Video: Darrell Issa to Eric Holder about Project Gunrunner: 'We're Looking at You'

First off, at approximately 10:15am EST today, news reports broke that the White House would be releasing a photo of Osama Bin Laden after he was killed. At about that exact same time, a House Judiciary committee hearing was getting underway. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who sits on that committee got his chance to grill Eric Holder about what he knew regarding the Operation Fast and Furious program under the ATF's Project Gunrunner. Interestingly, the White House still has not released any photos of Bin Laden.

The Obama administration is very scared about this scandal because evidence is pointing to it being Watergate with an added twist - Murder. ATF officials allowed, even ordered, gun store owners to sell high powered weapons to bad guys who then were allowed to 'walk' those weapons into Mexico. Two of those weapons were found at the murder scene of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry last December.

Today, Issa got his chance to grill Holder over what he knew about the operation and why the Attorney General has not honored requests for documents or a subpoena.

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Additionally, Issa sent Holder a very strongly worded letter today that highlighted the fact that the ATF responded to an inquiry by the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary committee, Charles Grassley (R-IA) with a provable lie when it said there was no such operation that allowed weapons to 'walk' into Mexico. Be sure to read the PS that Grassley added at the bottom.

More Here.

UPDATE: Via Sipsey Street Irregulars, here is another exchange, this one between Holder and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT):

Holder to Testify Before Darrell Issa on Project Gunrunner Today

It's unfortunate that this hearing today will not get its just due because of the incessant Osama Bin Laden coverage but it is going to be well worth watching nonetheless. In his role as member of the House Judiciary Committee, Darrell Issa is expected to press Eric Holder extremely hard over Project Gunrunner's 'Fast and Furious' Operation. Issa is not likely to be in a good mood either. He has sent countless letters as well as a subpoena to one of Holder's subordinates - ATF Director Kenneth Melson - that have been ignored.

Again, this scandal has to do with officials at the highest levels of the ATF authorizing and directing gun store owners to sell high powered weapons to bad guys and then allowing those weapons to 'walk' into Mexico. Those weapons were then used to kill scores of innocent people; two of them played a role in the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent last December.

Thanks to whistleblowers and an increase in the amount of information about the operation, the ATF has already lied and Eric Holder's Justice Department continues to stonewall. Holder's been able to embarrassingly weasel his way out of tough questions in committee hearings before but this one could be a bit different.

The hearing begins at 10:15am EST today and you can catch it live HERE.

Watergate with Murder?

Pakistan Likely Protected Osama Bin Laden Since 9/11

Wikileaks strikes yet again. If these files from the document dump are accurate, the relations between the United States and Pakistan - already seriously damaged when Osama was found a mere short walk from Pakistan's military academy - could reach a low quicker than anyone could have imagined. In addition to Osama's location, Wikileaks files reportedly show that Pakistani Intelligence has been protecting him since 2001. If true, it's likely they tipped him off to U.S. troop movement, possibly at Tora Bora in December, 2001. There are other reasons to be concerned with this latest find as well.

Via the Telegraph:

American diplomats were told that one of the key reasons why they had failed to find bin Laden was that Pakistan’s security services tipped him off whenever US troops approached.

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISID) also allegedly smuggled al-Qaeda terrorists through airport security to help them avoid capture and sent a unit into Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban.

The claims, made in leaked US government files obtained by Wikileaks, will add to questions over Pakistan’s capacity to fight al-Qaeda.

The files go on to explain how one Gitmo detainee bragged about his relationship with ISID.

Bin Laden's proximity to the military academy and his being protected by Pakistani officials for nearly ten years coupled with the 'treasure trove' of intelligence in his compound in the form of computer hard drives could necessitate breaking off all diplomatic relations with Pakistan, at bare minimum.

h/t Weasel Zippers

We Got Osama's Hard Drives

It's being called 'the motherlode of intelligence.' One of the benefits of finding Bin Laden and killing him is what he left behind - a treasure trove of information in the form of multiple sources. Computers, flash drives, etc. Officials are saying that even if a small amount of the information is actionable, it will be incredibly significant. In light of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas both condemning Bin Laden's killing, it will be interesting to see how much of the intelligence exposes the complicity of those two groups with Bin Laden's activities.

Via POLITICO:

The assault force of Navy SEALs snatched a trove of computer drives and disks during their weekend raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, yielding what a U.S. official called “the mother lode of intelligence.”

The special operations forces grabbed personal computers, thumb drives and electronic equipment during the lightning raid that killed bin Laden, officials told POLITICO.

“They cleaned it out,” one official said. “Can you imagine what’s on Osama bin Laden’s hard drive?”

U.S. officials are about to find out. The material is being examined at a secret location in Afghanistan.

“Hundreds of people are going through it now,” an official said, adding that intelligence operatives back in Washington are very excited to find out what they have.

“It’s going to be great even if only 10 percent of it is actionable,” the official said.

There could also be significant information on Bin Laden's relationship with the Pakistani government.

h/t Drudge