Monday, October 10, 2011

Holder Searches For F&F Answers

This past Friday, Attorney General Eric Holder found himself on the hot seat before the House Oversight Committee questioning him about his involvement in the deadly Operation Fast and Furious. Finding no answers that would exonerate him in law or reality, Holder searched for exoneration wherever he could find it. His answers did little to alter his image as less an attorney than a Chicago politician.

Holder turned first to his speech and debate training, and instead of answering a direct question, attempted to use the tu quoque (thou also) argument. Pardon the metaphor, but that gun backfired. Hoping to deflect the spotlight from himself to the Bush administration, Holder brought out an old Bush-era operation which he claimed was just like Fast and Furious. The problem is that the operation (called Wide Receiver) was nothing like Fast and Furious.

Holder wanted to stymie the Committee by stunning them with an "everybody does it" non-responsive answer. According to Holder, Wide Receiver also "walked guns" to the Mexican cartels. Holder's "gotcha" moment quickly turned into a complete rout. The media attention he wanted to draw to the Bush administration and off his own won't happen because he got the facts wrong. In the alternative, he may have been given the wrong facts, or was attempting to spin the true facts, but the Committee members were prepared in advance for just such an attempt.

Wide Receiver was indeed an early attempt to track cartel members and the weapons they purchased in the United States. The operation didn't work, largely because just like Fast and Furious, the people who came up with the bright idea relied on high-tech and unproven methods to trace the purchases, and that technology was simply not available. Entirely unlike Fast and Furious, Wide Receiver was strictly a local ATF operation which never really got off the ground, and never even got close to being presented to the higher echelons of law enforcement or the Justice Department. Few weapons went to cartel members, nobody got killed, and the guns are largely accounted for.

So far, the Washington Post is the only major newspaper to accept Holder's claim of equivalence and "plenty of blame to go around" as an excuse for his own failed policy. Since the Post supports the Obama/Holder gun control agenda, it blindly missed the point that Wide Receiver was designed to prevent widespread cartel purchases of weapons while Fast and Furious was designed to get guns into the cartels' hands so that more rigid gun-control laws could be passed in the United States.

Holder should have known he set a trap for himself. Also on the Committee's agenda that day were the e-mails that strongly indicate that Holder's knowledge of Fast and Furious was a long way from incidental. Within those e-mails was a specific mention of Wide Receiver, and how it could be used to enhance Fast and Furious. The e-mail was sent to Holder's chief deputy AG Jason Weinstein. If Holder didn't know, he should have known.

Wide Receiver involved a botched local ATF operation. Fast and Furious involved the FBI, DEA, ATF, and possibly even Homeland Security. He might be excused for not knowing about a hare-brained local ATF scheme, but not knowing about Gunwalker and Fast and Furious, involving so many agencies directly or indirectly under his control, is either disingenuous or grossly incompetent. One also has the right to expect that a major operation fully-discussed with his chief deputy would reach the Attorney General himself before being given the green light.

If Holder didn't know of it, and/or didn't authorize or monitor it, then at best his department is out of control. Most recent evidence shows that Holder was personally informed of the death of Border Agent Brian Terry, who was murdered with a Fast and Furious gun. So even if Holder didn't know about the operation at an earlier date (which is highly doubtful), Terry's murder and its connection were known to Holder much earlier than he claimed he first heard about Fast and Furious. If he isn't lying, then his Alzheimer's has advanced too far for him to continue in office.

After stuttering and stammering his way around this self-created mess, Holder then fell back on his favorite dodge: "This matter is currently under investigation, and I therefore refer you to the office of the Inspector General." And why not? The Inspector General, Cynthia A. Schnedar, is an old crony of Holder's. While both were in lesser positions in the Justice Department, they worked together on somewhere between fifteen and twenty major cases. They have both filed briefs and written articles advocating strict gun control. That creates a clear conflict of interest when Holder refers matters to his buddy, the Inspector General.

What's a boy to do? Holder couldn't allow himself to be so easily and so clearly publicy humiliated. So right after the hearing, he went into high spin cycle. With the assistance of the compliant mainstream media, Holder put on his best righteous indignation mask and declared the hearing a political ambush. He puffed himself up to declare that he had to defend his honor. Yeah, right.

Knowing that he couldn't claim to be a strong law enforcement kind of guy (see: New Black Panthers), and not daring to attack the law enforcement officers who are most at risk in this dangerous venture, he instead attempted to deflect the issue away from himself. "I could not sit idly by as a Majority Member of the House Committee (Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Arizona) suggests, as happened this week, that law enforcement and government employees who dedicate their lives to protecting our citizens be considered 'accessories to murder.'" Gosar, of course, said nothing of the kind, and if Holder disagreed with what Gosar did say, a good government servant and top lawyer would have addressed that in his answers at the hearing.

And then, almost unbelievably, Holder concluded his remarks to the MSM by proving the point conservatives and Second Amendment supporters have been arguing all along: "Current [gun] laws are insufficient to stop weapons trafficking." If this all adds up correctly, the suspicions of Holder's opponents will be confirmed. For all its danger, and its deadly results, Holder apparently approved of Fast and Furious in order to undo the effects of two major decisions of the United States Supreme Court upholding the individual right of Americans to keep and bear arms.

If this can all be proven conclusively, Holder should resign, or face impeachment and removal. He should also prepare to defend himself against multiple criminal charges, including lying to Congress. Scooter Libby went to prison for far less.

31 comments:

LL said...

Holder needs to step down. His credibility (shaky before this latest round of lies) is completely blown. If he had any integrity at all he'd tell the public that he acted at the direction of the President, but I don't expect that to happen.

Tennessee Jed said...

superb article and wonderful picture of this ass picking his nose and showing off his bald spot. He deserves the John Mitchel treatment.

BevfromNYC said...

I just realized that Holder has his finger up his nose...tee,hee.

Holder could save us all a lot of trouble and resign. He must have some need "to spend more time with his family." To his great credit, he hasn't played a race card yet. But it's in his deck and I predict when he has no other choice like possible impeachment hearings, he'll play it...

AndrewPrice said...

Who is this Eric Holder you keep talking about? ;)

Tehachapi Tom said...

Hawk
What does any of the bo regime have to do to be prosecuted for any thing.
I suspect that if he himself had pulled the trigger that killed the border agent he would still be above blame and or prosecution.
This whole administration is a blight on the history of America.
Lord Acton said it right for this bunch, "Power tends to corrupt, And absolute power corrupts absolutely."
The difference with the bo administration is all of them were corrupt before they got in place.
Terrible terrible terrible

Unknown said...

LL: In a way, this might work for conservatives and the country. It is becoming so obvious that Holder knew and approved of these multiple scandals that Obama keeping him in place will make it harder and harder for him to deny that he was part of it as well.

Unknown said...

Tennessee: I had so many photos to choose from, but that one summed it all up.

Unknown said...

Bev: According to the left, the only reason we want to defeat Obama is that he's black. When the handwriting on the wall about Holder finally becomes apparent even to the President, there's no reason to believe the tactic will be any different.

Unknown said...

Andrew: He's an actor. He's not really a lawyer, but he plays one on TV.

Unknown said...

Tehachapi Tom: The answer to your question is they have to go back home to Chicago in January of 2013. Right now, I'm thinking 50-50 odds that Holder will ultimately fall on his sword to protect his lord and master. But he'll also be claiming that he was driven out of office by special interests, and he only resigned because he wanted to protect the President.

StanH said...

Word is, there’s a CEO position waiting for Eric at Fannie Mae, at a cool $20million a year, he’ll follow in the footsteps of Harold Rains and Jamie Gorelick. This is to assuage his hurt feelings and the feel of cold steel as he slumps over his sword…sorta.

Nothing will happen to Holder, he a devout member of the ruling class, where failure is rewarded, over our dead bodies, in this case sadly real.

Good read!

Unknown said...

Stan: Holder belongs at Fannie Mae. He can make enough (steal enough?) to pay his legal fees when he's put on trial on corruption and perjury charges in 2013.

patti said...

holder = just another tool in barry's box.

the thing is, did he know it? i'm pretty sure he thought barry had his back, no matter what he did in the name of this administration. me thinks he gonna take a fall he never saw comin'.

Unknown said...

Patti: It's quite conceivable that Obama didn't know any of the important details of Fast and Furious before the scandal broke. Holder got marching orders to do something to damage the Supreme Court decisions on guns, but Obama made the mistake of trusting Holder not to do something that would blow up in their faces. Now, Obama will look either complicit or incompetent. Either way, Holder is right in the middle of it.

T-Rav said...

If you haven't read Issa's letter to Holder (replying to his extremely cavalier statement to the committee last week), you should. It is extremely entertaining.

And yes, Holder needs to resign/face impeachment. But of course he will do neither.

Unknown said...

T-Rav: I haven't read the letter, but I saw Issa earlier today covering the main points. Do you have a link?

If Holder flashes the two-handed peace sign and says "I'm no crook," I'll be sure that he won't resign without being forced out.

T-Rav said...

Indeed I do, LawHawk.

http://oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1474&Itemid=29

There are a lot of good snippets in there, but I especially like this one: "Incredibly...you now claim that you were unaware of Fast and Furious because your staff failed to inform you of information contained in memos that were specifically addressed to you. At best, this indicates negligence and incompetence in your duties as Attorney General. At worst, it places your credibility into serious doubt." In other words, are you lying or incompetent, Mr. Attorney General? (Although, I guess the answer to that could be "yes.")

Unknown said...

T-Rav: Thanks. I recommend that everybody take a look at it. Here's the clickable link: Issa to Holder.

At least I have company in high places who thinks that the only conclusion is that Holder is a liar, an incompetent, or both.

T-Rav said...

Lawhawk, I aim to please!

By the way, just for the heck of it, here's another link involving Obama's administration and further adventures in legal trickery and hypocrisy, emphasis on hypocrisy:

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/10/10/revealed-white-house-lawyers-who-drafted-secret-awlaki-kill-memo-were-critics-of-bushs-war-powers/

Unknown said...

T-Rav: Excellent. Here's the clickable link: It's OK When We Do It.

tryanmax said...

Good stuff. This is arguable the biggest story of the moment and, surprise surprise, all of the left-wing or even "centrist" sites I frequent are either burring it or not talking about it at all. When the truth is too ugly, just bury it.

This HuffPo article describes Issa as "outspoken" and has him "attacking" Holder. But the comments are where it's at. They are so amazingly, head-scratching-ly non sequitur that one wonders whether their authors even read the article.

tryanmax said...

I meant to say "arguably."

Writer X said...

And the Scooter Libby investigation was in the papers and on television 24/7.

Holder is pond scum. It'll be fun watching his ship sink.

Unknown said...

tryanmax: It's an old political trick. If you can't logically and factually attack a man's position, attack his life, his motives, and his beliefs. That's the fundamental nature of ad hominem politics.

I'm quite frankly astounded at how little coverage the Obama-friendly mainstream media have given Fast & Furious and Holder's denials of any involvement. Even if they want to root for the home team, Fast & Furious itself is newsworthy. The only reason they're mentioning it at all is that they just can't hide it anymore.

Unknown said...

tryanmax: We figured that out. Save the adverb! LOL

Unknown said...

WriterX: And Libby wasn't even convicted of lying about anything of significance. He misspoke about the date he found out about the disclosure of a name (Valerie Plame) that it turned out wasn't protected by the National Security Act anyway. Holder is allegedly lying about his involvement in a failed operation which has resulted in the proliferation of armed cartel members and the deaths of American citizens.

T-Rav said...

As an update, Issa may be formally subpoenaing Holder sometime today.

rlaWTX said...

un-be-liev-able!!!!

Unknown said...

SEMI-RELATED MATTER: Eric Holder just announced the foiling of a major terrorist plot to blow up the Israeli and Saudi embassies and murder the Saudi ambassador. Good for law enforcement. But like the thirteenth strike of the clock, everything Holder has done is called into questions.

First, the Department of Homeland Security is the agency with primary responsibility for protecting Americans and embassies from terrorists attacks. Why is Holder making the announcement instead of Janet Napolitano or President Obama? DHS is a cabinet-level agency, with distinct responsibility. The only person not at the press conference is Janet Napolitano (other than the President himself).

Second: The information and investigation were all completed around the end of September. So why the press conference today? There may be reasonable explanations, but I will never be able to believe anything that Holder or his minions say. Sure--there will be a trial sometime, somewhere, but for now I can think of at least three other luminaries who should have been making this announcement.

Third, Iran's Q'ud Division of the Iranian Republican Army are deeply-involved in the plot. Where was Hillary Clinton during the press conference?

If the Attorney General were a trustworthy, hard-working, competent chief law enforcement officer, I might not be asking these questions. But just as Rep. Darryl Issa and Sen. Chuck Grassley are preparing to issue subpoenas for Holder's records and further testimony, there's Holder--protecting us from foreign invaders. I find it highly suspicious, but I'll reserve my judgment for a future time.

Unknown said...

T-Rav: See my comment immediately above.

Unknown said...

rlaWTX: Unfortunately, it's completely believable. I put nothing past Holder and his political Justice Department.

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