This morning, I wrote , “Eric Holder Should Become a Campaign Issue Today.” Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, New York Republican, offered a fine example of how to skewer the administration. The Attorney General of the United States should not be able to avoid any serious accountability by accusing critics of “political games” and claiming that he is the target of “character assassination.” Keep reading this post . . .
See the original post here:
Discussing Fast & Furious, Holder Laments His ‘Character Assassination’
( Click for full-size ; Source: GOP Oversight ) Scroll for updates… Forget Klownald Trump. This is your story of the day. Attorney General Eric Holder is on Capitol Hill day, facing another round of questions from relentless GOP watchdogs led by House Oversight and Govenrment Reform chair Darrell Issa. You can watch the proceedings live on CSPAN online here . The grilling comes as Border Patrol agent Brian Terry’s family files suit against the lying ATF: The family of slain U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry charged Wednesday that the top federal prosecutor in Phoenix lied to them about the guns found at the crime scene in an attempt to hide the weapons’ connection to the ATF’s failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation. Terry was killed in December 2010, allegedly by Mexican bandits carrying at least two AK-47 semiautomatic rifles that had been purchased in Arizona as part of Fast and Furious. The operation was intended to catch drug lords using illegal weapons, but the ATF immediately lost track of 1,700 firearms. The Terry family alleged that then-U.S. Atty. Dennis K. Burke told them last March that the two weapons came from a store in Texas and were not part of Fast and Furious. The family made their allegations in a “notice of claim” stating that they intend to sue the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Justice Department for $25 million. They called the gun-tracking operation “abominable, reckless, nonsensical.” Burke has resigned and has declined to discuss Fast and Furious. But the family’s claim notice strongly suggests that the federal government initially sought to keep Fast and Furious under wraps and hoped it would not be linked to the slaying. House GOP leaders repeat what whistleblowers have been telling us from the start: Top White House/DOJ knew. They knew: Top Department of Justice officials had extensive knowledge of and involvement in Operation Fast and Furious, claims a new report released Thursday, hours before Attorney General Eric Holder’s scheduled testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The report released by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, top lawmakers investigating the botched gunrunning operation, claims Justice Department officials in Washington and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were involved in the coordination in the early stages of the operation. Related Interactive Report released by Issa and Grassley on Fast and Furious Republican lawmakers Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) released a new report suggesting top Department of Justice officials had extensive knowledge of and involvement in Operation Fast and Furious. Justice headquarters “had much greater knowledge of, and involvement in, Fast and Furious than it has previously acknowledged,” the memo reads. Rep. Issa’s preview statement in the advance of the hearing is here : ate last year, after months of investigation, the Justice Department finally acknowledged the allegations were true. Fast and Furious was both reckless and flawed. The Justice Department, however, has been less than forthcoming in cooperating with the efforts of Congressional investigators to determine exactly what happened and who was responsible: • The Justice Department has delivered fewer than 8% of the 80,000 documents we know it has identified as being related to this flawed operation. • It has refused to allow investigators access to numerous witnesses who participated in the operation – one witness, after being served with a subpoena, invoked his Fifth Amendment right to protection against self-incrimination rather than answer questions. • Justice Department now asserts that many documents pertaining to internal discussions and decision making about its response to Operation Fast and Furious are off-limits to investigators. The American people deserve better from our nation’s top law enforcement agency. Thursday’s hearing will feature the nation’s top law enforcement official, Attorney General Eric Holder, who will be asked to explain his decision to withhold this factual evidence from investigators. What he is concerned this information would reveal? Why is the Department trying to keep its internal discussions about Operation Fast and Furious from after February 4, 2011 secret? Why did it take nearly nine months for the Justice Department to acknowledge its earlier denials were false? Why did senior Justice Department officials who knew about and received briefings on the operation fail to stop it? Should Americans have confidence in their chief law enforcement agency even though these same officials remain in their posts? There is now broad bipartisan agreement that the congressional investigation into Operation Fast and Furious has exposed a serious and deadly failure of government. We know that the life of a brave Border Patrol agent has been lost along with countless Mexican citizens who have been victimized by guns from Operation Fast and Furious. Attorney General Holder has acknowledged that the danger created by Fast and Furious will continue for years. This hearing is not about controversial struggles between gun control advocates and supporters of the Second Amendment. It is about the unifying, and what should be bipartisan, expectation that the Justice Department be held to a high standard and that those who failed to meet this standard should be held accountable. I look forward to Attorney General Holder’s testimony. After Issa threatened contempt charges against the Department of Justice Obstructionists, DOJ responded with…more obstruction: The Justice Department response Wednesday rejected Issa’s February 9, 2012, deadline to produce all demanded documents. Cole called the deadline “impossible” to meet because of the broad scope of the request. He did not directly refer to the threat of a contempt charge by Issa. …The hearing Thursday will not be the end of the battle over Operation Fast and Furious. The Justice Department’s inspector general continues to work on a detailed account of the origins of the operation, and who was involved. The report is not expected to be complete for at least a couple more months. Holder has promised when it is completed, he is prepared to make individuals accountable. But Holder says he has no plan to seek resignations or administer discipline until that report is complete. The corruption keeps piling up. Matthew Boyle has a hard-hitting investigative piece in the Daily Caller exposing yet another DOJ scandal involving alleged bribery of top officials involved in a financial fraud probe: A U.S. Justice Department source has told The Daily Caller that at least two DOJ prosecutors accepted cash bribes from allegedly corrupt finance executives who were indicted under court seal within the past 13 months, but never arrested or prosecuted. The sitting governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, his attorney general and an unspecified number of Virgin Islands legislators also accepted bribes, the source said, adding that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is aware prosecutors and elected officials were bribed and otherwise compromised, but has not held anyone accountable. The bribed officials, an attorney with knowledge of the investigation told TheDC, remain on the taxpayers’ payroll at the Justice Department without any accountability. The DOJ source said Holder does not want to admit public officials accepted bribes while under his leadership. That source said that until the summer of 2011, the two compromised prosecutors were part of a team of more than 25 federal prosecutors pursuing a financial crime ring, and at least five other prosecutors tasked to the case were also compromised by the criminal suspects they were investigating, without being bribed. Washington knew what it was getting when it confirmed corruptocrat Eric Holder. Innocent people have paid with their lives. Ignoring this man and his boss’s utter, systematic contempt for the rule of law has yielded deadly consequences. America, let’s not make that mistake again. *** Update: Go to my Twitter account for live-tweeting of the hearing. Most jaw-dropping moment so far: Indignant Holder demanding he get “credit” for his work at DOJ. Running joke: Every time gun-control Democrats call for more “tools.” There are plenty enough of them in charge in Washington. Side note: Donald Trump stepping on this important hearing tells you everything you need to know about his purported interest in advancing conservative/GOP interests. Circus, circus. Video clips: GOP Rep. Issa’s opening statement: GOP Rep. Patrick Henry underscores that there’s been no accountability for 13 months: GOP Rep. Anne Marie Buerkle confronts Holder with Terry family’s plea for action. At the five-minute mark, you can’t hear it, but Democrats advised Holder: “Don’t answer:”
Read the original:
Fast and Furious showdown: Holder/Obama defend bloody culture of contempt; Update: Fortress Holder, Stonewall City; vid clips added, Dems advise,…
It appears one of my Twitter comments prompted Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla, to explicitly compare Attorney General Eric Holder to George Costanza from Seinfeld, considering the similarity between their creative definitions of “lie.” Keep reading this post . . .
Visit link:
Attorney General Costanza
Busy day in Washington today. If you’re not near a TV, you can watch the Eric Holder live testimony re. Fast and Furious and other matters here . Here’s how C-SPAN previews: Attorney General Eric Holder testifies before the House Judiciary Committee today about when he first became aware of the tactics used by the ATF’s failed sting operation aimed at gun smugglers. Previously, Holder vowed that the tactics used during operation Fast and Furious would never be used again by the Justice Department. The operation allowed guns to be smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border in order to establish links between arms dealers and drug cartels. The Attorney General has also said that the Justice Department never knowingly provided Congress with false information about Fast and Furious, a charge leveled by House and Senate Republicans. Mr. Holder will testify before the full House Judiciary Committee. New RNC ad blasts F&F cover-up: Update: 10:05am Holder will NOT be sworn in under oath as requested by Rep. Issa. Rep. Smith argues he’s technically already under oath. Right on cue. Or rather, left on cue: Conyers opens by pushing more gun-control legislation at Holder hearing. Conyers heaps praise on Holder’s dedication and civil rights championship. Antidote: Christian Adams’ book, Injustice. Issa: He has “no confidence in a president who has confidence in Eric Holder.” Holder’s dulled praise for border officials –followed by whining about politics–is the emetic of the morning. I’m marveling at how Holder testifies so bloodlessly about the bloodiest disaster of the Obama administration. GOP Rep. Lamar Smith turns to Obamacare/Supreme Court justice Kagan conflict/recusal issue. Holder going in circles on whether he’s asserting a legal privilege in refusing to hand over the documents. Update 10:30am GOP Rep. Sensenbrenner: DOJ official Lanny Breuer should be fired. Whaddya gonna do to clean up this mess? Holder: Nobody at Justice lied. Sensenbrenner: Letter was wdrawn! What’s dif between lying & misleading?! Sensenbrenner raises prospect of impeachment. Story here. Holder: The Justice Dept has released facts. Pats self on back for explaining Breuer LIES. Here’s vid: 10:40am House hearing in recess for a series of four votes. Check out Issa’s new Fast and Furious investigation website here . Act II. Sheila Jackson Lee can’t even remember BP Agent Brian Terry’s name while pretending to care. Holder is stammering in response to q’s from Goodlatte about how many #fastandfurious guns recovered. He doesn’t know. Maxine Waters calls the ATF the “AFT” in crusading for Holder power grab legislation. Waters play-acts shock comparing legal sales to govt-forced illegal sales. Ignores that the federal licensees involved actually pre-reported multiple long gun sales. ATF approved them. Hank “Guam is sinking” Johnson is shamelessly playing the race card, invoking “white supremacists” and gun dealers instead of Fast and Furious. Johnson: How many weapons are sold to “white supremacists” at “unregulated gun shows”? Issa with boxes of docs at his side: 5,000 emails on #fastandfurious, but not a single one from Holder. Why? Issa asks if Holder is a prolific e-mailer. Holder says no. Issa asks if has personal email. Holder-Yes. #fastandfurious Holder brags about “unprecedented” doc turnover. Issa retorts about Holder’s ignorance. Issa focuses in on what CoS Gary Grindler knew. Nailing Holder. Jackson Lee tries to play human shield. Issa nailing DOJ IG for leaking #fastandfurious to object of investigation. Issa is treating Holder as “hostile witness” because…he is one. GOP Rep Franks going back to ATF memos using scandal to expand power. Franks reestablishes that Holder hasn’t produced all pertinent #fastandfurious emails and won’t. In response to GOP Rep Ted Poe, Holder acknowledges it was “flawed,” “reckless,” “tragic,” and “yes,” more people are going to die. After GOP Rep Poe points out reckless standard could invite crim prosec, Holder walks back “reckless.” #fastandfurious #cya Here’s the vid: More… Vid: GOP Rep. Dan Lungren nails Holder on gun-control exploitation memos reported by CBS’s Sharyl Attkisson, blasts Holder for blame Bush games, blurring distinction betwn Gunrunner/WideReceiver & #fastandfurious: Democrat Rep Judy Chu = tool. Reading straight from DOJ cheerleading talking points touting crime fighting record. Chaffetz to Holder: Have u spoken to J-Nap, Clinton about #fastandfurious? No. Obama? Doesn’t think so. Chaffetz: Dead bodies in US, Mexico and you haven’t spoken to JNap, Clinton, or President? Holder lecturing Chaffetz on the “way Washington works.” Dems snicker. Chaffetz presses forward on shooting of Jaime Zapata, agents on ground in panic. DOJ/DHS release but no Holder/JNap talk? Holder: I have made personnel changes. Chaffetz: You haven’t fired anyone! Holder: It’s not all I am possibly going to do. Emetic: Holder lecturing Chaffetz on need for establishing facts. House #fastandfurious hearing recesses for votes until 2:30pm. *** Meanwhile Jon Corzine is on a House hot seat. Hearing’s livestreaming here . Corzine don’t know nuttin : Jon Corzine, the former New Jersey senator who ran the derivatives broker-dealer MF Global Holdings as its chief executive leading up to its historic failure on Oct. 31, told a congressional panel on Thursday that he does not know what happened to an estimated $1.2 billion in missing customer funds. “I simply do not know where the money is, or why the accounts have not been reconciled to date,” he said in prepared testimony before the House Agriculture Committee. MF Global failed because it over leveraged itself and made bad bets on European sovereign debt. Regulators have said it invested with customer funds that were supposed to be segregated. “I do not know which accounts are unreconciled or whether the unreconciled accounts were or were not subject to the segregation rules,” Corzine said in his prepared remarks. Corzine apologized in his testimony and said he was “stunned” the day before the firm collapsed when he learned that the firm could not account for hundreds of millions of dollars in client funds. He said that as CEO he takes “responsibility for the firm,” but he readily admitted he did not involve himself deeply or understand the complexities of its day-to-day operations. Takeaway: Holder holds out possibility of firing underlings at DOJ once “facts” are established. #fastandfurious *** And as I spotlighted in my column yesterday, today’s the day of the Cordray super-czar vote. McConnell is on the Senate floor now drawing the line: “we’re not going to let the president put another unelected czar in place.” Vote falls short. Update here .
See the original post:
Capitol Hill hearing/vote watch: Holder, Corzine, Cordray; Update Holder: Nobody lied; Corzine: Don’t know where $ went; F&F impeachment?; Issa…
Attorney General Eric Holder’s status as the most shameless corruptocrat in the Obama administration has now been RE-confirmed. Fox News (h/t Christian Adams ) reports on the DOJ’s cynical exploitation of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry and his family that will leave you speechless (or using the most profane speech in your vocabulary): The Terrys watched Holder’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. Asked if he wanted to apologize to the family, Holder declined, saying only he regretted what happened. “That shows what kind of a person he is,” Kent lamented. “To me, he is not much of a person. I don’t know if he has a son. But if he lost his, he would think different.” “I sat in a chair and cried,” Josephine said. “It was so inhumane. An apology to anybody means at least they are trying to fix it. He didn’t.” … Blasted for his response, Holder did send the Terrys a letter Wednesday saying he was sorry for their loss. The letter was released to the press before the Terrys received it. Holder doesn’t just need to be fired. He needs to be prosecuted. *** Previous this week: Fast and Furious: Holder “regrets” lies, condemns “distraction,” redistributes the blame; Holder denies receiving F&F memos; NO STRAIGHT APOLOGY TO TERRY FAMILY; Grassley and Cornyn nail Holder: “Are you winging it?” Your public service reminder: 19 Senate Republicans voted to confirm Eric Holder despite his decades-long record of corruption, incompetence, and sabotage of the rule of law.
View post:
Vile: Holder released “apology” letter before Border Patrol agent’s family received it
Nope, you are not off the hook, AG Eric Holder. Not by a long shot. No way in hell. GOP Rep. Darrell Issa and Sen. Charles Grassley are back with a new letter demanding more information about the murder of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jaime Zapata and the tactics used while conducting surveillance on known straw purchasers, a la Operation Fast and Furious. Issa’s office informs us about the new letter: “The letter explains the inconsistent statements by the Justice Department regarding Otilio Osorio, his brother Ranferi Osorio, and Kelvin Morrison. The three straw purchasers were known to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, long before one of the guns purchased by the brothers was linked to the murder of Agent Zapata. To make matters worse, Grassley and Issa wrote in their letter that documents indicate the ATF failed for more than three months to create a Report of Investigation on the November 9 transfer of firearms between the brothers and Morrison and a confidential informant, witnessed by ATF agents. The report was finally written on February 25, 2011—the same day the ATF received the report tracing the Zapata murder weapon back to the purchase by Otilio Osorio. Grassley and Issa said that documenting investigative steps three months after the fact and only after a trace returned to the murder of a federal agent raises red flags about the nature of ATF’s investigation.” Here’s the full text: 2011-10-25 DEI Grassley to Holder-DOJ – Zapata ATF Fast and Furious Osorio Brothers Due 11-8
Excerpt from:
Document drop: Issa, Grassley demand answers on death of ICE agent Zapata
