The lamestream media told you:
“WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers told Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday to fire some Justice Department subordinates over the flawed arms-trafficking investigation called Operation Fast and Furious,” according to Pete Yost, writing for the Associated Press, about Holder’s testimony to Congress in early December. [Democrats, by implication and omission, see no problem here and have asked for no action.)
“Why haven’t you terminated the people involved?” asked Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that is investigating the arms-tracking operation.
“The operation’s goal was to follow the gun supply chain from small-time gun buyers at a number of Phoenix-area gun shops and make cases against major weapons traffickers,” AP writer Yost claims.
The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:
It is widely recognized that the BATFE claims in Fast and Furious do not match the facts. There was a concerted effort NOT “to follow the gun supply chain” which BATFE helped smuggle out of the country.
The conclusion, if facts matter, is that the smuggling operation increased the number of U.S.-supplied firearms to drug cartels, which were then found at crime scenes domestically and abroad. This manufactured increase was then used publicly to advance an imaginary threat, to justify increased government power, controls, and infringing on the Second Amendment.
The congressional committee, after an initial flurry of remarks and verbal jousting, stunningly refused to place Holder under oath, since he more than once said, “I’m here to tell the truth,” instead of taking an oath. That made my mouth hang open. This helps insulate him from a potential charge of felony perjury before Congress. He failed to testify under oath. The “news” media failed to report this tiny insignificant fact.
What the “news” also failed to report was only the most significant parts of the hearings. Holder, who repeatedly claims he is not stonewalling, performed a “document dump” on Congress, delivering more than 5,000 documents, most of them emails, and not a single one came from or was sent by Mr. Holder, the main unindicted conspirator in the smuggling scheme and the main target of the investigation. Actually no one has been indicted, thanks to Holder’s stonewalling.
That became obvious during questioning by Ben Quayle, who happens to be my representative. After noting that many in Congress seek Holder’s resignation, Quayle asked, “Will you resign?” Holder said, “No.” Naming and asking if the underlings just below him would resign, Holder replied “No.” Naming the underlings under them with the same question, Holder said, “No,” the three shortest answers he gave in the whole charade. Time ran out for Mr. Quayle, so the Chair of the committee asked the obvious last question, will anyone be forced out, and Holder continued with his terse replies, saying, “No.” In the AG’s opinion, as delivered to Congress, no one should be held accountable for these gross violations of law and multiple murders. This is hard news, so was unreported for reasons that remain unclear.
Nearly a year after it began, Holder has refused to identify the person who authorized the operation, a very simple task, though it might implicate him or his boss, the current occupant of the White House.
A democrat at the hearing said that “2,000 automatic rifles” had walked. The AG said, “Yes, that’s correct.” No automatic weapons were involved, since these were retail store purchases. Hey, it’s such a small point, what do you expect. A big thank you to Rep. Ted Poe of Texas for asking some really hard-as-nails questions. The AG though ducked every one.
Daryl Issa threatened the AG with Contempt of Congress for failure to turn over documents. Contempt of Congress! This extremely serious development was also not widely reported, though Mr. Sensenbrenner’s vague allusion to an impeachment of someone (unnamed) did make the “news.” The AG’s omitted communiques in the document dump was perhaps dwarfed by the Justice Department’s flat refusal to release anything after Feb. 2, 2011, probably the most significant material. A Feb. 4 email which was a blatant lie to Congress, now admitted, has been “withdrawn.”
When Holder had previously said his 4-state long-gun registration scheme is a “reasonable requirement,” none of the officials challenged him — on the fact that it’s strictly illegal, he is specifically denied authority to do it by law, and in fact such action has been specifically outlawed by Congress. Maybe they didn’t know. And he didn’t know.
Holder and his department’s preposterous position that there is no statute against gun smuggling is a naked power grab without support. Not one official challenged that statement. Making each purchase is a separate federal felony, that’s 2,000 right there; lying about the nature of the purchase is a federal felony; delivering the guns to the real buyer is a federal felony; smuggling the guns across state lines is a federal felony; delivering the guns to foreign nationals without an export license is a federal felony; using undeclared income to make the purchases is a federal felony; handling illegal obtained cash is a federal felony; conspiring to do any of this with anyone is a federal felony.
Holder has acknowledged that the mess is a fiasco, inexcusable and a prohibited policy, and of course, people have been murdered as a result. In his opinion, no one pays for it. Prediction: That shall not stand.
Freelance writer Alan Korwin is a founder and past president of the Arizona Book Publishing Association. With his wife Cheryl he operates Bloomfield Press, the largest producer and distributor of gun-law books in the country. Here writing as “The Uninvited Ombudsman,” Alan covers the day’s stories as they ought to read. Read more.