Thursday, June 23, 2011

Holder's "Oh Shit" Gunwalker Moment: Melson "reportedly eager to testify to Congress about the extent of his and other officials' involvement."



Richard A. Serrano, Washington Bureau, of the LA Times writes: Federal ATF chief said to resist pressure to step down.

The acting director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is strongly resisting pressure to step down because of growing controversy over the agency's surveillance program that allowed U.S. guns to flow unchecked into Mexico, according to several federal sources in Washington.

Kenneth E. Melson, who has run the bureau for two years, is reportedly eager to testify to Congress about the extent of his and other officials' involvement in the operation, code-named Fast and Furious.

Melson does not want to be "the fall guy" for the program, under which ATF agents allowed straw purchasers to acquire more than 1,700 AK-47s and other high-powered rifles from Arizona gun dealers, the sources said. The idea was to track the guns to drug cartel leaders. But that goal proved elusive, and the guns turned up at shootings in Mexico, as well as at the slaying in Arizona of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in December.

"He is saying he won't go," said one source close to the situation, who asked for anonymity because high-level discussions with Melson remained fluid. "He has told them, 'I'm not going to be the fall guy on this.' "

Added a second source, who also requested anonymity: "He's resisting. He does not want to go."

Melson has an open invitation to appear on Capitol Hill. So far, he has not been given Justice Department approval to appear before Congress.

This week, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said he hoped that Melson would give a full accounting of how the gun operation was conceived and carried out. He also said Melson should resign, and that other senior leaders at ATF and the Justice Department should be held accountable as well.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also is awaiting answers from Melson, and cautioned this week that even if the acting director stepped down, it "would be, by no means, the end of our inquiry."

The Justice Department said it was cooperating with congressional leaders.

"We've been working with the [Issa] committee on interviews, including Melson, and will continue to do that," said Tracy Schmaler, a Justice Department spokesperson.

At ATF headquarters in Washington, officials said Melson "continues to be focused" on leading the agency. His chief spokesman, Scott Thomasson, added, "We are not going to comment on any speculations" about Melson's status as head of the agency.

At a House hearing last week, testimony from ATF agents portrayed Melson as closely involved in overseeing the venture. At one point, according to documents released by Congress, he asked for and received log-in information and a link to an Internet feed in order to watch some of the illegal straw purchases.

16 comments:

Scott J said...

Oh my! Pass the popcorn!

J. Travis said...

Sounds to me like he'll be visiting Ft Marcy Park, soon.....

Anonymous said...

Indeed. Time for a taco or two.

da woim toins...

This may be better than expected...

Game on!

Simon Jester said...

What worries me, is that if the powers that be have allowed things to go this far, they must have something in mind. Something like moving ATF's areas of responsibility to somewhere worse, like DHS.

Anonymous said...

Melson had better be careful or he'll wind up the "victim" of a self inflicted gunshot wound to the back of his head.

Mr Jones said...

A story leaks that Melson is going to resign. Melson contradicts that story and declares he won't resign. Then another horseshit story claiming that Issa knew about everything last year when Holder didn't pops up, and is debunked at the speed of light. It is later revealed that Melson is eager to testify. The DOJ declares it is just as eager "to get to the bottom of this" as Congress. Yet Melson doesn't have "permission" from the DOJ to testify.
If F&F were Melson's - or a subordinate of Melson's - idea and Bounel didn't know about it, then Bounel could just fire Melson. Now, if Holder and HJ Bounel knew nothing then why not simply fire Melson if he won't "resign"?
A casual observer reaching the conclusion that Holder and Bounel know more than they're letting on wouldn't seem unreasonable - would it?

Ken Prescott said...

Time for the Obama Administration Theme Song:

"The wheels on the bus go round and (thump-thump) round . . . "

Ken Melson said...

I've been invited to go fishing with two fine Italian-American gentlemen this weekend. Anyone know anything about Al Nieri or Fredo Corleone?

Odysseus said...

It will be interesting to see if the media can keep resisting the feeding frenzy urge for ratings to prop up their agenda.

Anonymous said...

You need a Twitter button so I can retweet this and pass it on to all of my followers. I found you through NiceDeb's blog :)

Anonymous said...

"I've been invited to go fishing with two fine Italian-American gentlemen this weekend. Anyone know anything about Al Nieri or Fredo Corleone?"

Dear Ken,

Al and Fred are President and vice-President, repectively, of the Dominic Pasquelli Cement Overshoe Company.

It's rumored they are looking to expand their boat anchor division.

There are also rumors they are casting around for a new Director of Operations. It may be they have you in mind, but don't...ahem, hold your breath.

Best regards,
MALTHUS

Georg Felis said...

"I'm not going down easy" sure sounds like code words for "I knew this was going to happen when I was ordered to do this, so I've been keeping a file, and I'm going to burn them so bad..."

Trialdog said...

Careful fellas. This is the Obama Administration. You think they've just been sitting around while witholding documents? Wrong. They've been organizing a complete coverup and defense to anything thats been thrown at them. And they've been holding all their cards. Shredding some, generating others. This is what they are professionals at. And their media is on their side. This is certainly an evil scandal, but don't blink 'cause it may just go "poof" and disappear quicker than you expect.

Anonymous said...

Heads Up:

Federal ATF chief said to resist pressure to step down { LA Times}

Kenneth E. Melson, who has run the bureau for two years, is reportedly eager to testify to Congress.

"He is saying he won't go," said one source close to the situation, who asked for anonymity because high-level discussions with Melson remained fluid. "He has told them, 'I'm not going to be the fall guy on this.' "

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-atf-guns-20110624,0,7283758.story

Anonymous said...

"Melson has an open invitation to appear on Capitol Hill. So far, he has not been given Justice Department approval to appear before Congress."

Pardon my ignorance, but doesn't Congress have the power to subpoena people and to compel them to testify? He could even be given immunity (so as to be compelled to testify against his own interests). Why does the (corrupt) DoJ have to approve?

Chaz said...

This is why we need a special investigator on this case.

Oh... and get this guy into witsec... ASAP.