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New Whistleblowers In Project Gunwalker

June 14, 2012 by

Mike Vanderboegh reported in an exclusive yesterday afternoon that one and maybe two new whistleblowers have come forward in the investigation into Operation Fast and Furious. What makes this unique it that they are from the Department of Justice and not BATFE.

Multiple, previously highly credible, sources close to the Gunwalker investigation report that there are at least one and perhaps two sources within the Department of Justice headquarters who have approached the Issa Committee seeking whistleblower status. One source, who reported that there were at least two of Eric Holder’s subordinates who “came in from the cold,” characterized them as “high-level” DOJ employees “with knowledge of Eric Holder’s actions before and after” the 4 February 2011 DOJ letter denying that the DOJ and its subordinate agencies knew about “gunwalking.” That letter has since been admitted by DOJ to have been a lie. If true, one or both of these whistleblowers may be the so-called “mole” — a source within DOJ said to have been leaking documents, including the wiretap affidavits, to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

What they bring with them from the cold, according to one source, is “the keys to the kingdom as far as Holder is concerned,” adding “if this comes out before the (contempt) vote (on 20 June), then Holder is toast.” Said another, “not even Boehner will be able to stop it. Hell, he’ll really jump on board and act like it was his idea.”

This could be one of the reasons that Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) scheduled a vote for next Wednesday on the contempt citation. Moreover, this could be behind Attorney General Eric Holder’s invitation to Rep. Issa, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to meet with him privately to discuss Project Gunwalker. Both Issa and Boehner have declined the invitation until such time as Holder provides the subpoenaed documents.

The offer to meet with Issa, Boehner, and Grassley came after Holder had turned down a request for a meeting from a bi-partisan group of representatives including Trey Gowdy (R-SC), Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Mike Quigley (D-IL), and Bobby Scott (D-VA). Gowdy had this to say about Holder’s refusal to meet:

Gowdy said that because Holder is seeking a meeting with leadership rather than with the actual investigators or with members really close to the scandal like him, “that tells me that you’re interested in a political resolution.”

“I’m not interested in a negotiation,” Gowdy said. “I’m interested in the documents. If this were political, then I’d say ‘Sure, let’s compromise.’ But, it’s not political to me. It’s about law enforcement, law and order, respect for the rule of law, confidence in the Justice Department — I want the documents.”

Gowdy went to say that when Speaker John Boehner green-lighted the contempt vote in House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that  Eric Holder realized that time was running out.

I tend to agree with that. I had thought Holder would be around come November but now I am seriously reconsidering that. Michael Bane in his last podcast said he thought Holder would throw himself under the bus come September in order to help Obama. If the whistleblowers come forward and are credible, I think Holder could be gone by mid-summer. Time will tell.

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Media In NC Starting To Notice Pressure On GOP About HB 111

June 13, 2012 by 2 Comments

Grass Roots North Carolina’s pressure on the GOP regarding HB 111 has caught the eye of the media.

The Associated Press’ Allen Reed sent out a 4-paragraph report on this issue. He notes, correctly, that the perception is that the Republican leadership is shunting the issue to the side and claiming they just don’t have the time. It appears to be have been picked up by a number of papers.

The Winston-Salem Journal goes further on the issue quoting Paul Valone of GRNC and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger on the issue.

“Do we have to wait until more die, Sen. Berger?” wrote Valone. “Will your legacy be that Republicans turned their backs on slain restaurant workers due to fear of bad press? I urge you to pull HB 111 from the Finance Committee and send it to the floor for an immediate vote.”

Berger, R-Rockingham, said he personally supports the bill, but that senate leaders are taking “a careful approach to it.”

“Whether we will be able to finalize the bill during the short session or whether it’s a long session issue we’ll pick up,” Berger said. “The issue is not going to die.”

Berger said the Senate would review the gun bill if there’s time left over after passing the budget.

“It’s not a question in my mind of if, it’s a question of when,” Berger said. “I think we’ll see it, but we’re working on a number of things, and that is one of them.”

If, as Sean points out, they have time to recognize not one but two livermush festivals, they have time to deal with this. Livermush is North Carolina’s answer to scrapple. If they don’t take the time, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of them suffer the same fate as former House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman who blocked the Castle Doctrine.

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Congratulations To Sharyl Attkisson

June 13, 2012 by 2 Comments

CBS News Investigative Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson and her team just won the 2012 Edward R. Murrow Award in the Video Investigative category. They won for their coverage of Operation Fast and Furious aka Project Gunwalker.

CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson, producer Chris Scholl and editor Matt Tureck took home the prize for won for Gunwalker. In the gunwalker case, ATF agents say they were ordered to allow thousands of weapons to be sold to suspected suppliers for Mexico’s drug cartels. The idea of letting so many guns “walk” onto the street was apparently to see where they would turn up and go after the major cartel kingpins instead of the smalltime weapons traffickers.

That wailing and gnashing of teeth you hear is coming from DOJ press flack Tracy Schmaler and White House Associate Communications Director Eric Schultz. They were the ones in the Obama Administration who tried to silence Sharyl through their bully tactics. Obviously, it didn’t work and the judges at the Radio Television Digital News Association rewarded her for standing tall.

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Brilliant Move!

June 13, 2012 by 8 Comments

The concept of microstamping is fairly well-known by now. It involves a laser-engraved number of a firing pin which transfers that code number to the primer of a cartridge. Its proponents argue that it will allow police to identify firearms used in crimes by shell casings left at the scene. That is, if only it was reliable and worked as its inventor and the gun control lobby said it would.

It is one of those things that sounds great in theory but fails in the real world. That hasn’t stopped states like California from adopting it or New York from strongly considering it.

The New York Times published an article online today entitled “New Method to Track Gun Use Stalled by Foes.” It will appear in the print edition tomorrow. The article describes the technology, the opposition to it by gun rights groups, and some of the studies done on its efficacy.

Its inventor, Todd Lizotte, who claims to be pro-Second Amendment and a member of the NRA had wanted his patent on the process to lapse into the public domain. The patent issue is critical for it to go into operation in California. He and his backers just didn’t figure in the tech industry savvy of the CalGuns Foundations whose officers know a thing or two about patents.

In California, legislation signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2007 has been held up while the attorney general’s office makes sure the technology is unencumbered by patents. A gun rights group, the Calguns Foundation, went so far as to pay a $555 fee to extend a lapsing patent held by the developer to further delay the law from taking effect.

“It was a lot cheaper to keep the patent in force than to litigate over the issues,” said Gene Hoffman, the chairman of the foundation, adding that he believed the law amounted to a gun ban in California.

For the cost of two hours (or less) of a good attorney, the CalGuns Foundation has stymied the law’s implementation by keeping the patent in force.What an absolutely brilliant move! Gene Hoffman and his group are the masters of strategy and guerrilla tactics and this is just one more example of it.

H/T Brandon Combs

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John Cornyn Goes For The Jugular

June 12, 2012 by

This weekend we watched a bit of the French Open tennis tournament. It is always interesting to watch really good tennis players set up their opponent for the kill shot. At first it just seems that they are in a long rally with the ball going back and forth (and back and forth). In reality, they are maneuvering their opponent into position for the put away. It is a joy to watch when it all comes together.

So, too, it was with today’s Senate Judiciary Committee when Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) led Attorney General Eric Holder into that trap. Cornyn starts off by asking questions about the investigation into the national security leaks and the people appointed to run the investigation. The questions start off looking like easy lobs. Cornyn then goes for the jugular at which point Holder realizes he’s just been trapped. He tries to escape but Cornyn doesn’t let him.

It was a joy to watch.

The full 12 minute exchange can be found here if you are interested. An abbreviated version of the “kill shot” is below which should stop at the 6:51 mark.

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Quote Of The Day

June 12, 2012 by

The quote of the day comes from Tam regarding Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement of a special investigation into leaks of classified information.

Eric Holder announced that he was shocked, shocked! to find that there were leaks of classified information from the Obama administration, and he would investigate it immediately. I have no idea how the newscaster read that line with a straight face; this is like expecting the minister for Reich security in 1940s Germany to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Jews.

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GRNC Ratchets Up The Pressure Over Restaurant Carry

June 12, 2012 by

Grass Roots North Carolina is ratcheting up the pressure on the Republican leaders of the North Carolina State Senate to keep their promise to bring HB 111 – the restaurant carry bill – to the floor of the Senate. They are accusing Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and Rules Committee Chair Tom Apodaca (R-Henderson) of referring HB 111 to the Senate Finance Committee in an effort to kill it.

Expectant mother and Flying Biscuit Café manager Danielle Watson was recently slashed to death at the restaurant she managed by an ex-con just released from prison. On the day she was to be married, she was instead buried. On the same weekend, also in Charlotte, restaurant worker Ed Rosen was murdered during a robbery by two thugs who remain at large. Elsewhere, eastern North Carolina has suffered a series of armed restaurant robberies, including two in which employees were herded into freezers where they could easily have been slaughtered.

HOUSE BILL 111 WILL SAVE LIVES…

Current law disarms not only restaurant patrons, but also restaurant workers. Except for the “owner or lessee” of the establishment, patrons and workers alike are prohibited from carrying concealed firearms for self-protection at any restaurant which serves alcohol, regardless of the fact that concealed handgun permit-holders are already prohibited from imbibing. Fortunately, HB 111 could give victims means to protect themselves and their families; it could give women going to or from restaurants means to defend against rape and murder.

…BUT REPUBLICAN LEADERS ARE ABOUT TO KILL HB 111

Although the bill passed the House last year and passed the Senate Judiciary II Committee last week, Republican Senate President Pro Tem PHIL BERGER and Rules Chair TOM APODACA sent HB 111 to the Finance Committee to die. You see, if it doesn’t get a floor vote in the Senate and a concurrence vote in the House by the time the legislature adjourns – likely next week – HB 111, like Danielle Watson, will be D.O.A.

IN DIRECT CONTRAVENTION OF EARLIER PROMISES

In a March GRNC meeting with Berger staffers GRANT BROOKS and SKYLAR ADAMS, Berger’s staff promised they would NOT re-refer HB 111 to another committee after it passed in the judiciary committee – that they would not kill the bill by “running the clock,” a legislative tactic by which politicians kill bills without going on record.

So why is Sen. Berger reneging on his pledge? Because, as Tom Apodaca reportedly admitted, Republicans are afraid that Democrats will come after them using misleading ads about “guns in bars.” Translated…

While restaurant workers like Danielle Watson are dying, Republican leaders are hiding under their desks, afraid to act because they might get bad press!

ACT NOW TO STOP RESTAURANT HOMICIDE!

GRNC has tried to negotiate, and gun owners have exercised admirable restraint. But now the gloves have to come off: If YOU don’t act immediately, restaurant carry will die.

You can find the action items of the Alert here. It includes a request to call the offices of Berger and Apodaca, to send an email to all the Republican senators, and a Twitter engine to send out Tweets pushing the bill.

Even if you do not live in North Carolina, you can help by using the Twitter engine and by sending the email. You can rewrite the email to emphasize that you won’t spend your tourist dollars – which is a big business in this state – in a place which doesn’t allow you to protect yourself while eating.

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Obama Nominates Anti-Gun Halligan For Court Of Appeals….Again

June 12, 2012 by 1 Comment

Not taking no for an answer on Caitlin Halligan’s nomination to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, President Obama has renominated her today along with Srikanth Srinivasan, principal deputy solicitor general of the United States.

“Caitlin Halligan and Sri Srinivasan are dedicated public servants who will bring their tremendous experience, intellect, and integrity to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit,” President Obama said. “This important court is often called the Nation’s second-highest court, and it stands more than a quarter vacant. I remain deeply disappointed that a minority of the United States Senate blocked Ms. Halligan’s nomination last year and urge her reconsideration, especially given her broad bipartisan support from the legal and law enforcement communities. Mr. Srinivasan will be a trailblazer and, like Ms. Halligan, will serve the court with distinction and excellence.”

Halligan now serves as General Counsel for the New York County District Attorney’s Office. In other words, she now advises District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. as he continues his assault on knife rights in New York City.

Halligan has a long history in serving her masters in their assault on the Second Amendment and arms. In addition to her work for DA Cyrus Vance, Jr., she was the Solicitor General under then-NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer when he sought to bankrupt firearms manufacturers. She was also a signatory to an amicus brief that attacked the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act(PLCAA)arguing that it was unconstitutional.

All the major gun rights organizations opposed her nomination last year. As I facetiously commented last December, only she could unite the NRA and GOA. That President Obama would nominate her again so soon after she was turned down is a slap in the face to gun owners. If this doesn’t express his true feelings towards us “bitter clingers”, nothing does.

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Contempt Vote Scheduled For June 20th

June 11, 2012 by 3 Comments

A vote on holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress has been scheduled by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee for June 20th. I think this indicates that Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA)  has the number of votes needed to get the contempt citation out of committee and to the floor of the House of Representatives. You just wouldn’t see a committee chair schedule something this serious if he wasn’t absolutely certain he had the votes for it to pass. Moreover, as Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s statement indicates, Issa has the (tepid) support of the House leadership.

From the committee’s release about the vote:

On June 20th, the Oversight Committee will meet to consider a report holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for his failure to produce subpoenaed documents related to Operation Fast & Furious.

WASHINGTON— On Wednesday, June 20, 2012, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will convene to consider a report holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for his failure to produce documents specified in the Committee’s October 12, 2011, subpoena. Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa issued the following statement on the scheduling of a Committee vote on contempt:

“For over a year and a half, the House Oversight Committee, with Senator Chuck Grassley, has conducted a joint investigation of reckless conduct in Operation Fast and Furious. With the support of House leadership, the Republican Conference, and even some Democratic Members who have expressed concern to the White House over the Justice Department’s failure to cooperate, this investigation has yielded significant results. The Attorney General has acknowledged that the operation was fundamentally flawed and he has committed to take steps to ensure that it does not occur again. Evidence found in applications for wiretaps shows that although senior officials were given information about reckless tactics, they still signed affirmations that they had reviewed the investigation and determined that electronic surveillance of phones was necessary.

“Despite what the investigation has uncovered through whistleblowers and documents the Justice Department had tried to hide, the Committee’s work is not yet complete. Attorney General Holder has failed to meet his legal obligations pursuant to the October 12 subpoena. House leaders reiterated this failure in a May 18, 2012, letter. Specifically, the Justice Department has refused to turn over critical documents on the grounds that they show internal Department deliberations and were created after February 4, 2011 – the date Justice issued a false denial to Congress. Contempt will focus on the failure to provide these post February 4th documents.

“The Obama Administration has not asserted Executive Privilege or any other valid privilege over these materials and it is unacceptable that the Department of Justice refuses to produce them. These documents pertain to Operation Fast and Furious, the claims of whistleblowers, and why it took the Department nearly a year to retract false denials of reckless tactics. The Justice Department’s actions have obstructed the investigation. Congress has an obligation to investigate unanswered questions about attempts to smear whistleblowers, failures by Justice Department officials to be truthful and candid with the congressional investigation, and the reasons for the significant delay in acknowledging reckless conduct in Operation Fast and Furious.

“While the Justice Department can still stop the process of contempt, this will only occur through the delivery of the post February 4, 2011, documents related to Operation Fast and Furious and whistleblower accusations subpoenaed by the Committee. If the Attorney General decides to produce these subpoenaed documents, I am confident we can reach agreement on other materials and render the process of contempt unnecessary.”

Committee consideration of a contempt citation is a debatable and amendable measure. Committee approval requires a majority vote. Contempt is a process for enforcing compliance with a lawful subpoena and does not assign blame for the flawed and reckless conduct that took place in Operation Fast and Furious.

CBS’s Sharyl Attkisson has a video report on the vote including some background on past contempt citations for members of the Executive Branch.

Mike Vanderboegh does disagree with one comment made at the end of the CBS story which claims credit for exposing the scandal nationally. As he notes – and I agree with him – this ignores the work of both he and David Codrea in bringing it to light and bringing the whistleblowers to the media.