Issa: Holder hiding Fast and Furious facts

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the Oversight & Government Reform Committee, suggested Sunday that Attorney General Eric Holder has been withholding facts regarding the so-called "Fast & Furious" gunwalking scandal, and indicated that law enforcement could be concealing possibly illuminating evidence.

Issa, in an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation," appeared skeptical that Holder had known as little about the "Fast & Furious" operation as he indicated in a May 3 Judiciary Committee hearing, when he said, "I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast & Furious for the first time over the last few weeks."

Issa disputed that timing, and said Holder "clearly knew more than he said when he said he only first heard of this program a few weeks before.

"His chief of staff had intimate details; we have notes in his handwriting that shows that the number two and Eric Holder's right hand had intimate details for long time," Issa told CBS' Bob Schieffer. "One of the questions is, why wouldn't you tell your boss about a program that had gotten so out-of-control that it had all kinds of people scurrying to try to stop it?"

CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson first reported on the case in February, when she learned that an operation called "Project Gunrunner" being run by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) had resulted in agents letting thousands of guns "walk" into the hands of suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels. While the operation aimed to take down a major cartel, two of those weapons turned up at the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry last December.

Documents obtained by CBS News earlier this month indicate, too, that Holder had been briefed on "Fast & Furious" as far back as July 2010.

Issa said he believes there may have been another gun found at the scene of Terry's death - a weapon he dubbed "weapon number one" - and that if that gun exists and is proven to be the murder weapon, it would conclusively tie "Fast and Furious" to the murder.

"If weapon number one [which] appears to be missing were ballistically matched, we would have an absolute rather than the inconsistency," he said.

When asked directly if he were suggesting that the FBI may had tampered with evidence at the crime scene, Issa equivocated.

"We're not suggesting that, but when you have tickets [labeling the weapons found at the scene] that are numbered 2 and 3 and there's no ticket 1... When agents who were at Brian Terry's funeral made statements to his mother indicating that there were three weapons, when the two weapons that they have tested don't conclusively match up, then you look and say, 'Well, was there a third weapon at the scene? Were there additional people who escaped with weapons?' The Terry family has suffered a great deal."

"It doesn't seem like the answers are coming," he said.

The FBI has stated that reports of the recovery of a third gun at the Brian Terry murder scene are false, and that concealment of evidence does not serve justice or advance the mission to which this agency is committed.

Attkinson, who also appeared on "Face the Nation," pointed out that one reason evidence might be withheld is if it were "matched to a confidential informant that was being used by DEA or FBI or another agency."

"There are a lot of questions out there because other agencies were involved in this operation," she said.

Issa pledged to "get to the bottom of the problem," and has subpoenaed hundreds, if not thousands, of pages' worth of documents from the Justice Department as part of his investigation. He complained that many of the documents he has received so far have been heavily redacted or blacked out entirely - and suggested that there was reason to believe not all of the documents were "authentic."

"I have countless pages that look like this," Issa told Schieffer, holding up a document that appeared to be almost completely blacked out. "There's clearly details that have been redacted that we should have. Our subpoenas have been very narrow. In some cases it's because a whistleblower gives us a document... We have a document. It causes us to narrowly ask for a document - to get the same document but ensure it's authentic."

Again Issa declined to say, when asked, that he thought some of the documents have been tampered with. But he argued the redactions in and of themselves qualified as "tampering."

"When you black out a document and there is responsive information underneath, that's a form of tampering," he said. "We're not accusing anyone of a criminal cover-up. But we have an obligation, a real obligation to the Terry family and a real obligation to the Constitution, to follow this to ensure that Justice Department ... and all of its tentacles in law enforcement do the kind of jobs that witnesses who came from there said they want to do and always do."

As to whether or not he thought Holder should resign, Issa said, "that's for the president to decide."

[erichsh]

So CBS - is Holder hiding facts or isn't he? Do some REAL reporting and answer the question! Don't try to hide Holder's true behavior behind the partisan criticism of an Republican.

[Lorraine_Conley]

March 24, 2009 Deputy Attorney General David Ogden states under the leadership of Barack Hussein Obama II a new program him (Deputy Attorney General David Ogden) and (Attorney General Eric Holder) will personally facilitate "Project Gunrunner" U.S.-Mexico Border Security Policy - C-SPAN Video Library http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/284798-4 On December 3, 2009 it was announced that he (Deputy Attorney General David Ogden) would be resigning his post and returning to private practice in February 2010. According to news accounts, Ogden stepped down in part because of disagreements with Attorney General Eric Holder over management issues.- Smoking Gun: Obama Ordered Operation Fast and Furious - Project Gunrunner - 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFrApLNmjtk

[bobw741]

Maybe the Department of justice and the FBI should release the records on Rep. Issa and his criminal activity to the public before and while he has been a Congressman.This is just another GOP ploy to try and find information they don't have or ever existed. Rep. Issa is the one who should be under investigation.

[steven_felton]

Again and again two wrongs make a RIGHT? Really?

Mommy he hit me! well you hit me first!

[hsinco-2009]

No more than Issa is hiding his felony record.

[steven_felton]

Again and again two wrongs make a RIGHT? Really?

Mommy he hit me! well you hit me first!

[bigsk8fan]

speaking of secretus: when will rep issa disclose all the money he and his business have reaped from the fedl govt? and all the extra benefits, like how much did the fedl govt pay to pave the new roads, bus stops, etc near his business?

[steven_felton]

Again and again two wrongs make a RIGHT? Really?

Mommy he hit me! well you hit me first!

[forumcomments]

In addition to the emails obtained by Fox News, an audio recording from a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent investigating the Terry case seems to confirm the existence of a third weapon. In that conversation, the agent refers to an "SKS assault rifle out of Texas" found at the Terry murder scene south of Tucson.

The FBI refused to answer a detailed set of questions submitted to officials by Fox News. Instead, agency spokesman Paul Bresson said, "The Brian Terry investigation is still ongoing so I cannot comment." Bresson referred Fox News to court records that only identify the two possible murder weapons.

However, in the hours after Terry was killed on Dec. 14, 2010, several emails written to top ATF officials suggest otherwise.

In one, an intelligence analyst writes that by 7:45 p.m. -- about 21 hours after the shooting -- she had successfully traced two weapons at the scene, and is now "researching the trace status of firearms recovered earlier today by the FBI."

In another email, deputy ATF-Phoenix director George Gillett asks: "Are those two (AK-47s) in addition to the gun already recovered this morning?"


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/09/exclusive-third-gun-linked-to-fast-and-furious-identified-at-border-agents/#ixzz1b2q58KFT

[rightbehind]

innuendo

[forumcomments]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/09/exclusive-third-gun-linked-to-fast-and-furious-identified-at-border-agents/

[impactors]

Is anyone surprised? I know, transarency, transparency, ya right. The American voting public. Out of a combination of ignorance, frustration, and dispair. went to the polls, not to choose the best candidate, but as been the case for years now. The least worst of the two, The result was the election of a senator from one of, if not the most corrupt political machines this nation has ever seen. And they think he's going to be re-born into a state of honesty? He's going to save us from the unbelievable corruption. He's going do a great job. Well, I guess he has. The greatest threat this nation has seen since WWII. Is not from Al-Kaida or any other terrorist nation. At this time, not from China. Although that threat is on the horizon. No, the greatest threat to America and our way of life is this country's present administration. Although I believe it's too late. The American people had a chance to save this nation. But they had to do something they're not capable of. I'm referring to thinking outside the two party political box. Herman Cain says that a segment of the black voters are brainwashed, and he is right. But how can anyone deny that the majority of Americans ARE NOT? Every four years voters go to the poles and elect one of the mainstream corrupt as h-ll parties. After four years of their on going policy directed at filling their own pockets and destroying our nation. They return to the poles and elect the other mainstream, totally corrupt mainstream party. Then after four or eight years of that party filling their own pockets and continuing the two party plan to destroy the nation. The voters return once again to the polls, and elect a candidate from the party they tossed out before. Then, as usual. That party continues to fill their pockets and the pockets of their supporters, and the beat goes on. Will the American voters ever, ever, come to the conclusion that performing the same experiment over and over and expecting a different result, is pure STUPIDITY??? Well learned voters. Don't worry, be happy. Enjoy every minute exercising what little freedom you have left. At least Obama hasn't started the re-education camps or the ovens yet. He's busy trying to indirectly wipe out all the seniors. If his policies dealing with seniors are found to be too slow, what then? If you believe that Obama's plan for the future. Your future, my future and the future of your children. Does not run parallel to that of all socialist regemes, better think again. Oh, it can never happen? Not here in America. Let me fill you in on a little bit of history. When the German people first saw Adolf Hitler, they thought he was a joke. After Hitler was elected to office and began isolating the Jews and forcing them to migrate. Then forced them to live in a places like the Warsaw getto. The people said to themselves, he'll go away. He won't be here after the election. A short time later, Hitler ended elections. The rest is all history. Right now, certain politicians are calling for the temporary end to next year's elections. Does that ring a bell? Funny, that's just how it began in pre-WWII Germany. But don't worry, it can't happen here.

[destruk3]

Oh nothing to see here. Look! Over there! There is Iran, and there is Syria! Look over there at what Iran tried to do and Syria is doing! Don't look at us...