Fast and Furious emails “Vaughn index” shows Valerie Jarrett role....

After Holder was busted for lying to Congress,  Valerie Jarrett and Holder started exchanging emails. When the truth is known, I expect Valerie Jarrett will be a key player in all the lawless escapades of the Obama administration.

Via Judicial Watch:

Practically lost in the 1,000-plus pages of records is an index that shows Jarrett was brought in to manage the fact that Holder lied to Congress after the story about the disastrous gun-running operation broke in the media. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) ran the once-secret program that allowed guns from the U.S. to be smuggled into Mexico so they could eventually be traced to drug cartels. Instead, federal law enforcement officers lost track of hundreds of weapons which have been used in an unknown number of crimes, including the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Arizona.
The files received by JW include three electronic mails between Holder and Jarrett and one from former U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke to Jarrett. The e-mails with Holder are all from October 4, 2011, a significant date because, on the evening of October 3rd, Sheryl Attkisson (then at CBS news) released documents showing that Holder had been sent a briefing paper on Operation Fast and Furious on June 5, 2010. The paper was from the director of the National Drug Intelligence Center, Michael Walther.
This directly contradicted Holder’s May 3, 2011 testimony to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, during which he stated that he, “probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.”

Dubious: Obama admin claims Eric Holder's Fast and Furious emails to his wife and mother are covered under executive privilege

There is no end to the lies and false claims the Obama administration will make. they completely lack ethics or character.

Via Judicial Watch:

Judicial Watch announced today that it received from the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) a “Vaughn index” detailing records about the Operation Fast and Furious scandal.  The index was forced out of the Obama administration thanks to JW’s June 2012 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and subsequent September 2012 FOIA lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. Department of Justice (No. 1:12-cv-01510)).  A federal court had ordered the production over the objections of the Obama Justice Department.
The document details the Attorney General Holder’s personal involvement in managing the Justice Department’s strategy on media and Congressional investigations into the Fast and Furious scandal.  Notably, the document discloses that emails between Attorney General Holder and his wife Sharon Malone – as well as his mother – are being withheld under an extraordinary claim of executive privilege as well as a dubious claim of deliberative process privilege under the Freedom of Information Act.  The “First Lady of the Justice Department” is a physician and not a government employee.
This is the first time that the Obama administration has provided a detailed listing of all records being withheld from Congress and the American people about the deadly Fast and Furious gun running scandal. The 1307-page “draft” Vaughn index was emailed to Judicial Watch at 8:34 p.m. last night, a few hours before a federal court-ordered deadline.  In its cover letter, the Department of Justice asserts that all of the responsive records described in the index are “subject to the assertion of executive privilege.”

Eric Holder promises to go after gun traffickers who help funnel weapons to dangerous criminals; forced to arrest himself...

Weapons grade chutzpah...

ERIC HOLDER:  And to consider a series of new federal laws imposing tough penalties on gun traffickers who help funnel weapons to dangerous criminals.

Rep. Allen West tells Obama: “Show us your sealed college records ... and we will all show you our tax returns,”

Game on...

Via The Hill:

Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) set high stakes in an offered “deal” with President Obama on Friday.

Obama’s campaign isn’t backing down on requests to see Mitt Romney’s tax returns — on Friday, campaign manager Jim Messina offered to stop asking if he releases five years’ worth — but the freshman Florida congressman had a counteroffer for Obama.

“Show us your sealed college records and Operation Fast and Furious White House memos, and we will all show you our tax returns,” West wrote on his Facebook page Friday.

53 percent of adults approve of the U.S. House of Representatives holding “Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress

69 percent said the Obama administration should “answer all questions.” 

Via NRO:

Wow. Among adults, not registered voters or likely voters, 53 percent approve of the U.S. House of Representatives holding “Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over documents related to a program called Operation Fast and Furious.” Only 33 percent disapprove.

The CNN survey also found that only 34 percent thought House Republicans had “real ethical concerns,” while 61 percent thought House Republicans did it to “gain political advantage.”
(What political advantage is that? Just how different is the level of “advantage” the House GOP has today compared to two weeks ago?)

Naturally, the CNN.com headline is, “CNN Poll: Was politics behind Holder contempt vote?”
Only 28 percent said “invoke executive privilege,” and 69 percent said “answer all questions.”

Keep on reading…

House Speaker John Boehner: Republicans are preparing to file a civil suit for 'Fast and Furious' documents

Look for Holder to stall, stall stall...

(ABC News) — House Speaker John Boehner said today that Republicans are preparing to file a civil suit in an attempt to gain access to more information pertaining to the Justice Department’s botched Fast & Furious drug cartel gun tracking program.

The planned civil suit, which comes on the heels of a letter sent by the Justice Department stating that the DOJ would not prosecute Attorney General Eric Holder following a House vote to hold him in criminal contempt of Congress.

“It’s not clear to me that the U.S. District Attorney will in fact, go down that path. That’s why we’re going to file, in District Court, a civil suit, over the issue of executive privilege,” Boehner said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

The Obama administration, in response to a request by Holder, asserted the right to executive privilege several weeks ago, in effect blocking Congressional access to documents pertaining the affair. . . .

“The American people have a right to know what happened,” Boehner said today. “Brian Terry’s family has a right to know what happened here.”

Key player in the enactment of the 1994 assault-weapons ban was responsible for overseeing Operation Fast and Furious

Fast and Furious was a scheme to justify more gun control.

(CNSNews.com) — Dennis K. Burke, who as a lawyer for the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 1990s was a key player behind the enactment of the 1994 assault-weapons ban, and who then went on to become Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano’s chief of staff, and contributor to Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential primary campaign, and a member of Obama’s transition team focusing on immigration issues, ended up in the Obama administration as the U.S. attorney in Arizona responsible for overseeing Operation Fast and Furious.

When Obama nominated Burke to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, Burke told the Arizona Capitol Times he believed he understood what the president and his attorney general wanted him to do.

“There’s clearly been direction provided already by President Obama and Attorney General Holder as to what they want to be doing, and this is an office that is at the center of the issues of border enforcement,” said Burke. . . . After Obama was elected in November 2008, Burke joined his presidential transition team, serving on the Immigration Policy Working Group.

 Keep on reading. . .

Demo Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton: “The gun lobby is directly responsible... for the tragic death of a border agent.

Deranged democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton is blaming the NRA for gun walking and the murder of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

Via Daily Caller:

Washington, D.C., Democratic Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the city in Congress, claimed the National Rifle Association is responsible for Border Patrol agent Brian Terry’s murder and Operation Fast and Furious...

“Any doubt that today’s contempt resolution is political was put to rest when the NRA joined in to blow-torch vulnerable Democrats to vote for contempt today,” Norton said on the House floor. “The gun lobby is directly responsible for the gap in federal law that allowed purchases of guns here that were sold in Mexico and ultimately for the tragic death of a border agent. Yet our committee spent no time on the root cause of the tragedy because of a political mandate from the gun lobby.”

Keep reading…

The truth is federal agents and prosecutors overruled objections and had gun shop owners sell to the gun straw buyers.

Via USA Today:

Federal agents and prosecutors last year encouraged Arizona gun dealers to sell firearms to buyers for Mexican cartels even after the store owners fretted that weapons might be used to kill Border Patrol agents, according to e-mails obtained by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

Leading House Democrats tell NRA to Butt Out of Holder Contempt Vote

The NRA believes the purpose of "Fast and Furious' was to get guns sold in America into the hands of Mexican drug gangs for the purpose of murder and mayhem and, then, blame the violence on lax U.S. gun laws. This would be used as the catalyst for new gun legislation. The NRA  may be correct and the withheld documents may provide the truth. They are scoring this vote.

(The Hill) — Leading House Democrats on Wednesday urged the nation’s powerful gun lobby to butt out of the partisan fight over a measure to hold U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) warned House lawmakers last week that it will score Thursday’s vote on the Republicans’ contempt resolution, which accuses Holder of stonewalling a GOP investigation into a bungled gun-walking program under his Department of Justice (DOJ).

Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) said the NRA is merely “playing politics,” arguing that the contempt vote “has nothing to do with the specific use or ownership of guns” and charging that the NRA’s involvement “shows how far Republicans allowed the issue of government oversight to descend into an issue of Republican overreach.”

“What the heck is the NRA doing getting involved in scoring votes on an issue of a contempt citation?” Becerra, vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said during a press briefing in the Capitol.

Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (Conn.) also questioned the NRA’s involvement, calling it an “extraordinary” step even as he conceded it will likely swing some Democratic votes behind the contempt measure.

Read more here...

Jay Carney forgets the name of the border patrol agent Brian Terry killed with guns from operation "Fast and Furious"

What a Border Patrol agent matter to The Obama White House?

The most open administration in history exerts executive privilege to prevent release of "Fast and Furious" documents

Above the law...

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama asserted executive privilege for the first time Wednesday, escalating a fight with congressional Republicans over documents about a gun-trafficking probe.

The move threw into uncertainty a possible vote to sanction Attorney General Eric Holder with contempt of Congress.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was meeting Wednesday morning to discuss the contempt fight. The panel's chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), said the committee was evaluating the White House's assertion.

Holder stalls, Republicans plan to hold contempt vote today

Rep. Darrell Issa and AG Eric Holder meet yesterday afternoon. Holder failed to turn over anymore documents. Instead, he wanted Issa and House Republicans to settle for some lame briefings. That is a no pass. Unless Holder turns over documents this morning, it looks like the contempt vote will go forward. It doesn't appear Holder was seriously trying to resolve the issue. Republicans have claimed they will get as many as 30+ Democrats to vote with them to hold Holder in contempt. This whole charade by Eric Holder is an attempt to provide cover for Democrats to vote against the contempt charge.

Via Politico:

House Republicans are charging head first into their most direct conflict with President Barack Obama’s administration over the extent of executive branch power, as they prepare to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress on Wednesday.

Holder and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) failed to reach an agreement on what documents the administration would fork over to help Republicans investigate the Fast and Furious program, a joint Justice Department-Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives operation that put guns into the hands of Mexican cartels.

The two sides remained at loggerheads Tuesday evening, after a 20-minute huddle in Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s third-floor Capitol suite. Holder later called Issa’s position “political gamesmanship” and not a true attempt to resolve the dispute.

After the session, Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said no deal was in hand and Wednesday’s vote would move forward, barring a last-minute reversal.

Shocking: Eric Holder Claims Emails Using Words 'Fast and Furious' Don't Refer to Operation 'Fast and Furious'

Eric Holder thinks he is above the law...

(CNSNews.com) – Attorney General Eric Holder claimed during congressional testimony today that internal Justice Department emails that use the phrase “Fast and Furious” do not refer to the controversial gun-walking operation Fast and Furious.

Under questioning from Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who read excerpts of the emails at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Justice Department oversight, Holder claimed that the phrase “Fast and Furious” did not refer to Fast and Furious but instead referred to another gun-walking operation known as “Wide Receiver.”[...]

In his testimony, Holder said that the emails only referred to Operation Wide Receiver.

Holder told the committee: “That refers to Wide Receiver, not to Fast and Furious. The e-mail that you [Rep. Chaffetz] just read [between Trusty and Weinstein] – now this is important – that email referred to Wide Receiver, it did not refer to Fast and Furious. That has to be noted for the record.”

Chaffetz, after a long pause, said, "No, it doesn't. It says Fast and Furious. 'Do you think we should have Lanny participate in press when Fast and Furious and Laura’s Tucson case [Wide Receiver] are unsealed?' It's specific to Fast and Furious. That is not true, Mr. Attorney General. I'm happy to share it with you."... Keep on reading...

Attorney General Eric Holder to House Judiciary Committee: “I have no intention of resigning,”

Looks like Holder wants to stay and proceed with the attempted coverup.

From TheDC:

Attorney General Eric Holder insisted Thursday during a House Judiciary Committee hearing that he does not plan to step down in the wake of the Operation Fast and Furious scandal.

“I have no intention of resigning,” Holder said in response to a question from Arizona Republican Rep. Ben Quayle. “I’m the attorney general who put an end to the tactics of Fast and Furious.”

Holder said he doesn’t think anyone else from the Justice Department or the Obama administration should resign either…

Read more here…

Confirmed: CBS has documents showing "Fast and Furious" was to be used for increased gun control

The duplicity of Obama's ATF is astounding. They were getting gun dealers to cooperate with them in selling long guns to Mexican drug gangs. Then, they were going to use those sales to push for more regulations on gun dealers. It's time to disband the ATF.

(CBS)- Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation "Fast and Furious" to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales.

In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the "big fish." But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called "gunwalking," and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico. Two were found at the murder scene of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.

ATF officials didn't intend to publicly disclose their own role in letting Mexican cartels obtain the weapons, but emails show they discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called "Demand Letter 3". That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or "long guns." Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information.

Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-Clueless): Never heard of "Fast and Furious"

Via Daily Caller:

New York Democratic Rep. Nydia Velazquez admitted she did not know what Operation Fast and Furious was at a Congressional Hispanic Caucus event on Tuesday.

When The Daily Caller asked Velazquez if she thinks Fast and Furious was a scandal that rises to the level of a call for Attorney General Eric Holder’s resignation, she shrugged at first. Then, TheDC asked if she even knew what Fast and Furious was.

Read more here…

Fast And Furious Probe ExpandsTo Include Report Feds Assisted Mexican Drug Cartels With Launder Money

Ruh-Roh!

(The Hill) — Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has requested a briefing with the Justice Department over a news report that U.S. law enforcement officials helped Mexican drug cartels launder millions of dollars into the country.

The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee made the request in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, in which he questioned DOJ head’s ability to lead the agency.

Issa has been investigating the DOJ’s authorization of a botched gun-tracking operation for most of the year and has increasingly criticized Holder, who is set to appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

“The existence of such a program again calls your leadership into question,” said Issa in his letter. “The managerial structure you have implemented lacks appropriate operational safeguards to prevent the implementation of such dangerous schemes. The consequences have been disastrous.”

Read more here…

Game on! Eric Holder to testify before House Judiciary Committee regarding “Fast and Furious.”

Be prepared for more waffling, deception and lies.

WASHINGTON — CBS News has learned Attorney General Eric Holder has agreed to appear before the House Judiciary Committee regarding “Fast and Furious.” The hearing will take place Dec. 8th.

Judiciary Committee member and head of the House Oversight Committee Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) had requested that Holder appear, in part to dig deeper into when-he-knew-what about ATF’s so-called “gunwalking” operation Fast and Furious.

In May, Holder testified that he only first heard about Fast and Furious a few weeks before. However, as CBS News reported, documents and memos indicate he had been sent multiple briefings mentioning Fast and Furious in 2010.

Holder later explained in a letter to Congress that he didn’t read those memos, and that in any event, nobody at the Justice Department who knew of Fast and Furious was aware of the specific “gunwalking” tactics used.

Fast and Furious screaming WH communications aide gets subpoenaed

WH communications aide Eric Schultz made the news recently after a CBS reporter said he screamed and cussed at her because she reported on the Fast and Furious story. Eric Schultz has now been targeted in the subpoena for documents issued by House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa.

(Roll Call)- House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) made headlines this week by issuing a subpoena for documents from Attorney General Eric Holder about a botched weapons investigation, but Holder is apparently not Issa’s only target.

A little-noticed provision of the subpoena targets the White House, specifically naming Eric Schultz, a communications aide who was hired in May to respond to media inquiries on oversight matters.

Issa issued the subpoena as part of his investigation into a program called Fast and Furious, which whistle-blowers have described as allowing assault weapons and military-grade sniper rifles to transfer into criminal networks.

The subpoena demands “all communications” to or from Holder and 15 other top Justice Department officials on Fast and Furious, as well as every weekly update memo to Holder on any topic over a nearly two-year period. Issa contends that Holder may have learned about the program much earlier than he has acknowledged, and the California Republican been conducting a blitz of media interviews making that point.

The subpoena also requires Holder to produce “all communications between and among Department of Justice (DOJ) employees and Executive Office of the President employees, including but not limited to Associate Communications Director Eric Schultz, referring or relating to Operation Fast and Furious or any other firearms trafficking cases.”

Rep. Darrell Issa to target top Justice Department officials in next phase of “Fast and Furious” investigation

Go get them.

(Politico) — House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa says the next phase of his investigation into the “Fast and Furious” controversy will target top Justice Department officials to determine “what did they know and when did they know it?”

In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” the California Republican suggested that Attorney General Eric Holder knew about the risky gun trafficking operation with Mexican drug cartels months before the time frame he acknowledged in congressional testimony earlier this year. And Issa said he would issue subpoenas as soon as this week to the Justice Department, calling elements of the program “a felony.”

Holder has denied that he was aware of the details of the operation until a couple weeks before he testified earlier this year, an assertion Issa called “disingenuous on its face.”