Posted on 06/08/2012 3:45:46 AM PDT by marktwain
Attorney General Eric Holder attended hearings into Operation Fast and Furious by the House Judiciary committee on Thursday. His testimony brought one major breakthrough: it turns out he doesnt hate David Axelrods guts after all. There have been accounts that Holder nearly came to blows with President Obamas top political advisor, but Holder told House Judiciary they have a great relationship, and he doesnt think Axelrod has ever done anything that I would consider inappropriate.
Whew! Glad we got that out of the way! In other news, U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry is still dead because of Operation Fast and Furious. The Attorney General still maintains he and his top deputies didnt know anything, cant remember anything, and have no intention of complying with lawful subpoenas from Congress. Holder acknowledges that hes only turned over 7,600 of the 140,000 Fast and Furious documents hes sitting on, and thats about as good as its going to get.
This did not sit well with the clearly exasperated Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who is chairman of the House Oversight Committee, and the lead House investigator into Operatin Fast and Furious. Youre not a good witness, Issa snapped at one point, when Holder made one of his periodic efforts to pretend that coughing up five percent of the required material constitutes fulfillment of his subpoenas. A good witness answers the question that was asked.
How about those wiretap applications, smuggled out of Justice by a whistleblower, which prove beyond question that Holders inner circle was well aware of gun walking tactics, long before Agent Terrys death? Well, according to the Attorney General, thats all George Bushs fault.
Holder claimed that high officials in his department dont review wiretap applications before signing them they skim over brief summaries and ignore details not directly related to the request for electronic surveillance. You know, little peripheral matters like the ATF losing hundreds of guns to Mexican drug cartel hit men. They do not look at the affidavits to see, if in fact to review all that is engaged all that is involved in the operation, the Attorney General explained.
For his part, now that Issa and his whistleblowers have kindly brought the wiretap applications to his attention, Holder has read them in full. I have read those, and I have read Wide Receiver as well, he said, referring to the vastly smaller Bush-era gun walking program. I can say that what has happened in connection with Fast and Furious was done in the same way wiretap applications were done in the same way under the previous Administration in Wide Receiver.
Asked when the White House was made aware of the gun walking tactics employed by Operation Fast and Furious, Holder essentially said his staffers briefed the White House but didnt brief him, so he doesnt know what anybody said, or when they said it. He allegedly still hasnt found the time to gather specifics about the case, even though he easily made the time to conduct a political seminar for black preachers recently. When Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) demanded to know who authorized Fast and Furious, Holder referred him to the eternally in progress internal Justice Department investigation, which is apparently being conducted by Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. He even said he doesnt know how many guns have been recovered, or even more appalling, how many are still missing.
Holder also complained about having to keep giving the same non-answers to investigative committees eight times now, moaned about how he feels under attack, and of course slipped in a call for more gun-control legislation.
Unbelievably, while he was being read an email from Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein that discussed gun walking by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Holder said it was actually about the Bush-era Operation Wide Receiver even though the email actually referred, verbatim, to Fast and Furious.
An astonished Chaffetz said, The email says Fast and Furious, you say it doesnt. Ive got it in black and white.
I have superior knowledge, was Holders ultimate response.
There is no question this nonsense would be yielding 24-hour wall-to-wall news coverage from hyperventilating anchors if Holder was a Republican attorney general. Hed already be a staple of late-night comedy routines. Instead, expect a total media blackout of this incredible hearing.
House Democrats, especially Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee of Texas, were happy to aid Holder in covering up his malfeasance by interrupting legitimate questions from the serious members of Congress, in an obvious bid to run out the clock on the Judiciary hearings. It was rather like watching a group of little kids squabble over the rules of a softball game. Except that several hundred people have already been killed by this particular game, so it sure isnt softball.
It is simply impossible to watch this testimony without concluding that Eric Holder is either a dangerous incompetent, or a liar. If what he says is true, his removal from the Justice Department would cause nary a ripple hes so disconnected from vital operations that nobody would even notice he was gone. Otherwise, he should be up on charges, most definitely beginning with contempt of Congress.
For openers. I would not be at all surprised to learn that Holder, et al have the name, address and phone number of Boner’s mistress. Even better than that....what better way to completely compromise Boner than for Nancy Pluggugli to take him to bed one time?!
If the thought of that repulses you.....remember this: We already have photos of Boner all puckered up and KISSING the old heifer. And while it would be considered a high crime by the Mainslimes for BONER to go to bed with HER; Old Nan would be heralded as a heroine on the order of Joan of Arc, because she “took one” for the team.....and totally disempowered Boner.
There’s got to be some VERY POTENT “something” lurking in the shadows for Boner to go out of his way to IMPEDE Issa like he’s been doing.
I have been suspicious of ol’ Johnny Boy from day one because he dresses like a Don Juan ladies’ man, and that giggolo perpetual tanning bed tan is not normal for a down-to-earth regular guy.
THE TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION!!
Holder's arrogance cannot possibly surprise anyone at this point.
The fact that not one of Holder's questioners didn't jump all over this statement in a NY second is proof positive that there isn't a complete pair in the whole lot of them.
Pathetic.
I've been in many meetings (and dates, lol) where I walked away and thought "Damn, I should've said..."
Too many for me to sit back and criticize these guys from my armchair. It's certainly something they can fire a letter off on now, though. (Which will be criticized from the freeperchairs as "just another strongly worded...")
I work in the Engineering field. One thing that is pounded into the heads of the low level Tech to the Senior Engineer is that your signature is worth something. When you sign off on a document you have reviewed and agree with the contents. If there are additional documents referenced on the document you are signing you must review them also.
Do you think these Lawyers in the Justice Department who alledgedly didn't know what they were signing off on, would allow that to be a defense if a building collasped and people were killed?
This defense of the DOJ officials by Holder indicates he is either a perjurer (I didn't use the word liar)or totally unqualified to lead the department that is supposed to represent Law.
Breaking news: Holder is still a lying criminal.
Ditto. I've been there.
Holder's 'answer' doesn't pass the laugh test.
I guess that means he won't make the short list for VP.
5.56mm
Which is different from a strongly worded letter in this climate how exactly?
I have superior knowledge, was Holders ultimate response.
Errrr, uh, Mr. Holder. Did you not testify under oath before this very committee, some months ago, that you had not read any of these e-mails and knew nothing about any operations "walking" guns?
Mr. Holder. Were you born in Kenya too? Was that before you were born in Hawaii and after you were born in Jamaica?
Not only does Eric Hold know nothing, he knows everything about nothing.
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