by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) was interviewed by Ginny Simone of NRA News yesterday on Operation Fast and Furious. Grassley is the first scheduled witness in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing tomorrow.
Project Gunwalker
ATF Agents On The Gunwalker Hearings
To get a feel for what the rank and file of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives thinks about Project Gunwalker, there is no better place to go than CleanUpATF.org.
Vincent Cefalu, an ATF agent and supervisor who has a reputation for being a straight shooter, and who blew the whistle on illegal wiretaps, had this to say:
Starting Tomorrow, The Chairman of the House oversight committee in conjunction with Senator Charles Grassley begin the process of long overdue and much needed oversight of the actions of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. These hearings are just the beginning of the review of a broken Bureau and broken leadership at the HIGHEST levels. It is imperative that if this Bureau, OUR Bureau is to see 2012, that EVERYBODY weigh in, disclose the widespread incompetence and abuses heaped upon our employees, the firearms industry and the American people. There is NO dispute ATF Agents and inspectors are THE MOST highly skilled and dedicated and courageous Law Enforcement Agents in the world. CLEAN UP ATF. Sidenote: Fox news did an interview with a former Homeland security/ CIA official this morning regarding Mexico violence and firearms trafficking and suggested that the absence of a Director at ATF is why this has and is happening. With all due respect to that officials opinion, WE HAVE A DIRECTOR. Who do you think Ken Melson is? Who was Michael Sullivan? Lets be clear, another POOR Director wont fix this. The same executive leadership that has tanked this agency will be advising any NEW Director. An agency’s efficiency does not rest SOLELY on the Directors shoulders. Without SERIOUS accountability across directorates and and house cleaning, we are doomed to revisit similar “Tragic Outcomes” in the future. OUTSIDE strong Law Enforcement leadership is the only way to cleanse this pool. WATCH THE HEARINGS. WRITE YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES TALK TO THE MEDIA. DEMAND TRANSPARENCY
“Epic Failure” responded to this post saying:
Well stated Vince. I guess the stratagy was to get to the cartel’s by climbing over the dead bodies they caused. Genius! Word is they are still going to hang their hat on ATF Agents never actually watching a gun physically cross into Mexico. That has to be a Pellitier or Sarnacki defense stratagy. It is the invention of the next era of dufuses thinking that gets them off the hook. Has there ever been a greater collection top to bottom of cowards, idiots, self-rightous, arrogent db’s ever at one place at one time in a LE agency than there is in ATF HQ?
“Cool Hand” expects that the current senior executive management of ATF will try to discredit those ATF Special Agents like John Dodson who will be testifying tomorrow.
Some very brave special agents are going to testify before congress this week. They will simply report the facts like good criminal investigators. My guess is that 70% of senior executive leadership will try to discredit them. Even worse, the other 30% of the executive club will say nothing hoping they will land on their feet when this scandal “blows over”. Their mentality? “If those disgruntled malcontent trouble makers had just keep their mouths shut everything would be just fine. It’s just a hand full of rebel rousers stirring things up. Don’t they know how lucky they are to have a job in this economy? When I am Director some day, I’m gonna’ let them know who is boss!” My opinion? There are no bad followers, only bad leaders.
“Doc Holliday” who is one of the more prolific posters on CleanUpATF as well as a moderator agreed with “Cool Hand”.
Yes its true they will try to discredit honorable and loyal Agents, remember; These Agents didn’t have to be forced to testify or hide, duck and dodge questions. I predict Melson and Senior managers (will) “Take the Fifth”. If this happens they should be immediately removed from any Law Enforcement positions. They cant tell the truth or they get fired, sued and possibly prosecuted. They cant lie or the get fired, sued or prosecuted. Not too many options left. If they refuse to testify, It will be a sad day for ATF and the entire Law Enforcement community.
Finally, “The Original Ralph” predicts that politicians like Sen. Chuck Schumer will attempt to discredit these ATF agents who will be testifying.
I’ll give you odds chucky schumer will discredit them, and even call them liars while they’re testifying – same as he did in the waco hearings with the two retired marine corp colonels turned attorneys that testified, one of them reporting what happened with his client, david koresh’s grandmother at the command hut at waco
I think we have already started to see the counter-attack on these hearings as being mounted by Senators Feinstein, Schumer, and Whitehouse with the release of their misleading report yesterday which touts as a “fact” that 70% of guns captured in Mexico are traced to the United States.
Bob Owens at Confederate Yankee parsed the numbers today on this. By his estimation, less that 5% of the recovered guns in Mexico actually came from border state gun shops. Putting this into perspective, Bob says “that translates to less than one gun per shop in the region.” That sure doesn’t sound like crates and crates of AK’s and AR’s streaming across the border from gun shops and gun shows in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California.
Quote Of The Day
Bob Owens, writing about Project Gunwalker and the hearings taking place this week, concludes:
Our executive branch has armed narco-terrorists as violent as any of the jihadis we’ve faced in Iraq or Afghanistan, and they owe it to the nation to explain both how and why.
I could not agree more.
Ignore The Man Behind The Curtain
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives along with their friends in the Senate hope that you will ignore the hearings being held before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee into Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker) and the ATF’s role in letting guns walk to Mexico.
Cam Edwards of NRA News disposed of the 70% figure last week yet there are some that will continue to repeat it because it buttresses their cause. As Mike at Sipsey Street Irregulars says, “Repeat The Lie” often and loudly so that people will ignore the real stats and the role of ATF in gunrunning to Mexico.
After the hearings tomorrow, that will become harder and harder even with misleading numbers, reports, and press releases from the Feinsteins and Schumers of this world.
Feinstein, Schumer, Whitehouse Report Calls for Stronger U.S. Response to Firearms Trafficking to MexicoUrges Congress and the Administration to strengthen firearms laws to stem drug-related violence
70% of weapons recovered in Mexico originated in U.S. according to ATF
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, along with Senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) today released the findings of a Congressional investigation that concludes American military-style weapons are arming Mexico’s brutal drug trafficking organizations at an alarming rate and policymakers are not adequately responding.
“Congress has been virtually moribund while powerful Mexican drug trafficking organizations continue to gain unfettered access to military-style firearms coming from the United States,” said Senator Feinstein. “New ATF data provided last week reveals that more than 70 percent of firearms recovered at crime scenes and traced by Mexican officials actually originated in the United States.”
According to the report, Halting U.S. Firearms Trafficking to Mexico, the overwhelming majority of firearms recovered at crime scenes and traced by Mexican officials originate in the United States. In a recent letter to Feinstein, ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson indicated that in 2009 and 2010 20,504 of the 29,284 firearms (70 percent) recovered in Mexico and submitted for tracing were United States-sourced.
“This report confirms what many of us already know to be true: although the Senate’s recently passed border measure will help make our Southern border safer, it is still too easy for Mexican drug lords to get their hands on deadly military-grade weapons within our borders,” said Senator Schumer. “We need to redouble our efforts to keep violent firearms out of the hands of these traffickers.”
“This report outlines common sense measures that will help protect our border and our communities by keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of Mexican gangs and drug cartels,” said Senator Whitehouse.
Conclusions of the report:
It will be very difficult to successfully reduce drug-related violence in Mexico without starving the country’s drug trafficking organizations of their military-style weapons.
To do this, the United States must strengthen current firearms laws and regulations. This can be done through a number of key actions by the Obama Administration and Congress, including:
Enactment of legislation to close the gun show loophole;
Better enforcement of the existing ban on imports of military-style weapons;
Reinstatement of the expired Assault Weapons Ban;
Reporting by Federal Firearms Licensees on all multiple firearms sales; and
Senate ratification of the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking of Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials (CIFTA).The Halting U.S. Firearms Trafficking to Mexico report can be found here. Information from the report was gathered through meetings in Mexico and in U.S. border cities, briefings, interviews, and a review of documents from both government and non-government subject matter experts.
It Begins
The public investigation into Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker) begins in earnest this afternoon. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and the House Oversight Committee will hold their first public hearing into this botched operation. Today’s hearing is to lay the constitutional groundwork for Congress to investigate an Executive branch agency. On Wednesday, the Committee will start getting to the meat of the allegations with testimony by ATF agents, Brian Terry’s family, Sen. Chuck Grassley, and Assistant AG Ronald Weich.
Hearing Documents
Chairman Darrell Issa Hearing Preview Statement
June 13, 2011Monday’s hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform follows three months of effort by congressional investigators to understand the rationale, policy, and practical execution of a controversial government program that allowed straw purchasers to buy heavy-duty arms and traffic them into Mexico to be used by drug cartels. To date, the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have refused to comply with a congressional subpoena for material documents related to this program that was issued on March 31, 2011. The administration’s unwillingness to recognize the constitutional authority of the Congress to conduct investigations, and its continued refusal to provide documents necessary for the Congress to perform its essential oversight responsibility, may constitute an obstruction of justice that requires intervention of the federal judiciary or other legal action.
Regrettably, this seems to be the course preferred by the Department of Justice. Congressional investigators have learned that the administration’s strategy is not to comply with the Committee’s subpoena, to instruct department employees not to cooperate with Congress, and ultimately to pressure its complete withdrawal. This will not happen.
The American people have a right to know whether their government has aided and abetted crimes committed at our border with Mexico. They have a right to know what happened, why it happened, and who is responsible. In cases where the administration resists or otherwise refuses to comply with a congressional subpoena and provide answers to these questions, the Committee must enforce compliance. This, we will do.
To assist the Committee in its constitutional effort to uphold the rule of law and assert the investigative prerogatives of Congress, Monday’s hearing will include testimony from leading constitutional law experts and noted authorities on the history and processes of congressional oversight.
The hearing will be webcast live at oversight.house.gov .
The constitutional experts who will be witnesses today include the following which are also linked to their pre-submitted written testimony on the topic.
Professor Charles Tiefer
Commissioner
Commission on Wartime ContractingMr. Morton Rosenberg
Former Specialist in American Public Law
American Law Division
Congressional Research ServiceMr. Todd Tatelman
Legislative Attorney, American Law Division
Congressional Research ServiceMr. Louis Fisher
Scholar in Residence
The Constitution Project
UPDATE: C-Span now has the full video of today’s hearing up on their site. Unfortunately, it wasn’t embeddable. You have to go to this link to watch it. The one advantage to watching the delayed broadcast is that you can skip ahead as well as replay portions of it.
Overview Of Project Gunwalker On CBS Early Show
Sharyl Attkisson had a report on this morning’s CBS Early Show in which she gave an overview of Project Gunwalker. The overview was to preview what will come out at the hearings before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee next week. It is one of the better summations of the scandal that I’ve seen.
The accompanying story can be found here.
If you have friends, family, or even anti-gun friends who don’t get it, have them watch this video report. They will understand after viewing it.
The only quibble I have is calling the semi-automatic firearms “assault rifles” when they were not full-auto firearms.
I agree with David Codrea about getting a kick out of hearing Chris Wragge refer to it as the “gunwalker scandal”. After a descriptive name is attached to a scandal, it sticks like mud. Sen. Sam J. Ervin (D-NC) officially headed the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities. Everyone knows it as the Watergate Committee. I hope the same will happen here.
FoxNews On Project Gunwalker Hearings
Watch the latest video at <a href=”http://video.foxnews.com”>video.foxnews.com</a>
The accompanying story reports that DOJ officials are in “panic mode” which they well should be. According to the story, the following will come out in the second hearing scheduled for Wednesday, June 15th:
– The ATF allowed and encouraged five Arizona gun store owners to sell some 1,800 weapons to buyers known to them as gun smugglers.
– It installed cameras inside the gun stores to record purchases made by those smugglers.
– It hid GPS trackers inside gun stocks and watched the weapons go south on computer screens.
– It obtained surveillance video from parking lots and helicopters showing straw buyers transferring their guns from one car to another.
– It learned guns sold in Phoenix were recovered only when Mexico police requested “trace data,” which is obtained from their serial number.
What has really caught my eye about this story is the third item on GPS trackers inside the gun stocks. Back in April, I had a couple of posts discussing GPS trackers after Michael Bane had speculated about it on his weekly podcast. I didn’t go further with this because I couldn’t find evidence of purchases by ATF of RFI tags or GPS trackers within a government contracting/purchases database. I should have looked harder because it appears our speculations were correct.
Second Operation Fast And Furious Oversight Hearing Announced
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has announced a second hearing to be held into Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker) next week. According to the notice on the Committee’s website, the 2-hour hearing will take place Wednesday, June 15th.
The Full Committee hearing entitled, “Operation Fast and Furious: Reckless Decisions, Tragic Outcomes” will take place at 9:30am on Wednesday, June 15 in room 2154 RHOB.
The hearing will be streamed live at http://oversight.house.gov.
According to David Codrea’s National Gun Rights Examiner column there will be three panels of witnesses including ATF agents, Senator Chuck Grassley, members of Brian Terry’s family, and Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich.
The manner in which Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) is holding these hearings seems to be very wise. He starts by building the constitutional case for investigating ATF and DOJ and then goes to the consequences of their actions. I anticipate it will go from there and build into making the case that this was no rogue operation dreamed up by SAC William Newell out in Phoenix. Rather it was explicitly authorized by political appointees in the Obama Administration.
This seems to be the argument that Issa made yesterday when he was interviewed on the Hugh Hewitt Show. From the show’s transcript which can be found here. Definitely read the whole thing as Issa goes into other areas of oversight.
HH: … But when did this Fast and Furious program start that countenanced, basically, Americans selling guns with the effort to sting someone on the other side? When did it start?
DI: It started with this administration.
HH: It is?
DI: It started with, literally, the political appointees, many of whom had to approve specifics of this, including funding. And understand, there were agents at the ATF who have testified that they believe this was a good program. And there are agents who gave up their careers, basically, by refusing to be involved in it. So it was controversial. But it’s not about the agents in Arizona, or a similar program in Texas. It’s about the approvals all the way back in Washington. This is the Iran Contra decision. The Iran Contra decision was made by people around the President in the White House. This decision was made at least by people in the Office of Attorney General Holder. And they’re hiding behind every delay tactic they can, claiming that we’re going to interfere with an investigation. I’ve got to tell you, Hugh, I don’t want anyone to walk because of our investigation. But if some meth addict doesn’t get a strong sentence for buying guns, that’s probably not the worst damage if this kind of program continues, and we believe it continues to today.
Comparing it to Iran-Contra is probably correct. That said, I don’t expect the Obama Administration to produce an Ollie North or a Fawn Hall that can generate support and sympathy for the program. An Eric Holder, a Ken Melson, or a Lanny Breur just don’t inspire confidence or sympathy especially given the tragic outcomes. Stopping Communism in the Western Hemisphere hits a little closer to home than trying to build support for more gun control in the United States by helping the violence to increase across the border in Mexico.
Official Notice Of House Oversight Committee Hearing
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee just posted their official notice of the hearing into Operation Fast and Furious. It will be a full committee meeting and is schedule for 2 hours on the afternoon of June 13th.
Full House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Hearing
Date: Monday, June 13, 2011
Duration: 2 Hours
Contact Info: (202) 225-5074The Full Committee hearing entitled, “Obstruction of Justice: Does the Justice Department Have to Respond to a Lawfully Issued and Valid Congressional Subpoena?” will take place at 1:00pm on Monday, June 13th in room 2154 of Rayburn House Office Building.
The hearing will be streamed live at http://oversight.house.gov
I have to work that day but I definitely plan to watch as much of it as possible as it streams live.
UPDATE: The Oversight Committee has released a notice that includes the witness list. The main purpose of this hearing is to establish the constitutional framework for issuing subpoenas to the Executive Branch. The time has been pushed back to 1:30pm EDT from the 1pm previously reported.
Operation Fast and Furious Hearing to be Held June 13th
Title: Obstruction of Justice: Does the Justice Department Have to Respond to a Lawfully Issued and Valid Congressional Subpoena?
Date/Time: 1:30 p.m. on Monday June 13th
Location: 2154 Rayburn House Office Building
This hearing will examine the constitutional questions raised by both the Department of Justice’s refusal to comply with a Congressional subpoena as well as the withholding of documents from a Congressional subpoena. It is the first in a series of hearings on Operation Fast and Furious.
The following witnesses are currently slated to appear at the hearing. Testimony will be posted online as it becomes available. The hearing will be webcast live at Oversight.House.Gov.
Witnesses
• Professor Charles Tiefer, Commissioner, Commission on Wartime Contracting
Professor Tiefer was chief litigator for the House of Representatives and was a courtroom advocate in numerous major cases. He served in 1996 as deputy minority counsel of the U.S. House “Bosniagate” investigating sub-committee and in 1987 as the Special Deputy Chief Counsel for the House Iran-Contra Committee. Professor Tiefer has had extensive immersion in investigative processes on diverse issues, including oversight investigations of foreign affairs and government contracting. He was appointed to his current role by Senator Harry Reid.
• Mr. Morton Rosenberg, Former Specialist in American Public Law with the American Law Division of the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Mr. Rosenberg specialized in the areas of constitutional law, administrative law and process, congressional practice and procedure, and labor law, and in the problems raised by the interface of Congress and the Executive which involve the scope of the congressional oversight and investigative prerogatives, the validity of claims of executive and common law privileges before committees, and issues raised by the presidential exercise of temporary and recess appointment power.
• Mr. Todd Tatelman, Legislative Attorney, Congressional Research Service’s American Law Division
Mr. Tatelman specializes and advises Members of Congress, Committees, and Staff in the areas of Congressional Laws and Procedure (oversight and investigations), Constitutional Law, Transportation Law, and International Trade Law.
Eric Holder’s New Favorite Song
I think Attorney General Eric Holder will have a new favorite song come next Monday around 1pm. It will be The Carpenters’ “Rainy Days and Mondays” which has this lyric in the fourth stanza:
No need to talk it out
We know what its all about
Hanging around, nothing to do but frown
Rainy days and Mondays always get me down
Dave Workman reports this afternoon that his Congressional sources have confirmed the the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa will hold the first of a series of hearings into Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker) on Monday, June 13th. The hearing will begin at 1pm in Room 2154 of the Rayburn Office Building.
According to congressional sources, the first hearing will focus on the Justice Department’s lack of cooperation with Issa’s investigation and with the agency’s limited compliance with Issa’s subpoena for several documents. The official title for the hearing is “Obstruction of Justice: Does the Justice Department have to respond to a lawfully issued and valid Congressional Subpoena?”
If you will be in the D.C. area next Monday and have the time to attend this hearing, I’d suggest doing so. I’m sure it will be worth your time.
Mike Vanderboegh in Sipsey Street Irregulars reported earlier today on the subjects of the series of hearings. According to his sources, the hearings will have three phases. From what Mike reports, it looks like the Committee is building a case for a Special Prosecutor phase by phase.
Phase I will be “the presentation of allegations and factual information, evidence, and intended direction of the continuing investigation.” This will include documents already presented to Senaqtor Grassley and Congressman Issa by whistleblower ATF agents. Senator Grassley will be among the first witnesses before Issa’s panel. Family members of Project Gunwalker victims are expected to testify, as well as other witnesses with first-hand knowledge of the conspiracy whose knowledge runs from Arizona to DC.
Phase II, according to my sources, “will focus on Mexico issues with witnesses called who have first hand Mexico information.”
Phase III will be when it really gets interesting, when all the big names in ATF and DOJ complicit in this scandal who have been uncovered in the previous two phases are called to explain themselves. One source characterized this as “the testimony of compromised participants to include the numerous ATF and DOJ employees with dirt, blood or both on their hands.”
This reminds me of the old Chinese curse – “May you live in interesting times.” I think we are about to see some very interesting times for certain people in the ATF and DOJ.
UPDATE: Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News has also reported that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has scheduled hearings for next Monday.
UPDATE II: The Hill has an article on the upcoming hearings and notes that that there will be a slew of subpoenas served.
The subpoenas, which Issa said will be issued to key Washington-based government officials with ties to the operation, are slated to serve as a launching pad for a new series of hearings on the matter.
As Scott said in the comments, get the popcorn ready.