Dave Workman: "Issa calls Fast & Furious ‘dumb, useless and lethal’"

Issa on Napolitano: “She seems to know everything and is running everything until something goes wrong.”

CBS: "ATF 'Fast and Furious' secret audio recordings reveal concerns about whistleblower." "FBI's got their own problems, trust me."

Eric Holder probably wishes there was an 18 minute gap in these tapes.

In a series of secretly recorded audio tapes believe to have been recorded last March and obtained by CBS News, an Arizona gun dealer and an ATF agent involved with ATF's "Fast and Furious" operation worried about the unraveling scandal.

The tapes were made just weeks after CBS News broke the story in February.

Secret recordings raise new questions in ATF 'Gunwalker' operation

The conversations were recorded by Andre Howard who ran the Lone Wolf Trading Company. Howard's gun dealership had been cooperating with the ATF in "Fast and Furious." At least two of his weapons were sold to a straw buyer before turning up later at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Hope MacAllister, the ATF agent heard in the conversations, was the lead case agent.

The ATF's controversial "Fast and Furious" operation allowed thousands of weapons to be smuggled into Mexico and into the hands of drug cartels. Agents involved describe it as "letting guns walk."

Among other things, Howard and MacAllister expressed concerns about ATF Special Agent John Dodson, who by that point had gone public about "Fast and Furious" in an exclusive interview with CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.

(Listen to the audio below)

They also spoke of their concerns that Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) was investigating, with Agent MacCallister saying of her superiors in Washington, DC, "they're gonna say have to say Grassley you're just gonna have to sit your a-- down."

These recordings are important because MacAllister has never spoken publicly about her involvement in the operation and its fallout and Howard's role as a gun dealer cooperating with the ATF placed him in position to see "Fast and Furious" firsthand . The audio recordings contain new revelations about the guns involved, and ATF's efforts to respond to the breaking scandal. The tapes were turned over to Congressional investigators and the Inspector General in connection with their probe into "Fast and Furious."

The excerpts below refer to whistleblower ATF special agent John Dodson, and a March 9 letter that Rep. Lamar Smith and 13 other House Judiciary Committee members sent to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding answers regarding "Fast and Furious."

(Read text of the audio excerpts below.)

The gun dealer is Andre Howard, the agent is ATF Agent Hope MacAllister.

Dealer: He's (Dodson) more toxic than you realize. I can tell you casue I asked him. How much of this f-----g file did you release?

Agent: Mmmhm

Dealer: He said basically the underlying case file. I said okay, who'd you release it to? F-----g Patrick Leahy! Ok? Wasn't just Grassley it was Leahy alright? Leahy as we both know has adjourned this inquiry right now okay with no plans to reconvene it. So your people were successful on that end.

Agent: Right.

Dealer: Obviously that's good. However these other idiots from

Agent: Yeah I saw that. The House?

Dealer: Yeah and that I don't know. What is troublesome with this I expected Darrell Issa's signature to be on this it wasn't. He's your biggest thorn, he hates Holder.

Agent: Yeah. Where's he out of?

Dealer: Darrell Issa?

Agent: Yeah.

Dealer: California.

Agent: California.

Dealer: Lamar Smith you know's out of Texas, I don't know. Holder has to respond to this tomorrow.

Agent: Yeah he's gonna respond.

Dealer: I know he is. And I can assure you the media isn't gonna like his response because basically it's gonna mirror what he's told Grassley.

Agent: Yeah.

Dealer: He can't deviate.

Agent: Well if, I mean I've seen a rough copy at least of what our US Attorney here has sent up. Whether or not he has the b---s to actually use it or not, I doubt it. But I mean it's pretty aggressive. Um. The way I see it our local US Attorney is extremely aggressive. When it gets to DC..

Dealer: Who Emory?

Agent: No...THE US Attorney.

Dealer: Burke, yeah, used to work under Clinton. Guy used to work under Clinton. Talking about Burke?

Agent: MMhmm.

Dealer: yeah well

Agent: But the problem is once it gets to dc it just gets... well you know

(unintell.)

Dealer: Discombobulated that's a good term for it yeah I get that.

Dealer: Let me tell you you got more people out there now talking about this f-----g thing than anything I've ever seen...(unintell.) ... they're not shutting the hell up

Agent: (unintell)

Dealer: and that goes from DHS to f-----g FBI to everybody...

Agent: Yeah.

Dealer: I'm hearing hypothetically on every fringe

Agent: Yeah.

Dealer: Thru third parties and I can assure you they're all like what the hell are they nuts?

EXCERPT 2

Dealer: But you have got to put the word out there to all the departments tell the f------g FBI shut the f--- up. (whispering)

Agent: FBI'S got their own problems, trust me.

Dealer: I know I hear.

Agent: They've got their own problems.

Dealer: Hypothetically.

Agent: If anybody's gonna get sued it's gonna be the FBI in my opinion.

EXCERPT 3

Dealer: What is it with the FBI they just have a h--- on for you guys or what?

Agent: The FBI's got their own problems. Like I said they're focusing on our problems they should probably turn it inward, cause they got their own problems right now.

Dealer: That ain't no lie.

Agent: So.. so hahaha.

EXCERPT 4

Dealer: What's Holders' office got to say about this?

Agent: Well like I said they're supposed to come out with little more um b----y statement than they have in the past, so...

Dealer: God they're (intell)

Agent: I mean at some point they're gonna say have to say Grassley you're just gonna have to sit your a-- down. I mean that or they're gonna have to (unintell). I mean like I said my understanding is he can't call a hearing. Somebody from the majority party has got to call a congressional hearing and as of right now...

Dealer: Patrick Leahy's an a----e, you know that. He gets ahold of something he's like a dog with a bone.

Agent: As of right now we don't have any info that's occurred. So...

Dealer: No, not now, but

Agent: I know there was a presentation given to Judiciary committee and everybody aside from Grassley is is satisfied. At least at this point.

Dealer: So they say you know I don't trust em...

Agent: No but I mean that's all I've got...it's all (unintell.)

Raining cats and dogs for hours and now basement's flooding again.

As Zoe's French boyfriend would say, "Merde!"

Dave Workman: "Grassley says F&F ‘bigger than when we first got into it’"

“It keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger.”

The Era of Big Media is Over. Just finished a conference call by Darrell Issa with bloggers on the state of the Gunwalker investigation.

Yup. First, as did many bloggers who have written on Gunwalker, I received this email message from the Issa Committee yesterday:

Update on Fast & Furious Investigation

WHO: Chairman Darrell Issa, Oversight & Government Reform Committee.

WHAT: Please join Chairman Issa to discuss the latest developments in the Justice Department's failed Operation Fast and Furious, a program which allowed guns to walk into the hands of drug cartels resulting in the death of border patrol agent Brian Terry and countless Mexican citizens.

WHEN: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 10:15AM EDT – 11:00AM EDT

It included a call-in number and access code.

Now this, to me, was a stunning development in and of itself. As I have been gleefully paraphrasing Bill Clinton recently, "The era of Big media is over." Nothing proves that more so than Darrell Issa's reaching out to bloggers in this way. Of course, it is understandable that he might be more than a little frustrated in the "authorized media." FOX runs a story last week about a "third gun" which was "disappeared" by the FBI at the Terry murder scene and no one followed up on it. I mean, c'mon, it was like finding a second rifle at the Kennedy assassination, but did anybody cover it? No, save one, and that was Sharyl Attkisson at CBS who gave us the ATF-FFL tapes this week verifying the third gun. And did CBS see fit to feature this on the Evening News? Oh, hell no. Sharyl, who was the first of the "mainstream media" to break this story, can't get out of the blog ghetto they have her in. Her Gunwalker stories are not apparently "important enough" to waste valuable broadcast electrons on. Right.

So it is understandable that Issa might turn to the bloggers who have followed this story and broken some of its most interesting stories. But it marks a sea change, folks. Remember that.

There were a number of bloggers who participated, including names frequently mentioned (and mirrored) here: David Codrea, Dave Workman, Bob Owens, Katie Pavlich, etc. Here is Katie Pavlich's story on the blogger conference call.

The questions ranged widely over the broader Gunwalker scandal. I was largely impressed with Issa's answers. Although I am a terrible note taker and the batteries died in my phone recorder just before the event, here are some of the bits I gleaned:

Issa wants to "wrap this up by the end of the year" but doesn't believe the administration stonewalling will allow him to meet that deadline. He told one blogger, "I would very much like to have a true special prosecutor on this," but pointed out that he did not want one just yet for that would cause his investigation to shut down for intents and purposes and he wanted to know a lot more before that happened so that he could make sure that the prosecutor was doing his/her job.

He indicated that the committee was investigating the following subjects: ITAR violations, the Tampa gunwalking to Honduras, David Codrea's Indiana gunwalking story, and other agencies.

I asked: about FBI complicity in Gunwalker. "Given that we now know about FBI paid informants further up the cartel chain and a third gun that 'disappeared' from the Terry murder scene indicating the FBI is covering up the true circumstances of his death, when will we see Robert Mueller and his apparently-complicit minions under oath?" Issa indicated that he thought the third weapon disappeared because "people were panicking." He added later, "The smoking gun is the gun that killed Brian Terry."

Asked about Janet Napolitano's knowledge of Gunwalker, Issa cracked that in Janet's DHS, "Freedom of information is an oxymoron." He indicated that they would continue to ask questions to get as far up the chain as possible.

Asked about the overall purpose of Gunwalker, he demurred on agreeing outright with the "conspiracy against the Second Amendment" theory which sources say was the entire point of the larger exercise, but said:

"The administration wanted to show that guns found in Mexico came from the United States."

When the transcript of the conference call is provided, I will post it on Sipsey Street.

Bottom line: I was impressed with Issa's grasp of the issues and his stated commitment. I was also struck with how much he needs our help -- all of us -- to drive this search for the truth to its proper conclusion.

Congressman Issa promised to have more such conference calls as things progress.

David Codrea: "‘Elite’ media treatment of Gunwalker is scandalous."

How many people died because of Solyndra again?

"I just swipe my EBT. . . I love this card."

Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) is an electronic system that automates the delivery, redemption, and reconciliation of issued public assistance benefits. EBT is the method for distributing CalFresh benefits (formerly known as Food Stamps and currently known federally as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits), California Food Assistance Program benefits, and cash aid benefits. EBT is currently used in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam.

Recipients of public assistance in California access their issued benefits with the Golden State Advantage EBT card. The cardholder simply slides this card through a point-of-sale (POS) device, or uses the card at an automated teller machine (ATM). The card is convenient, secure, and reduces the stigma sometimes associated with public assistance.

The positive effects of EBT in California extend beyond the cardholder. Others who benefit include federal, state, and county governments, retailers, financial institutions, and taxpayers. EBT food and cash aid benefits can be redeemed at more than 80,000 locations in California. -- California Electronic Benefit Transfer Project

I didn't even know what an EBT was until I did a word search and found the above. The celebration of welfare represented in the video below by this apparently able-bodied young male is instructive. And what happens when these cards -- ALL the cards -- no longer work?

Got militia?

Newsday editorial on Gunwalker. Amid a call for more investigation and "coming clean," they are still in the "botched sting" nonsense.

Shine a light on gun operation.

Of course there was no botched sting because there was no sting. The only thing "botched" about Gunwalker was that the operation got compromised by honest ATF agents. If that hadn't happened, it would still be going on and we would have increasingly more strident calls for more gun control scrolling past photos of stacks of Mexican bodies made with Gunwalker firearms.

“Everyone wants to live at the expense of the state. They forget that the state lives at the expense of everyone.” — Frederic Bastiat

Greece And The Crisis Of The Governing Elite.

"Fast & Furious: FBI may have covered up third gun found at scene of agent’s death to protect informant."

From Allahpundit at Hot Air.

LA Times: "Mexico still waiting for answers on Fast and Furious gun program."

"Betrayal."

Last fall's slaying of Mario Gonzalez, the brother of a Mexican state prosecutor, shocked people on both sides of the border. Sensational news reports revealed that cartel hit men had tortured Gonzalez, and forced him to make a videotaped "confession" that his high-powered sister was on the take.

But American authorities concealed one disturbing fact about the case from their Mexican counterparts: U.S. federal agents had allowed AK-47 assault rifles later found in the killers' arsenal to be smuggled across the border under the notorious Fast and Furious gun-trafficking program.

U.S. officials also kept mum as other weapons linked to Fast and Furious turned up at dozens of additional Mexican crime scenes, with a reported toll of at least 150 people killed or wounded.

Months after the deadly lapses in the program were revealed in the U.S. media - prompting congressional hearings and the resignation of the acting chief of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - top Mexican officials say American authorities have still not offered them a proper accounting of what went wrong.

Marisela Morales, Mexico's attorney general and a longtime favorite of American law enforcement agents in Mexico, told the Los Angeles Times that she first learned about Fast and Furious from news reports. And to this day, she said, U.S. officials have not briefed her on the operation gone awry, nor have they apologized.

"At no time did we know or were we made aware that there might have been arms trafficking permitted," Morales, Mexico's highest-ranking law enforcement official, said in a recent interview. "In no way would we have allowed it because it is an attack on the safety of Mexicans."

Morales said she did not want to draw conclusions before the outcome of U.S. investigations, but that deliberately letting weapons "walk" into Mexico would represent a "betrayal" of a country enduring a drug war that has killed more than 40,000 people.

More from CBS: Dealer and ATF frankly discuss maintaining cover-up from disruption by Senator Grassley.

Interior shot of Lone Wolf Trading Co.

Dealer on Leahy: "He's an arrogant bastard." ATF agent: "So is Grassley though."

WASHINGTON - "Watch your back," the gun dealer warns the ATF Agent in an audio recording obtained by CBS News.

The secretly recorded conversations are between the primary gun dealer cooperating with ATF in its "Fast and Furious" operation, Andre Howard, and lead case ATF agent Hope MacAllister.

Howard owns Lone Wolf Trading Company in Glendale, Arizona.

(Scroll down to hear the audio recordings)

Secret recordings rais new questions in AFT 'Gunwalker' case

As CBS News first reported last February, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allegedly allowed thousands of weapons to "walk" onto the streets without interdiction into the hands of suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels in its operation "Fast and Furious."

In the following audio excerpts, the gun dealer Howard and ATF Agent MacAllister discuss possible involvement in the investigation into Fast and Furious by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT). They also mention Attorney General Eric Holder.

Read text of the audio excerpts below.

EXCERPT 1

Dealer: Question: do your people have any confidence that you can forestall subpoena? Or is it still up in the air?

Agent: No, my understanding is person, the only people that can request a congressional hearing has to be a majority party. Grassley is a Republican.

Dealer: I know.

Agent: And as of right now...

Dealer: In the Senate right.

Agent: Yeh. And as of right now we don't have any interest from anybody in the majority party to the extent that he's shown interest. So even if you wanted to at this point unless he gets CUTS OUT somebody from the majority party to jump on board, he can't...

Dealer: Not on his own no but you know Leahy and rest of 'em these people are snakes, they'll do anything they can...

Agent: My understanding also is that the Attorney General's office is supposed to come out little bit stronger...um...

Dealer: I understand that.

Agent: position...which may or may not, um, you know, help.

Dealer: I'll tell you what I'll give him that, he's got f---ing b---s making that statement. I don't wanna even go there.

EXCERPT 2

Dealer: Until something else happens they're not stupid, Hope, they connect the dots.

Agent: No and you know and all that's fine if Senator Grassley wants to come in and tell us show us how to work these cases more efficiently more effectively by all means.

Dealer: Don't think Grassley, think Leahy.

Agent: Well, him too. I... I welcome him to come down and work...

Dealer: He's an arrogant b-----d

Agent: So is Grassley though

Dealer: Chuck probably and I don't know a thing about him other than from somebody else I've heard seems to be just somebody who's hitching his wagon to any star to.. for his own aggrandizement.

Agent: Yeh

Dealer: You know that. He's an arrogant

Agent: Yeh

Dealer: individual. Look he's a United States senator there it is right there.

EXCERPT 3

Agent: That's kind of what my suggestion but nobody thought that was funny like if I were a P.I. I'd put him on Grassley, I'm sure there's a lot would go away. Actually my one suggestion was just tell him in a registered Republican. I'm sure if he knew that everything would be fine, they didn't like that either.

Dealer: Well.

Agent: Alright.

Dealer: You gotta be, watch your back. I don't trust these people around you one bit. You've been very lucky so far.

Agent: Again I'll be more than happy to talk to somebody, they won't let me, but more than happy to talk to anybody about the decisions we made.

Dealer: Hope, stay off the screen. You don' t need this sh--. Neither does your husband.

Agent: Believe me I have...

Dealer: You gotta have a f-----g life man.

Agent: I have a file and...

Dealer: shhh

Agent: It's all, it's all public stuff I dont' care.

Dealer: Well don't even convey it in that. I'm sure you do. Hopefully this thing will subside...

Agent: You keep saying that but ?

Dealer: I know.

Dealer: You and I both know how bad it's gonna get I won't bull---t you you don't bull---t me

Agent: Ha ha.

Dealer: my a-- is up here and yours is here here but you're covered I'm out in the open

Agent: Ha ha.

Dealer: God.

CBS: "Secret recordings raise new questions in ATF 'Gunwalker' operation." Again, I ask: when is Darrell Issa going to go after the FBI cover-up?

Well done, Sharyl.

WASHINGTON - CBS News has obtained secretly recorded conversations that raise questions as to whether some evidence is being withheld in the murder of a Border Patrol agent.

(Scroll down to listen to the audio)

The tapes were recorded approximately mid-March 2011 by the primary gun dealer cooperating with ATF in its "Fast and Furious" operation: Andre Howard, owner of Lone Wolf Trading Company in Glendale, Arizona. He's talking with the lead case ATF case agent Hope McAllister.

The tapes have been turned over to Congressional investigators and the Inspector General.

As CBS News first reported last February, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allegedly allowed thousands of weapons to "walk" onto the streets without interdiction into the hands of suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels in its operation "Fast and Furious."

The conversations refer to a third weapon recovered at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Agent: I was ordered to let guns into Mexico

Court records have previously only mentioned two weapons: Romanian WASR "AK-47 type" assault rifles. Both were allegedly sold to suspects who were under ATF's watch as part of Fast and Furious.

Also, a ballistics report turned over to Congressional investigators only mentions the two WASR rifles. The ballistics report says it's inconclusive as to whether either of the WASR rifles fired the bullet that killed Terry.

Law enforcement sources and others close to the Congressional investigation say the Justice Department's Inspector General obtained the audio tapes several months ago as part of its investigation into Fast and Furious.

Then, the sources say for some reason the Inspector General passed the tapes along to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona: a subject in the investigation. It's unclear why the Inspector General, who is supposed to investigate independently, would turn over evidence to an entity that is itself under investigation. The Inspector General's office had no immediate comment.

(Listen to the audio below)

In the audiotapes, AFT Agent McAllister tells Howard that a third weapon recovered at the Brian Terry murder scene last December is an SKS assault rifle. Agent McAllister claims to know that the SKS "had nothing to do with" the Brian Terry murder and, unlike the WASR's, did not trace back to the Lone Wolf gun store.

It's unclear why a weapon would be, in essence, missing from the evidence disclosed at the crime scene under FBI jurisdiction.

Agent McAllister and Howard (the gun dealer) also discuss various Republicans and Democrats in Congress who are investigating Fast and Furious. They express concern that whistleblower ATF special agent John Dodson has further evidence that could be damaging to the government.

Transcript of the audio below:

Agent: Well there was two.

Dealer: There's three weapons.

Agent: There's three weapons.

Dealer: I know that.

Agent: And yes, there's serial numbers for all three.

Dealer: That's correct.

Agent: Two of them came from this store.

Dealer: I understand that.

Agent: There's an SKS that I don't think came from.... Dallas or Texas or something like that.

Dealer: I know. talking about the AK's

Agent: The two AK's came from this store.

Dealer: I know that.

Agent: Ok.

Dealer: I did the Goddamned trace

Agent: Third weapon is the SKS has nothing to do with it.

Dealer: That didn't come from me.

Agent: No and there is that's my knowledge. and I spoke to someone who would know those are the only ones they have. So this is the agent who's working the case, all I can go by is what she told me.

Audio link.



You know, FOX covered this audio tape last week but didn't get us the transcript. This is the "third weapon" which the FBI "investigators" made "disappear." When is Issa going after the Fibbies?

Lyndon Baines Obama?

Why Obama should withdraw.

David Codrea: "ATF agents fear new leadership looks like more of same."

Link.

I guess they can't help themselves. Media Matters keeps trying to hike the hits on Sipsey Street.

Once more, feebly attempting to defend the murderously indefensible.

Note to all Chicago Area Tri-State Threepers.

"Well, it's a nice, soft night. So, I think I'll join my comrades, and talk a little treason."

I will be behind enemy lines this weekend attending the Gun Rights Policy Conference and doing my best to get folks to quit issuing press releases about the Gunwalker scandal and persuade them to actually DO something about it.

I will, while there, have some times to get together and, as the line in The Quiet Man says, "talk a little treason" to the federal leviathan. If you want to join me, drop me an email at GeorgeMason1776@aol.com.

Overslept, and off to the doctor.

More later.

"Watergate Times Three"

From the American Thinker.

Photos from the Chainsaw Rebellion in Cloudcroft on Saturday

Nice flag.


Congressman Pearce and Sheriff House.


The Three Percent was there.


A souvenir slab signed by the congressman.


Bob Wright and the gang at the Chainsaw Rebellion.