Doug Book, FloydReports.com
Whistleblower Testifies Obama Obstructed Fast and Furious Investigation
July 6, 2011 By 96 Comments
Ben Johnson, The White House Watch
The chief congressional investigators of Operation Fast and Furious released explosive testimony from the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) that they say indicates the Obama administration tried to stonewall Congress, deny witnesses the ability to testify freely, and fire employees who refused to conceal damning information. According to acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson not only did the Justice Department play fast-and-loose with Fast and Furious, but other government agencies may have known – and funded – the straw purchasers the ATF program was designed to catch. The agency’s investigation, which has resulted in at least two deaths, may have been entirely unnecessary.
Scorn on the Fourth of July
Congressman Darrell Issa and Sen. Charles Grassley sent a joint letter to Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday, revealing that Melson gave a transcribed interview on the Fourth of July, with only his personal lawyer present. The news must have come as a shock to Holder. Melson’s testimony had been scheduled to take place July 13, with Melson’s counsel and Obama administration lawyers from the DoJ and ATF taking part.
According to the letter, Melson testified that the administration had not informed him of his legal right “to attend a voluntary interview with [his] own lawyer… rather than participate with counsel representing the Department’s interests.”
“We are disappointed that no one had previously informed him of that provision of the agreement,” they wrote. “Instead, Justice Department officials sought to limit and control his communications with Congress. This is yet another example of why direct communications with Congress are so important and are protected by law.”
(Obstruction of) Justice Department
The Congressmen’s recounting of Melson’s testimony includes mistakes he admitted making, including not personally reviewing hundreds of documents relating to Fast and Furious until March of this year. “By his account, he was sick to his stomach when he obtained those documents and learned the full story,” they write.
In the most stinging passage of the letter, Issa and Grassley accuse the administration of a concerted cover-up….
New York Times Discovers Project Gunrunner — and Blames Gun Owners
June 24, 2011 By 11 Comments
Doug Book, FloydReports.com
Like most of the American media, Pinch Sulzberger’s New York Times has ignored the ATF’s Fast and Furious and Gunrunner scandals for months. The fact that one or more Obama Regime members at the Justice Department encouraged other Obama Regime members at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to sell thousands of weapons to illegal straw purchasers for Mexican drug cartels and then assist in transporting the guns across the border…well these just aren’t the sort of stories that grace the Times’ front page.
After all, Pinch’s pride and joy isn’t known for reporting that its favorite political party is responsible for the deaths of countless Mexicans and at least two American federal employees.
Sure, back in February the Times wrote, “the Obama administration must awake to the urgent need to combat the illegal trafficking of assault weapons across the border.” But then, the “Paper of Record” probably didn’t know it was the Obama administration itself that was doing the trafficking!
But Pinch has finally broken silence on the scandals, mainly because congressional committees of Senator Charles Grassley and Representative Darrell Issa have used testimony from ATF whistleblowers to publicly barbecue some of his favorite Obama apparatchiks. And that means the Times must ride to the rescue to straighten out the reading public.
So with its usual attention to fact and detail, the Times has reported that the deliberate, Regime-initiated sale of more than 2,000 weapons to known straw purchasers is actually the result of….
Issa Threatens Obama Admin with Contempt Proceedings
April 20, 2011 By 2 Comments
Ben Johnson, FloydReports.com
Congressman Darrell Issa is threatening the Obama administration with contempt hearings if it continues to stonewall his investigation of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). In a letter Issa sent ATF Director Ken Melson earlier today, the California Republican blasted the agency for failing to meet the April 13 deadline for his subpoena. Issa, the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is investigating Project Gunrunner and Operation Fast and Furious — two ATF programs that may have cost the lives of two federal agents.
Assistant Attorney General Ronald Welch refused to comply with a subpoena Issa handed down on March 31, citing the Justice Department’s “ongoing criminal investigations.” Issa retorted, “We are not conducting a concurrent investigation with the Department of Justice, but rather an independent investigation of the Department of Justice.”
His letter revealed that Issa had obtained a document proving two AK-47s sold through Project Gunrunner — but never tracked by the ATF — were found near the murder scene of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry last December.
