"This is not a love-making process." One Prequel Hearing Down. Phase One of the Main Event Coming Up.

Elijah Cummings. He's concerned about the death Border patrol agent "Brian Kelly," whoever the hell he is.

"This is not a love-making process." -- Prof. Charles Tiefer, testifying to Darrell Issa's committee on the subject: "Obstruction of Justice: Does the Justice Department Have to Respond to a Lawfully Issued and Valid Congressional Subpoena?"

Gary Martin of the Houston Chronicle's Washington Bureau reports "Lawmakers press feds for documents on cartel gun sales."

He also reports that the pressure is becoming bi-partisan.

House and Senate lawmakers are threatening to block presidential nominees and subpoena Justice Department officials this week to force the release of documents on a controversial gun trafficking program that allowed American shipments of weapons to Mexican cartels.

Congressional investigators claim U.S. officials allowed American gun stores to sell weapons in bulk to Mexican buyers in order to track the shipments and identify the ringleaders, known as "Operation Fast and Furious" under "Project Gunrunner."

Weapons from those sales were found at the scene of two separate attacks on U.S. agents, and Congress wants to know if they were used specifically in the deaths of Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent Jaime Zapata or Customs and Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, claims the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is conducting a cover-up in its refusal to hand over documents and witnesses to congressional investigators.

Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he will block President Barack Obama's nominees from confirmation until he gets the documents he needs for his panel's investigation.

In the House, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., will hold the first of several hearings today into the failure of the Justice Department and the ATF to cooperate with the congressional probes. Issa is threatening to issue subpoenas to retrieve documents and to gain access to witnesses.
Bipartisan support

The efforts by Grassley and Issa have won bipartisan support from Texas lawmakers frustrated with the lack of information about the death of Zapata coming from the administration. n(Emphasis supplied, MBV.)

"The Justice Department engaged in an unauthorized activity which actually ended up putting guns in the hands of dangerous drug cartels in Mexico," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. "Unfortunately, they seemed to be engaged now in a cover-up and refuse to be forthcoming with regards to Senator Grassley's reasonable request for documents and information."

Zapata, a Brownsville native, was working in Laredo as an ICE agent before he was transferred to Mexico to serve as a U.S. government consultant to the Mexican military's battle against the cartels.

He was killed Feb. 15, and agent Victor Avila was wounded, when Los Zetas cartel members shot the agents in their SUV during an attempted car jacking along the highway between Mexico City and San Luis Potosi.

The Zapata family wants more information about the death of their son, said Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, who supports Grassley's attempt to obtain documents. (Emphasis supplied, MBV.)

FOX's William LaJeunesse opened his story on the Monday hearing this way:

Since Watergate, Congress has held just 12 senior U.S. government officials in contempt for failure to produce subpoenaed documents. On Monday, that process begins again.

A hearing in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is laying the groundwork to compel U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to turn over documents related to "Operation Fast and Furious," a secret Obama administration program that put thousands of guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

Professor Tiefer's quote headlining this post was my favorite. Highlights, lowlights and tidbits:

Highlight: There is no doubt from the testimony that Issa has the right to the documents previously requested from DOJ. The weakness of the cross-examination from the Dems demonstrated that this is not about anything other than trying to elicit weak excuses for delay.

Lowlight: Ranking Member, Democrat Elijah Cummings, opened the hearing with a face that looked like he was having a proctological exam. When he got the chance to speak he mis-called Brian Terry's name twice, referring to him as "Brian Kelly." nice to know that if you die in the service of your country, any Congressman can still get your name wrong even when your death is the central fact of the case being discussed.

Tidbit: DOJ released another 80 pages of documents on Friday to Issa's committee. A whole 80 pages. Remember, Issa's already been given THOUSANDS of pages of documents by the whistleblowers. I wonder if these will be in the public domain just like the previous documents provided.

Was happy to see Larry Pratt in the audience right behind the witness table. I also noted that he chatted with Congressman Issa afterward.

Anyway, the foundation was laid upon which all the other hearings will be held. The ATF, the DOJ and the Obama White House cannot be happy.