Darrell Issa Rips Assistant Attorney General for Lying

At essence here is a lie put forth by the US Justice Department on February 4, 2011 that it didn't correct until November 1, 2011 when Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer admitted as much in front of the Senate Judiciary committee. The man whose signature was on the February lie is Assistant Attorney General Ronal Weich. In response to a letter from Senator Charles Grassley, who wanted to know if the ATF was allowing guns to 'walk' into Mexico.

Here is the relevant portion of Weich's February 4th response:

...the allegation described in your January 27 letter - that the ATF "sanctioned" or otherwise knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to a straw purchaser who then transported them into Mexico - is false. ATF makes every effort to interdict weapons that have been purchased illegally an prevent their transportation to Mexico.

In response to these recent revelations, made even more damaging by Breuer's testimony, House Oversight committee Chairman Darrell Issa has sent a letter to Weich. In it, he all but accuses Weich of committing perjury.

Here is an excerpt from a press release from Issa's office that showed up in my inbox last night:

Evidence gathered during the course of the congressional investigation into Operation Fast and Furious has shown that this statement was untrue – ATF, in allowing guns to walk, did not make every effort to interdict them and prevent their transfer to Mexico. Evidence gathered in the investigation has also shown that senior Justice Department officials knew at the time Weich made his statement in February that it was untrue.

“Mr. Weich, as you are well aware, it is a crime to knowingly make false statements to Congress,” Chairman Issa writes in his letter to Weich. “As DOJ’s principal liaison to Congress, we rely on you to be straight with the facts. You have not been, and so your credibility on this issue has been seriously eroded. Whether it is the case that you were fed a lie and faithfully repeated it in a letter to Congress, or whether it is the case that you took the initiative to lie to Congress yourself, you are responsible for the contents of letters that bear your signature.”

Chairman Issa’s letter demands a complete list of individuals who helped prepare the February 4, 2011, letter to Senator Grassley as well as all documents relating to the preparation of that letter referring or relating to the development of DOJ’s response to Senator Grassley’s January 27, 2011 request for information.

HERE is a copy of the letter referenced in that press release.

Here is Issa grilling Weich on June 15, 2011:

Video: Congressman Rips Constituents at Town Hall in Restaurant

Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) yelled at two constituents during a town hall meeting in a local bar & Grille on Sunday, November 6th and it was righteous indignation with an extra dose of passion and caffeine. It was also likely fueled by the insane Occupy Wall Street protests all across the country. The woman you can see in this video - and a man you can only hear - seem to be on the side of reigning in big banks and blaming them for the mortgage crisis. Walsh reaches a boiling point and blows up at both of them, very rightfully so.

Any person with the ability to reason can sympathize with Walsh and his outburst. The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) mandated that banks give loans / mortgages to people who would never pay them back. People like the two in this video only seem to be able to look at the banks' bad practices and completely - willingly or unwillingly - refuse to find fault with the government.

Also, take note of the woman who enters the background after Walsh starts yelling. You can see her giggling while she seems to be setting up her phone to do a little recording.

Must see:



h/t The Blaze

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...