“A long-awaited report on the U.S. government’s controversial gun-trafficking operation known as ‘Fast and Furious’ released Wednesday found no evidence that Attorney General Eric Holder knew of the botched effort to trace the flow of guns to Mexico’s drug cartels prior to its public unraveling in January 2011,” nbcnews.com reports. [Click here for the Inspector General’s redacted report A review of ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious and Related Matters.] The main mainstream media is touting this as a big thumbs up for the AG . . .
AG Holder cleared in Justice gunwalking probe CBS proclaims. But the chorus isn’t quite as loud and proud as you might expect. That may have something to do with the Inspector General report’s otherwise damning nature. US ‘Fast and Furious’ report refers 14 for discipline Reuters headlines.
True dat. The Inspector General recommended 14 government employees, including Assistant AG Lanny Breuer, face “possible” internal discipline. And the IG traced foreknowledge of the ATF program—which enabled the sale of firearms to drug thugs, one of more of which a “rip crew” used to murder U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry—to acting deputy attorney general, Gary Grindler.
The IG said that Gazza received a Fast and Furious heads-up in March 2010, but the briefing “failed to alert Grindler to problems in the investigation.” ‘Cause he couldn’t have figured out the idea that allowing cartel members to buy and smuggle firearms from U.S. gun stores without supervision could lead to problems like, I dunno, people getting shot with those firearms.
That was the problem wasn’t it? It sure was for Brian Terry. And it beggars to belief that Gazza made no mention of nada to Holder. I reckon the House Oversight Committee has some evidence of its own in regard to who knew what when; despite the fact that the President of the United States has claimed executive privilege on documents related to the ATF’s stingless sting.
The Inspector General will appear in front of the committee tomorrow morning at 9am. It will be quite a show (click here and save this link for live streaming). Committee jefe Congressman Darrell Issa is all over F&F. In advance of his IG evisceration, Issa has released a statement about today’s report. It reads, in part . . .
The Inspector General’s report confirms findings by Congress’ investigation of a near total disregard for public safety in Operation Fast and Furious. Contrary to the denials of the Attorney General and his political defenders in Congress, the investigation found that information in wiretap applications approved by senior Justice Department officials in Washington did contain red flags showing reckless tactics and faults Attorney General Eric Holder’s inner circle for their conduct.
Former Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer who heads the Criminal Division, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein, Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, and Holder’s own Deputy Chief of Staff Monty Wilkinson are all singled out for criticism in the report. It’s time for President Obama to step in and provide accountability for officials at both the Department of Justice and ATF who failed to do their jobs. Attorney General Holder has clearly known about these unacceptable failures yet has failed to take appropriate action for over a year and a half.
And here’s an interesting fact that the mainstream media has (so far) ignored:
The Inspector General has indicated he will continue his investigation of matters related to Operation Fast and Furious, including retaliation against whistleblowers and an effort to have the Justice Department unseal wiretap applications sealed by courts that were approved by senior officials. The Congressional investigation will also continue to seek documents wrongfully withheld from Congress.
The race against the clock to uncover the truth about Eric Holder and Barack Obama’s knowledge of Fasta and Furious and participation in the resulting coverup before election day continues. Much more tomorrow, after the Hearing.