Fast and
Furious Update:
This is a short history of events
leading up to President Obama citing Executive Privilege over data acquisition
requests by Rep. Darrel Issa (R-California), chair of the House Oversight and
Government Reform Committee.
House Speaker John Boehner asked,
"So what is the Obama administration hiding in Fast and Furious?"
(Washington Times, June 22,2012) Sen.
Chuck Grassley of Iowa is the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary
Committee. He wants to know how Fast and
Furious operated and the identities of those responsible.
The House Oversight Committee asked
for documentation on these and other issues:
·
A letter containing false information concerning Fast
and Furious was released to Congress under the aegis of the Attorney General's
office. This letter dated Feb. 4, 2011
was addressed to Sen. Chuck Grassley. It
was signed by Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich. Later Attorney General Eric Holder defended
Mr. Weich by saying he had received false information about the gunrunning
program, and then retracted the Feb. letter in Dec. 2012. Mr. Weich resigned in mid June, 2012. In March 2012, Mr. Weich disregarded a
supoena from the Committee for further information on Fast and Furious.
·
Whistleblower persecution within the ATF concerning
Fast and Furious is ongoing. I heard one
of those whistleblowers speak at a rally in Oro Valley. Public safety was the main concern of the
whistleblower I heard. I know the Fast
and Furious debacle endangered the lives of all law enforcement in the
southwestern states. One border Sheriff
said he was never informed of the program.
We need to know the chain of command that led to a repeat of the
previous ATF gunrunning. The Committee wants these documents.
·
If wiretaps were used during Fast and Furious, the
Committee wants information concerning what senior official reviewed the
program and who issued the wiretap order.
The Oversight Committee, chaired by
Rep. Issa, voted to cite Attorney General Holder for Contempt of Congress for
refusing to turn over the information needed by the Committee to obtain actual
oversight of the entire Fast and Furious program. A full vote of the house is expected the week
of June 27, 2012.
President Obama's press secretary
dismissed the importance of Fast and Furious, calling the information requests
a political stunt. President Obama
asserted Executive Privilege in order to prevent delivery of the relevant
documents, which action is protecting somebody within the Justice Department
from scrutiny by the House Oversight Committee.
Attorney General Eric Holder has
now been voted in Contempt of Congress for his refusal to deliver the requested
data, including the chain of command leading up the Fast and Furious tragedy. I thank Sen. Grassley and Rep. Issa for their
continued interest in this program that allowed the Feds to set up an illegal
operation in Arizona without the knowledge of local law enforcement.
Eclipse of Sun 2012 Tucson
