The chief congressional investigators of Operation Fast and Furious released explosive testimony from the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) that they say indicates the Obama administration tried to stonewall Congress, deny witnesses the ability to testify freely, and fire employees who refused to conceal damning information. According to acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson not only did the Justice Department play fast-and-loose with Fast and Furious, but other government agencies may have known – and funded – the straw purchasers the ATF program was designed to catch. The agency’s investigation, which has resulted in at least two deaths, may have been entirely unnecessary.
Scorn on the Fourth of July
Congressman Darrell Issa and Sen. Charles Grassley sent a joint letter to Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday, revealing that Melson gave a transcribed interview on the Fourth of July, with only his personal lawyer present. The news must have come as a shock to Holder. Melson’s testimony had been scheduled to take place July 13, with Melson’s counsel and Obama administration lawyers from the DoJ and ATF taking part.
According to the letter, Melson testified that the administration had not informed him of his legal right “to attend a voluntary interview with [his] own lawyer… rather than participate with counsel representing the Department’s interests.”
“We are disappointed that no one had previously informed him of that provision of the agreement,” they wrote. “Instead, Justice Department officials sought to limit and control his communications with Congress. This is yet another example of why direct communications with Congress are so important and are protected by law.”
(Obstruction of) Justice Department
The Congressmen’s recounting of Melson’s testimony includes mistakes he admitted making, including not personally reviewing hundreds of documents relating to Fast and Furious until March of this year. “By his account, he was sick to his stomach when he obtained those documents and learned the full story,” they write.
In the most stinging passage of the letter, Issa and Grassley accuse the administration of a concerted cover-up:
According to Mr. Melson [after learning about the consequences of the program], he and ATF’s senior leadership team moved to reassign every manager involved in Fast and Furious, from the Deputy Assistant Director for Field Operations down to the Group Supervisor, after learning the facts in those documents. Mr. Melson also said he was not allowed to communicate to Congress the reasons for the reassignments. He claimed that ATF’s senior leadership would have preferred to be more cooperative with our inquiry much earlier in the process. However, he said that Justice Department officials directed them not to respond and took full control of replying to briefing and document requests from Congress. The result is that Congress only got the parts of the story that the Department wanted us to hear. If his account is accurate, then ATF leadership appears to have been effectively muzzled while the DOJ sent over false denials and buried its head in the sand. That approach distorted the truth and obstructed our investigation. The Department’s inability or unwillingness to be more forthcoming served to conceal critical information that we are now learning about the involvement of other agencies, including the DEA and the FBI. (Emphases added.)
Melson’s story of the administration seizing control of the agency’s communications is reinforced by another whistleblower, Catherine Papoi of the Department of Homeland Security. Papoi testified that Obama officials are “breaking the law by knowingly and intentionally delaying and obstructing the release of agency records” after Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Similarly, a recent survey of 148 Senior Executive Service members conducted by the Government Business Council found career bureaucrats accused the Obama administration of routinely engaging in “politicization of normal agency functions.”
In Melson’s case, what they covered up was more unthinkable.
Project Gunrunner: Another Obama Stimulus Plan?
Issa and Grassley write the program – designed to sell guns to “straw buyers,” whom agents hoped would lead them to high-value purchasers across the Mexican border – may have taken place after the government had acquired their identities and, in some cases, cut deals with them.
They write:
[W]e have very real indications from several sources that some of the gun trafficking “higher-ups” that the ATF sought to identify were already known to other agencies and may even have been paid as informants…The evidence we have gathered raises the disturbing possibility that the Justice Department not only allowed criminals to smuggle weapons but that taxpayer dollars from other agencies may have financed those engaging in such activities…If this information is accurate, then the whole misguided operation might have been cut short if not for catastrophic failures to share key information. (Emphasis in original.)
In the bureaucratic chaos that has persisted ten years after 9/11, the ATF may have tried to learn the identity of criminals other agencies had on their payroll – and those funds may have purchased the weapons that killed Border Patrol agent Brian Terry and U.S. Special Agent Jaime Zapata. As recently as last week, assault weapons from the program had been reported at crime scenes in Phoenix and Glendale, Arizona.
Punishing a(nother) Whistleblower
Monday’s testimony suggests Obama officials have taken punitive measures against Melson out of fear he would expose them. The department attempted to leak word the director would be forced to resign over the scandal, but Issa and Grassley reveal that “he has not been asked to resign.” However, his employment is much more tenuous after he agreed to shift from a career to a political position. Political appointees lack many of the protections career civil service members enjoy.
This, too, echoes the Obama administration’s treatment of other whistleblowers in the past. The Holder Justice Department busted Christopher Coates down from chief of its Voting Rights division to a satellite office in South Carolina, so he could not testify about the department’s racial bias following its dismissal of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case. The DHS demoted Papoi after she contacted Issa. And the administration fired Inspector General Gerald Walpin after he filed two reports that embarrassed the administration’s allies.
In an attempt to protect Melson from further repercussions, the letter states: “Given his testimony, unless a permanent director is confirmed, it would be inappropriate for the Justice Department to take action against him that could have the effect of intimidating others who might want to provide additional information to the Committees.”
Issa concludes, “Knowing what we know so far, we believe it would be inappropriate to make Mr. Melson the fall guy in an attempt to prevent further congressional oversight.”
Despite Obama’s most dogged attempts, the truth is coming out about how Agents Terry and Zapata lost their lives – and who has their blood on his hands.
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The truth will surface and lies will be exposed!!
AMEN, AND I HOPE ITS SOON.
Not only does the gov't put guns on the street, it puts most of the drugs on the street as well. One wonders how many people have died of overdoses, and how many kids have become hooked on drugs and had their lives destroyed as a result of this gov't "program."
The ATF has the blood of over 100 men, women, and children who were slaughtered at the Branch Davidian Compound in Waco, Texas on trumped up charges. If you watched the video you can see an agent dropping a fire bomb into the vent of the bunker in which over 30 children were hiding to escape the mayhem that was taking place above. These children were burned alive beyond recognition with no chance of escape. The ATF is a pack of liars, killers and murderers…….This killing machine known as the ATF needs to be defund, all their offices closed down and agents given the boot out the door. Let them find a real job like every one else. The ATF has more blood than the Davidians on their hands…..Had it not been for the ATF fiasco and murder of US civilian in Waco, the Okalama Bombing that killed over a thousand innocent civilians would never have happened. This bombing was a retaliation and or a direct result of the ATF's murderous blunders at Waco, TX . The blood of all these people to include the children at Waco and Oklahoma is on the hands of the ATF. This is an out of control and obsolete agency of the Federal Government.
The total collapse of building WTC7 7 hours later was not hit by a plane on September 11. I think 9/11 was a professional homegrown job that was botched.
Strip Obama of all presidential functions now.
Obama should be impeached immediately and arrested and charged with criminal acts just like any other criminal. He seems to think he and his adminisration are above the law. It is time to show him he isn’t. And any other people found to be involved should be treated the same way.
ditto
I agree with just about every thing in these comments and i think this illegal president and his out law cabinet needs to be re moved and prosicuted . I think a lot of these career politicans need to be replaced (recalled by their state) too many of them are just thiving low lives.
This was part of yet another elaborate plan to take our guns away. The intention was to prove how easy is to buy firearms in the US and that we would need to place more restrictions on these sales for the safety of our citizens and those of other countries. The administration was counting on casualties to further this agenda.
Yes Wilt, it was. This administration will do anything, legal or not, to get what it wants which is total power over the American people. I say ENOUGH! It is past time to take our country back from these criminals in DC and other elected seats.
P Wilt,
The general approach for tyrannical leaders throughout history is to convince the working class to
overthrow the wealthy and successful, to label them as the true enemy of the people and all that
need be done is to kill them all and you will have everything you want and need. When that is accomplished, there is a mass force removal of all weapons from the people under the guise of
public safety. Once that is done, "we the people" no longer exists. We will not be able to defend
ourselves and at that juncture we all can kiss our asses good bye!! There is an old poster that displays
Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot with the caption that reads "The Experts Agree, Gun Control Works"!
That is because in every one of their cases, as well as others, forcibly confiscated all means of
defense from the people!! QUESTION: Does this sound familiar to any of you???
I believe you are exactly right. I was believeing the same thing as you. Creating Crisises to further thier agenda. Now that the truths are surfaceing I wonder what thier next ploy will be. When this Kenyan President spoke about CHANGE during his campaign, he really did mean CHANGE in a most criminal way. All of his lies are now starting to surface little by little. First his phony BC now this. Evil dose show itself in many ways. If there ever was a “Sheep in Wolves Clothing” then HE has got to take first prize.
There is nothing more dangerous to the Freedom of man than a renegade government agency and in this administration we have enough renegades to destroy this country.
Obama and his thugs make the Clintons look like high school children when it comes to corruption.
Watch C-SPAN both of them, One is the SENATE the other is CONGRESS, You can watch all this unfold as it Happens.
Also you can watch how laws and they work at the same time.
GOD BLESS AMERICA
God help us till we can DRIVE RADICAL, RACISTS obama and holder OUT OF OUR GOVERNMENT!
The election of 2012 can't come fast enough!
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PRESIDENT = FAIL!
Can we afford to wait for an election that we know can be manipulated? If Obama is willing to spit on our Constitution now when he is trying to get re-elected, what do you think he will do if he wins?
Looks like a number of federal officials & bureaucrats now want to cooperate, because they now realize the cat is out of the bag, and those responsible are going to fall. Mr. Melson represents the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives (BATFE). While it may be true they have been used & abused in this particular case, the additional truth is, the BATFE has a history of treating American citizens, gun shop owners, gun buyers, gun show operators, etc. abusively. That history is the result of some suspiciously influential types like NYC Mayor Bloomberg, the Soros people, the Brady Campaign people, etc. In short, all of the gun grabbers you can think of. The United Nations is currently pushing the United Nations Small Arms Treaty (UNSAT), which basically is, a way to get firearms in America registered & to impose limitations on types of guns, magazines, types of ammo, etc.
<DIV id=idc-comment-msg-div-170537190 class=idc-message><A class=idc-close title="Click to Close Message" href="javascript: IDC.ui.close_message(170537190)"><SPAN>Close Message</SPAN>
Comment posted.
<P class=idc-nomargin><A style="TEXT-DECORATION: none" class=idc-share-facebook href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ffloydreports.com%2Fwhistleblower-testifies-obama-obstructed-fast-and-furious-investigation%2F#IDComment170537190&t=I%20just%20commented%20on%20Whistleblower%20Testifies%20Obama%20Obstructed%20Fast%20and%20Furious%20Investigation%20%7C%20Floyd%20Reports" target=_new><SPAN class=idc-share-inner><SPAN>Share on Facebook</SPAN></SPAN> or <A href="javascript: IDC.ui.close_message(170537190)">Close MessageSupposedly, Sec. of State Hillary Clinton & President Obama, along with Department of Justice Attorney General Holder, all want this treaty signed & ratified by the Senate. Limitations, qualifications, restrictions, etc. are all a ploy to eventually disarm Americans. They could not get congress to do so, they could not get the courts to do so or even agree with many of the unconstitutional bans they already had in place (think the Washington, D. C. handgun ban {Heller} that was overturned by the Supreme Court)
Obama is supposedly a constitutional scholar. (Some doubt this & question if he really was a constitutional professor as many say he was). If so, then why would he even think for a moment that he could just sign a treaty, and get a sympathetic Senate to agree with him that he could sign away a constitutional right of Americans, or to impose international restrictions, limitations, qualifications, etc.?
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If a president had such power, once a sympathetic Senate bowed to his wishes, then these people are also apparently asserting any sitting president & a sympathetic Senate could eliminate any or all of our individual constitutional rights! Now, why would the founders have even written a constitution, if that was the case. If that was legal or acceptable, then why would the founders have even concerned themselves about a constitution? Why not just appoint a dictator & bow down to whomever they had decided was their better?
What bunk!!
Not bunk. Treason.
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Comment posted.
<P class=idc-nomargin><A style="TEXT-DECORATION: none" class=idc-share-facebook href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ffloydreports.com%2Fwhistleblower-testifies-obama-obstructed-fast-and-furious-investigation%2F#IDComment170537278&t=I%20just%20commented%20on%20Whistleblower%20Testifies%20Obama%20Obstructed%20Fast%20and%20Furious%20Investigation%20%7C%20Floyd%20Reports" target=_new><SPAN class=idc-share-inner><SPAN>Share on Facebook</SPAN></SPAN> or <A href="javascript: IDC.ui.close_message(170537278)">Close MessageFast & Furious should be the end of many political careers and perhaps a number of civil service bureaucratic careers as well. What we have here folks, is a total disregard for the constitution and the rule of law, and an in your face attitude that they answer to no one, so shut up & sit down!
Hope Issa & Grassley can actually get serious legal & potentially criminal actions going cause, the cover up processes are at work tirelessly trying to sweep it under the rug, while deflecting attention away at the Debt Crisis and trying to call for gun control as though that would have done any good in this patently obvious failure of the federal government to do its job! And yes, unfortunately, that includes the BATFE. Its history shows why it needs to downsize by about 90%, along with a number of other federal agencies.
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I am baffled that congress or any other part of the justice system is letting Obama get by with this! He should be removed from office by impeachment and charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law as would any other person be subject to. This just goes to show what a liar and more that Obama reall is and his administration. We should not have to wait for the next election to take place to remove him but it should be done now in the name of liberty, freedom and justice!! You would have been thrown in the hole along time ago why isn’t Obama subject to the same laws and criminal charges that any other person would be??? This just isn’t right at all!!! Do the right thing congress!! Impeach him or you may lose your job representing every American citizen in the political arena! And if they don’t do something about removing Obama and charging him to the fullest highest extent of the law then we have no hope for any member of congress at all whatsoever! Who could be trusted then? I ask you this…. Would you let him watch your children knowing this ??
One of the long time employees of the ATF and Whistleblower on this case was on TV last week. He was fired from his job along with a number of other long time agents. This is criminal and shades of Communist Russia. I hope ISSA does something about these folks who got fired to protect Obama.
Do you really think congress is going to do anything? Sadly, no one in congress has the courage to act. Even if they did, the “leadership” will not allow them to act. I was actually told this personally by a staffer of my congressman.
So now what? Do we simply “hope” that something will “change”? Well it is changing but not for the better. I am sick and tired of waiting on congress and asking for them to throw us some scraps. In my mind it is time we DEMAND action and DEMAND redress of grievances. If we do not get them, then we throw the wimps out along with the criminals. Search for The Jag Hunter to see what one Navy Commander is doing. He gets it.
Is it not against the law to fire or demote a whistleblower as retaliation for their actions? Oh, I forgot, Barack Obama is above the law. What is it going to take to impeach this criminal and his cohorts? If Congress doesn't do the right thing on this, we have nothing to lose. I am not going to live under a dictatorship where I am told what to eat, what car to drive, what lightbulb to use and how many miles I can drive or what medical options the government approves for me. I am tired of hearing the noise pollution of lies that the liberal media spews everyday to the ignorant among us. Maybe they do not know any better, but I and my friends sure do.
Roy:
You took the words right our of my mouth. Thankfully, someone is doing something about it but all of us need to support him. Not with money but by following his lead: http://thejaghunter.wordpress.com/a-sample-letter-anyone-can-write-naming-obama-in-commission-of-treason-click-here/
The 74th smartest person in the world writes articles about Obama, politics and social issues, daily, at http://www.NoSuchThingAsAnOpinion.yolasite.com
This is a government ploy to take the guns away from the people, they are afraid of the people as we are waking up to the Marxist plan. While they are at it they should have hearing on the New Black Panther, Acorn and the voter intimidation and fraud. The criminal O should be brought before the committee on all his circumventing Congress to pass his radical agenda. He is moving even faster now that people are wise to his tactics. His whole administration needs to be jailed including his czars.
Do you realize how many deaths Obama and Holder are responsible for in Mexico they need to be arrested and extradited to Mexico
Absolute Proof Obama knew about Project Gunrunner see it for yourself http://our-motivation.co.cc/Utube/gr.php
Excellent point. What about the deaths of two federal agents here in the US? Why shouldn’t Obama and Holder be held responsible for their deaths as well???
Congressman Issa and Senator Grassley should push for all the proceedings of this dirty case to be broadcast on CSPAN so we will finally have the “transparency in government” we were promised over two years ago. The Obama administration and Eric Holder have been blatantly running above the law and “rewriting” laws for their own benefit. Time to stop, face the American public and receive the same punishment that John Doe would receive for the same crimes.
How many times must Obama spit on our laws before we demand that charges be brought against him? I say ENOUGH! We KNOW he is a criminal, and we know congress won’t do anything so it is up to We the People. We can and we must take action if we are to have any hope of saving America. Here is one way we can get started:
http://thejaghunter.wordpress.com/a-sample-letter-anyone-can-write-naming-obama-in-commission-of-treason-click-here/
Obama and Eric Holder are the biggest liars in this country. They both should be brought up on charges and impeached. They need to get out of our government and quit attempting to destroy this country. They need to take all their thugs and move as far away from this country as they can get and start their own government where they would be welcomed. I have no respect for either of them. They are an embarassment to our country. They have made decisions that have been contrary to the health and welfare of this country. They have obstructed justice and stacked the U.S. Supreme Court with people who are more interested in the same agenda as Obama than the law of this land. They twist the law and use words and leave out the Spirit and meaning of the law in order to go forth with their agenda. I have never seen a more corrupt government than what these two are allowing by holding this country hostage by twisting the words of our own Constitution and usting it to strengthen a hold these thugs have on our country. They need to go and not wait until a year or so from now. Those two working in concert with the thugs in education, the unions, and this sick political correct agenda and health care and green agendas are attempting to capture every facet where they can pass law after law until people will have to pay to breathe. This Presiden and his henchmen have set out to change and damage what we all stand for in this country and those men there should show they have some backbone and go after them and bring them to justice. Had the men in power had not allowed money and power from the extreme right or left to call shots in Washington, and used their stewardship as God had intended instead of appeasing people for money and votes, this country would not have allowed that bunch to take office. You people in power are there, not because you are so great, but because you were put there to serve God’s purpose for this country and you have allowed drugs including alcohol, sex and things that should not have been to stand in your way. God will judge all of you who failed because of selfish reasons for your lack of stewardship that has been used for your own greed and lust. Most are so selfish they allow God and His word to be taken away from our children who need the chance to know these things because some small sick groups are trying to stamp out the better things that God gave us so they can look like they are the ones with power. You gutless wonders are killing this great country. You will be judged by God, your creator.
They destroy this country by dividing families, allowing drugs to flourish, disfurnish our military and allow gays in there serving openly to confuse and demoralize the troops. Giving our wealth away to those who are uwilling to provide for their own families or are unable to because of the effects of drugs causing people to become unmotivated. They are turning dangerous prisoners loose and allowing illegals to flood our country. They have even sold guns to drug cartels across the borders. They are putting so many restrictions on people who want to start businesses we are having mass unemployment. Those in power allowed a pervert to be over the Education Department who would set in motion some of the most perverted programs to educate children, our children who should not have to be concerned about such filth. These people are from hell and if you who are in power do not see it or prevent it, means you are going to end up there with these slime balls when you finally stand before the Holy Judgement of God. Just because some of those in power do not want to believe or acknowledge God does not mean He does not exist. You know, so you who can stand and do not shall not be held blameless before God Almighty. If you are ashamed of Him, He will be ashamed of you. You have been told and reminded again.