WOW! E-Mails Cause ATF Explosion

NOTE: This may just be the only post today because of how explosive this is. E-mails obtained by House Oversight Committee chairman, Darrell Issa and Senate Judiciary ranking member, Charles Grassley prove that there was an attempt to cover-up the facts relative to the murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry last year. Not only that but officials with the US Attorneys office attempted to do this one day after Terry's murder. As if that wasn't bad enough, two of the three men who received promotions recently - William Newell and David Voth - were both involved.

Via CBS News:

Congressional investigators tell CBS News there's evidence the U.S. Attorney's office in Arizona sought to cover up a link between their controversial gunwalking operation known as "Fast and Furious" and the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Terry was murdered in Arizona near the US border last December. Two assault rifles ATF had allegedly allowed onto the street without interdiction were found at the scene.

But the US Attorney's office working both the Terry murder and the "Fast and Furious" operation did not immediately disclose the two had any link. Two Republicans investigating the scandal, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) say there's evidence that officials at ATF and the US Attorney's office sought to hide the connection.

What's the evidence? Well a series of e-mails and a memorandum that prove it.

To set this up a bit, Border Agent Terry was shot and killed in Nogales, AZ in the early morning hours of December 15, 2010. As early as December 16th, it was brought to the attention of both Newell and Voth that the two guns recovered at the scene were from Fast and Furious.

An e-mail dated December 16th that was sent to Voth and then forwarded to Newell said the following:

The two firearms recovered by ATF this afternoon near Rio Rico, Arizona, in conjunction with the shooting death of U.S. Border Patrol agent Terry were identified as 'Suspect Guns' in the Fast and Furious investigation...

It's also important to understand that the man responsible for purchasing these guns - Jaime Avila - was apprehended shortly after Terry's death. The weapons in question were purchased on January 16th, 2010. That purchase date is very relevant to the cover-up.

Avila had made multiple gun purchases but another e-mail points to a conscious decision on the part of ATF leadership not to charge him with the January 16th purchase but instead to charge him a purchase made in June of 2010. Check out this incredibly damning e-mail from David Voth to, among others, William Newell:

We are charging Avila with a standalone June 2010 firearms purchase where he used a bad (old) address on the 4473. [924(a)(1)(A) - False records required to be kept by dealer.] This way we do not divulge our current case (Fast & Furious) or the Border Patrol shooting case.

That right there is a smoking gun. False records required to be kept by dealer so as not to divulge the truth about what guns killed Terry? In effect, Avila would be charged not with purchasing guns that killed a Border agent but with giving a gun dealer a false address during a completely separate purchase. Newell's response to this e-mail was, 'Great job.' Again, Newell and Voth have recently been promoted.

There's more. In a December 16, 2010 e-mail from Voth to Newell, Voth reports that the decision not to charge Avila with the January 16, 2010 purchase of the guns found at Terry's murder scene but instead to charge him with purchase made in June:

After speaking with Emory (Hurley) he saw the wisdom in not charging the AK-47 rifles in question so as to not complicate the FBI's investigation. As such we are back to our original plan to charge the June guns purchased by Jaime AVILA.

Hurley, at the time Asst US Attorney in Phoenix, has recently been reassigned as well (not fired).

Then, in a letter dated January 28, 2011 from Hurley to then US Attorney for Arizona, Dennis Burke, it was obvious that the US Attorneys office was on board with the decision to avoid Avila's January 16, 2010 purchases in connection with Terry's murder. The letter begins thusly:

The two AK-47 type rifles associated with the U.S. Border Patrol shooting, specifically two ROMARM WASR-10 7.62x39 mm rifles… were purchased by Jaime Avila, Jr. (AVILA) on Friday, January 16, 2010...

Hurley's letter ends with information that supports the previous e-mails; Avila was being charged with giving a gun store owner a fake address, not with the purchase of guns involved in Brian Terry's murder.

Again, Newell and Voth have not been terminated. They have been promoted at worst, given a lateral position at best. This new information implicates both Holder and Obama. Burke is the one in a really tight spot because the letter to him from Hurley clearly demonstrates that Burke was involved. He will likely have to talk to congressional investigators very soon. The last time he did so, the session was cut short because Burke allegedly became physically ill.

Issa and Grassley sent a stinging letter to Burke's replacement, Ann Birmingham Scheel. You can READ IT HERE.

Just a suggestion but someone should probably put Burke on a suicide watch.

h/t Sipsey Street

Video: Good Guys win another one in Wisconsin

This battle took place in New Berlin, WI. Just to set this up, the guys in the red shirts are the Unionistas who showed up en masse at a school board meeting to protest changes to the school district's handbook. However, the red shirts ran into a taxpayer buzz saw they weren't expecting. Stick with the entire video because you will find yourself pumping your fist at the end. This may be a small battle in the larger war against teachers unions in particular and public sector unions in general but it does clearly demonstrate that when taxpayers show support for government officials who want to do the right thing, those government officials appreciate that support.

Via Verum Serum:

Shocker: Hillary Clinton wants to un-freeze Gadhafi's Assets and Give to the Rebels

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wants to un-freeze $1.5 Billion of Gadhafi's assets and distribute them amongst the rebels who have overthrown the regime. Despite there being strong evidence that these rebels are backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, Hillary apparently wants to throw money at them before we even know who or what their motives are. Since the US was instrumental in 'liberating' them, shouldn't we reimburse our military? just a thought. Anyway, making this even more egregious is a report that Hillary doesn't even want to make transfer of these funds contingent on the Lockerbie bomber's fate.

Can anyone say Huma Abedin?

Via the AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is joining top officials from dozens of countries to hear Libya's rebels spell out what they need in financial aid and other assistance to stabilize the Arab country.

Clinton, who left Washington on Wednesday night to attend the conference scheduled for Thursday in Paris, hopes to announce that $1.5 billion in Gadhafi regime assets frozen in the United States have been distributed on behalf of the rebels, U.S. officials said.

That money, about half of the liquid portion of the more than $30 billion in frozen Libyan assets, was freed up last week when the U.N. Security Council eased sanctions against Libya. European nations are now seeking similar U.N. authorization to release billions more in frozen assets that they hold.

"We have supported the unfreezing of this small, limited amount of money - not so small, $1.5 billion - to begin to meet their immediate humanitarian and governance needs," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Wednesday.

Although some U.S. lawmakers have asked Clinton to link the release of the assets to the case of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, Nuland said the administration will continue to press Libyan rebels to review the case but will not hold up the transfer of funds because of it.

As Libya and other Arab countries fall victim to the Muslim Brotherhood-backed Arab Spring, we will see our leaders completely unmasked. This administration has demonstrated an across-the-board allegiance to the Brotherhood and we need to figure out why.

h/t Weasel Zippers