WOW! Former US Attorney in Arizona Admits to Smearing ATF Whistleblower

Former US Attorney in Arizona, Dennis Burke, resigned several months ago and has been cooperating with congressional investigators. Unlike former ATF Director Kenneth Melson and SAC in Phoenix William Newell, Burke was apparently unable to fly under the radar with a reassignment; he was essentially sent packing. It appears he has dropped a bit of a bombshell by admitting that he was responsible for leaking a memo that was intended to smear ATF agent / whistleblower John Dodson.

Via Daily Caller:

Former Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, who resigned in August, admitted late Tuesday that he leaked a document aimed at smearing Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent John Dodson, an Operation Fast and Furious whistle-blower.

“Dennis regrets his role in disclosing the memo but he’s a stand-up guy and is willing to take responsibility for what he did,” Chuck Rosenberg, Burke’s lawyer, said according to NPR. “It was absolutely not Dennis’s intent to retaliate against Special Agent Dodson or anyone else for the information they provided Congress.”

Rosenberg claims Burke is cooperating with congressional investigators.

The memo that leaked this summer ended up being an attempt by Justice Department officials to cast aspersions on Dodson — one of the leading ATF Fast and Furious whistle-blowers. Burke admitted he leaked the memo in a Tuesday afternoon letter to Justice Department Inspector General Cynthia Schnedar.

The memo was leaked to press and had the names of criminal suspects deleted — but kept Dodson’s name on it. Attorney General Eric Holder came under fire during Tuesday morning’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing when he wouldn’t answer any questions from Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley about the leaked memo, who was held accountable for it and how they were held accountable.

It’s unclear if Burke was the only DOJ official who leaked documents to smear whistle-blowers, but Dodson thinks Burke “did not act alone.”

This is very significant and it was addressed by Grassley to Holder in the November 8th Senate Judiciary committee hearing. In fact, it seemed to elicit Attorney General Eric Holder's most indignant reaction of the day. Fast forward to the 5:30 mark to see the portion of the hearing that may have prompted Dennis Burke to come forward. Holder's reaction is very telling; he did NOT want this coming up. Perhaps Burke's coming forward later that day goes a long way toward explaining why. Also take note when Holder throws his hands up.

Kudos to Grassley...