Justice Dept. Fast and Furious emails show disagreement over response to Grassley
More than 1,000 pages of frenzied email exchanges were fired back and forth among Justice Department officials, as they weighed how to respond to initial inquires about the gunwalker scandal. Today, the agency turned over those subpoenaed records to Congress in advance of a hearing next week with Attorney General Eric Holder.
The emails are marked by intra-office disagreement over how vigorously to defend the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives (ATF) amid questions from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. ATF whistleblowers had told Sen. Grassley that their own agency had let thousands of weapons "walk" into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. They also told Grassley that two of the weapons involved in the case, known as "Fast and Furious," were used at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
"Those [allegations] are the most salacious, and the most damaging to ATF, both short-and long-term," writes Deputy Asst. Attorney General Jason Weinstein to Justice Department Special Counsel Faith Burton on Feb. 2, 2011.
Weinstein also wrote ATF Acting Director Ken Melson, calling the gunwalking allegations "terribly damaging to ATF," and pushing for "a more forceful rebuttal" than what the Justice Department was considering.
Additional Justice Department Emails:
http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/Attkis....ain;contentBody
http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/Attkis....ain;contentBody
Special Counsel Burton disagreed, telling Weinstein: "Understand the concerns about pushing back on the Terry issue, but think presents significant risks and we should discuss that together in person if nec."
"What 'risk'?" U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke asked the Justice Department's Weinstein. Burke's office oversaw Fast and Furious.
"They're worried if we engage in a detailed discussion of this case with Grassley's staff, that they'll just keep pushing for more and more information. But I think we need to come down hard and firm and say that the allegation is BS," Weinstein tells Burke.
Emails indicate some Justice Department officials were concerned with making sure the facts provided to Congress were entirely accurate. One official with the Arizona U.S. Attorney's office asked whether defenses being proposed were "absolutely true." "Yes, absolutely true," answered another.
After the Justice Department's Weinstein led the internal charge to toughen ATF's defense, he received an email of appreciation from ATF's Congressional liaison Greg Rasnake, who has since left that position. "Whether or not they buy in, you are the man for supporting us like that," writes Rasnake.
Eventually, the Justice Department sent Sen. Grassley a letter stating ATF would never intentionally allow guns to walk. The Justice Department now admits that assertion was false, and Congress has been asking who's to blame.
Justice Department officials have testified that in drafting the inaccurate response, they unknowingly relied on bad information provided to them by "others."
U.S. Attorney Burke also fired off emails after ATF refused to comment on initial newspaper reports about the gunwalker scandal. Emails indicate he was upset the allegations weren't being met with a more vigorous defense.
"(ATF) got smoked today in the Arizona Republic. Just smoked," Burke writes to Justice Department Criminal Chief Lanny Breuer on Feb. 1, 2011. "Just baffling that they refuse to engage even just to protect the integrity of the agency. Seriously, I would recommend a stern missive to them." The next day, referring to a Washington Post article, Burke tells Justice Department officials, "That ATF refused to comment to the Wash Post is truly absurd. Really. Grassley's letter is outrageous and false. That ATF didn't counter that is unbelievable."
Burke resigned six months later.
__________
ATF Fast and Furious: New documents show Attorney General Eric Holder was briefed in July 2010
WASHINGTON - New documents obtained by CBS News show Attorney General Eric Holder was sent briefings on the controversial Fast and Furious operation as far back as July 2010. That directly contradicts his statement to Congress.
On May 3, 2011, Holder told a Judiciary Committee hearing, "I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks."
Yet internal Justice Department documents show that at least ten months before that hearing, Holder began receiving frequent memos discussing Fast and Furious.
The documents came from the head of the National Drug Intelligence Center and Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer.
In Fast and Furious, ATF agents allegedly allowed thousands of weapons to cross the border and fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.
Gunwalking scandal uncovered at ATF
It's called letting guns "walk," and it remained secret to the public until Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered last December. Two guns from Fast and Furious were found at the scene, and ATF agent John Dodson blew the whistle on the operation.
Agent: I was ordered to let guns "walk" into Mexico.
Ever since, the Justice Department has publicly tried to distance itself. But the new documents leave no doubt that high level Justice officials knew guns were being "walked."
Two Justice Department officials mulled it over in an email exchange Oct. 18, 2010. "It's a tricky case given the number of guns that have walked but is a significant set of prosecutions," says Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division. Deputy Chief of the National Gang Unit James Trusty replies "I'm not sure how much grief we get for 'guns walking.' It may be more like, "Finally they're going after people who sent guns down there."
The Justice Department told CBS News that the officials in those emails were talking about a different case started before Eric Holder became Attorney General. (Really now, who is supposed to believe that one!?!?!?) And tonight they tell CBS News, Holder misunderstood that question from the committee - he did know about Fast and Furious - just not the details.