This was a very powerful speech by Rep Gowdy.~"Trey Gowdy consistently
delivers every single time he gets the mic. And this speech is both
passionate and epic as he defends once again the need for this contempt
vote. Best speech of the day:
Bipartisan Resolution Passes 255-67, Including 17 Democrats
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a
resolution holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress
over his refusal to produce Operation Fast and Furious documents
subpoenaed last October.
The vote on H.Res. 711, making a finding of
contempt, was approved by a vote of 255 to 67.
Seventeen Democrats
crossed party lines to join the majority in the finding of contempt
against Attorney General Eric Holder.
The House is also scheduled to
vote later today on H.Res. 706, authorizing civil action in courts to
compel production of subpoenaed documents.
House Oversight and
Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa issued this statement
following passage:
“My message to my
colleagues and others who have fought for answers: We are still
fighting for the truth and accountability – for the family of murdered
Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, for whistleblowers who have faced
retaliation, and for countless victims of Operation Fast and Furious in
Mexico. Unless President Obama relents to this bipartisan call for
transparency and an end to the cover-up, our fight will move to the
courts where we will prevail in getting the documents that the Justice
Department and President Obama’s flawed assertion of executive privilege
have denied the American people.” Read More
Mr. Chaffetz: I want to quote President
Obama in his first remarks as President of the United States.
He said,
quote, "Transparency in the rule of law will be the touchstones of this
presidency. I also hold myself as President to a new standard of
openness. But the mere fact that you have the legal power to keep
something secret does not mean you should always use it. The Freedom of
Information Act is perhaps the most powerful instrument we have in
making our government honest and transparent, and holding it
accountable, and I expect members of my administration, not simply to
live up to the letter, but also the spirit of the law. The government
should not keep information confidential merely because public officials
might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might
be revealed or because of speculative or abstract fears," end quote.
This country should be embarrassed by what's happening in fast and
furious.
My challenge to members on both sides of the aisle is to stand
up and have the integrity to say that we have a dead U.S. agent; we have
a department of justice that lied to congress. Where are the guts in
this body to stand up and say, "we're not going to put up with that."
We're going to demand these documents be provided to the congress. We
know because the inspector general within the Department of Justice has
said they have 80,000 documents, they've given congress about 7,000 of
those documents.
This is the test of principle, this is the test of
integrity, and when you can't stand up and take on your own party,
that's a lack of guts. This congress has got to stand up for itself, and
demand that these documents be released.
I would encourage members on
both sides of the aisle, at the very least, vote for this amendment.
I
can't imagine any reason why anybody would deny the passage of this
amendment. We're not going to allow taxpayer dollars to be used to lie
to congress, unfortunately we have been lied to. That's the reason why
we have to do this amendment. It's embarrassing that you have to even
get to this point, but, madam chair, Brian Terry's family expected the
integrity of -- expected, the integrity of this body demands and we
cannot rest until we get to the bottom of that, regardless whether it's
republican or democrat.
You can make the case that part of this started
with President Bush, we don't know what's in these documents, but the
separation of powers, it's imperative that we get to the bottom of this
and that we hold people accountable. Not just the lowest level of people
down at the A.T.F., they've been dismissed, they've been harassed, and
thank goodness for those whistleblowers who stood up and did the right
thing. But the senior level, the senior people in the department of
justice, they have not been held accountable.
President Obama said in
these remarks that he would. March 5, he went on Univision and promised
that they would. It has not happened, and if we get stonewalling on the
other side of the aisle, without your support, we will do a disservice
to this country, we will do a disservice to this body and we will not
get to the truth, and I promise you, when that becomes a republican
president, I will stand with you and demand the openness and
transparency that this body deserves. I've done it; I've challenged my
own party, I have the guts, I have the fortitude to do the right thing. I
urge passage of this amendment.
I appreciate Chairman Issa,
Representative Gowdy, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Farenthold, there's so many people
in this body. I appreciate my colleagues from South Carolina who are
passionate about this issue. I encourage all members to vote in favor of
this amendment and I yield back the balance of my time." 1364 views 5/11/12
House Cuts Holder Justice Dept Salaries for Fast & Furious Stonewalling
You can Learn More at www.FastAndFuriousInvestigation.com
In response to
more than a year of Justice Department stonewalling Congress and the
American people on Operation Fast and Furious, the U.S. House of
Representatives today passed by voice vote an amendment cutting Justice
Department salaries until they fully answer questions on the failed
gunwalking program. Oversight Committee member Rep. Trey Gowdy (SC-4)
sponsored the amendment, which cuts $1,000,000 from the Justice
Department's General Administration fund and is part of the FY 2013 DoJ
Appropriation.
Last week, Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa circulated a briefing paper and draft contempt ofCongress resolution against Attorney General Eric Holder for refusing to cooperate with the investigation of deadly Operation Fast and Furious.
“Congress has been patient – indeed too patient in my
judgment – with the Department of Justice and its failure to comply with
the lawful request for the production of documents,” said Rep. Gowdy.
Click here for a summary of Gowdy's amendment. view count 277 5/8/12
ERIC HOLDER'S TESTIMONY BEFORE CONGRESS 12/08/2011
Issa Pushes Holder for Truth on Handling of Fast and Furious~
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, questions Attorney General during a House Judiciary Committee hearing about Operation Fast and Furious and whether he would be willing to testify before OGR in January.
Gowdy Questions AG Holder on Key Players Involved with Fast & Furious:
Rep. Dennis Ross to AG Holder: You Can Delegate Authority, But You Cannot Delegate Responsibility
Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL) questions Attorney General Holder on the failed and deadly Operation Fast and Furious during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on December 8, 2011.
Rep. Trey Gowdy to AG Holder: Wiretaps for Operation Fast & Furious and Hierarchy of Key DOJ Players:
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) questions Attorney General Eric Holder during a House Judiciary Committee on Operation Fast and Furious.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz to AG Holder: Where Is Communication B/W DOJ, Obama Administration, & Mexican Gov't?
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) questions Attorney General Eric Holder during a House Judiciary Committee hearing about Operation Fast and Furious.
Issa on Fast & Furious: AG Holder and DOJ Continue To Delay Oversight Investigation
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, questions Attorney General Eric Holder during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on December 8, 2011.
Rep. Steve King Questions Holder on Fast and Furious and Pigford Farmers settlement:
Congressman Steve King Questions Attorney General Holder on Fast & Furious and Pigford Farmers - 12/8/2011
The following information is more proof of this administrations mission to attack American's 2nd Amendment right to bear arms.
ATF Whistleblowers have confirmed that the reason for Operation Fast and Furious was to pad the statistics to support the lie that 90% of the guns used in crimes in Mexico are coming from the US as reported in this article from the Examiner.
Within 2 months of this President taking office, He, Eric Holder, Janet Napolitano and several others had met with President Calderon in Mexico to discuss their plans to secure the border and implement policies/procedures that would 'stem the flow of guns into Mexico'.
In reality, they implemented policies that allowed thousands of guns to 'walk' into Mexico. This was done intentionally and with malice towards the 2nd Amendment. The end result they were envisioning it to use the statistics against gun ownership.
Because of their rush to impose their ideology on us, they have now allowed these guns to be used against innocent Americans, including Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry. These guns have also been traced to crimes against Mexican citizens as well. This insane act will haunt America for decades and those in this administration that have any involvement must be held to the highest standard of the law. They have blood on their hands and must face the consequences of their illegal actions.
*****~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*****
President Obama News Conference With President Calderon
President Obama and Mexico President Felipe Calderon held a joint news conference in Mexico City. In their remarks and answers to questions they focused on the need to crack down on smuggling of assault weapons used in Mexican drug violence, cooperation on global climate change and emissions control, and U.S. policy toward Cuba.
April 16, 2009
The reference to the bogus claim that 90% of the guns come from the US starts at 10:40 6:33-23:09
President Obama: "A demand for these drugs in the US is what is keeping these cartels in business. This war is being waged with guns being purchased not here but in the US. "More than 90% of the guns recovered in Mexico are from the US, many from gun shops that line our shared border." So we have responsibilities as well. We have to do our part. We have to crack down on our cities and towns. We have to stem the south bound flow of guns and cash. And we are absolutely committed to working in a partnership with Mexico to make sure we are dealing with this scourge on both sides of the border.
That is why we are ramping up the number of law enforcement personnel on our border. That's why, for the first time, we are expecting trains leaving our country not just those entering. That's why our Department of Homeland Security is making up to $59M available to defend our common border from this threat to both of our countries. ......................................
11:29-13:31 OBAMA:"Now as we discussed in our meeting, destroying and disrupting the cartels will require more than aggressive efforts from each of our nations and that's why the US is taking the following steps:
We've begun to accellerate efforts to implement the MERIDA Initiative initiative so we can supply Mexico with the military aircraft and inspection equipment they need when they need it.
Yesterday I designated 3 cartels as significant foreign drug traffickers under US law clearing the way for our treasury department, working together with Mexico to freeze their assets and subject them to sanctions.
My National Homeland Security adviser, who is here, Gen. Jim Jones, as well as my Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, and my top adviser on my homeland security and counter terrorism, John Brennan, are all meeting with their Mexican counterparts to develop new ways to cooperate and coordinate their efforts more effectively.
Now there are some of the common challenges that President Calderon and I discussed in our meeting and they we are going to be working to overcome in the months and years ahead. It will not be easy, but I am confident that if we continue to act, as we have today, in the spirit of mutual responsibility and friendship, we will prevail on behalf of our common security and our common prosperity.
So I think that this is building on previous meetings we've had and in each interaction the bond between our governments is growing stronger. I'm confident that we are going to make tremendous progress in the future."
13:31-17:26 Question: AP Reporter Ben Feller "Thank you Mr. President. Thank you Mr. President as well. President Obama, as a candidate for office, you said that you would want to see the ban on assault weapons reinstated. Your Attorney General has spoken in favor of this, Mexican officials have also spoken in favor of this, but we haven't heard you say that since you took office. Do you plan to keep your promise and if not, how do you explain that to the American people? And President Calderon, if I may, would you like to see this ban reinstated and have you raised that today with President Obama?"
Answer: Obama
"Well, first of all, we did discuss this extensively in our meetings. I have not backed off at all from my belief that the gun ban, uh, the assault weapons ban made sense and I continue to believe that we can respect and honor the 2nd Amendment rights in our Constitution.
The rights of sportsman and hunters and homeowners who want to keep their families safe to lawfully bear arms while dealing with assault weapons as we know here in Mexico are helping to fuel extraordinary violence. Violence in our own country as well.
Now having said that, I think none of us are under any illusion that repealing that ban would be easy and so what we focused on is how we can improve our enforcement of existing laws because even under current law, trafficking illegal firearms, sending them across the border, is illegal. That's something that we can stop and so our focus is to work with Secretary Napolitano, Attorney General Holder and their Homeland Security team, ATF, Border Security, everyone who is involved in this to coordinate with our counterparts in Mexico to significantly ramp up our enforcement of existing laws.
And In fact I have asked Eric Holder to do a complete review of how law, how enforcement operations are currently working and make sure that we're cutting down on the loopholes that are resulting in some of these drug trafficking problems. Last point I would make is that there are going to be some opportunities where I think we can build a strong concensus. I'll give you one example and that is 'gun tracing'. The tracing of bullets and ballistics gun information that have been used in major crimes. That's information that we are still not giving to law enforcement as a consequence of provisions that have been blocked in the US Congress and those are the areas where I think we can make some significant progress early. That doesn't mean that we are steering away from the issue of the assault guns ban but it does mean that we want to act with urgency...promptly...now. And I think that we can make significant progress."
17:26-23:09 President Calderon went on to say that they have had an open, frank and trusting conversation and Obama is well aware of Mexico's problems. He said they have seized over 16,000 assault weapons and in tracking them, 90% came from the US. (Which has been debunked)
He goes on to say that he appreciates the fact that Americans believe in their Constitution and the 2nd Amendment but............................
"as long as we are able to explain clearly what our problems here in Mexico are then we might also be able to seek a solution that, respecting the Constitutional rights of the Americans that at the same time will prevent, or rather, avoid that organized crime becomes better armed in our country.
But we have to work on it, but we fully respect the opinion of the US Congress and we know that there is a great deal of sensitivity regarding this topic but there are many things that we can definitely move forward and, for example in armament, it is not only a matter of seeing if we can change the legislation on assault weapons, we have already what our position is but we may also be able to see whether they can apply existing legislation in Mexico and the US on armament. For example in Mexico, it is a matter of enforcement with the Export Control Act, I'm sorry, this is in the US prohibits the exports of weapons to those countries where those weapons are prohibited. This is the case in Mexico.
If we or rather if everybody complies with the US law that prohibits the sale of these weapons and their export to Mexico, we can move a great deal forward.
President Obama has made recent decisions in the last few weeks and we value them and appreciate them. For example, to reinforce the operation of capability of US Border agents to comply with this legislation and with other laws in order to review the flows of entry not only into the US but also the out outgoing flow the outgoing flow of the US to make sure that there is no illicit money in strict compliance with US legislation.
I think these are very important steps but there is a problem and as long as only as long as we build on this trust and we clearly explain to citizens of both countries how we must find a solution we will be able to achieve when we do so respectfully presenting our position knowing full well how the US people feel about this and being fully respectful of the sovereign decisions that the US may make or that any other country might make.
One more thing...one more thing...I forgot to mention. One other thing we can do is to track the weapons that we have in Mexico. If we manage to detect weapons sold illegally in the US, in violation of the this law on the control of weapons export or if, in the US they could probably move forward on a good registry of armament or of the prohibition of certain massive sellers of weapons of, for example to a hunter or a common citizen. We know that these people usually do not buy hundreds of rifles or assault weapons or grenades.
If we can move forward in those areas, I do believe that security for both of Mexico and the US will improve because those weapons are pointing against Mexican people and Mexican officials today but crime is not only acting in Mexico, it is also acting in the US. Organized crime is acting in both countries and I do hope that those weapons that are sold today in the US and are being used in Mexico I hope the day will never come in which they will also be used against the North American society or US officials just like they are now being used in Mexico."
*****~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*****
Obama's position on Gun Control: Source Wikipedia Shortly after the November 4, 2008 election, Change.gov, the website of the office of then President-ElectBarack Obama, listed a detailed agenda for the forthcoming administration. This includes "making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent." This statement was originally published on Barack Obama's campaign website, BarackObama.com. When President Obama took office on January 20, 2009, the agenda statement was moved to the administration's website, WhiteHouse.gov, with its wording intact.
On February 25, 2009, the newly sworn-in Attorney General, Eric Holder, repeated the Obama Administration's desire to reinstate the Federal Assault Weapons Ban.The mention came in response to a question, about 20 minutes into to a joint press conference with DEA Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart, discussing efforts to crack down on Mexican drug cartels. Attorney General Holder said: "[...] there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons."
However on April 16, 2009, President Obama stated that he will not push for the reinstatement of the Assault Weapons Ban in the United States even though he still believes that it "made sense". Obama has proposed instead to ratify an inter-American treaty known as CIFTA (Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials) to curb international small arms trafficking. The treaty makes the unauthorized manufacture and export of firearms illegal and calls for nations in this hemisphere to establish a process for information-sharing among different countries' law enforcement divisions to stop the smuggling of arms, to adopt strict licensing requirements, and to make firearms easier to trace.
*****~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*****
Related Links:
For a more thorough investigative story on Fast and Furious, check out these articles. They lay out a very detailed timeline and list of those involved. It is an excellent source for this story. What it shows is that, from the moment Obama was on the campaign trail, he made gun control one of his number one missions. It also shows the meme of the bogus claim that 90% of the guns found in Mexico that were being used by the cartels came from the US. The ATF agents that have come forward have said that the real reason for letting guns walk into Mexico via Fast and Furious was to pad the number of guns showing up in the cartels hands so Obama's administration could crack down on gun ownership and firearm vendors.
Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano met with the President of Mexico and their counterparts in Mexico several weeks ahead of President Obama. The following will show that the meme about 90% of guns confiscated in Mexico are from the US and their focus on controlling the guns getting into Mexico being one of their top priorities.
Press Briefing by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg and Deputy Attorney General David Ogden on U.S.-Mexico Border Security Policy
Release Date: March 24, 2009
Secretary Napolitano: Thank you. Good morning. There are a number of issues involved, a number of actions being undertaken by DHS in conjunction with the Department of State, the Department of Justice, with respect to Mexico. And I'm just going to go through a whole inventory of actions that are underway. Some we have already undertaken in the last several weeks; others are being taken either today or in the immediate future.
First we are doubling the number of law enforcement personnel that are working in border-enforcement teams along the border. These are called BEST teams. These are teams that combine state and local with ICE and CBP personnel. Every state along the border will now have BEST teams. New Mexico previously had not had one. But just to give you a sense of how effective they are, they have already made more than 2,000 criminal arrests and seized nearly 8,000 pounds of cocaine.
We are also strengthening Operation Armas Cruzadas. This is our operation where we work to seize arms that are going south to be used in this violent war in Mexico. Just this past week, March 7-13, we seized 997 firearms in one week that were going into Mexico, along with $4.5 million in conjunction with those firearms. So that is underway.
We are tripling the number of Department of Homeland Security Intelligence Analysts located on the Southwest border.
We will be increasing our efforts on what's called Operation Firewall; this is a Treasury-directed initiative that's designed to interdict money laundering that is going back and forth between the drug cartels in Mexico and where they get the cash, which is in the United States.
We are doubling the number of agents in our violent crime alien sections along the border. This is designed to prosecute violent recidivist aliens.
We're quadrupling the number of border liaison officers. This is designed to make sure -- these officers work between us on the border and Mexican law enforcement on the border -- make sure that things are properly coordinated and goes smoothly.
We are bolstering technology and resources with a significant increase in our biometric identification deployment. What does that mean? What that means is the capacity of state and local law enforcement on the border to run fingerprints on people they've apprehended, that are in the jails and so forth, to make sure they've been run through the ICE databases among other things to identify whether they are criminal aliens.
We are embarking on increased screening of rail that goes south from the United States into Mexico. There are in reality only eight rail lines that actually transverse that border, so we are working to have 100 percent screening on those rail crossings into Mexico.
We are moving mobile X-ray units to the border. These will be used to help identify anomalies in passenger vehicles. Well, what does that mean? That means we're trying to identify vehicles that are carrying arms into Mexico that are being used in the drug war in Mexico.
We are moving today 100 more CBP personnel to the border to do outbound inspections. We are moving 12 teams of cross-trained dogs. They can be used to detect both weapons and currency to the Southwest border. We are moving three mobile response teams of Border Patrol agents to deploy to the border. And we're increasing the number of license plate readers on -- to look for the plates of suspected smugglers. They will be deployed, again, to the outgoing lanes and ports of entry.
In terms of grant funding, Operation Stonegarden, we are changing the grant guidance for our remaining balances in that grant pool. It will be immediately modified to focus $59 million to enhance current state, local, and tribal law enforcement operations and assets along the border. And we will expand the scope of Operation Stonegarden funds to pay for additional law enforcement personnel, overtime, travel, and the like for deployment of state and local tribal officials to the border.
In addition, we are engaging state and local law enforcement in a way I don't think has been done previously with regular calls and conferences with state and local law enforcement in those border areas, in those border counties. So we really get a better sense of what's happening on a real-time basis in this issue with -- in this battle, actually, that is ongoing in Mexico.
Let me just say there are a number of other actions being undertaken, and you'll hear DOJ and Department of State here in a minute.
One question I anticipate you'll ask is where are we with the National Guard. And we are still considering and looking at that. One of the things I wanted to be able to do is to meet with the Governor of Texas, to ask specifically what he is thinking about with respect to Guard along the Texas-Mexico border. I will see him on Thursday; I'll be in Texas to meet with him. And as you just heard, both the Attorney General and I will be in Mexico next week to consult with the Minister of the Interior there and the Attorney General about what other actions can be taken.
Our goal is twofold. One is to provide assistance to the government of Mexico, to break up these huge cartels which are funneling tonnage quantities of illegal drugs into our country on a regular basis, and are conducting this war of violence within Mexico that has resulted in over 6,000 homicides, over 550 of which were assassinations of law enforcement and public official personnel.
The second is to guard against an increase in violence in the United States as a result of the actions undertaken in Mexico.
We've seen some increase in violence between -- primarily between cartels, themselves -- kidnappings, for example, in the Phoenix area and the Houston area. But what we want to do is to better secure the border area against further violence and make it a safe and secure area where, of course, the rule of law is upheld and enforced. So that gives you an inventory of all the things that are happening right now with respect to homeland security and the border in this very, very important initiative.
MEXICO CITY — At the end of two days of meetings with Mexican officials, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said that cooperation between the United States and Mexico was stronger and “fundamentally different than that which existed in the past.”
In an interview on Friday before meeting with President Felipe Calderón of Mexico, Mr. Holder and his Mexican counterpart, Eduardo Medina-Mora, said the stakes of their new efforts to stem the drug violence wreaking havoc in Mexico were high for both countries. Both men dismissed assertions in a Pentagon report in December that the crisis had pushed Mexico to the verge of becoming a failed state.
Mr. Medina-Mora, however, raised images of Colombia, where corruption and insecurity were so rampant that the leader of the powerful MedellÃn cartel, Pablo Escobar, was elected to Congress. And Mr. Holder recalled the years when the crack epidemic caused a crisis of crime and corruption in the United States.
“Mexico has never been a weak state,” Mr. Medina-Mora said. “It is not today. It will never be in the future. We have faced even more difficult problems than this one. And it is relevant to put this in perspective.”
But he added: “What is at stake is the ability of Mexico to keep peace and tranquillity for its citizens. That is why our objective is not ending drug trafficking. It is to remove power from these groups and remove their ability to seize and to kidnap our right to live in peace.”
Talking about the efforts of Mexican law enforcement officials to end the drug trade, Mr. Holder pounded his hand on the table and said, “People have to understand this, people really have to get this: they are putting their lives on the line in a fundamental way.”
In their meetings with Mr. Calderón, Mr. Holder and the secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, discussed plans to provide training to Mexican canine teams, and to increase cooperation between the United States Coast Guard and the Mexican Navy to stop the increasing numbers of illegal immigrants and drug smugglers using the Pacific Ocean as a result of increased enforcement along the land border.
“We are going to operate almost like a vise,” Ms. Napolitano said of the United States and Mexico, after the meeting with Mr. Calderón. “We’re going to take out the cartels that have been plaguing our communities for far too long.”
In the interview, Mr. Holder said he was sending an additional 100 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to the southern border to crack down on the so-called straw gun purchases — in which one person submits to the federal background checks to obtain guns for someone else — that fuel much of the southbound smuggling. And with marijuana sales central to the drug trade, Mr. Holder said he was exploring ways to lower the minimum amount required for the federal prosecution of possession cases.
UPDATE: 10/27/11 Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) questions Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on the Constitutionality of the WH and the DOJ devising the prosecutorial discretion memo in June that restricts prosecution of illegal aliens in the country.
Janet Napolitan defends White House role in deporation reprieves
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is defending the involvement of President Barack Obama's White House in crafting priorities for deportation of illegal aliens and for laying out criteria for which illegal immigrants may win a reprieve from deportation in an upcoming review of pending cases.
"Because immigration involves two major agencies: DHS and DOJ, it is entirely appropriate and, yes, there was coordination with the White House," Napolitano told Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) during a House Judicary Committee oversight hearing Wednesday.
It's unusual for the White House to play a role in setting priorities for law enforcement. White House officials have indicated in other contexts that it wouldn't be appropriate for officials there to urge the Justice Department to harmonize criminal law enforcement with broader administration goals, like export promotion.
The immigration enforcement priorities laid out in a June memo and advanced in an August announcement of a review of all pending deportation cases don't affect criminal prosecutions, but pertain to civil enforcement of immigration law. The so-called "prosecutorial discretion" memo and policy has been closely watched by Latino and immigrants' rights groups, whom Obama and his aides have been trying to court politically in advance of the 2012 election.
The involvement of the White House in devising the prosecutorial discretion memo was discussed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Kumar Kibble at a House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing on Oct. 4 and by ICE Director John Morton at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Oct. 14.
"If your question is — was the White House ... involved in the formulation of this memorandum, the answer is yes," Morton told Poe at that session. Morton said the White House's role in the discussion was coordinated by Cecilia Munoz, who heads up the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
Oversight Watchdog Trey Gowdy (R-SC) presses Obama Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on her agency's involvement - and her role in - Operation Fast and Furious.
Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) presses Obama Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on her agency's involvement - and her role in - Operation Fast and Furious.
Oversight Watchdog Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) presses Obama Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on her agency's involvement - and her role in - Operation Fast and Furious.
Napolitano Grilled Over ‘Fast and Furious,’ Likens Hearing to Cross Examination
House Republicans on Wednesday turned their sharp questioning over "Operation Fast and Furious" toward Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who acknowledged her agents were twice told to "stand down" in deference to what she called a "very troublesome" operation.
Napolitano, at one point likening the questioning to a cross-examination, said repeatedly she only learned of "Fast and Furious" after Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in December. She emphasized the operation, conceived and run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, "was an ATF operation," under the auspices of the Justice Department, not her department.
Still, during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, outspoken Republicans wanted to know why she didn't press for more answers in the wake of Terry's death, and they called on her to meet more regularly with her Justice Department counterparts, suggesting more frequent discussions could help prevent incidents like Terry's murder.
Napolitano said she has never spoken with Attorney General Eric Holder about "Fast and Furious," a revelation Republicans strongly criticized.
"There needs to be better communication, so somebody can say, 'Whoa! This is a crazy idea, you're giving guns to drug smugglers that are going to come back and be used?" said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.
Holder, however, has said he was not aware of "Fast and Furious" -- or at least its controversial details -- until after concerns were raised publicly. And, in a letter to lawmakers three weeks ago, he said that while "some senior officials" within the department knew of an operation called "Fast and Furious," they "were not advised of the unacceptable operational tactics being used in it."
Nevertheless, on Wednesday, Napolitano said one reason she hasn't spoken to Holder directly about "Fast and Furious" is that the Justice Department's inspector general is currently engaged in an investigation into the matter, and she said she wouldn't know details about "Fast and Furious" because it "was an ATF operation."
Napolitano warned lawmakers not to "rush to judgment here," but she said there "will be lessons learned from this, and there very well may be changes in the field as a result of this."
Launched in late 2009, "Fast and Furious" hoped to target major gun-runners in Arizona by following gun purchasers to senior-level officials within Mexican cartels. But high-powered weapons tied to the investigation ended up at crime scenes in Mexico and the United States, including that of Terry's murder.
On Wednesday, Republicans tried to use their questioning of Napolitano, a former U.S attorney in Arizona, to bolster allegations that Justice Department officials knew details of "Fast and Furious" early on. Republicans have noted that, starting in at least March 2010, officials within the Justice Department's criminal division approved wiretaps as part of the investigation.
During a lengthy back-and-forth, Napolitano acknowledged that wiretap applications are approved by the Justice Department and include a "summary" or "narrative" of the case. But when Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., tried to suggest it was "disingenuous" for the Justice Department to say officials didn't know about "Fast and Furious," Napolitano balked.
"Someone at the Department of Justice had to know about 'Fast and Furious' for the [wiretaps] to ever have been approved, correct?" Gowdy asked Napolitano. "If there were [wiretaps] approved in 'Fast and Furious' -- and there were -- the Department of Justice would had to have known about it, correct?"
Napolitano wouldn't comment, telling lawmakers she would "leave that for your own investigation."
Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is leading a congressional investigation into "Fast and Furious." Republicans and Democrats have increasingly become divided over the direction of the probe.
10/9/2011 Congressman Darrell Issa appeared with Chris Wallace today to discuss where he is with the investigation into Fast and Furious. Congressman Issa indicated that the next phase of the investigation will include subpoenas of Eric Holder and others in the DOJ.
Congressman Issa also indicated there's more they are investigating in the DOE Loan Program as well. This is after the DOE loaned $537M to a solar energy company, Solyndra and it declared bankruptcy August 2011. Solyndra received federal help in 2009 and never turned a profit. In March 2010, PriceWaterhouseCoopers raised questions about the company's solvency. The next month, a White House Office of Management and Budget staffer worried that the Department of Energy "has one loan to monitor and they seem completely oblivious." Another said it was "terrifying" to consider that some of DOE's next projects would make Solyndra look "better."
On September 26, 2011, the Tucson Tea Party hosted a meeting in an attempt to the get the facts straight about the under cover operation known as Fast and Furious that essentially armed the Mexican cartels. Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, and "whistle blower" ATF Agent Cefalu spoke at the event.
"Our brave "whistle blower" ATF Agent Cefalu said that if we the people cannot have the Congress we elected hold those who mishandled this operation accountable then there is no point to government. We need to forward this email and make sure that all of those we come into contact with know about this scandal and the deaths and destruction left in it's wake.
Thank you Representative Gosar for attending and speaking last night, but please take our message to the rest of the Oversight Committee in Washington and tell them that this "operation" (scandal) needs to be completely investigated and accountability needs to be dealt out in strong doses to those responsible.
Thank you to Sheriff Paul Babeu and Agent Cefalu for your insight, courage and continued service to our country.
Remember that a government is only as the strong or effective as the people it governs. We hope you remain strong and mobilize in your communities and neighborhoods to lift and work where you are needed."
Fast and Furious: Using Humans as Collateral Damage
"In his speech, Cefalu made the larger argument that this is a major government corruption problem, not only surrounding Operation Fast and Furious, but about a runaway government that doesn't answer to the people, saying ATF agents and the Department of Justice shouldn’t be able to say no to Congress when asked for documentation surrounding operations within the Bureau. The Obama Justice Department has been stonewalling the House Oversight Committee in its investigation into Operation Fast and Furious since day one." view full article
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KGUN-TV9
Tucson Tea Party demands “Fast and Furious” answers
"Tea Party members and Congressman Gosar go as far as to say the lack of information being released by federal agencies constitutes a cover-up. They hope Washington will notice their rally and give them answers."view full article
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