Senate now initiates Fast and Furious probe

[Trajan]

the senate had so far stood off, but apparently the pressure is building. I would think the revelation of what appears to be a lie told by a deputy DOJ AG put it over the edge.




December 22, 2011
Lieberman directs staff to examine Fast and Furious coordination

Connecticut independent Sen. Joe Lieberman has directed the staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, which he chairs, to examine miscommunication between law enforcement agencies related to the Justice Department’s Operation Fast and Furious.

A spokesperson told The Daily Caller Wednesday that Lieberman “believe that the lack of interagency coordination along the border merits further examination, and as Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, he has directed his staff to follow up with the relevant federal agencies on that topic.”

Read more: Joe Lieberman | Fast And Furious | The Daily Caller

 

[waltky]

Shenanigans at DEA come to light...

‘Fast and Furious’ Linked to Immunity Deal Between U.S. and Sinaloa Cartel, Trafficking Defendant Alleges in Court Papers
December 29, 2011 – An alleged Mexican drug trafficker awaiting trial in a Chicago federal court claims that the notorious Sinaloa cartel received weapons from “Operation Fast and Furious” under an alleged immunity agreement that the U.S. government made with cartel leaders, in exchange for information on rival gangs.

The defendant in a trafficking case before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Vicente Jesus Zambada-Niebla, also claims the immunity deal allowed the criminal cartel to “continue to smuggle tons of illicit drugs” into the United States. He wants the U.S. government to provide documents relating to the botched gun running sting operation along the southwest border, arguing that it would benefit his defense. Operation Fast and Furious, which began in September 2009, saw the Phoenix office of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives supervise the sale of guns to straw purchasers with the intent of tracing the guns to Mexican drug trafficking organizations and prosecuting their members. The ATF allowed about 2,000 guns to be sold in this manner. The operation came under congressional scrutiny after it was linked to the December 2010 murder of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry at the hands of Mexican bandits.

An investigative report, spearheaded by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), found that most of the weapons provided to Mexican criminals under the operation were going to the Sinaloa cartel, arguably one of the world’s largest drug trafficking organizations. In a court pleading filed last July, Zambada-Niebla made the claims about an immunity deal. “Mr. Zambada-Niebla believes that the documentation that he requests will confirm that the weapons received by Sinaloa Cartel members and its leaders in Operation ‘Fast & Furious’ were provided under the agreement entered into between the United States government and [a Mexican lawyer] on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel that is the subject of his defense …,” it said. “Mr. Zambada-Niebla believes that the documentation will also provide evidence showing that the United States government has a policy and pattern of providing benefits, including immunity, to cartel leaders, including the Sinaloa Cartel and their members, who are willing to provide information against rival drug cartels.”

The defendant argued that he is protected from federal prosecution for trafficking drugs into the U.S. between 2004 and 2009 under an alleged immunity deal struck between the U.S. government and Sinaloa leaders. According to court documents, Zambada-Niebla claims that the immunity deal provided the cartel’s leadership with “carte blanche to continue to smuggle tons of illicit drugs into Chicago and the rest of the United States” in exchange for information on rival drug cartels. U.S. prosecutors deny the existence of such an immunity deal between the U.S. government and the cartel. Nevertheless, the U.S. government last September filed a motion to invoke the Classified Information Procedures Act, which is aimed at assuring that national security information stemming from criminal cases – such as details associated with CIA operations – are not leaked to the public during court proceedings. In a court pleading filed in September, U.S. prosecutors claimed that Zambada-Niebla’s allegations about Fast and Furious have no merit.

“Defendant requests all information in the possession of the U.S. government related to an ATF investigation referred to as ‘Fast and Furious’…” it said. “Defendants request related to Fast and Furious … and other unrelated matters are gratuitous and wholly unrelated to any legitimate discovery issues in this case.” Zambada-Niebla, who was arrested in Mexico in March 2009 and extradited to the U.S. eleven months later, is accused of smuggling tons of cocaine and heroin into the U.S. He claims he was working on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, court documents show. The defendant’s pleading highlighted a July 2011 letter sent by Issa and Grassley to Attorney General Eric Holder, “suggesting that multiple United States agencies were employing as informants members of Mexican drug organizations.” “The evidence seems to indicate that the Justice Department not only allowed criminals to smuggle weapons, but that tax payers’ dollars in the form of informant payments, may have financed those engaging in such activities,” the pleading added.

Source

 

[waltky]

"Apparently guns got away again," said one source close to the investigation...

Another ATF weapons operation, White Gun, comes under scrutiny
January 12, 2012, Washington — Members of Congress want to see whether White Gun, like Fast and Furious, lost track of firearms that ended up with Mexican criminals.

In the late summer of 2010, the ATF agent leading the failed Fast and Furious gun-smuggling operation in Arizona flew to Mexico City to help coordinate cross-border investigations of U.S. weapons used by Mexican drug cartels. Hope A. MacAllister wanted access to police and military vaults for American weapons recovered by Mexican authorities in raids and at crime scenes. She especially was interested in firearms from another ATF investigation, code-named White Gun, that she was running. Now members of Congress who have spent months scrutinizing the Fast and Furious debacle are seeking to determine whether White Gun was another weapons investigation gone wrong. "Apparently guns got away again," said one source close to the investigation, led by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) and Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa). "How many got into Mexico, who knows?"

Officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives declined to comment on whether any firearms were lost in White Gun. But unlike Fast and Furious, they vigorously defended the previously unreported White Gun operation as a well-managed investigation that produced three arrests and convictions. The three men "were looking to acquire military-grade weapons for a drug cartel," said an ATF official, who asked for anonymity because the case involves an undercover operation. "This was a classic example of bad guys showing up at a location to get the weapons they desire but getting arrested by law enforcement instead."

In Fast and Furious, more than 1,700 firearms were lost after agents allowed illegal gun purchases in U.S. gun shops in hopes of tracking the weapons into Mexico. In White Gun, the ATF ran a traditional sting operation with undercover agents and confidential informants trying to snare suspects working for the Sinaloa drug cartel. According to internal ATF documents, including debriefing summaries and border task force overviews, White Gun and Fast and Furious both began in fall 2009, and the same ATF officials ran both cases. MacAllister was the lead agent. Her supervisor, David J. Voth, was head of the ATF's Group VII field office in Phoenix. His boss was William D. Newell, then the special agent in charge in Phoenix.

MORE

 

[The Infidel]

If we ever do get to the bottom of this, it is going to be ugly

 

[waltky]

Yea, Granny wonderin' what takin' dat report so long?

Grassley: Where’s report on ‘Fast and Furious’?
Sunday, March 4, 2012 - The ranking Republican on the SenateJudiciary Committee says a Justice Department investigation into the botched “Fast and Furious” gunrunning operation has taken “an awfully long time to finish” and, as a result, “should meet the highest standards of accuracy and independence.”

“Operation Fast and Furious failed to live up to the standards set by the American people, and we need to know how that could ever happen,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who first questioned the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) operation more than a year ago. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. asked the inspector general’s office at the Justice Department in February 2011 to investigate the operation after Mr. Grassley and Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican and chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, discovered that ATF had allowed more than 2,000 weapons - including AK-47 assault rifles - to be “walked” across the border to drug smugglers in Mexico.

Fast and Furious was an ATF attempt to allow “straw buyers” in Arizona to walk weapons into Mexico with a goal of tracking them to drug cartel leaders. But ATF lost track of hundreds of the weapons, 1,400 of which are still unaccounted for. Mr. Holder’s request followed harsh challenges by Mr. Grassley and Mr. Issa concerning the operation after Fast and Furious weapons were found at the site of the December 2010 fatal shooting of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry, 40, who was killed in a gunfight 10 miles north of the Arizona border town of Nogales. Two Romanian-made AK-47s found at the scene were identified as having been purchased in a Glendale, Ariz., gun shop as part of Fast and Furious. Jay Lerner, spokesman for the inspector general’s office, said “the review is ongoing,” but declined to elaborate.

Mr. Grassley initially expressed concern that the investigation was being conducted without an independent Senate-confirmed inspector general running the office. Acting Inspector General Cynthia A. Schnedar has not been through the Senate confirmation process and Mr. Grassley questioned whether she could “challenge senior officials with tough questions.” President Obama’s nominee as inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, is awaiting Senate confirmation. Rep. Ted Poe, Texas Republican and a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said the inspector general’s review has “taken longer than the Warren Commission report on the Kennedy assassination.” He said the inquiry “comes across that it is being stonewalled until after the election.”

Meanwhile, Patrick McGroder, an attorney for the Terry family, said the family was “frustrated” and “impatient” with the pace of the various investigations and proceedings including the inspector general’s review but in the end “just want people to tell the truth, assume responsibility and make sure it doesn’t happen again.” “The Terrys feel strongly about not letting Brian’s life become a political football,” he said. Operation Fast and Furious has drawn widespread criticism, sparking questions of who inside ATF and at the Justice Department knew that weapons were being purchased by straw buyers in Arizona and delivered to drug dealers in Mexico. Mr. Obama has said he did not authorize the program and Mr. Holder has pleaded ignorance.

Source

 

[Wiseacre]

the senate had so far stood off, but apparently the pressure is building. I would think the revelation of what appears to be a lie told by a deputy DOJ AG put it over the edge.




December 22, 2011
Lieberman directs staff to examine Fast and Furious coordination

Connecticut independent Sen. Joe Lieberman has directed the staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, which he chairs, to examine miscommunication between law enforcement agencies related to the Justice Department’s Operation Fast and Furious.

A spokesperson told The Daily Caller Wednesday that Lieberman “believe that the lack of interagency coordination along the border merits further examination, and as Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, he has directed his staff to follow up with the relevant federal agencies on that topic.”

Read more: Joe Lieberman | Fast And Furious | The Daily Caller

I'm thinking a whitewash job, exonnerate all concerned and make the repubs look like they've got a baseless vendetta going against the WH.

 

[uscitizen]

The Dem led senate is investigating this?

There must be truth to the tale of Bush starting it up?

 

[whitehall]

The last time Lieberman strayed off the democrat reservation they kicked him out of the party. He said he won't run next term. It ain't enough that the attorney general escapes manslaughter charges, thanks to the liberal media, but now he wants to convince Americans that the federal government has the option to assassinate American citizens overseas without a warrant or due process.

 

[uscitizen]

The last time Lieberman strayed off the democrat reservation they kicked him out of the party. He said he won't run next term. It ain't enough that the attorney general escapes manslaughter charges, thanks to the liberal media, but now he wants to convince Americans that the federal government has the option to assassinate American citizens overseas without a warrant or due process.

Dur process?
You support GITMO?

And undeclared wars?

 

[whitehall]

The last time Lieberman strayed off the democrat reservation they kicked him out of the party. He said he won't run next term. It ain't enough that the attorney general escapes manslaughter charges, thanks to the liberal media, but now he wants to convince Americans that the federal government has the option to assassinate American citizens overseas without a warrant or due process.

Dur process?
You support GITMO?

And undeclared wars?

The problem with the left is that they feel no loyalty to the greatest Country in the world that they are fortunate enough to live in and as a result they see no difference between American citizenship and criminal drug running aliens and jihad radicals and they willingly put themselves in the shoes of the enemy. How many American citizens are in Gitmo? None?

 

[M14 Shooter]

The last time Lieberman strayed off the democrat reservation they kicked him out of the party. He said he won't run next term. It ain't enough that the attorney general escapes manslaughter charges, thanks to the liberal media, but now he wants to convince Americans that the federal government has the option to assassinate American citizens overseas without a warrant or due process.

Dur process?
You support GITMO?

Not all people - like those captured on the battlefield - enjoy the right to "due process".
:shrug: