21-07-2011, 04:26 AM
Third Fast & Furious hearing scheduled next Tuesday
Congressman Darrell Issa's office has just announced that a third hearing probing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive's botched Operation Fast and Furious is scheduled next Tuesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
The hearing will convene at 10 a.m. (that's 7 a.m. PDT for all of the Pacific Northwest gun rights activists who are watching this case unfold). You will be able to click here for more hearing information and to watch a live stream of the hearing on Tuesday.
This hearing will be headlined The Other Side of the Border, and will examine accounts of ATF agents based in Mexico.
It could be a blockbuster event, because the witness list includes former Phoenix Special Agent in Charge William Newell, and Carlos Canino, acting ATF attaché to Mexico. Canino's name appeared in a report issued by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings earlier this month regarding gun trafficking to Mexico. ATF sources say Canino is a "good cop." In the Cummings report, it is stated:
Special Agent Carlos Canino, the acting ATF attaché to Mexico, stated during his transcribed interview that there is an "epidemic" of illegal firearms trafficking to Mexico, and a "trafficking statute would be helpful." He added: "What we want to do is we want to stop otherwise legal guns from getting into an illegal secondary market. You know, we want to stop these guys, violent criminals, from hurting people."
Newell has been identified as a key figure in the Fast and Furious operation, and he is one of several Phoenix ATF managers who was reassigned several weeks ago when this story became the subject of national headlines.
The investigation is beginning to heat up in the wake of revelations by acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson, as reported by this column here, here, here and here.
According to the announcement from Issa's office:
This Tuesday's hearing, Operation Fast and Furious: The Other Side of the Border, will feature the testimony of U.S. law enforcement officials who witnessed a different side of the controversial operation. These officials saw the steady stream of Operation Fast and Furious guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico and were given orders from superiors not to alert Mexican authorities. Members of the Committee will also have their first opportunity to question ATF supervisors who have defended Operation Fast and Furious and the Justice Department's decisions to committee investigators.
Melson told congressional investigators behind closed doors earlier this month that the Department of Justice is trying to shift the blame "away from its political appointees," as noted in this column.
In a statement today, Issa noted:
"Examining the accounts of witnesses who did not participate in Operation Fast and Furious, but were nonetheless disturbed as they watched it unfold is critical to understanding the scope of this flawed program. This testimony is especially important in light of the Justice Department's willful efforts to withhold key evidence from investigators about what occurred, who knew and who authorized this reckless operation."
The hearing will be held in Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Below is a complete list of witnesses currently available from the committee:
Mr. Carlos Canino ATF Acting Attaché to Mexico
Mr. Darren Gil Former ATF Attaché to Mexico
Mr. Jose Wall ATF Senior Special Agent, Tijuana, Mexico
Mr. Lorren Leadmon ATF Intelligence Operations Specialist
Mr. William Newell Former ATF Special Agent in Charge, Phoenix Field Division
Mr. William McMahon ATF Deputy Assistant Director for Field Operations (West, including Phoenix and Mexico)
Continue reading on Examiner.com BULLETIN: Third Fast & Furious hearing scheduled next Tuesday - Seattle gun rights | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-se...z1ShpRCt3X
***** *** *
Issa not losing sight of anti-gun attitudes of 'Gunwalker' principals
On June 15, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held the first congressional hearing dealing specifically with the "Project Gunwalker" scandal. Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) is chairman of that committee, and along with Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), has been the "tip of the spear" in Congress's investigation into the "Gunwalker" monstrosity. During that hearing, Rep. Issa asked Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) Special Agent Peter Forcelli what I call the question of "Project Gunwalker" (the two and a quarter minute video segment is available here):
So let me just ask a question for your supposition, but I think it's a very well educated one. If you only look at the beginning and the end of the dot, isn't the only thing you've proven is that guns in America go to Mexico? Now could that be a political decision? Could that be a decision that basically, we just want to substantiate that guns in America go to Mexico--something we all knew, but would have considerable political impact, as Mexico began complaining about these, and they could say, "Well, yeah--we're even rolling up the straw purchasers." It wouldn't change the fact that Mexicans were dying at the behest of the United States, but wouldn't it ultimately meet a political goal?
This, of course, is a question to which many of us in the gun rights advocacy community think we have the answer, even if, in articulating that answer, we open ourselves to ridicule from such journalistic luminaries as Jon Stewart and Media Matters. Special Agent Forcelli, although not receptive to that explanation of the motive behind "Project Gunwalker," could not avoid acknowledging that the operation had zero utility in achieving the ostensible motive--catching and prosecuting the "higher ups" in the gun trafficking rings--the "underpants gnome" theory of gun smuggling interdiction. Nor did he offer an explanation as to why his superiors were "giddy" over the spiking violence, committed with "gunwalked" guns, that would not involve exploiting Mexican deaths (facilitated by the U.S. government) as a Rahm Emanuel-style "crisis."
Since then, we have discovered that even if more restrictive gun regulation was not the initial goal behind "Project Gunwalker," by one year ago at the latest, senior BATFE officials were looking for ways to exploit it for that purpose, as revealed in emails.
Then last night, Rep. Issa was on the NRA News show "Cam and Company," with Cam Edwards and Ginny Simone, talking about the scandal. It's very much worth watching in its entirety, but the short (1 minute, 5 seconds) segment in the sidebar video is especially interesting, in that it shows that Issa has not lost sight of the fact that those political appointees at the top of this debacle have a long, well known history of hostility to gun rights. Here's a transcription of an even shorter segment of the sidebar video:
They've been pushing back and trying to push blame or responsibility to non-political appointees, while, in fact, Lanny Breuer, Eric Holder, and the rest of the political appointees clearly were actively involved in this effort--and no surprise. The war against Second Amendment rights has been a war that Lanny Breuer has been involved in since the Clinton administration. Eric Holder certainly goes back to that same administration, so there's a secondary agenda that's pretty transparent.
Sounds as if Rep. Issa is still not buying the "underpants gnome" explanation, although he might want to reconsider the "secondary" part. Too bad so many in the mass media are buying it.
See also:
A journalist's guide to 'Project Gunwalker'-Part One
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-na...-gunwalker
A Journalist's Guide to 'Project Gunwalker-Part Two
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-na...r-part-two
A Journalist's Guide to 'Project Gunwalker'-Part Three
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-na...part-three
A Journalist's Guide to 'Project Gunwalker'-Part Four
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-na...-part-four
Official Correspondence on the Project Gunwalker Scandal
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.c...oject.html
Sharyl Attkisson's stories on CBS
http://www.cbsnews.com/sharylattkisson?t...ontentBody
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-st...z1ShqA7doB
Congressman Darrell Issa's office has just announced that a third hearing probing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive's botched Operation Fast and Furious is scheduled next Tuesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
The hearing will convene at 10 a.m. (that's 7 a.m. PDT for all of the Pacific Northwest gun rights activists who are watching this case unfold). You will be able to click here for more hearing information and to watch a live stream of the hearing on Tuesday.
This hearing will be headlined The Other Side of the Border, and will examine accounts of ATF agents based in Mexico.
It could be a blockbuster event, because the witness list includes former Phoenix Special Agent in Charge William Newell, and Carlos Canino, acting ATF attaché to Mexico. Canino's name appeared in a report issued by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings earlier this month regarding gun trafficking to Mexico. ATF sources say Canino is a "good cop." In the Cummings report, it is stated:
Special Agent Carlos Canino, the acting ATF attaché to Mexico, stated during his transcribed interview that there is an "epidemic" of illegal firearms trafficking to Mexico, and a "trafficking statute would be helpful." He added: "What we want to do is we want to stop otherwise legal guns from getting into an illegal secondary market. You know, we want to stop these guys, violent criminals, from hurting people."
Newell has been identified as a key figure in the Fast and Furious operation, and he is one of several Phoenix ATF managers who was reassigned several weeks ago when this story became the subject of national headlines.
The investigation is beginning to heat up in the wake of revelations by acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson, as reported by this column here, here, here and here.
According to the announcement from Issa's office:
This Tuesday's hearing, Operation Fast and Furious: The Other Side of the Border, will feature the testimony of U.S. law enforcement officials who witnessed a different side of the controversial operation. These officials saw the steady stream of Operation Fast and Furious guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico and were given orders from superiors not to alert Mexican authorities. Members of the Committee will also have their first opportunity to question ATF supervisors who have defended Operation Fast and Furious and the Justice Department's decisions to committee investigators.
Melson told congressional investigators behind closed doors earlier this month that the Department of Justice is trying to shift the blame "away from its political appointees," as noted in this column.
In a statement today, Issa noted:
"Examining the accounts of witnesses who did not participate in Operation Fast and Furious, but were nonetheless disturbed as they watched it unfold is critical to understanding the scope of this flawed program. This testimony is especially important in light of the Justice Department's willful efforts to withhold key evidence from investigators about what occurred, who knew and who authorized this reckless operation."
The hearing will be held in Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Below is a complete list of witnesses currently available from the committee:
Mr. Carlos Canino ATF Acting Attaché to Mexico
Mr. Darren Gil Former ATF Attaché to Mexico
Mr. Jose Wall ATF Senior Special Agent, Tijuana, Mexico
Mr. Lorren Leadmon ATF Intelligence Operations Specialist
Mr. William Newell Former ATF Special Agent in Charge, Phoenix Field Division
Mr. William McMahon ATF Deputy Assistant Director for Field Operations (West, including Phoenix and Mexico)
Continue reading on Examiner.com BULLETIN: Third Fast & Furious hearing scheduled next Tuesday - Seattle gun rights | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-se...z1ShpRCt3X
***** *** *
Issa not losing sight of anti-gun attitudes of 'Gunwalker' principals
On June 15, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held the first congressional hearing dealing specifically with the "Project Gunwalker" scandal. Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) is chairman of that committee, and along with Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), has been the "tip of the spear" in Congress's investigation into the "Gunwalker" monstrosity. During that hearing, Rep. Issa asked Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) Special Agent Peter Forcelli what I call the question of "Project Gunwalker" (the two and a quarter minute video segment is available here):
So let me just ask a question for your supposition, but I think it's a very well educated one. If you only look at the beginning and the end of the dot, isn't the only thing you've proven is that guns in America go to Mexico? Now could that be a political decision? Could that be a decision that basically, we just want to substantiate that guns in America go to Mexico--something we all knew, but would have considerable political impact, as Mexico began complaining about these, and they could say, "Well, yeah--we're even rolling up the straw purchasers." It wouldn't change the fact that Mexicans were dying at the behest of the United States, but wouldn't it ultimately meet a political goal?
This, of course, is a question to which many of us in the gun rights advocacy community think we have the answer, even if, in articulating that answer, we open ourselves to ridicule from such journalistic luminaries as Jon Stewart and Media Matters. Special Agent Forcelli, although not receptive to that explanation of the motive behind "Project Gunwalker," could not avoid acknowledging that the operation had zero utility in achieving the ostensible motive--catching and prosecuting the "higher ups" in the gun trafficking rings--the "underpants gnome" theory of gun smuggling interdiction. Nor did he offer an explanation as to why his superiors were "giddy" over the spiking violence, committed with "gunwalked" guns, that would not involve exploiting Mexican deaths (facilitated by the U.S. government) as a Rahm Emanuel-style "crisis."
Since then, we have discovered that even if more restrictive gun regulation was not the initial goal behind "Project Gunwalker," by one year ago at the latest, senior BATFE officials were looking for ways to exploit it for that purpose, as revealed in emails.
Then last night, Rep. Issa was on the NRA News show "Cam and Company," with Cam Edwards and Ginny Simone, talking about the scandal. It's very much worth watching in its entirety, but the short (1 minute, 5 seconds) segment in the sidebar video is especially interesting, in that it shows that Issa has not lost sight of the fact that those political appointees at the top of this debacle have a long, well known history of hostility to gun rights. Here's a transcription of an even shorter segment of the sidebar video:
They've been pushing back and trying to push blame or responsibility to non-political appointees, while, in fact, Lanny Breuer, Eric Holder, and the rest of the political appointees clearly were actively involved in this effort--and no surprise. The war against Second Amendment rights has been a war that Lanny Breuer has been involved in since the Clinton administration. Eric Holder certainly goes back to that same administration, so there's a secondary agenda that's pretty transparent.
Sounds as if Rep. Issa is still not buying the "underpants gnome" explanation, although he might want to reconsider the "secondary" part. Too bad so many in the mass media are buying it.
See also:
A journalist's guide to 'Project Gunwalker'-Part One
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-na...-gunwalker
A Journalist's Guide to 'Project Gunwalker-Part Two
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-na...r-part-two
A Journalist's Guide to 'Project Gunwalker'-Part Three
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-na...part-three
A Journalist's Guide to 'Project Gunwalker'-Part Four
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-na...-part-four
Official Correspondence on the Project Gunwalker Scandal
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.c...oject.html
Sharyl Attkisson's stories on CBS
http://www.cbsnews.com/sharylattkisson?t...ontentBody
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-st...z1ShqA7doB
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