DOJ / Washington Post Argue that Issa Knew about Fast and Furious long before Holder did

In an apparent attempt by the Washington Post to run interference for the Department of Justice, the narrative in a story by Jerry Markon and Sari Horwitz provides the perfect example of what happens when you continue to change your story. In this case, the Post attempts to defend the DOJ by going after Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa. The new argument - apparently according to an anonymous DOJ source - is that the DOJ is innocent of any wrongdoing because of a briefing Issa attended in April 2010, at which Issa, the Post alleges, raised no objections.

Via WaPo:

A chief Republican critic of a controversial U.S. anti-gun-trafficking operation was briefed on ATF’s “Fast and Furious” program last year and did not express any opposition, sources familiar with the classified briefing said Tuesday.

Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.), who has repeatedly called for top Justice Department officials to be held accountable for the now-defunct operation, was given highly specific information about it at an April 2010 briefing, the sources said. Members of his staff also attended the session, which Issa and two other Republican congressmen had requested.

The Daily Caller spoke with Issa spokesman Fredrick Hill, who basically rejects the Post's versions out of hand:

Hill said there was a briefing that Issa attended back in April 2010 on a similar subject. “There were questions at the time about the number of U.S. weapons that were ending up at Mexican crime scenes,” he said. “Basically, [it was about] the efforts of the ATF to stop cartels from doing this.”

Did Project Gunrunner or Operation Fast and Furious come up at that briefing at all? Hill says “they certainly did not.”

Further bolstering Hill's account is the fact that none other than Attorney General himself, Eric Holder, testified under oath on May 3rd that he 'first heard about Fast and Furious over the last few weeks.' Think about that one. By implication, the DOJ - via the Washington Post - is claiming that Darrell Issa knew about Fast and Furious long before Holder did.

Here is the exchange between Issa and Holder on May 3rd. Issa asks Holder when he first learned of the operation at about the 1:15 mark.

Video: Senator Rand Paul tells TSA Head, 'You're Clueless'

TSA Chief John Pistole got an earful from Republican Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) over the intrusive TSA pat-downs. Paul presents a photo of a six-year old girl getting the invasive treatment and embarrasses Pistole with it. Then he gives another example relayed to him by one of his neighbors, at which point he says to Pistole 'You're clueless.' The fact that it is Rand Paul - a freshman elected on a Tea Party platform - who does this should make voters who sent him to Congress to deal with the overreach of the Federal government feel a bit better about being heard last November.

Via Hapblog:

Video: Jon Stewart Rips Project Gunrunner

You know this story is hitting the mainstream when Comedy Central's Jon Stewart picks it up. Though he gets the story basically correct, the way in which he portrayed the agents who blew the whistle on this operation was in poor taste. If someone is unfamiliar with this story before seeing it on Comedy Central, he/she would walk away thinking that Agents John Dodson and Rene Jacquez were willing participants and incompetent themselves. What Stewart doesn't communicate here is that without those two agents, Stewart wouldn't be reporting on this story at all.

The Daily Show - The Fast and the Furious - Mexico Grift
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Issa was apparently NOT HAPPY with Stewart's bit either.

On another note, I had this letter in my inbox. It's penned by Rep. Darrell Issa to ATF's Deputy Director William Hoover. Apparently the Oversight Committee Chairman is concerned about the agents who testified at the June 15th hearing - John Dodson, Olindo Casa, and Peter Forcelli - being subjected to retaliation by ATF. One of those agents (Dodson) was basically mocked in Stewart's bit on the scandal.

h/t Sipsey Street