Fast And Furious

DOJ: Issa's Move To Hold AG In Contempt 'Unprecedented'

Ryan J. Reilly | May 15, 2012, 6:16PM

Rep Darrell Issa (R-CA) confers with a staffer.

Rep. Darrell Issa's drive to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt is "unwarranted," "unprecedented" and "ill-advised," a top Justice Department official said in a letter to the California Republican, who is chair of the House Oversight Committee, on Tuesday.

Deputy Attorney General James Cole also wrote that the committee's "core questions" on the flawed gun trafficking operation known as Fast and Furious "have been answered."

Cole suggested that the lack of documents showing high-level discussions about the tactics used in Fast and Furious show the problem grew out of offices in Arizona and that top Obama administration were not aware that ATF agents were telling gun shop dealers to sell large quantities of weapons to individuals they suspected were "straw purchasers" for Mexican drug cartels.

Fast And Furious

FLASHBACK: Boehner Called Dem Contempt Proceedings A 'Fishing Expedition'

Ryan J. Reilly | May 4, 2012, 2:48PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

With House Republicans pursuing a contempt resolution against Attorney General Eric Holder, it's worth a read of House Speaker John Boehner's words from the past.

Democrats have argued that the House Oversight Committee, led by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), hasn't exhausted all of its options to get the documents requested for its investigation of the ATF's botched Fast and Furious operation. They say DOJ has been turning over information that wouldn't affect an ongoing investigation and that Republicans should wait out a report on that matter from the Justice Department Inspector General.

Fast And Furious

Issa's Holder Contempt Resolution All About Politics, Say Experts

Ryan J. Reilly | May 4, 2012, 5:57AM

A year after floating the idea, House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa made a big move Thursday by releasing a draft contempt resolution against Attorney General Eric Holder, claiming the Justice Department hasn't cooperated with his congressional investigation into the flawed ATF operation known as "Fast and Furious."

But several experts in congressional contempt proceedings told TPM that Issa's move is mostly a problem of political perception for Holder. Legal consequences, should the House pass the contempt resolution, would take years to sort out.

Eric Holder

Fast And Furious: Issa Makes Case For Holder Contempt Resolution

Ryan J. Reilly | May 3, 2012, 12:30PM

Attorney General Eric Holder testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a hearing examining the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms' botched gun-walking operation, Fast and Furious. November, 8, 2011.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) on Thursday released a draft memo laying out the case for holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for producing a "small fraction" of the documents they requested as part of their investigation into Operation Fast and Furious.

The Justice Department, the memo asserted, "has issued false denials, given answers intended to misdirect investigators, sought to intimidate witnesses, unlawfully withheld subpoenaed documents, and waited to be confronted with indisputable evidence before acknowledging uncomfortable facts."

Fast And Furious

Fast And Furious: GOP Moves Towards Holder Contempt Resolution

Ryan J. Reilly | April 27, 2012, 1:50PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Led by House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Republicans in the House are preparing a contempt resolution against Attorney General Eric Holder, alleging that the nation's top law enforcement official has obstructed a congressional investigation into a federal operation that allowed guns to flow to Mexican drug cartels.

A congressional source with knowledge of the contempt resolution confirmed to TPM that a draft does exist and said Republican leadership had been very supportive of the measure, which was first reported by CBS News. CBS said House Speaker John Boehner had given Issa the go-ahead to pursue the resolution, but a GOP leadership aide disputed that report and told TPM that "no decision" had been made.

Fast And Furious

It Wasn't Just The Government Giving Guns To Mexican Drug Cartels

Ryan J. Reilly | April 27, 2012, 12:57PM

Over 66 percent of guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico that officials asked the U.S. government to trace were sourced to the United States, according to data released Thursday by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Conservatives have asserted that ATF's botched Fast and Furious operation -- in which U.S. gun dealers were told to sell large numbers of weapons to individuals they believed were "straw purchasers" for Mexican drug cartels -- was launched by the Obama administration in an effort to justify gun control measures. But the trace data showed that the number of weapons traced to the U.S. peaked before he even took office.

Mike Vanderboegh

GOP 'Sons-A-Bitches' Going Soft On Gunwalking, Says Blogger Who Broke 'Fast And Furious'

Ryan J. Reilly | February 3, 2012, 6:27AM

Mike Vanderboegh is drinking Diet Mountain Dew in the cafeteria of the Rayburn building on Capitol Hill, and he is pissed.

Not because his flight from Alabama was almost "as bumpy as [his] first marriage," nor because he almost got into a physical altercation with an "idiot street urban adventurer" outside the National Archives who said Vanderboegh looked like Newt Gingrich.

The former militia man turned gun rights blogger is angry because he thinks the Republican "sons-a-bitches" on the House Oversight Committee put on the "ultimate display of public limp dickery" during a Thursday hearing in which Attorney General Eric Holder testified about ATF's botched Operation Fast and Furious.

Fast And Furious

Emails Rebuff Republican Suggestion That Bush-Era 'Gun Walking' Was Always Coordinated With Mexico

Ryan J. Reilly | January 5, 2012, 7:03PM

Updated: Jan. 6, 10:43AM

At least twenty weapons that were allowed to "walk" during a Bush-era investigation aimed at combating gun trafficking were later recovered in Mexico, documents the Justice Department sent to congressional investigators on Thursday indicate.

Michael Bloomberg

NRA's Fundraising Growing Quickly As They Gear Up To Defeat Obama

Ryan J. Reilly | December 30, 2011, 2:00PM

As the National Rifle Association sets its sights on keeping President Barack Obama from a second term in the White House, a new report finds that the group's fundraising grew twice as fast as its income from membership dues from 2004 to 2010. Bloomberg News reported that the group received $71.1 million in donations last year, up 54 percent from the $46.3 million figure they raised in 2004.

If previous numbers are any indication, election years are pretty crucial for the NRA. Their revenue minus expenses went from $29,923,548 in 2008 -- when the man they called "Gun Ban Obama" was running for president -- to $1,183,523 in 2009, when he actually took office (their total revenue decreased by just over $10 million).

B. Todd Jones

ATF Head Could Recommend Terminations, Suspensions Following Fast And Furious IG Report

Ryan J. Reilly | December 27, 2011, 1:40PM

B. Todd Jones, the U.S. Attorney the Obama administration put in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the wake of the Fast and Furious scandal, told the Los Angeles Times that he would be making some termination or suspension recommendations to the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responibility once an Inspector General report is issued on the botched anti-gun trafficking program.

Fast And Furious

Obama DOJ Makes It Easier For Legal 'Aliens' To Get Guns

Ryan J. Reilly | December 22, 2011, 3:09PM

President Barack Obama

In the midst of the Fast and Furious scandal, the Obama administration just made it easier for immigrants in the United States legally to purchase weapons from licensed firearms dealers.

Under the Gun Control Act (GCA), individuals are generally prohibited from transferring firearms to "any unlicensed person who they know or have reasonable cause to believe does not reside in the State in which the transferor resides."

Fast And Furious

Inspector's Probe Of Fast And Furious Likely Encompasses Bush-Era 'Gun Walking'

Ryan J. Reilly | December 16, 2011, 1:58PM

The Justice Department Inspector General's review of the flawed ATF program in which guns were allowed to "walk" across the Mexican border will include other investigations that used similar methods, according to the IG's semi-annual report to Congress.

Fast And Furious

Republicans Buy Into NRA's 'Fast And Furious' Gun Control Conspiracy Theory

Ryan J. Reilly | December 16, 2011, 11:35AM

Out of the sound and fury of Attorney General Eric Holder's day before the House last week one thing was clear: Republican members of Congress are latching onto the conspiracy theory that the Obama administration let guns "walk" into Mexico in order to erode Americans' second amendment rights.

Fast And Furious

Holder, Chaffetz Get Into Heated Exchange Over Fast And Furious (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | December 8, 2011, 5:48PM

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Attorney General Eric Holder

One of the most heated exchanges of Attorney General Eric Holder's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday came thanks to questioning from Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who accused Holder of being "oblivious and disengaged" from guns "walking" during Operation Fast and Furious.

Jason Chaffetz

Holder Squares Off With House Republicans At Fast And Furious Hearing

Ryan J. Reilly | December 8, 2011, 2:58PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) questions Attorney General Eric Holder during the House Judiciary Committee's hearing on Operation Fast and Furious on Capitol Hill on December 8, 2011.

Attorney General Eric Holder went toe-to-toe with House Republicans on Thursday over the Justice Department's handling of Operation Fast and Furious, the program which allowed weapons to flow over the border into Mexico.

The hearing was combative at times, with Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) bringing in posters and boxes of documents to hammer his points home.

Fast And Furious

Obama Has 'Full Confidence' In Eric Holder Ahead Of 'Fast And Furious' Hearing

Ryan J. Reilly | December 8, 2011, 1:05AM

While House Republicans gear up to grill Attorney General Eric Holder about what-he-knew-when about ATF's botched Operation Fast and Furious at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, the White House is signaling they're standing by the nation's top law enforcement officer.

"As the President has made clear, he believes Eric Holder is an excellent Attorney General who has his full confidence," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in a statement to TPM on Wednesday.

Drug Enforcement Agency

Issa Expands Probe Of ATF's Fast And Furious To Examine DEA Money Laundering

Ryan J. Reilly | December 6, 2011, 5:35AM

A stash of money seized by DEA.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) on Monday expanded his investigation into why ATF let guns "walk" across the Mexican border during Operation Fast and Furious, to include a probe of DEA laundering money to Mexican drug cartels.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that U.S. narcotics agents "have laundered or smuggled millions of dollars in drug proceeds as part of Washington's expanding role in Mexico's fight against drug cartels."

Fast And Furious

Emails Show DOJ Trusted ATF Denials Of Fast And Furious 'Gun Walking' Allegations

Ryan J. Reilly | December 5, 2011, 3:06PM

Attorney General Eric Holder testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a hearing examining the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms' botched gun-walking operation, Fast and Furious. November, 8, 2011.

It was early 2011. Reports that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had let guns "walk" across the border to Mexico were only just starting to emerge. Sen. Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter to to the Justice Department on Jan. 27 asking if an assault rifle bought by a suspected "straw purchaser" during an ATF-authorized transaction with a firearms dealer was found at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

If contemporaneous emails sent by Justice Department officials are any indication, they didn't have any clue what Grassley was talking about. And when officials in the U.S. Attorney's office in Arizona and at ATF headquarters assured them gun walking wasn't going on, they took them at their word and adopted that false position as the official stance of the Justice Department.

Darrell Issa

Issa's Suggestion Of Folding ATF's Duties Into FBI Probably Isn't Going Anywhere

Ryan J. Reilly | December 5, 2011, 12:03PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) suggested Friday that the role of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives could be folded into the FBI in the wake of ATF's botched Fast and Furious operation.

Issa's House Oversight Committee has been investigating Fast and Furious, the operation which let guns flow across the border into Mexico in the course of an investigation aimed at stopping gun trafficking.

Fast And Furious

Ex U.S. Attorney Called Grassley's Staff 'Stooges For The Gun Lobby' For Fast And Furious Probe

Ryan J. Reilly | December 2, 2011, 3:48PM

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

A former U.S. Attorney who resigned in the wake of ATF's botched operation Fast and Furious called Sen. Chuck Grassley's staff "willing stooges for the Gun Lobby" when the Senator started investigating the issue in early 2011, according to emails DOJ sent up to congressional investigators and released to news organizations, including TPM, on Friday afternoon.

"I am so personally outraged by Senator Grassley's falsehoods," former Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke wrote in an email regarding the allegation that a weapon connected to the ATF operation was found at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. "It is one of the lowest acts I have ever seen in politics."

Eric Holder

'You Guys Are Behind This': Eric Holder Says Daily Caller Pushing For His Resignation

Ryan J. Reilly | November 29, 2011, 3:27PM

FBI Director Robert Mueller (Left) And U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (Right)

Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday told a reporter with the conservative news website The Daily Caller that the news organization was ginning up calls for him to resign over ATF's botched Operation Fast and Furious.

The reporter approached Holder after an event at the White House on the federal government's efforts to combat counterfeit goods.

"You guys need to... you guys need to stop this," TPM heard Holder tell the reporter. "There's not an organic thing happening, you guys are behind this."

PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: Eric Holder, Fast And Furious

Chuck Grassley

Giffords Shooting Survivors Slam Grassley's 'Disregard' For Gun Violence Victims

Ryan J. Reilly | November 16, 2011, 5:13PM

Tucson, Arizona Shooting Witness Patricia Maisch And Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley

Eleven survivors and family members of victims of the January 2011 shooting in Arizona that nearly killed Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) are criticizing Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) for what they say was a "dismissive and political response" to Tucson shooting survivor Patricia Maisch's testimony in support of legislation which would close holes in the gun background check system.

In a letter sent to Grassley on Wednesday and obtained by TPM, Retired Colonel Bill Badger, Nancy Bowman, Carol Dorushka, Kenneth Dorushka, Randy Gardner, John Maisch, Patricia Maisch, Angela Robbinson, Faith Salzgeber, Foger Salzgeber and Mavy Stoddard write of their "profound disappointment" with Grassley's "obvious disregard for the gun violence survivors in the room" as well as his "apparent ignorance of the deadly serious issue we came to discuss with you."

Eric Holder

Holder: Fast And Furious 'Not The Cause Of' U.S. Guns Flowing To Mexico (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | November 8, 2011, 11:50AM

Attorney General Eric Holder

In his opening statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Holder said that ATF's Fast and Furious operation was "a flawed response to, not the cause of, the flow of illegal guns from the United States into Mexico."

Holder said that "gun walking" was "unacceptable" and said Fast and Furious "was flawed in concept, as well as in execution."

Chuck Grassley

Awkward: Grassley Blows Lid On Internal DOJ Probe Into Fast And Furious Leaks

Ryan J. Reilly | November 8, 2011, 11:30AM

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

Updated: Nov. 8, 1:12PM

Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed on Tuesday that the Justice Department's internal investigators were looking into "a couple of leaks" related to ATF's flawed Operation Fast and Furious.

But he was pretty upset that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) made the probe public in the first place.

In a hearing on Tuesday, Grassley related a private conversation that he had with Holder about a document that was supposed to be private that the Justice Department provided to the press. The name of the ATF agent was not deleted from the document, which Grassley said was a violation of the Privacy Act.

Fast And Furious

Eric Holder: Politicians Playing 'Gotcha' Games On Fast And Furious

Ryan J. Reilly | November 7, 2011, 6:55PM

FBI Director Robert Mueller (Left) And U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (Right)

Attorney General Eric Holder will tell the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday morning that ATF's Operation Fast and Furious was "flawed in concept, as well as in execution" and should never have happened, according to excerpts from his testimony released by the Justice Department on Monday evening.

But he will take a shot at Republican lawmakers for focusing on "headline-grabbing Washington 'gotcha' games and cynical political point scoring" instead of working with DOJ to make sure it doesn't happen again.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: ATF, Eric Holder, Fast And Furious

Fast And Furious

NRA: Obama Let Guns Walk To Mexico To Crackdown On Gun Rights

Ryan J. Reilly | November 7, 2011, 1:56PM

Just how dedicated does the National Rifle Association think the Obama administration is to destroying the Second Amendment? The director of the organization thinks that DOJ gave weapons to Mexican drug cartels during Operation Fast and Furious in an effort to churn up support for changing gun laws.

National Rifle Association Director Wayne LaPierre -- who has also suggested that the fact that Obama has not cracked down on guns is just part of a long term scheme to actually crack down on guns -- has been recently floating the conspiracy theory that Fast and Furious was a way to impose stricter guns laws.

"It's the only thing that makes any sense," LaPierre told Newsmax. "Over a period of two or three years they were running thousands and thousands of guns to the most evil people on earth. At the same time they were yelling '90 per cent... of the guns the Mexican drug cartels are using come from the United States.'"

Michael Mukasey

The Memo Bush AG Mukasey Got On ATF's 'Gun Walking'

Ryan J. Reilly | November 4, 2011, 1:20PM

Two days after former Attorney General Michael Mukasey took over as head of the Bush administration's Justice Department in 2007, he got a memo describing a failed effort by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to track weapons as they "walked" into Mexico.

TPM has obtained a copy of the memo, which was first reported on by Pete Yost of the Associated Press, which was turned over to the House Oversight Committee this week.

Militia movement

Fringe Militia Member Accused In Ricin Plot Called Right-Wing Blogger's Novel 'Far From Fantasy'

Ryan J. Reilly | November 4, 2011, 6:00AM

One of the elderly 'fringe militia' members arrested on Tuesday for allegedly plotting a ricin attack against U.S. citizens and federal employees was a frequent commenter on a right-wing blog and thought a novel written by the blogger that allegedly inspired his plot was likely to come true.

Former Alabama militia member turned "Sipsey Street Irregulars" blogger Mike Vanderboegh said in a post that he never corresponded with 73-year-old Frederick Thomas, the man the feds considered the ringleader of the group. But he did say he believed "Ahab" was Thomas' screen name that he used to leave comments on the website.

Georgia

Feds: Four Members Of Georgia 'Fringe Militia Group' Plotted Biological Attack On Citizens, Government Officials

Ryan J. Reilly | November 2, 2011, 6:30AM

Four Georgia men who belonged to a "fringe militia group" were arrested by FBI agents on Tuesday and charged with plotting an attack against U.S. citizens and federal employees using the biological toxin ricin.

Authorities say 73-year-old Frederick Thomas of Cleveland; 67-year-old Dan Roberts; 65-year-old Ray H. Adams; and 68-year-old Samuel J. Crump, all of Toccoa, Ga. began meeting in March 2011 as part of a covert group that called itself, well, the "covert group."

Fast And Furious

DOJ's Breuer: I Shouldn't Have Just Trusted ATF To Stop 'Gun Walking' (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | November 1, 2011, 11:55AM

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) questioned Justice Department official Lanny Breuer at a hearing on Tuesday about Attorney General Eric Holder's knowledge of ATF's flawed Operation Fast and Furious, the day after Breuer apologized for not connecting the "gun walking" tactics that took place during a Bush-era ATF operation to the more recent anti-gun trafficking operation.

Breuer said during his testimony that he trusted officials at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to make sure that agents weren't allowing guns to "walk" across the Mexican border, as they learned happened back in 2006 and 2007 during Operation Wide Receiver.

"At the time, I thought that dealing with the leadership of ATF was sufficient and reasonable, and frankly given the amount of work I do, at the time I thought that was the appropriate way of dealing with it," Breuer said. "I thought we had dealt with it by talking to the ATF leadership."

Justice Department

E-Mails Detail DOJ Concern Over ATF 'Gun Walking' Well Before 'Fast & Furious'

Ryan J. Reilly | October 31, 2011, 10:56PM

Chinese-made SKS rifle on counter at A & A Guns in Fairfax, Virginia.

A high-ranking Justice Department official was "stunned" when he learned in 2010 that agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) allowed weapons to "walk" across the Mexican border during the Bush administration, according to recently disclosed documents.

Documents show that Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein, a career federal prosecutor in a leadership position within the Obama DOJ's Criminal Division, and other officials worked to keep the attention of the press away from the Bush-era "gun walking" tactics long before the problems with Operation Fast and Furious went public.

"Been thinking more about 'Wide Receiver I'," Weinstein wrote in an email on April 12, 2010. "ATF HQ [headquarters] should/will be embarrassed that they let this many guys walk -- I'm stunned, based on what we've had to do to make sure not even a single operable weapon walked in [undercover] operations I've been involved in planning -- and there will be press about that."

Fast And Furious

DOJ Official Regrets Not Connecting Bush-Era Gun Walking Tactics To Fast And Furious Concerns

Ryan J. Reilly | October 31, 2011, 5:36PM

A top Justice Department official said Monday that he regretted not informing others in DOJ's leadership about a Bush-era operation that used the flawed "gun walking" tactic like the technique used in Operation Fast and Furious.

Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, who heads DOJ's Criminal Division, said in a statement released by DOJ that he first learned of "unacceptable tactics used in Operation Wide Receiver" in April 2010. He instructed one of his deputies to schedule a meeting with ATF's Acting Director Ken Melson to bring the issue to his attention.

Fast And Furious

Eric Holder To Testify On Fast And Furious As Dems Call On Ex-ATF Director Melson

Ryan J. Reilly | October 28, 2011, 2:50PM

Attorney General Eric Holder is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Dec. 8 about ATF's flawed Fast and Furious operation that let guns flow to Mexican drug cartels, a Justice Department spokeswoman confirmed to TPM.

Holder has agreed to a request from Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) to testify before the Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Oversight Committee Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) said in a statement.

DOJ

DOJ: Issa's Theory That Gun Disappeared After Border Patrolman's Murder 'Maligns' FBI Agents

Ryan J. Reilly | October 17, 2011, 7:30PM

Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) said Sunday that he was worried about what he saw as certain inconsistencies in the investigation into the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and floated the theory that there was a third weapon at the scene. Federal officials say he didn't do his homework.

Two weapons linked to ATF's botched Fast and Furious operation (which allowed guns to "walk" into Mexico) had been found at the scene of Terry's death, but investigators haven't determined conclusively if one of those weapons killed him. It was Terry's murder that lead to complaints from ATF agents about the the bureau's anti-gun trafficking program.

"If weapon number one [which] appears to be missing were ballistically matched," Issa said on CBS "Face the Nation", "we would have an absolute rather than the inconsistency." From the interview:

Host Bob Schieffer: Are you suggesting that maybe that might be the gun, that evidence shows was the murder weapon, and for some reason the FBI has not disclosed that?
Chairman Issa: Well, we certainly want to know in some cases, as you know, there are investigations where there's materials that people feel are very sensitive.

Issa also added that the FBI "has a history in some cases of working with felons and criminals and hiding their other crimes."

A Justice Department spokeswoman said that Issa's false accusation "maligns the dedicated agents investigating the murder of Agent Terry" and "mischaracterizes evidence in an ongoing case."

"The FBI has made clear that reports of a third gun recovered from the perpetrators at the scene of Agent Terry's murder are false," Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said in a statement to reporters.

ATF

Emails: Bush-Era Embassy, Prosecutor's Office Approved ATF 'Gun Walking' Tactic

Ryan J. Reilly | October 14, 2011, 5:00PM

As House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) continues to try to pin the flawed "gun walking" tactic employed in Operation Fast and Furious on the Obama administration, it's becoming increasingly clear that problems with ATF's Phoenix division date back at least into the Bush era.

TPM has obtained the documents relating to another Bush-era ATF operation (on top of Operation Wide Receiver) which deployed the "gun walking" tactic. The development was first reported by Pete Yost of the Associated Press.

Darrell Issa

Despite Denials, Sources Say Darrell Issa Was Briefed On Details Of ATF's 'Fast And Furious'

Ryan J. Reilly | October 14, 2011, 9:15AM

House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) said this week that he was "never" briefed about what was going on in Operation Fast and Furious and that ATF agents who ran an April 2010 briefing he attended "never mentioned 'Fast and Furious' by name."

That contradicts contemporaneous documents prepared for that meeting as well as the claims of officials familiar with the briefing, who say Fast and Furious was, in fact, discussed in detail. Still, Issa's office says staffers at the meeting don't recall Fast and Furious coming up and say they weren't given the briefing materials.

Fast And Furious

DOJ: Issa's 'Recycled' Charges That Holder Lied About ATF's Fast And Furious Are 'Baseless'

Ryan J. Reilly | October 10, 2011, 3:19PM

The back-and-forth between House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa and Attorney General Eric Holder over Holder's knowledge of ATF's controversial Fast and Furious program continued Monday, with a Justice Department spokeswoman accusing Issa of "partisan showboating."

"These recycled allegations continue to be baseless, no matter how many times they are repeated," DOJ spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler told TPM in an email.

"From the start, the Attorney General took the concerns about certain tactics used in the Fast and Furious operation seriously, which is why the first steps he took were to ask the Inspector General to investigate the matter and to ensure agents and prosecutors knew such conduct violated Department of Justice policy and would not be tolerated," Schmaler said.

Fast And Furious

Issa To Holder: Time 'To Come Clean' About Fast And Furious

Ryan J. Reilly | October 10, 2011, 1:50PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent a letter firing back at Attorney General Eric Holder, who had accused House Republicans of engaging in "political posturing" instead of trying to actually get to the bottom of what went wrong in ATF's Fast and Furious scandal.

"Incredibly, in your letter from Friday you now claim that you were unaware of Fast and Furious because your staff failed to inform you of information contained in memos that were specifically addressed to you," Issa wrote.

"At best, this indicates negligence and incompetence in your duties as Attorney General. At worst, it places your credibility into serious doubt," he continued.

Fast And Furious

Eric Holder Bashes GOP's 'Political Posturing' In ATF Fast And Furious Scandal

Ryan J. Reilly | October 7, 2011, 5:23PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Attorney General Eric Holder

Attorney General Eric Holder said in a letter to Congress on Friday that the accusation that he lied about his knowledge of ATF's Fast and Furious program is irresponsible "political posturing."

Holder wrote that he could not "sit idly by" as Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) "suggests, as happened this week, that law enforcement and government employees who devote their lives to protecting our citizens be considered 'accessories to murder.'"

ATF

ATF Didn't Consult White House On Emergency Request For Controversial Gun Rule

Ryan J. Reilly | October 6, 2011, 6:00AM

Here's some news for all the NRA members convinced that ATF's rifle reporting requirement in four border states is a diabolical plot by the Obama administration to crack down on the Second Amendment. ATF didn't consult the White House before they published an emergency request for a proposed rule requiring gun dealers in four border states to report bulk sales of semi-automatic weapons in the Federal Register.

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