Report: Boehner responsible for no De-funding of Obamacare

At a press conference on March 6th, House Speaker John Boehner did his best Jay Carney / Robert Gibbs impression when asked if there would be any must-pass legislation that would include the de-funding of Obamacare. The most obvious way to do this would be to leverage the Continuing Resolution by adding an amendment that says to continue funding the government, Obamacare would have to be de-funded. Boehne did what all politicians do when they don't like a question; he answered one that wasn't asked.

Now we know why. He had no plans to de-fund Obamacare despite his base's adamant insistence that he do so, despite the fact that had the amendment been introduced, it probably would have gotten overwhelming support.

Via Byron York at the Washington Examiner:

As the House prepared to consider its own version of the continuing resolution last week — it ultimately passed 267 to 151 — more than two dozen conservative GOP lawmakers signed on to an amendment that would have defunded Obamacare.  They submitted the amendment and hoped it would receive a vote but were stymied when the House leadership declared that no amendments would be allowed.

“If that amendment had gone to the floor, far and above a majority of the conference would have voted for it,” said Arizona Rep. Matt Salmon, one of the supporters, in an interview Saturday.  “I think everyone in the conference would have voted for it,” added Florida Rep. Ron DeSantis, another supporter.

Nevertheless, the Republican leadership did not allow the amendment to be considered.  And that, Salmon, DeSantis, and other conservative Republicans believe, is a measure of the leadership’s uneasiness with continuing the legislative fight against Obamacare.  Some Republicans — lawmakers who might have felt pressure to vote to defund Obamacare — believe privately that the fight is essentially over, and that the GOP should come to terms with the reality of national health care.

That lack of will to fight on the part of Republicans is what lost the 2012 election for them. Yet, they continue to double down on the behavior.

While many may be inclined to dismiss the allegations made about Boehner by former U.S. Congressman Bob Ney because the latter served jail time as a result of his relationship with Jack Abramoff, can you think of any better reason for Boehner's consistent unwillingness to fight?

Here's an interview with Ney on WND:

Video Awesomeness: Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz on Operation Fast and Furious

There are four Republican Senatorial candidates vying for the seat of outgoing Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. At this point, it appears to be a two man race between Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, whose rhetoric is much more conservative than his record and Ted Cruz, a Tea Party favorite. Cruz has a legitimate shot, despite Dewhurst's establishment connections.

If you're outraged by the Fast and Furious scandal, you've got to see this ad from Ted Cruz for Senate:

Ted Cruz Fast and Furious page.

Video: Darrell Issa interview with Greta on Fast and Furious

About a month ago, reports began to surface from "four sources" according to Sipsey Street's Mike Vanderboegh that House Speaker John Boehner may have asked Oversight Chairman, Darrell Issa to pull back on the Fast and Furious investigation. Another report from Vanderboegh involved an alleged deal that would end the investigation; the Justice Department would offer up Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer and his Deputy Chief of Staff, Jason Weinstein in return.

In fairness to Issa and Boehner, this is not ironclad but it is noteworthy for two reasons. One, Boehner's relative silence on anything related to the investigation. Two, Issa's backing down on a threat to issue a contempt order of Attorney General Eric Holder if the latter didn't produce documents demanded in a subpoena. To this point, there still is no date set for Holder to comply. In fact, it is Holder whom Issa has given the privilege of picking a date by which he WILL comply. The word, "limbo" comes to mind.

Back to Breuer and Weinstein. Whether there is a deal or not, it is becoming increasingly obvious that these two men are likely feeling the most heat from Issa's Committee. While the evidence currently available definitely implicates those two men, it strongly points to officials above them, to include Eric Holder. Breuer and Weinstein appear to be guilty of criminal negligence at best but the investigation should absolutely not end with them. If it does, it will be a gross miscarriage of justice.

If you have time, this piece by Ronald Kolb at American Thinker is long but worth the read. It underscores this reality quite well.

That all leads to this exchange between Greta Van Susteren and Rep. Darrell Issa. A former attorney herself, Greta asks good, tough questions here. Also, take note that Breuer and Weinstein appear to be the brightest dots on Issa's radar. That's perfectly fine as long as the other dots don't drop off after taking Breuer and Weinstein down.

Via Oversight and Reform:

New York Post: Stern Letters to Holder are nice but...

Since the Fast and Furious scandal blew open over a year ago, there has been a plethora of strongly worded letters sent by both Rep. Darrell Issa and Senator Charles Grassley to various individuals at ATF, DOJ, State, etc. Those stern letters keep coming but to this point, there hasn't been much action according to Michael Walsh at the New York Post:

‘Contempt of Congress” is a pretty strong term, and one with tangible legal consequences, but how else to describe Attorney General Eric Holder’s continuing obstructionism in the burgeoning Fast and Furious scandal?

It’s been 14 months since news broke that a federal agent had been killed with weapons that Holder’s Justice Department intentionally allowed to cross the border into Mexico, with no plan on how to track them and without alerting Mexican officials. In all, the Obama administration sent thousands of guns south to the drug gangs under the misbegotten operation.

So, now what you ask?

On Tuesday, Rep. Darrell Issa (R.-Calif) — whose House Oversight Committee is leading the congressional investigation — sent Holder another in a series of stern letters, demanding that Justice comply with committee subpoenas that it’s been pretty much ignoring since Oct. 12.

The letter was prompted by Justice’s failure to meet a Feb. 9 deadline to make witnesses available and turn over hundreds, if not thousands, of pages of internal documents. Holder’s crew requested a further extension — while publicly decrying Issa’s probe as a political witch hunt.

Of course, as Issa writes, it’s Justice’s own “delay tactics” that “have extended this investigation into a presidential-election year.” Indeed, “had the department demonstrated willingness to cooperate with this investigation from the outset — instead of attempting to cover up its own internal mismanagement — this investigation likely would have concluded” last year.

“In reality,” Issa continues, “it is the department that is playing political gotcha games, instead of allowing a co-equal branch of government to perform its constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch.

“We cannot wait any longer for the deparment’s cooperation.”

Tough words. But will there ever be more than words?

The American people who are insisting that Holder be held accountable have been very patient but it's time to escalate this thing. That includes a longer list of Congressmen who are demanding Holder's resignation. An increase in the number of names on that list will help both Issa and Boehner do the right thing.

h/t Sipsey Street

Video: Former Reagan Attorney General Mum on Fast and Furious Accountability

This is a head-scratcher. Edwin Meese, former Attorney General under Ronald Reagan, is unwilling to comment on who should be held accountable over operation Fast and Furious. No comment on the falsified letter; no comment on Holder's inconsistent testimony; no comment after this thing has been dragging on for over a year.

Via Daily Caller:


As someone who knows how the Department of Justice works, it's shocking that Meese would rather appear ignorant than informed. There has been far more than enough information made public over the last year for Meese to have a more substantive take than that.

Meese concedes knowing about Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's death and the deaths of hundreds of Mexicans but is unwilling to identify who should be held accountable after more than a year?!

His answer, in part, was that as a former Attorney General himself, it's hard to get to the truth. Uh, if it's that hard to get to the truth about something like a decision to put guns in the hands of bad guys, perhaps Mr. Meese, at the very least, would agree that the government is far too big.

Sipsey Street has an interesting take on Meese's reticence to assign blame.

The Question Darrell Issa's Office is not Answering **UPDATE**Issa Letter sent to Holder**

Look, let me be clear. Over the last year, I have been very happy with how Rep. Issa's office has gone out of its way to communicate with the public about what was going on in the Fast and Furious investigation. Issa's Press Secretary Becca Watkins has been very good at this, often sending links to videos, articles, statements, etc. that I wouldn't otherwise see. If I was giving her an evaluation, she'd have gotten an A++++++ (Christmas Story reference).

Over the weekend, I e-mailed Ms. Watkins the recent column penned by Tom Tancredo in which the former congressman suggested that House Speaker John Boehner could be "sabotaging" the investigation. I received a response from her less than two hours later.

Here is that response:

From: "Watkins, Becca"
To: "'benbarrack@yahoo.com'"  
Cc: "Hill, Frederick"  
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2012 9:39 AM
Subject: Re: Becca, What is going on here?

Ben,

Please use this on the record from me:
Leadership has been, and continues to be, supportive of oversight's investigation into operation fast and furious. There is no substance to these rumors.

I've cced me colleague above in case he has something to add.

Becca Watkins Press Secretary House Oversight Committee Chairman Issa

I replied and included a CNN news story that reported the following:

A key congressional Republican who had threatened to bring a contempt citation against Attorney General Eric Holder if he did not comply with a demand for "Operation Fast and Furious" documents by 5 p.m. Thursday, has backed off his stated deadline.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-California, who has the backing of the committee's Republican majority, has granted a Justice Department request for an extension. No new deadline was set.

Here is the reply I sent to Watkins. More than 72 hours later, I still have no response to this question:

From: Ben Barrack
To: "Watkins, Becca"
Cc: "Hill, Frederick"
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2012 11:15 AM
Subject: Re: Becca, What is going on here? 

Becca, 

Understood, thanks for the response, and will do. 

Things like the CNN article seem to help feed a perception that you don't want to exist. 

A perception that does exist among those who are demanding justice is that extensions of grace (like the one being granted to AG Holder) do seem a bit misplaced after all that's transpired. 

I understand that your committee has far more information than any of us do but I'm just relaying how it looks. 

P.S. I used to be in the litigation business and from a practicality standpoint, copying or Imaging 80,000 pages (approx. 40 boxes) took less than 48 hours when we used all of the resources we had at our disposal. I'm guessing the IG's office has digital copies at this point. As such, they should only have to hit the "print" button and call a courier to comply with the subpoena. Cole's assertion that it would be "impossible" to turn over all of the documents the IG has doesn't sound believable.

For the record, if there is no deal and there is a legitimate reason why this question cannot be answered, Issa's office surely must understand the concerns of people who are suspicious. I understand their frustration relative to reports of a deal if one doesn't exist but they should look at previous administrations and previous congresses as the source of that frustration, not those of us who question them.

Poor track records matter and have consequences. The track record of Congress very much warrants suspicion.

If there is no deal, I apologize in advance. If there IS a deal, it amounts to obstruction of justice and needs to be stopped. Call your congressman and see if you can find out.

I went into greater detail about this on my February 12th radio show.

----------------------------
***UPDATE*** Just found a letter from Issa to Holder in my in-box from Becca Watkins. It appears Issa is demanding that Holder give the committee a date on which the DOJ will honor the subpoena issued in October that had a February 9th deadline.

Here is an excerpt from the letter:

We cannot wait any longer for the Department's cooperation. As such, please specify a date by which you expect the Department to produce all documents responsive to the subpoena. In addition, please specify a Department representative who will interface with the Committee for production purposes. This individual should also serve as the conduit for dealing with the contempt proceedings, should the Department continue to ignore the Committee's subpoena.

The letter closed with a not-so-subtle jab at ranking member - who has also been registered with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Caucus so his integrity is already next to zero as a result - Elijah Cummings.

As Ranking Member Cummings promised the family of slain BOrder Patrol Agent Brian Terry, "we will not rest until every single person responsible for all of this, no matter where they are, are brought to justice." I applaud his resolve, and I want to make it clear that Congress will not give up until this accountability has been achieved.

At the June 15, 2011 hearing, Cummings looked the Terry family straight in the eye and uttered those words. Despite that, his intellectual honesty in the months since has belied that promise. It has been Cummings and the Democrats who have been politicizing this scandal in what appears to be a blatant attempt to protect a Democratic administration.

Then again, to socialists, lying is like breathing.

Good letter.

Read it all HERE.

Video: Arizona Sheriff says Eric Holder 'Perjured himself'

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu isn't just a no-nonsense officer of the law, he's also running for Congress. Next to Joe Arpaio, you'll be hard pressed to find a tougher sheriff. Babeu spoke at CPAC last week and devoted his entire speech to the Fast and Furious scandal.

Babeu spoke to the Daily Caller at CPAC:

Pinal County, Ariz. Sheriff Paul Babeu, a Republican congressional candidate, told The Daily Caller he thinks Attorney General Eric Holder “perjured himself” before Congress when testifying about Operation Fast and Furious.

“I believe that [Holder], and many sheriffs in Arizona believe that, he has perjured himself,” Babeu said during an interview with TheDC at this weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. “His story has changed. After there was evidence produced that he did know — he was given briefings, he was given emails — he then started to walk back his statements to say that, ‘well, I misunderstood the question.’”

“As a police officer before I was a sheriff, when somebody I’m talking to starts to change their story — that’s a clue they’re not telling the truth,” Babeu continued. “So, this guy is in charge of the Department of Justice, still — to this day — from Dec. 15, 2010, so it’s been over a year and there’s still been no accountability, we still don’t know who’s approved this program. How can that be? In the Department of What?”

If reports about any alleged deal in the Fast and Furious investigation are true (not saying they are), the constant sunlight being shone on the scandal by the likes of Babeu will help prevent that deal from being sealed.

Keep the pressure on, even if Issa has not been instructed by Boehner to stand down.

Operation Cajones (BoehnerBalls)

Great idea, courtesy of a Sipsey Street reader. As the days pass, the clues coming out of Congress only seem to reinforce the claims that House Speaker John Boehner is putting the kibosh on the Oversight Committee's Fast and Furious investigation.

Though it's a bit too early to say for sure, it's not too early to let Boehner know that he needs to grow a pair. At minimum, he's not expressing much public support for the investigation. At maximum, he could be obstructing justice.

Gayle Nyberg wrote into Sipsey Street with the draft of a letter she is encouraging everyone print out and send to House Speaker John Boehner, along with a couple of fuzzy balls. Here is the contents of the letter. Please print out; instructions on what to do next are at bottom.

Operation Cajones

An Outreach to Speaker Boehner
Speaker Boehner,

I have become increasingly frustrated of late, as you seem to lack the necessary courage and fortitude to pursue any number of actions that would lead the Congress to stopping the illegal and unconstitutional actions of this President.

Recognizing that perhaps your time in Washington has either removed or dramatically shrunk those essential apparatus from whence much courage and boldness spring, it is my humble hope that you will accept the enclosed prosthetic replacements for your own natural ones that clearly have atrophied to uselessness.

Please take these tokens and keep them in your pocket and at any time you feel the urge to cave in, cry, or give yet another pass to this budding tyrant, just reach into your pocket and caress these substitutes so you might be comforted in knowing you now have a big fuzzy pair. 

Hope this helps.

Yours truly,

It's worth noting that the photo below, courtesy of Nyberg includes a bag of 100 fuzzy balls that can be purchased for less than $5 in most places. Please print out 50 copies of the letter, buy a bag of balls and hand out to 50 people.

Remember, you'll be doing Boehner a favor. If he truly cared about the future of our kids, he wouldn't obstruct justice by instructing Oversight Committee to pull back on its investigation:

Tancredo thinks Boehner is shutting down Fast and Furious Investigation

Rumors about House Speaker John Boehner directing Oversight Committee Chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa to back off the Fast and Furious investigation began to surface a week or so before the Feb. 2nd hearing with Attorney General Eric Holder. Those rumors seemed to pick up momentum after the hearing, which many saw as a disappointment that helped reinforce those rumors.

The Daily Caller approached Boehner's office and was met with vehement denials. Curiously, however, the Speaker would not come out forcefully in support of the Committee's work, which also bolstered the credibility of those rumors. These are politically high stakes and Issa could definitely use some support from House leadership, to include Boehner and majority leader Eric Cantor. So far, he hasn't gotten much of it, at least not publicly. He should have gotten a heaping helping of it before the hearing.

Again, the silence of Boehner and Cantor don't just reveal political cowardice; it also gives further credibility to the claims that House leadership wants this to quietly go away.

Now we have a former congressman, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) lending credence to the charge that Boehner is wimping out.

Via WND:

The interesting question is why Speaker Boehner and other Republicans in leadership positions in the House are trying to hamper and curtail the Issa investigation. If Holder is innocent of the allegations, won’t that become evident when all the evidence is made public? If he is innocent, why does the White House fear the investigation?

What’s going on here? Every time Issa’s committee holds a public hearing, new evidence comes to light. Why should the investigation be aborted? Why would Republicans want the investigation halted? What possible “deal” could the White House offer to Boehner to persuade him to end the investigation? The only compromise Republicans in Congress should accept in the case of Attorney General Holder is his early resignation instead of impeachment and removal.

Over 100 members of Congress – I think it is 112 at the latest count – have called for Holder’s resignation. That’s more than a quarter of all congressmen. And while it’s not just his role in the Fast and Furious scandal that has led them to that conclusion, it’s hard to imagine any of them calling for an end to the investigation.

The reported “deal” Boehner and Holder are discussing would let higher ups in the Department of Justice off the hook if they prosecute one or two individual ATF supervisors. Holder would then claim he “cleaned up the mess” and be free from any moral or political culpability. How does that sound, folks?

Rep. Issa must persevere in his investigation and seek the truth no matter where it leads. As for Speaker Boehner, if he has a problem with this, he should go into the hospital for a backbone transplant.

If these claims against Boehner are true, it amounts to obstruction of justice. Clearly, that would be more egregious than Issa going along with it. However, Issa would actually be complicit in the obstruction if he does.

If Boehner is, in fact, demanding that Issa back off and the latter complies, the Oversight Committee should just shut down because it will have zero credibility.

***UPDATE*** After sending the Tancredo column to Issa's Press Secretary and asking for a response, I received the following reply:

From: "Watkins, Becca"
To: "'benbarrack@yahoo.com'"  
Cc: "Hill, Frederick"  
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2012 9:39 AM
Subject: Re: Becca, What is going on here?

Ben,

Please use this on the record from me:
Leadership has been, and continues to be, supportive of oversight's investigation into operation fast and furious. There is no substance to these rumors.

I've cced me colleague above in case he has something to add.

More on Boehner's Role in Fast and Furious Investigation

Taking a cue from Sipsey Street, Matthew Boyle at the Daily Caller made an inquiry to House Speaker John Boehner's office about charges that he is putting the leash on Rep. Darrell Issa's investigation. First of all, if it were true and Boehner was called on it, would you expect anything other than a vehement denial?

Well, a vehement denial is exactly what Boyle got from Boehner's spokesman, Michael Steel:

“Such speculation is absurd and untrue,” Steel said in an email to TheDC when asked to respond to the bloggers’ allegations. “The Speaker appreciates the hard work that Chairman Issa and many others have done to expose this scandal. President Obama’s Department of Justice needs to be accountable.”

TheDC followed up and asked Steel if his boss supports the 103 Republican House members who have either demanded Holder’s resignation or expressed “no confidence” in him via a formal House resolution, or both.

Rather than answer the question to quell concerns about the strength of Boehner’s leadership as the controversy gathers steam, Steel dodged it by responding with the same exact boilerplate message just nine minutes after he sent it the first time.

“The Speaker appreciates the hard work that Chairman Issa and many others have done to expose this scandal,” Steel emailed again. “President Obama’s Department of Justice needs to be accountable.”

Does anyone remember how fiery Boehner was when he was in the minority? Remember his righteous anger as Obamacare the $787 Billion stimulus was about to pass? He slammed down the monstrosity on the House floor. It was quintessential red meat for conservatives who pumped their fists and had the bill rammed down their throats anyway.

Why? Because Boehner could moan all he wanted; he had no power.

Now that he has power, he's conspicuous about not using it. Whether he is behind Issa's much tamer performance at the recent Oversight hearing with Eric Holder is still unproven but make no mistake, Issa was not his usual fiery self. Something happened. Something changed.

As the leader of the House Majority, Boehner should be publicly standing with Issa. One can argue about his involvement in muzzling the Committee chairman but it is quite clear that Boehner has no interest in getting behind Issa, which is another reason to believe that it's certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that he is telling him to stand down.

Where is THIS John Boehner now that his party is in the Majority?



Instead, we get THIS John Boehner:



More HERE.

Video: Congressman says Holder must Resign or be Impeached

In the February 2nd Oversight Committee hearing, there were several interesting exchanges. Two stood out in particular. One was from Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC); the other was from Rep. Raoul Labarador (R-ID). Gowdy appeared to catch Attorney General Eric Holder in a lie about main justice knowing about Fast and Furious. At one point, Holder stopped and asked to read the e-mails Gowdy was referring to.

Here is an interview conducted with Gowdy shortly after the hearing. The congressman appears convinced in Holder's culpability but frustrated that more members of Congress aren't willing to sign on to a petition of disapproval. His point is that if you can't even get 218 members to agree that Holder's actions were unacceptable, it's exponentially more difficult to get a majority to impeach.

As was the case with Democrats in the Clinton impeachment hearings, partisanship is so entrenched that wrongdoing means absolutely nothing to them.

Via Daily Caller:



Here's Gowdy's exchange with Holder:

Part 1:



Part 2:

Video: Excerpts from the Fast and Furious Hearing

I must admit, it took a while for this hearing to get interesting but once it did there were some very compelling exchanges. In particular, one between Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) and Attorney General Holder in which time had to be suspended so Holder could be given e-mails referenced by Gowdy.

Until I get access to that video, here are some other interesting exchanges via Issa's press office. More to follow....

Here is Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle:



Rep. Patrick McHenry:



Rep. Jason Chaffetz:



Rep. Dan Burton:



Rep. Darrell Issa's opening statement:

Breaking: Issa threatens Holder with Contempt charge

Just two days before Attorney General Eric Holder is set to appear in front of the House Oversight Committee, Chairman Darrell Issa has sent Holder a letter, threatening a contempt charge unless the DOJ complies with subpoenas.

Via Fox News:

In a four-page letter to Holder, Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., claims the Department of Justice has "misrepresented facts and misled Congress," which began its investigation of Operation Fast and Furious one year ago.

Issa wrote that Holder's "actions lead us to conclude that the department is actively engaged in a cover-up" because it refuses to comply with previous subpoenas.

"If the department continues to obstruct the congressional inquiry by not providing documents and information, this committee will have no alternative but to move forward with proceedings to hold you in contempt of Congress," Issa warned in the letter.

I also received a copy of the letter in my inbox. You can view it HERE. There is a reason why verbiage on the first page is in bold.

In referring to an email that names Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, the letter says:

One e-mail reads, "Breuer suggested allowing straw purchasers cross into Mexico so SSP [Secretariat of Public Security] can arrest and PGR [Office of the General Prosecutor] can prosecute and convict. Such coordinated operations between the US and Mexico may send a strong message to arms traffickers." These new documents show that Breuer made this statement on February 4, 2011, the same day Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich wrote to Congress denying that the Department allowed guns to walk.

After this February 2nd hearing, the Super Bowl might just be a letdown.

Fast and Furious Bombshell: Holder Toast; Damning E-mails released

Looks like there has been another Friday night document dump from the White House on Fast and Furious and the e-mails included in that dump show that Attorney General Eric Holder was informed about Brian Terry's death within 24 hours AND that Fast and Furious guns were found at the scene.

The most damaging email exchange for Holder appears to be one between then Arizona US Attorney, Dennis Burke and Holder Deputy Chief of Staff, Monty Wilkinson.

NPR has the emails. I've posted screen shots of the two exchanges that point to Holder committing perjury when he said on May 3rd that he'd first learned about Fast and Furious a "few weeks" earlier. He later had to concede that he knew about the operation approximately two months earlier and tried to argue that eight weeks could still be classified as "a few."

First, the email in which Burke notified Wilkinson that Border Patrol Agent, Brian Terry had died after being shot near the Mexican border. Note Wilkinson's response. He says that he has alerted the Attorney General. This shows that Holder was informed of Terry's death within hours.

Next, this email shows that Burke communicated to Wilkinson less than twelve hours later that the guns found at Terry's murder scene were tied back to Fast and Furious. It is simply not believable that Wilkinson withheld this information from Holder. It will be interesting to see how quickly Issa's team seeks testimony from Wilkinson.

Of course this puts an entirely new spin on the already suspicious testimony of Holder back on May 3rd. Though his assertion that two months equates to "a few weeks" was laughable, it will not be possible for him to make the claim that "a few weeks" equates to more than four months.



Holder is in deep, deep trouble here. This all comes out just days before Holder is set to appear in front of the committee that Rep. Darrell Issa chairs. On February 2nd, Holder will be in front of the Oversight Committee.

As Sipsey Street points out, these emails are the ones that the White House voluntarily released, which indicates they may be willing to throw Holder under the bus now. That leads to another very interesting question.

What is the level of White House involvement?

h/t Sipsey Street and Gun Rights Examiner

Ruh Roh: Will another US Attorney Plead the Fifth?

Just received a mass e-mail from Darrell Issa's press office. It looks like the head of the criminal division for the US Attorneys Office in Arizona, Patrick Cunningham, might have his subordinate joining him in taking the fifth. Issa is now demanding access to Michael Morrissey, Assistant US Attorney in Arizona.

Via the email:

Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa demanded in  letter to  Attorney General Holder that the Justice Department make Arizona U.S. Attorney’s Office Assistant United States Attorney Michael Morrissey available to speak with Committee investigators about his role in and knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious.  His supervisor, Patrick Cunningham, has stated he will exercise his Fifth Amendment and refuse to answer any questions pertaining to Operation Fast and Furious – such an assertion is extremely rare and suggests possible criminal culpability on the part of a high ranking Justice Department official.  Morrissey, who reported directly to Cunningham’s  and was intimately involved with Operation Fast and Furious.

“Since August, the Department has identified Patrick Cunningham as the best person in the U.S. Attorney’s Office to provide information about Fast and Furious to the Committee,” Issa said in his letter to Holder.  “The Department has refused to make Michael Morrissey and Emory Hurley, both Assistant United States Attorneys supervised by Mr. Cunningham, available to speak with the Committee, citing a policy of not making “line attorneys” available for congressional scrutiny.  Mr. Morrissey, however, was Mr. Hurley’s direct supervisor, and an integral part of Fast and Furious.  Importantly, both Morrissey and Hurley are unique in their possession of key factual knowledge about Fast and Furious not readily available from any other source.”

The Chairman also reiterated that the Justice Department still has not complied with the subpoenas issued to date, including subpoenaed documents from Cunningham, Morrissey and Hurley.

This scandal is about to get a whole lot more interesting if Morrissey pleads the Fifth as well. Actually, it's about to get a whole lot more interesting regardless of what Morrissey does because Eric Holder will be appearing in front of Issa's Oversight Committee on February 2nd for the first time (ironically, it's Groundhog day).

Issa's letter to Holder regarding Cunningham is HERE. His letter to Holder regarding Morrissey is HERE.

Video: Arizona looking to sue the Feds over Fast and Furious

The Feds have been going after Arizona for quite some time. First, there was SB 1070, Arizona's tough immigration law. The Feds sued to have it overturned and a federal judge did the next best thing; she blocked it and the law has subsequently wallowed, suspended in its operation. Then, sheriff Joe Arpaio was attacked and harassed by Eric Holder's Justice Department, which charged that he violated the civil rights of minorities.

This could be what we call payback, depending on how far it goes. As the scandal that broke a year ago continues to percolate in two House Committees (Oversight and Judiciary), the state of Arizona is looking into the possibility that the Feds may have violated any of the state's laws. This makes for an interesting development in light of the fact that the head of the state's criminal division for the US Attorneys Office, pleaded the fifth when subpoenaed to testify in front of the Oversight committee.



h/t Hot Air

Ted Nugent Chimes in on Fast and Furious (Not Happy)

Those who think the Fast and Furious scandal has faded into the darkness because of stall tactics, stonewalling, and coverups are definitely mistaken. This week's news that the head of the criminal division in the Arizona US Attorneys Office, Patrick Cunningham, was subpoenaed and then pleaded the fifth is quite newsworthy. It also comes less than two weeks before the biggest Eric Holder / Darrell Issa showdown yet, when the Attorney General faces the Oversight Committee for the first time on February 2nd.

If the Feds thought the public would cry uncle after the repeated stonewalling, they were wrong. In fact, they've apparently roused Uncle Ted, who also says this is worse than Watergate.

Via Washington Times:

The United States of America has turned into bizarro land. Think of this: Our very own Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), under the direct guidance of the attorney general of the United States - America’s top cop, mind you - not only allowed, but encouraged American gun dealers to sell about 2,000 guns to known punks involved in the drug trade in order to trace the guns to Mexican drug cartels. If you think that’s unbelievably nuts, get a load of this: The suspected goons who bought the guns were not even placed under law enforcement surveillance.

This is analogous to the Drug Enforcement Administration knowingly allowing international dope pushers to sell heroin on American streets without placing the dope dealers under surveillance in hopes that somehow, some way, the dope pushers would enable the DEA to trace the heroin back to some dirty, cave-dwelling Afghan opium poppy farmer so we could then poison the farmer’s poppy fields. Wait a minute, let’s not give this crackpot administration any more loony ideas.

In all of its bureaucratic buffoonery, the ATF lost control of the weapons. Of course it did, as there were no electronic tracing components on the guns. Our less-than-esteemed attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr., to whom the ATF reports, claimed not to know a thing about this brain-dead operation.

What kind of inebriated idiot would hatch an evil scheme such as this and then believe that, somehow, the guns could be traced to Mexican drug cartels without an electronic tracing component? This isn’t some low-ranking bureaucratic village idiot but a high-ranking government bureaucratic idiot who is paid by U.S. taxpayers.

Read it all. 

Issa Committee Releases Charts Ahead of Holder Hearing

Mark this date down. On February 2nd, Attorney General Eric Holder will be in front of the Oversight Committee for the first time to answer questions about Fast and Furious. A website started by the committee chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa has released a couple of very informative charts. One shows who all of the players are and who is ultimately responsible for the operation. Think of it as an accountability flow chart.

I wouldn't be surprised if this chart ends up right behind Issa so Holder can stare at it during the hearing:

Here is a similar chart that focuses on the victims. Perhaps the members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) should take this one to heart. Each member of the CHC is a Democrat and not one of them has called for Holder's resignation:

Solyndra is Seeking to Pay Bonuses (yes, you read that right)

Forget the fact that Solyndra squandered more than $500 million of taxpayer dollars; forget the fact that it restructured the loan and placed those taxpayers at the back of the bus when new investors showed up, in an attempt to keep the company afloat. The attorneys for the now bankrupt, taxpayer subsidized train wreck of a company, wants to incentivize remaining employees with bonuses.

Via Washington Times:

Now seems an unlikely time for handing out bonuses at bankrupt Solyndra LLC, but that’s the plan of company attorneys intending to dole out up to a half-million dollars to persuade key employees to stay put.

Nearly two dozen Solyndra employees could receive bonuses ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 each under a proposal filed by Solyndra’s attorneys in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

The attorneys say the extra money will add motivation at a time when workers at the solar company have little job security and more responsibilities because so many of their colleagues have been fired.

The names of the bonus-eligible employees are not disclosed in the court filings that outline the bonus proposal. None of the employees is among the so-called corporate “insiders” — top officers or members of the board of directors, records show.

The proposed bonus recipients include nine equipment engineers, six general business and finance employees and up to two information technology workers.

The biggest bonus, for $50,000, would go to a Solyndra employee whose job title is listed as a senior director with a base salary of $206,499 per year. Two senior managers stand to receive bonuses of $30,000 and $32,500.

Bankruptcy attorneys said the so-called “key employee incentive plan” aims to keep important personnel from leaving the company.

This is what we call 'unmitigated gall,' boys and girls.

h/t Fox Nation

Maricopa County Deputy Shot and Killed: Fast and Furious Gun?

It looks like a comment from a Doug Ross reader has drawn attention to a horrible and potentially, very explosive development involving the shooting death of a Maricopa County sheriff's deputy. If officer William Cole was slain with a gun placed into the hands of bad guys by ATF's Operation Fast & Furious, Sheriff Joe Arpaio is likely to be front and center very quickly and his anger will be on full display.

Via AZ Central:

A veteran Maricopa County sheriff's deputy slain by a gunman early Sunday responding to a call at an Anthem strip-mall was just hours away from finishing his final night shift before switching to daytime duties.

Flags hung at half-staff across the state all day Sunday to honor Deputy William Coleman, 50, a 20-year veteran officer with two young children, and the first Maricopa County Sheriff's Office deputy slain in the line of duty since 1995.

His killer, who "came out shooting" when approached in his van by deputies in a parking lot just before dawn, was killed in an exchange of gunfire with two other deputies.

Here is the comment posted to Doug Ross' blog:

I would like to comment on the shooting of a Maricopa Deputy Sheriff Sunday morning 4am, north of Phoenix, AZ. The no comment policy of the AZ Central newspaper prevents readers from expressing thier views and suspicions on this tragic event. The 50 year old father of 2, died when his body armor was penetrated by an AK 47 bullet. Eric Holder and the DOJ are holding their breath that this weapon is not connected to Gunwalker's Fast and Furious. Real OLD MEDIA is dying, but real scandals are ongoing. That is my tie-in to your article. Censure me if you must.

Sipsey Street seems to think that if this gun ties back to Fast and Furious, we'll know soon.