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. 

Subpoenaed US Attorney in Fast and Furious to Plead the Fifth

Yesterday, it was learned that Oversight Committee chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa issued a subpoena for the testimony of Patrick Cunningham, the chief of the Criminal Division of Arizona's U.S. Attorney's Office. Today, we learn that Cunningham is pleading the Fifth.

Via Fox News:

The chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona is refusing to testify before Congress regarding Operation Fast and Furious, the federal gun-running scandal that sent U.S. weapons to Mexico.

Patrick J. Cunningham informed the House Oversight Committee late Thursday through his attorney that he will use the Fifth Amendment protection.

Cunningham was ordered Wednesday to appear before Chairman Darrell Issa and the House Oversight Committee regarding his role in the operation that sent more than 2,000 guns to the Sinaloa Cartel. Guns from the failed operation were found at the murder scene of Border Agent Brian Terry.

Sipsey Street is reporting that this could - underscore could - actually be a bad sign and speculates that Issa's Committee may be backing down to the White House and Justice Department by focusing exclusively on Arizona and possibly acquiescing to the narrative that says Fast and Furious originated at the lower levels.

"I won't say that the fix is in, but the Committee seems to be buying into the 'Made-in-Phoenix' line pushed by the White House," said one source with inside knowledge of the investigator's work. This seems to be reflected in the subpoena letter from Issa to Cunningham. From (a) Politico story:

“Senior Justice Department officials have recently told the Committee that you relayed inaccurate and misleading information to the Department in preparation for its initial response to Congress,” wrote Issa. “These officials told us that even after Congress began investigating Fast and Furious, you continued to insist that no unacceptable tactics were used.”

The White House is happy for Issa to go after Cunningham for this is consistent with their denial that the White House had anything to do with gunwalking. Indeed, from the evidence above it would seem that the White House has determined Cunningham to be one of the designated sacrificial goats to that end.

Sipsey Street, which has developed a very credible reputation, then addresses what it views as the Oversight Committee's increased silence about the case:

This also comes at a time when journalists -- "mainstream" and despised bloggers alike -- have for weeks encountered a black hole when it comes to trying to find out what the Committee is working on and whether the story is progressing. "They've become the roach motel of press inquiries," said one. "Inquiries go in, but nothing comes out."

Another source, according to SS, is making the charge that Issa's Committee is fearful of both the FBI and the White House:

Another source familiar with the Issa investigation shared his fears about the direction and speed of the investigation. "They are afraid of the FBI" and are unwilling to really go after the Brian Terry murder cover-up and the use of FBI paid informants to buy weapons from the straw-buyers, he said. "They are afraid of the White House, too," indicating a reluctance to go after certain players in the early meetings such as that one held in March 2009 between ATF SAC Bill Newell and White House and DHS operatives, including, according to one report, Dennis Burke.

There is a chance that these claims are not accurate or that they are being driven by different motivations but if there is something to them, it wouldn't be good at all.

Read it for yourself HERE.

Video: Republican Debate opens with Newt Ripping CNN Moderator

The CNN debate opened up with John King asking Newt Gingrich to respond to the ABC story that included an interview with the former Speaker's ex-wife and about Newt wanting an 'open marriage.' King's question was obviously intended to embarrass Gingrich but it was King who was shamed by Newt and it was quite obvious.

Toward the end of this clip, Gingrich put his finger on the pulse of what's really going on. The liberal media is protecting Obama by levying vicious attacks against all Republican candidates. That is a theme that needs to continue because the more that fact is revealed, the more exposed Obama becomes.

Via Daily Caller:


After the debate, Greta Van Susteren interviewed Gingrich and asked him about the exchange: