GOP Senators Grassley, Issa Request DOJ Hand Over Documents On Operation Fast And Furious, Name 12 Senior Justice Officials In Letter…
Let the games begin.
(The Hill) — Republican lawmakers have requested correspondence records, including emails and handwritten notes, from a dozen senior Justice Department officials who may have been involved in a controversial gun-tracking operation.
The Hill has obtained a letter sent from Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.) to Attorney General Eric Holder this week in which they ask for communication records from 12 senior officials with the Department of Justice (DOJ), including James Cole, the recently confirmed Deputy Attorney General.
Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, are investigating the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) botched operation “Fast and Furious,” which sold thousands of weapons to known and suspected straw purchasers for Mexican drug cartels.
The move comes in connection with a separate letter sent by the lawmakers to Holder on Monday asking for records of a shared drive, which they say was provided to the computers of ATF officials and could jeopardize their investigation.
The drive contained documents relating to the Fast and Furious operation that the DOJ has given to the committee and possibly documents that it has not yet handed over, their letter states.
“Allowing witnesses access to such documents could taint their testimony by allowing them to tailor their responses to what they think the committees already know,” the lawmakers wrote.
More from the Daily Caller:
House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, ripped Attorney General Eric Holder again in another Monday letter.
In this new letter, Issa and Grassley name 12 senior Justice Department political officials they believe may have been involved in the decision which allowed guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. They asked Holder to provide all records relating to communications between those 12 individuals regarding Operation Fast and Furious.
Obama administration officials Issa and Grassley named in their letter were:
- Former Deputy Attorney General David Ogden
- Deputy Attorney General James Cole
- Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer
- Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco
- Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein
- Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Keeney
- Associate Deputy Attorney General Matt Axelrod
- Former Associate Deputy Attorney General Ed Siskel
- Gary Grindler in the Office of the Attorney General
- Brad Smith, in the office of the Deputy Attorney General
- Kevin Carwile, section chief of the Capital Case Unit
- Joseph Cooley, in the Criminal Fraud Section
Posted by ZIP on Tuesday, July 12, 2011, at 9:06 pm | 
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“The deadline they gave Holder is July 18 at noon.”
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High noon?
We can only hope that this investigation comes to fruition and it will mean the end of Holder and his cohorts.
Bring these mother fuckers DOWN!
Holder has to go! That racist thug has no business being AG.
DING DING DING!!! LLLLLLETS GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!
Time to pop the popcorn!
@gastorgrab
Issa shows up at the door with group of U.S. Marshals and come 12:01 they go in and start making arrests if the documents aren’t provided.
Let’s all hope Issa remains a pit bull. Don’t let go when you have them in your teeth.
..atease
The smell of fear permeates the Department of Justice
So far so good…keep the pressure on them Mr. Issa.
This will be pushed under the carpet
I think they should just give out everybodies name and address from the Department of Justice. This is one of the more dangerous groups of feds.
Congressman Bilirakis Questions Holder On Tampa ATF Office Gunwalker Allegations
David Codrea is reporting that Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) wrote a letter today to Attorney General Eric Holder and Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Kenneth Melson, expressing deep concerns over the allegations of release of guns to MS-13 from the Tampa ATF office.
“These reports,” Bilirakis writes, “raise troubling questions about the motives, intentions, and competency of the ATF and DOJ.”
“In recent days,” he notes, “it has come to light that the ATF and DOJ may have participated in the act of ‘gun walking’ beyond the acts conducted within the scope of “Operation Fast and Furious’…and that similar programs included the possible trafficking of arms to dangerous criminal gangs in Honduras with the knowledge of the ATF’s Tampa Field Division.”
The complete list of questions is as follows:
1. Can you confirm whether or not the ATF Tampa Field Division and/or the Department of Justice’s Middle District of Florida participated in a “gun walking” scheme that allowed weapons to be trafficked to Honduras?
2. If so, does the ATF or the DOJ have knowledge of any of these firearms ending up in the possession of the notorious MS-13 gang?
3. How many guns have been allowed to pass into Honduras and how many have since been accounted for?
4. Were trafficked weapons subject to any special monitoring processes once they left the United States?
5. Has “Operation Castaway” been terminated? If not, does the DOJ or ATF plan to terminate this program or urge its termination?
6. Has the DOJ or the ATF established any criteria or guidance pertaining to what is admissible for future operations aimed at preventing firearms from being obtained and used by dangerous foreign criminal organizations in crimes similar to the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry?
David Codrea enters a detailed discussion about whether this facet of the scandal is subdivided into “Operation Castaway.” I think that this is unimportant, and the important thing to follow is David’s reporting on the events and people. Don’t miss what’s happening here. It has been said that “Fast and Furious” was separate from Project Gunrunner (or at least, a subset of it). “Operation Castaway” is supposed to be another subset of Project Gunrunner. These details will all come to light in the coming days if Congress probes deeply enough, but the important thing now is that their own reporting claims that there is coherence and consistency of effort, a common strategy, and approval of the project – taken as a whole – from the very top levels of the administration. The subdivided operation at the field offices under which each illegality falls is not currently important.
The scandal deepens and widens, and the depth and extent of the illegalities is only beginning to emerge. Perhaps Congressman Bilirakis can get to the ATF before they shred all of the pertinent documents.
http://www.captainsjournal.com/2011/07/12/congressman-bilirakis-questions-holder-on-tampa-atf-office-gunwalker-allegations/
My guess… Lies, misdirection, finger pointing to come.
I can neither confirm or deny.
I grew up in D.C. and my family worked for the federal government. I believed that the federal government existed, in part, to correct the errors of the benighted states.
But then I moved away. And I have seen the light for decades, now.
New Mexico town dissolves police dept after gun smuggling scandal
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/mexico-town-dissolves-police-dept-gun-smuggling-scandal-184408968.html#more-13679
WHATEVER happens with this investigation….you can bet that Barry
will come out of it with a defiant smirk on his face and no scuff-marks
on his Guccis.
Why is that wacko keeping his face hiden?
As his request for info is summarily denied and used as toilet paper, Issa will hold a sputtering press conference, then meekly say: nevermind. ALL Republicans ( with more than 2 years graft )are part of the “elite” ruling class and will have to be, with their Demonrat brothers, tossed on the trash heap of history as we reclaim the Republic. We are headed in the direction of Greece.
“Allowing witnesses access to such documents could taint their testimony by allowing them to tailor their responses to what they think the committees already know,” the lawmakers wrote.
Isn’t this Criminal Contempt by Obstructing Justice?
On knees, hands together praying, toes crossed. ‘Please let justice be served and the impeachment procedures begin’
Just as always with these knaves they blame the guns the gun lobby and the gun makers since their outright liars ABOLISH THE BATFE
Since the senate and house both have intelligence committees which oversee and control the FBI and CIA, it is difficult to believe this is anything more than a show. Politicians are also involved with the Dept. of Justice.
This bunch is made out of teflon. They will stonewall congress and with the help of the complicit media whores, they will walk away with no damage to them.
2012 is coming. Have everyone you know go to the polls. We cannot aford these gangsters to run the government one day pasy Jan. 20, 2013.
Even the Mighty O will not be able to scrape this turd off his shoe.
He’s committed an impeachable offence about every other day since being in office, but the smell of this boondoggle is gonna reek for awhile.