GOP Report on ‘Fast and Furious’ Blames 5 ATF Officials for Failed Gun Walking Program

The first shoe has dropped in the Republicans investigation into the ‘Fast and Furious’ scandal. The GOP report names five ATF officials for the disastrous gun walking program that oversaw the sale of nearly 2,000 guns to buyers for Mexican drug cartels and contributed to the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Up next will be the House commencing legal action against Attorney General Eric Holder to enforce the Contempt of Congress charges. Also, a second of the three reports that is expected to look at the alleged breakdown in management within Department of Justice headquarters with a special focus on the deputy attorney general’s office and the DOJ’s criminal division.

Republican investigators pinned the failures of “Operation Fast and Furious” on five officials in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in a scathing joint congressional draft report issued Monday evening.

The 211-page draft report, obtained by The Hill, called on the Obama administration and the Senate to bolster the leadership of the ATF — which has been without a permanent director for six years — in order to move beyond the failed gun-tracking operation that led House Republicans to place Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress last month.

Specifically, the report pins blame on former Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Field Division William Newell, former Deputy Assistant Director for Field Operations William McMahon, former Assistant Director for Field Operations Mark Chait, the former Deputy Director William Hoover, and former acting ATF director Kenneth Melson.

When will Eric Holder step down before or after the 2012 elections?

Hill Poll: 56% believe Obama Over-reached Blocking Fast and Furious Docs with Executive Privilege, Only 29% Approve

Add yet another headache to the Obama 2012 reelection campaign …

According to a Hill poll, a majority of voters disagree with President Barack Obama’s blocking the ‘Fast and Furious’ documents from the House by evoking executive privilege. The Poll showed that that by a 2 to 1 margin of likely voters disapproved of Obama’s assertion of presidential power in the case. The end result, 56% of voters disapproved of his use of executive privilege, while only 29% approved.

A clear majority of likely voters believes President Obama has exercised his executive power inappropriately — particularly in blocking the release of documents relating to Operation Fast and Furious, according to a new poll for The Hill.

But in a sign that the electorate’s frustration extends to Capitol Hill, voters by a significant margin also feel Congress has behaved in an obstructionist manner toward the president.

Amid the discontent over the behavior of both Obama and members of Congress, the poll found a strong preference among voters for a return to one-party rule in Washington.

Democrats have accused Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) of a political witch hunt against Obama’s Attorney general Eric Holder; however, this poll seems to say quite the opposite. It will be difficult for Obama and Democrats to continue those talking points when their position is not supported by the People. Obama and his minions have greatly miscalculated “We the People” and the fact that a US Border agent Brian Terry died as a result of the government gun running program. People want answers and so do the parents of Brian Terry. No one likes a cover-up when some one died. Most transparent President in history, eh?

House Panel Recommends Attorney General Eric Holder Contempt Citation Along Party Lines 23-17 … Full House Vote Set for next Week

Following President Barack Obama’s last second rescue of Attorney General Eric Holder and invoking Executive Privilege in the Fast and Furious scandal, the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee  recommended that Holder be cited for contempt of Congress. The vote was along party lines, 23 to 17. Committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) went forth with the measure, saying the White House assertion of executive privilege “falls short” of any reason to delay the hearing.

Voting on strictly partisan lines, a House committee recommended Wednesday that Attorney General Eric Holder be cited for contempt of Congress for failing to turn over documents relating to the botched Fast and Furious weapons sting operation.

The vote ended an extraordinary daylong hearing that took place after President Barack Obama asserted executive privilege over some documents sought by the panel investigating Fast and Furious.

The committee measure now goes to the full House for consideration, expected next week, of what would be an unprecedented event — Congress holding a sitting attorney general in contempt.

Mere minutes after the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s decision, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA.) announced that the full House will vote on the contempt measure next week. If this vote goes forward, it will be interesting to see what Democrats Representatives do who are in “swing” and “battleground” states.

“While we had hoped it would not come to this, unless the attorney general reevaluates his choice and supplies the promised documents, the House will vote to hold him in contempt next week,” the Republican leaders said in a statement. “If, however, Attorney General Holder produces these documents prior to the scheduled vote, we will give the Oversight Committee an opportunity to review in hopes of resolving this issue.”

Just how many US Representatives are going to appear to the voters as being for withholding documents against the family of slain border agent Brian Terry? The family of murdered Brian Terry has stated that Barack Obama has made matters worse by invoking “executive privilege”.

Terry family attorney Pat McGroder on Wednesday released the following statement from Terry’s parents Josephine Terry and Kent Terry Sr.: “Attorney General Eric Holder’s refusal to fully disclose the documents associated with Operation Fast and Furious and President Obama’s assertion of executive privilege serves to compound this tragedy. It denies the Terry family and the American people the truth.”

The Terrys said that their son “was killed by members of a Mexican drug cartel armed with weapons from this failed Justice Department gun trafficking investigation. For more than 18 months we have been asking our federal government for justice and accountability. The documents sought by the House Oversight Committee and associated with Operation Fast and Furious should be produced and turned over to the committee. Our son lost his life protecting this nation, and it is very disappointing that we are now faced with an administration that seems more concerned with protecting themselves rather than revealing the truth behind Operation Fast and Furious.”

Deal or No Deal … NO DEAL: Rep. Issa and AG Eric Holder Meet, No Docs Provided by Justice Dept … Issa Says ‘disappointed’ & Contempt of Congress Vote Against Holder will Move Forward

Deal or No Deal … NO DEAL!!!

Its a game of Contempt of Congress chicken between Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa and Attorney General Eric Holder. Issa and Holder met yesterday in what proved to be a waste of time and more of the same with the obstruction and the AG not turning over documents that have been subpoena with regards to the “Fast & Furious” scandal that left a US border patrol agent dead. Holder failed to produce the requested documents and according to Rep. Issa, the contempt vote against Holder will go forward in the House.

The meeting between Attorney General Eric Holder and Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa has ended after 20 minutes of discussion. Holder came with an offer of a briefing on Fast and Furious documents, but did not physically turn over any documents. This is unsatisfactory to Issa who has said repeatedly that in order for Holder to avoid a contempt vote Wednesday at 10 AM, he must hand over 1300 Fast and Furious documents to the Committee.

“The documents they may choose to give in the future, we need before tomorrow,” Issa said to reporters. ““Ultimately the documents needed for postponement seem to be in their possession.”

Holder’s failure to produce documents at the 5 PM meeting come after he failed to present them by this morning as requested, after he failed to respond to an October 2011 subpoena as requested and after more than a year of requests for transparency surrounding his role in Operation Fast and Furious.

Senator Charles Grassley, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, also issed a statement:

“The Attorney General wants to trade a briefing and the promise of delivering some small, unspecified set of documents tomorrow for a free pass today.  He wants to turn over only what he wants to turn over and not give us any information about what he’s not turning over.  That’s unacceptable.  I’m not going to buy a pig in a poke.  Chairman Issa is right to move forward to seek answers about a disastrous government operation.”

From The American Spectator … The Documents, No Peace.

The “Fast and Furious” scandal, coupled with “Leek-gate” and the Unconstitutional acts by Barack Obama is going to cost him dearly in the 2012 election.

GOP House Plan to Hold Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder & Justice Department in Contempt of Congress for Obstruction over Failed Fast and Furious Gun Tracking Program.

US Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) has stated that the House will hold Barack Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department in contempt of Congress if Holder continues to stonewall and not provide the information requested regarding the administration’s failed Fast and Furious gun tracking program.

House GOP leaders said Friday they are pursuing a plan to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and the Justice Department in contempt for “stonewalling” them over information regarding the administration’s failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking program.

GOP Rep. Darrell Issa confirmed to Fox News that House Speaker John Boehner gave him and others on his House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform the authority to drafted a contempt of Congress resolution.

“We have issued a subpoena,” Utah GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a member of the oversight committee, said earlier on Fox News. “We have bent over backwards to be patient and take time. (Holder) is leading us down a path where we have no other choice.”

Earlier this week Issa called the Obama White House “the most corrupt in government history.” Well, if the corrupt Obama government accusation fits, wear it.

If adopted by the GOP-led House, the contempt resolution would be sent to the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington or perhaps an independent counsel in an attempt to force the Justice Department to provide tens of thousands of internal documents to the committee.

A contempt resolution would also escalate a political feud between Issa and the Obama administration. Earlier this week Issa called the Obama White House “the most corrupt in government history.” At a hearing in December, he compared Holder to disgraced Atty. Gen. John Mitchell from the President Nixon era, a comment that prompted Holder to fire back in language reminiscent of the bitter Senate hearings led by former Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.): “Have you no shame?”

But we know that Eric Holder knew nothing about Fast and Furious because he told us so. Yeah, right.