Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Breaking: Grassley & Issa name Holder's "Dirty Dozen" of Gunwalker conspirators at the DOJ. Demand all communications. The big "or".


Below is the transcript of a letter sent yesterday and released late this afternoon from Senator Grassley and Congressman Darrell Issa to Eric Holder. In it, they name twelve senior DOJ officials, past and present, who were "unquestionably aware of the implementation of this reckless program" (Fast and Furious).

These men represent Eric Holder's "Dirty Dozen" of Gunwalker conspirators within the upper ranks of the DOJ.

Perhaps the most significant word to me in this letter can be found in this paragraph:

"These records should include e-mails, memoranda, briefing papers, and handwritten notes. Additionally, any records related to communications referring to a large firearms trafficking case within the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) or in Phoenix should be included in any production."


That's a big "or". It means that the records they seek are not simply limited to Phoenix but to any "large firearms trafficking case within (ATF)."

Houston and Tampa, here we come!

Mike Vanderboegh
5:50 CDT

July 11, 2011

The Honorable Eric Holder
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avennue, NW
Washington DC 20530

Dear Attorney General Holder:

As our investigation in Operation Fast and Furious has progressed, we have learned that senior officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ), including Senate-confirmed political appointees, were unquestionably aware of the implementation of this reckless program. Therefore it is necessary to review communications between and among these senior officials. As such, please provide all records relating to communications between and among the following individuals regarding Operation Fast and Furious:

1. David Ogden, Former Deputy Attorney General;

2. Gary Grindler, Officer of the Attorney General and former Acting Deputy Attorney General;

3. James Cole, Deputy Attorney General;

4. Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney General;

5. Kenneth Blanco, Deputy Assistant Attorney General;

6. Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General;

7. John Keeney, Deputy Assistant Attorney General;

8. Matt Axelrod, Associate Deputy Attorney General;

9. Ed Siskel, Former Associate Deputy Attorney General;

10. Brad Smith, Office of the Deputy Attorney General;

11. Kevin Carwhile, Section Chief, Capitol Case Unit; and

12. Joseph Cooley, Criminal Fraud Section.

These records should include e-mails, memoranda, briefing papers, and handwritten notes. Additionally, any records related to communications referring to a large firearms trafficking case within the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) or in Phoenix should be included in any production.

Please provide this information no later than July 18, 2011, at noon. If you have any questions regarding this request, please contact Tristan Leavitt in Ranking Member Grassley's office at (202) 224-5225 or Henry Kerner of Chairman Issa's Committee staff at (202) 225-5074. I look forward to receiving your response.

Sincerely,

Darrell Issa, Chairman, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Charles Grassley, Ranking Member, Senate Committee on the Judiciary

cc: The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy, Chairman, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary


LATER: David Codrea's take.

And David has kindly posted the PDF on Scribd here.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

So full of win!!!!

Dedicated_Dad said...

I have a few BIG concerns!

(1) We don't know what the other, similar "programs" may have been called -- but AFAIK "F&F" was Phoenix!

There were OTHER "operations" in Houston and Tampa -- right? THEY'RE NOT MENTIONED IN HERE!!

(2) I didn't see the Tampa-chick's name on the list -- she who supposedly had the shredders running overtime according to previous posts??!!

(3) Seems to me, they should be demanding **ALL** communications related to **ANY** "operation" that involved proceeding with questionable sales to persons suspected of smuggling weapons over ANY border!

If I were in charge of ATF it would be SIMPLE to comply 100% with the letter of this "letter" -- and still hide a vast majority of the things they'd want hidden!!

We need to lean on Issa & Grassley to make damn sure the Criminals @ ATF aren't able to bury the rest of their crimes!!

WV="tacties" -- SOOoooo many possible, relevant iterations of this I don't even know where to start!!

Col Bat Guano said...

Hey!

The Dirty Dozen were good guys!! Well, maybe except for Maggot.

Mickey Collins said...

Is Jason Weinstein related to famously biased Judge Jack Weinstein?

Anonymous said...

What did Obama, Holder, David Ogden, Former Deputy Attorney General; Gary Grindler, Officer of the Attorney General and former Acting Deputy Attorney General; James Cole, Deputy Attorney General; Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney General;. Kenneth Blanco, Deputy Assistant Attorney General; Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General;John Keeney, Deputy Assistant Attorney General; Matt Axelrod, Associate Deputy Attorney General;Ed Siskel, Former Associate Deputy Attorney General; Brad Smith, Office of the Deputy Attorney General; Kevin Carwhile, Section Chief, Capitol Case Unit; and. Joseph Cooley, Criminal Fraud Section (BASTARDS ALL) know and when did they know it?

Anonymous said...

It's going to require a big broom to sweep out this rat's nest.

Perhaps an electoral sweep in the 2012 elections would set things right.

For those readers who steadfastly refuse to vote, imagine how much worse the situation would be if Issa's party had not won a majority in the US House.

MALTHUS

Anonymous said...

As far as I can see the F&F, Gun walker programs are just cover manufactured by DOJ higher ups to obscure what is essentially a business deal. Do citizens really think that bribes and coercion of gov't officials ONLY happens in Mexico....PLEASE!

Who got what to let these programs go so far astray?

btw, my comments are not meant to denigrate Atf Field Agents.