by John Hill
Stand With Arizona
The disastrous Obama Administration operation “Fast and Furious”, which deliberately put guns in the hands of the Mexican cartel,
exploded this week with new revelations of a cover-up, and emails which tie the scandal directly to the White House for the first time.
“Fast and Furious” was an attempt to intercept gun-trafficking that sent 2,000 guns to cartel operatives via straw buyers.
Critics believe that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder saw the program as an opportunity to embarrass U.S.-based gun dealers,
and help galvanize support for increased gun-control measures, while controlling where and how the guns would be “walked” across the border.
But the operation went horribly wrong as the guns went unaccounted for, leading to the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry last December
in Arizona, and the deaths of untold others inside Mexico – all using guns provided by the ATF. Holder denied knowledge of the operation at a
U.S. House hearing on May 3rd, but subsequent revelations clearly show both Holder and the White House had been informed about this program as it ran off the rails.
Rep. Alan West has called for Holder to resign or be fired as a result.
Now it has been revealed that after the death of Agent Terry, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley and then-U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke
colluded to cover-up the fact that Terry was killed using one of the guns from ‘Fast and Furious’. Evidence shows that Hurley – who knew
“almost immediately” that the guns could be traced to the program, contacted Burke, and they agreed to cover it up:
In an internal email the day after the murder, Hurley, and then-U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, decided not to disclose the connection,
saying ” … this way we do not divulge our current case (Fast and Furious) or the Border Patrol shooting case.”
As Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said “The level of involvement of the United States Attorney’s Office … in the genesis and implementation
of this case is striking.” Grassley and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) are investigating the scandal, and AG Holder’s knowledge and role in its implementation.
Grassley’s office on Thursday also revealed that 21 more Fast and Furious guns have been found at violent crime scenes in Mexico.
That is up from 11 the agency admitted just last month, and Grassley said he can only imagine the carnage that will be shown to have
been made possible by the thousands of guns put into the hands of criminals by the Obama Administration.
Grassley and Issa also Thursday asked Justice for “interviews, emails, memos and even hand-written notes from members of the
U.S. attorney’s office” involved with ‘Fast and Furious’. Thus far, Holder’s arrogant department has stonewalled, deceived and provided
censored testimony, when it even responds.
And now, for the first time, evidence that the White House – which had denied knowledge of the operation – did in fact know about the scandal.
At least three national security officials in the White House were briefed to some extent on the operation:
The supervisor of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives operation in Phoenix specifically mentioned
Fast and Furious in at least one email to a White House national security official, and two other White House colleagues
were briefed on reports from the supervisor, according to White House emails and a senior administration official.
The White House denies that they were informed of the operation’s “covert investigative tactics”, which sounds an awful lot like parsing
to avoid legal jeopardy.
Where is the national media on this? During the Watergate scandal, the nation came to a screeching halt while the media expended
unlimited resources exposing the debacle – no detail was too small to be exposed.
With “Fast and Furious”? Crickets. Sure, they’ll mention new details when leaked to them, or notable testimony from a House hearing.
But unlike Watergate, the national media will not put dedicated reporters on the trail to dig up the whole story. Even when the
Attorney General is caught in a lie – under oath. Even White House is now proven to have been in the loop all along – despite their denials.
And no one was killed from Watergate.
Hey media: do your damn job. If not for us, then do it for him…