Obama’s DOJ Not So Fast With the Truth, Furious About New Revelations in Gun-Running Scandal

October 5, 2011

New E-mails Show AG Eric Holder Was Well Aware of DOJ Program Running Guns to Mexican Drug Cartels

Newly released e-mails document that Attorney General Eric Holder knew about the Department of Justice’s “Fast and Furious” program distributing guns to Mexican drug cartels, contradicting his testimony to Congress that he had no such knowledge.
This follows earlier revelations that taxpayer funds were used to purchase the over 2,000 guns DOJ distributed to Mexican drug cartels, undermining earlier claims that they simply “lost track of weapons.”
Meanwhile, the White House is rushing to cover up the story, literally yelling and screaming at journalists for reporting on an operation that resulted in the death of a U.S. border patrol agent.

BACKGROUND

Newly released e-mails document that Attorney General Eric Holder knew about the Department of Justice’s “Fast and Furious” program distributing guns to Mexican drug cartels, contradicting his testimony to Congress that he had no such knowledge:

HOLDER SAID IN MAY 2011 THAT HE JUST RECENTLY HEARD ABOUT “FAST AND FURIOUS”: “On May 3, 2011, Holder told a Judiciary Committee hearing, ‘I’m not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.’ ” (Sharyl Attkisson, “ATF Fast and Furious: New Documents Show Attorney General Eric Holder Was Briefed in July 2010,” CBS News, 10/3/2011)

HOWEVER, NEWLY RELEASED DOCUMENTS DIRECTLY CONTRADICT HIS TESTIMONY, REVEAL HE KNEW ABOUT FAST AND FURIOUS AS FAR BACK AS JULY 2010: “New documents obtained by CBS News show Attorney General Eric Holder was sent briefings on the controversial Fast and Furious operation as far back as July 2010. That directly contradicts his statement to Congress.” (Sharyl Attkisson, “ATF Fast and Furious: New Documents Show Attorney General Eric Holder Was Briefed in July 2010,” CBS News, 10/3/2011)

PREMISE OF “FAST AND FURIOUS” WAS TO LET “THOUSANDS OF WEAPONS TO CROSS THE BORDER AND FALL INTO THE HANDS OF MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS”: “In Fast and Furious, ATF agents allegedly allowed thousands of weapons to cross the border and fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

“It’s called letting guns ‘walk,’ and it remained secret to the public until Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered last December. Two guns from Fast and Furious were found at the scene, and ATF agent John Dodson blew the whistle on the operation.” (Sharyl Attkisson, “ATF Fast and Furious: New Documents Show Attorney General Eric Holder Was Briefed in July 2010,” CBS News, 10/3/2011)

BUT DOJ OFFICIALS WERE WELL AWARE THAT GUNS WERE BEING DISTRIBUTED TO GUN CARTELS: “Ever since, the Justice Department has publicly tried to distance itself. But the new documents leave no doubt that high level Justice officials knew guns were being ‘walked.’

“Two Justice Department officials mulled it over in an email exchange Oct. 18, 2010. ‘It’s a tricky case given the number of guns that have walked but is a significant set of prosecutions,’ says Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division. Deputy Chief of the National Gang Unit James Trusty replies ‘I’m not sure how much grief we get for ‘guns walking.’ It may be more like, ‘Finally they’re going after people who sent guns down there.’” (Sharyl Attkisson, “ATF Fast and Furious: New Documents Show Attorney General Eric Holder Was Briefed in July 2010,” CBS News, 10/3/2011)

This follows earlier revelations that taxpayer funds were used to purchase the over 2,000 guns DOJ distributed to Mexican drug cartels, undermining earlier claims that they simply “lost track of weapons”:

OBAMA ADMIN USED TAXPAYER FUNDS TO PURCHASE 2,000 GUNS IT THEN SOLD TO THE SINALOA CARTEL: “Not only did U.S. officials approve, allow and assist in the sale of more than 2,000 guns to the Sinaloa cartel — the federal government used taxpayer money to buy semi-automatic weapons, sold them to criminals and then watched as the guns disappeared.” (William La Jeunesse, “U.S. Government Used Taxpayer Funds to Buy, Sell Weapons During ‘Fast and Furious,’ Documents Show,” Fox News, 9/26/2011)

DISCLOSURE “COULD UNDERMINE” DOJ’S PREVIOUS DEFENSE THAT THEY SIMPLY “LOST TRACK” OF WEAPONS: “This disclosure, revealed in documents obtained by Fox News, could undermine the Department of Justice’s previous defense that Operation Fast and Furious was a ‘botched’ operation where agents simply ‘lost track’ of weapons as they were transferred from one illegal buyer to another.” (William Lajeunesse, “U.S. Government Used Taxpayer Funds to Buy, Sell Weapons During ‘Fast and Furious,’ Documents Show,” Fox News, 9/26/2011)

Meanwhile, the White House is rushing to cover up the story, literally yelling and screaming at journalists for reporting on an operation that resulted in the death of a U.S. border patrol agent:

“CBS NEWS REPORTER SAYS WHITE HOUSE SCREAMED, SWORE AT HER OVER FAST AND FURIOUS”: “Ingraham: ‘So they were literally screaming at you?’

“Attkisson: ‘Yes. Well the DOJ woman was just yelling at me. The guy from the White House on Friday night literally screamed at me and cussed at me. [Laura: Who was the person? Who was the person at Justice screaming?] Eric Schultz. Oh, the person screaming was [DOJ spokeswoman] Tracy Schmaler, she was yelling not screaming. And the person who screamed at me was Eric Schultz at the White House.’” (Mark Hemingway, “CBS News Reporter Says White House Screamed, Swore at Her Over Fast and Furious,” The Weekly Standard, 10/4/2011)

WHITE HOUSE THINKS “A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION OF THE SCANDAL IS UNWARRANTED”: “Finally, Attkisson notes that the White House is claiming that a thorough investigation of the scandal is unwarranted:

“‘[The White House and Justice Department] will tell you that I’m the only reporter–as they told me–that is not reasonable. They say the Washington Post is reasonable, the LA Times is reasonable, the New York Times is reasonable, I’m the only one who thinks this is a story, and they think I’m unfair and biased by pursuing it.’” (Mark Hemingway, “CBS News Reporter Says White House Screamed, Swore at Her Over Fast and Furious,” The Weekly Standard, 10/4/2011)