damn! It's about time! If (when) the White House tries to block this MAYBE the MSM will open their eyes about this (I know, wishful thinking).
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Stick with Sipsey Street and Gun rights examiner, Codrea & Vanderboegh have been digging since day one, and break stuff before any other media outlet.
They are shielding Hillary, but it just may involve more of the top tier of many agencies including the State Dept.
I hope the pressure cooker continues to build, until it blows wide open and resignations/firings/indictments/charges/and proverbial "heads" start rolling.
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Those never cease to be hysterically funny, a new classic.
Thanks philw. ;D
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Damned accurate.
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I do enjoy several of the "Hitler Finds Out" parodies.
However, Constanntin Film, who own the rights to the movie Der Untergang where the scene used in the parodies appeared, has already had many of the YouTube parodies using the scene taken down. They continue to do so, which is their right as owners of the intellectual property and since YouTube videos can earn money for the posters.
However, there is a way for you to preserve your own copy of any YouTube video should you feel you will enjoy watching it in the future even if access to it is lost online.
There is an online app, KeepVid, which will download from the YouTube URL and convert it to a video file in one of several formats. It is free to use, but it does run an application on your computer
You can find it here http://keepvid.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dx4D14aMMBTM
You should be aware of the two social concerns I have found.
One is that you should not use the converted video for any personal gain other than the pleasure of viewing it or you will be violating copyright laws.
Two is that while the video is available on YouTube you might feel you want to watch it there to give the poster what ever reward they have sought to gain by making it available.
Not all videos you choose to convert will be in violation of copyright laws. For instance, I know you all will want your own copy of Steve Lee's I Like Guns so you can watch and listen on your iPod all day long. But if you listen to your copy when you could be be viewing the YouTube posted by Steve Lee, he is not getting the "hits" that maybe important to his career.
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Here's another web site that will download YouTube videos for you and convert them to your favorite format. No local app is required.
www.ZamZar.com (http://www.ZamZar.com)
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http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=46870
Video here: http://www.breitbart.tv/how-did-obama-know-about-fast-and-furious-before-holder/#.TpgnW-Gn5gE.twitter
Courtesy of Breitbart TV, the endgame for Attorney General Eric Holder begins with a CNN video clip in which President Obama says he knew about Operation Fast and Furious before Holder claims he knew about it:
Game, set, and match. Or will Holder upgrade his “incompetence” defense to claim he not only doesn’t read his briefings or follow media coverage of vital Justice Department affairs, he doesn’t even follow what the President of the United States says about those affairs? Is he really going to try staying in office by claiming he’s virtually unconscious?
I repeat my call for the immediate removal of Attorney General Eric Holder from office, while he awaits trial for perjury.
Speaking of Obama’s involvement in the Fast and Furious scandal, Roll Call has a story that amplifies on something I noted about the massive subpoena House Oversight sent to Holder: investigators are very interested in how the White House has been orchestrating the cover-up.
The subpoena demands “all communications” to or from Holder and 15 other top Justice Department officials on Fast and Furious, as well as every weekly update memo to Holder on any topic over a nearly two-year period. Issa contends that Holder may have learned about the program much earlier than he has acknowledged, and the California Republican been conducting a blitz of media interviews making that point.
The subpoena also requires Holder to produce “all communications between and among Department of Justice (DOJ) employees and Executive Office of the President employees, including but not limited to Associate Communications Director Eric Schultz, referring or relating to Operation Fast and Furious or any other firearms trafficking cases.”
“We know there were communications that did go to the White House on Fast and Furious. We’ve been told that they were personal communications that just happened to occur. We wanted an official assurance on that,” Issa told Roll Call on Wednesday, jokingly referring to Schultz as “my friend.”
Apparently Issa’s is doing a “Columbo” routine, in which his jocular desire to “just clear a few things up” will be followed by that devastating “oh, I just had one more question” moment:
But a GOP source familiar with the committee’s investigation said there was more to the request.
“The question is whether the White House has been instructing the Justice Department on what [documents] to release,” the source said.
Of course, the Democrats will do everything they can to obstruct the investigation:
Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Elijah Cummings assailed Issa’s document demands. “This subpoena is a deep-sea fishing expedition and a gross abuse of the committee’s authority,” the Maryland Democrat said. “It demands tens of thousands of pages of highly sensitive law enforcement and national security materials that have never been requested before and are completely unrelated to Operation Fast and Furious. Rather than legitimate fact-gathering, this looks more like a political stunt.”
No surprises there. As the investigation into Operation Fast and Furious rolls past the deeply compromised Attorney General, the Democrat Party will become increasingly frantic to throw down speed bumps, followed by roadblocks.
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AH!!!! You forget, Holder put his weasel word in there. He said a 'few' weeks ago. What is the definition of a 'few'. Lawyers can have a field day with that (definition of 'is').
I am not defending him, just telling ya how he'll cover his ass.
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But Holder/DOJ/ATF, already provided stacks of documents.
(http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm182/twyacht/RedactedDocuments.jpg)
All proved a very open and honest Gov't Agency, and of valid contribution to the investigation... >:(
Tar & Feathering, is sorely missed. :'( But I will be OK, with resignations, criminal charges, and some prison time.
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AH!!!! You forget, Holder put his weasel word in there. He said a 'few' weeks ago. What is the definition of a 'few'. Lawyers can have a field day with that (definition of 'is').
I am not defending him, just telling ya how he'll cover his ass.
Holder quotes:
"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."
"My testimony was truthful and accurate. ... I have no recollection of knowing about Fast and Furious or of hearing its name prior to the public controversy about it. Prior to early 2011, I certainly never knew about the tactics employed in the operation."
His "is" words, "probably", "few", "no recollection", plus his denial of knowing the "tactics employed in the operation." All statements carefully worded to give plausable deniability, especially if you are part of the regime of liberalism.
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http://lewrockwell.com/slavo/slavo65.1.html
Another great article pointing out the absurdity of the latest false flag event perpetrated by the feds.
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Holder has an undeniable defense.
"I got the job cuz I'se black, you expect me to be competent too ? Racist !"
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I was wondering how long it would take for them to "blame Bush."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/14/documents-raise-new-concerns-about-atf-gunrunning-probes-prior-to-fast-and/ (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/14/documents-raise-new-concerns-about-atf-gunrunning-probes-prior-to-fast-and/)
Newly disclosed documents reveal there was a second Arizona-based investigation during the Bush administration in which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allegedly let guns "walk" as a way to target weapons-trafficking suspects -- a practice now fueling controversy in the Obama administration.
...
Attorney General Eric Holder has said "Fast and Furious" employed "flawed tactics," and he directed the Justice Department's inspector to look into the matter. Still, in a recent letter to critics on Capitol Hill leading a congressional investigation into "Fast and Furious," Holder made a point of noting those "flawed tactics" were also used "in an investigation conducted during the prior Administration."
Holder was referring to "Operation Wide Receiver." From 2006 to about the end of 2007, investigators "permitted guns to be transferred to suspected gun traffickers and had not interdicted them," according to a current Justice Department official.
Difference is when "Wide Reciever"got screwed up (explained in article) the ATF stopped it and the portions that worked resulted in indicments.
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Holder quotes:
"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."
"My testimony was truthful and accurate. ... I have no recollection of knowing about Fast and Furious or of hearing its name prior to the public controversy about it. Prior to early 2011, I certainly never knew about the tactics employed in the operation."
His "is" words, "probably", "few", "no recollection", plus his denial of knowing the "tactics employed in the operation." All statements carefully worded to give plausable deniability, especially if you are part of the regime of liberalism.
All great points. Which brings me to the point of needing an educated, honest populace. Stripping the BS from this and convicting liars of crimes that send them to prison is a duty of a juror. It drives me absolutely batty that a jury can call BS on this sort of stuff and send liars to prison.........but they don't. Rigged juries from the onset....the wife of a guy I worked with was a public defender in New Orleans...when the prospective jurors filled out their parking slips the defenders would run out and look for conservative bumper stickers and then work to exclude the people they didn't like on that basis.
I keep waiting to be called on a jury....one of these days....I hope it's a good one. I will employ absolute truth, honesty and the law as the court guides.
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I was wondering how long it would take for them to "blame Bush."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/14/documents-raise-new-concerns-about-atf-gunrunning-probes-prior-to-fast-and/ (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/14/documents-raise-new-concerns-about-atf-gunrunning-probes-prior-to-fast-and/)
Newly disclosed documents reveal there was a second Arizona-based investigation during the Bush administration in which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allegedly let guns "walk" as a way to target weapons-trafficking suspects -- a practice now fueling controversy in the Obama administration.
...
Attorney General Eric Holder has said "Fast and Furious" employed "flawed tactics," and he directed the Justice Department's inspector to look into the matter. Still, in a recent letter to critics on Capitol Hill leading a congressional investigation into "Fast and Furious," Holder made a point of noting those "flawed tactics" were also used "in an investigation conducted during the prior Administration."
Holder was referring to "Operation Wide Receiver." From 2006 to about the end of 2007, investigators "permitted guns to be transferred to suspected gun traffickers and had not interdicted them," according to a current Justice Department official.
Difference is when "Wide Reciever"got screwed up (explained in article) the ATF stopped it and the portions that worked resulted in indicments.
The other BIG difference is that there actually was a way to track the guns (RFID I believe) but the chips failed. So it was was set up to be a 'sting' not a BS backdoor way to reinstate the AWB and even more gun laws.
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The batteries in the RFID chips only lasted 36 hours,....so they stashed them, for a couple days, than walked em' right out.
I posted this on the DR thread but it is relevant here. They brought out Clinton Attack Dog, Lanny Davis,....which means Hillary is in it up to her eyeballs.
http://confederateyankee.mu.nu/archives/322542.php
Great article. Puts the size and scope of this in perspective. It ain't just DOJ and Holder.....
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The other BIG difference is that there actually was a way to track the guns (RFID I believe) but the chips failed. So it was was set up to be a 'sting' not a BS backdoor way to reinstate the AWB and even more gun laws.
I noted also that the Mexican cops the guns were headed towards were actually the ones that "lost" them. I wonder how many of the F&F guns also walked TO Federales for the Cartels?
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I noted also that the Mexican cops the guns were headed towards were actually the ones that "lost" them. I wonder how many of the F&F guns also walked TO Federales for the Cartels?
They can't blame civilian gun stores or laws for the RPG's and heavy machine guns.
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They can't blame civilian gun stores or laws for the RPG's and heavy machine guns.
But they'll sure give it hell trying! >:(
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They can't blame civilian gun stores or laws for the RPG's and heavy machine guns.
Oh, but they do! Yes it's dishonest (I'm shocked, shocked I tell you) but it is fed to the press that way all the time.
Hell, I've known about the grenade story for a few days and I have already read where people (journalists, bloggers, etc) have said "You shouldn't be able to buy grenade parts over the counter". I'm not sure if the meant an FFL counter or one at Wally World but that is what they said!
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This ms-information about grenade parts probably started with someone noticing the pin on a grenade looks a lot like a cotter pin you can buy in any hardware store...thus the push more more regulation...sigh
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Don't forget, ATF, had a BIG budgetary increase under BHO,...and "stimulus" money paid for the current SNAFU.....so pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.....
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Actually you can buy the fuses in smoke grenades, not sure of the regulations, but they are signaling devices, not weapons or explosives. Then there are the "dummy" grenades you can buy mail order as paper weights that are nothing but chunks of steel.
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Tom, if I remember correctly the fuses for smoke grenades don't have a delay to them, so once you pull the pin and release the spoon it goes BOOM!! not real good for the person throwing it. :o :o
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Tom, if I remember correctly the fuses for smoke grenades don't have a delay to them, so once you pull the pin and release the spoon it goes BOOM!! not real good for the person throwing it. :o :o
Hmmm...we should some live grenades with those fuses fall into the wrong hands....or the right hands, however you want to view them.
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Hmmm...we should some live grenades with those fuses fall into the wrong hands....or the right hands, however you want to view them.
The old Soviet grenades came packed with a selection of various fuse times, including a 0 delay for setting booby traps.
The delay was stamped on the fuse body, but you really wanted to lay off the vodka if you were going to be arming them.