Posted on 10/05/2011 9:02:32 PM PDT by neverdem
WASHINGTON Republicans on Tuesday sought to intensify political pressure on Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. over a disputed investigation into a gun trafficking network based in Phoenix, accusing him of misleading Congress.
Representative Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to President Obama asking him to appoint a special counsel to investigate whether Mr. Holder committed perjury in testimony about the investigation, known as Operation Fast and Furious, at a hearing in May.
Mr. Holder testified that he had only recently heard about the matter. But Mr. Smith pointed to two newly disclosed documents suggesting that the attorney general may have encountered references to Fast and Furious the previous year. He contends that the documents raise significant questions about the truthfulness of the testimony.
Tracy Schmaler, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said Mr. Holders testimony was consistent and truthful. She said his answer in May meant that he had only become aware of the questionable tactics employed in the Fast and Furious operation in early 2011 when A.T.F. agents first raised them publicly.
In the investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed suspected low-level straw buyers for the gun trafficking network to purchase and transport guns. Their hope was that by watching them rather than moving quickly to seize the guns they would identify higher-level organizers for the network, which was funneling weapons to a Mexican drug cartel.
The bureau lost track of hundreds of the guns. Some turned up in Mexico, and two more were found in December at the scene where a Border Patrol agent was killed...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
But in a newly discovered July 2010 memo Michael Walther, director of the National Drug Intelligence Center, told Holder that straw buyers in the Fast and Furious operation are responsible for the purchase of 1,500 firearms that were then supplied to the Mexican drug trafficking cartels.
Misled??????????????
He lied!!!!!!!!!!!!
Perjury.
Misleading? How about outright lying. I suspect Holder is going to lose his job over this and then Obummer will be all on his own. No more backup.
Did Schmaler "say" it or scream it?
over a disputed investigation into a gun trafficking network based in Phoenix
Readers of the New York Times who don't have access to legitimate news outlets will be completely ignorant of what this scandal is all about.
Hey! Lamar Smith, just appoint your own Congressional Counsel and get with the program!
Stop being so damn wishy-washy!
We have a Dictator in the WH and you send HIM a letter! WAKE UP !
What is that supposed to mean? That it's disputed whether the investigation is taking place, or that the investigatees dispute whether they should be investigated? If the latter, has there ever been an undisputed investigation into anything?
Seems the NYT has gone beyond editorializing on the front page, and now editorializes with every single word.
>> What is that supposed to mean?
No kidding.
NYT is turning this into a partisan issue... Wait! Have any Democrats uttered a single word about this mess?
I noticed yesterday, a WAPO tool is working on the Bush angle.
Wait and see. You think Issa & CO. are doing all of this for nothing? I believe Holder will get impeached next year. 17 rat senators will have to defend not removing him.
Clintonesque sophistry. But this time it's not about a cigar and stained dress. People were murdered.
The Bush angle is useless unless there's proof about walking guns into Mexico.
I understand the Bush era operations intentionally prevented the guns from crossing the boarder.
fyi
I believe the investigation will go all the way up to Zer0 himself. This will just what he needs when he is struggling to find a way to optimize his use of the $ billion in campaign contributions.
“Hey! Lamar Smith, just appoint your own Congressional Counsel and get with the program!
Stop being so damn wishy-washy!
We have a Dictator in the WH and you send HIM a letter! WAKE UP !”
Not one dam thing will happen to Holder. Tell me when it does. This administration does what it wants to, when it wants to and gets away with it.
Thanks neverdem.
The state run media keeps putting forth the lie that this was about tracking guns. It was not! It was an attempt to undermine our Constitutional rights! Can you imagine how the state run media would be screaming if this was targeted towards the first amendment instead of the second amendment? They would be squealing like pigs (that they are). Even fox news seems determined to promote the lie that it was about gun “tracking”
” - - - This administration does what it wants to, when it wants to and gets away with it.”
Thanks for re-enforcing my point: We have a an unchecked Dictator in the WH.
As with ALL Dictators, the only power he has is the power we allow him to have.
Our spineless Congressmen and women must oppose Dictator You Lie Obama in a very meaningful way, BEFORE You Lie gets re-elected in 11-2012.
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