Project Gun-walker and the ATF

[ByblosHex]

This is starting to sound like Game of Thrones...

[twoguns]

This is starting to sound like Game of Thrones...

I don't know anything about games but I am certain that this entire Gun-Walker scheme is no game! These traitors are deadly serious about an end run around your rights and the rule of law.

Resist!

[ByblosHex]

I don't know anything about games but I am certain that this entire Gun-Walker scheme is no game! These traitors are deadly serious about an end run around your rights and the rule of law.
Resist!

Game of Thrones is not a game... it's the first in a series of fiction novels about the political games played by the political elite at the expense of the citizenry and peasantry, along with lies, extortion, blackmail and various other forms of deception.

[twoguns]

Game of Thrones is not a game... it's the first in a series of fiction novels about the political games played by the political elite at the expense of the citizenry and peasantry, along with lies, extortion, blackmail and various other forms of deception.

Thanks for the clarification. I don't usually read novels. I have too many other works (philosophy, economics, history, etc.) to read but I do appreciate the point.

Keep pushing!

[twoguns]

Oh! look everyone, Issa sees movement! ....yeah right.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/...ontempt-charg/

PICKET: Issa expects movement on Holder contempt charge within 'weeks'

By Kerry Picket

April 18, 2012, 11:10AM

Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican and Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has yet to charge Attorney General Eric Holder for contempt of Congress for failing to supply Mr. Issa’s committee with thousands of pieces of documentation relating to the Justice Department’s gun walking operation known as “Fast and Furious.”

Rep. Issa told me on Tuesday night to expect movement on the contempt charge towards A.G. Holder very soon.

“We’re going through a process,” said Congressman Issa. “That process is going to take weeks but not months more.”

In late January, Congressman Issa’s committee threatened contempt proceedings against Attorney General Eric Holder, if Mr. Holder failed to comply with his committee’s congressional subpoenas for the Fast and Furious documents by February 9.

A four-page letter from Mr. Issa to A.G. Holder read:

"If the department continues to obstruct the congressional inquiry by not providing documents and information, this committee will have no alternative but to move forward with proceedings to hold you in contempt of Congress."

When A.G. Holder did not comply with the committee’s subpoena by the February 9 deadline, Rep. Issa sent a seven-page letter to Mr. Holder to note that the AG should designate someone at the Justice Department to “serve as a conduit for dealing with the contempt proceedings, should the department continue to ignore the committee’s subpoena.”

The original subpoena from Mr. Issa’s committee was issued on October 12, 2011, but according to Mr. Issa and Senator Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Congress has received only ten percent of the documents relating to the failed gun walking operation.

[twoguns]

http://www.examiner.com/article/gunw...n-escape-route

Gunwalker Johnny-come-latelies helping to give Holder an escape route

David Codrea
Gun Rights Examiner

“Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash added his name to the chorus of legislators demanding Attorney General Eric Holder resign over Operation Fast and Furious,” The Daily Caller reported Sunday.

“On Monday, Texas Republican Rep. Randy Neugebauer joined the surge in demands for Attorney General Eric Holder’s resignation over Operation Fast and Furious,” a related story informed us.

Those dragging this story kicking and screaming into the public consciousness since the beginning might be inclined to channel Bruce Willis’s “Die Hard” character and say “Welcome to the party, pal.” But a more appropriate response might be “Hold the phone.”

AWOL-to-date Republican opportunists resolutely licking their fingers and holding them up in the air to determine which way the political winds are blowing serve whom, exactly? This is a gift horse that needs to be looked squarely in the mouth—first, because what the hell took them so long to weigh in, and more seriously, is a non-commitment like “I think that maybe it’s time for Mr. Holder to step down” the hardest line these new evangelists are prepared to take?

Guns were walked, people are dead and he “thinks maybe”?

We’re then told Mitt Romney “applaud[ed] NRA leadership for being among the first and most vocal in calling upon Attorney General Holder to resign” at the just-wrapped NRA Annual Meeting.

Hold the applause, even though I’m told it brought down a skillfully-primed house.

Don’t get me wrong: I want more in Congress, the Republican party and gun rights advocacy groups actively working to oust Holder, but statements like this are as meaningless as that House Resolution some are making such great hay from, where an interminable litany of “Whereases” are followed by:

Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress has lost confidence in the Attorney General of the United States.

That’s it? And this is supposed to do what to a dominating, radical agenda-driven career belligerent, backed by his president, his party and his press, who demonstrates his ongoing smirking contempt for their impotence with each day’s continued stonewalling?

The Johnny-come-latelies, whether wittingly or not, are helping Holder avoid accountability with their tepid, do-nothing half measures.

So what is the appropriate response? What goal should those interested in justice be marching toward?

“If Holder simply steps down, much of the incentive to pursue him will evaporate,” this column observed last November:

And if that’s the case, finding out what he may be culpable for, and what he and his boss may have discussed about the matter becomes even more problematic.

[T]he course of action I endorse is something stated many times before in Gun Rights Examiner columns: Conduct an independent investigation and if evidence of crimes is found, prosecute everyone responsible and punish the guilty.

That’s what we need to be insisting on. If that happens, political survivability could be the least of Holder’s problems.

Anything less will not uncover (and actually further obscure) the truth, and will not attain justice.

Anything less will validate the charges by doctrinaire regressives that this is simply a partisan witch-hunt being used for political advantage. Anything less will mean those whose sole priority is the truth are merely being used as pawns.

UPDATE: Now that's more like it. Not a resolution. Not a demand to resign. A contempt charge. A good first step toward others. Make it so.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Gunwalker Johnny-come-latelies helping to give Holder an escape route - National gun rights | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/article/gunw...#ixzz1sW8PIQ00

[twoguns]

http://www.examiner.com/article/gunw...alerts_article

Gunwalker’ suspect gave ATF and border authorities plenty of clues amidst lies

David Codrea
Gun Rights Examiner

From his hospital bed in Birmingham, Ala., Mike Vanderboegh of Sipsey Street Irregulars has obtained a copy of the Department of Justice Report of Investigation of the incident where an ATF agent let a surveilled suspect with prior arrests go, after giving him a $10 bill with her phone number written on it in exchange for his pledge that he’d lead her to bigger fish.

“During the inspection, a Border Patrol Agent assisting the CBPOs [Customs and Border Protection Officers] performed Treasury Enforcement Communication Systems (TECS) subject queries on the subjects which disclosed CELlS-ACOSTA was under investigation for firearms trafficking,” the ROI detailing events of May 29, 2010 reveals.

It’s significant, because the report was prepared by Special Agent Hope McAllister, reviewed by then-Group VII Supervisor David Voth and then- Phoenix Field Division Special Agent in Charge William Newell, and concerns the border stop of Operation Fast and Furious suspect Manuel Celis-Acosta, who was let go with the stated excuse that he had promised to help identify cartel gun buyers. Over the weekend, Gun Rights Examiner posted a copy of Celis-Acosta’s arrest report by the Phoenix Police Department from the month before, another instance where he was inexplicably released without charges.

The ROI shows Celis-Acosta “recanted some of the details” he gave investigators when asked if he knew about “an AK type high capacity drum magazine loaded with 74 rounds of 7.62 ammunition underneath the spare tire in the truck.” It also shows an affiliation with one CHENDI, legal name Claudio Badilla-Jaimes, a Hispanic male originally from Sonora, Mexico, identified by DEA as a “large scale marijuana and multikilogram cocaine trafficker operating out of the Phoenix metropolitan area,” and per Celis-Acosta, a rich cartel member with law enforcement-type emergency lights on his truck who once chewed out Mexican police for stopping his son, asking why he was paying them.

Another significant piece of information contained in the report, yet so far largely unexplored by major media: The participation in the contact interview with Celis-Acosta by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent Layne France, a person first called to the attention of Gun Rights Examiner readers following revelation of a February 3, 2011 letter from ATF Agent Gary Styer that supported allegations by whistleblowing Agent John Dodson and refuted since-withdrawn denials of “gunwalking” by Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich.

“[The participation of SA France] provides direct documentary evidence of group participation outside of Justice, in this case Homeland Security,” this correspondent wrote, “and should provide an entirely new avenue to explore in terms of authorizations, reports and memos/communications.”

The problem with that expectation was, most major media have no intention of exploring any avenue that leads to Washington. It tells us all we need to know that a severely ill man in chronic pain, trying to recover from life-threatening surgery and its complications, including a massive infection, is doing more from his bed in ICU as he drifts in and out of sleep than most of the major "Authorized Journalist" networks and newspapers combined. Remember that the next time some talking point-parroting flack tries to derail the pursuit of truth with snotty comments about paranoid rightwing conspiracy theories and what we really need to save Mexico is a new “assault weapon” ban.

See the sidebar slideshow on the upper left part of this webpage for the ROI. Due to Examiner.com presentation limitations that preclude embedding the actual document, it has been posted from screen captures and you may need to magnify your screen to read small print.

Continue reading on Examiner.com ‘Gunwalker’ suspect gave ATF and border authorities plenty of clues amidst lies - National gun rights | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/article/gunw...#ixzz1sZqHrTuI

[twoguns]

Here we have Media Matters shilling for the administration as they try to critique Katy Pavlich's new book. Go read it. It is shameful!

http://mediamatters.org/research/201204190011

[twoguns]

Keeping it alive with the latest updated summary of this lurid mess.

http://www.examiner.com/article/a-jo...alker-part-ten

A Journalist's Guide to 'Project Gunwalker'-Part Ten

David Codrea
Gun Rights Examiner

Examiner.com article character limits preclude adding more updates to the initial and subsequently-posted Journalist's Guides to Project Gunwalker. This is a continuation of updates from this column and Sipsey Street Irregulars beginning April 10, 2012. It also includes contributions from regional Gun Rights Examiners. It will continue to be updated until file character limits are met, and then a new volume will be started.

Click here for the Part One chronology from Dec. 28, 2010 through March 8, 2011.
Click here for Part Two, beginning on March 9, 2011 and ending on April 15, 2011.
Click here for Part Three, beginning on April 17, 2011 and ending on June 19, 2011.
Click here for Part Four, beginning on June 20, 2011 and ending on July 27, 2011.
Click here for Part Five, beginning July 28, 2011 and ending September 8, 2011.
Click here for Part Six, beginning September 9, 2011 and ending on October 22, 2011
Click here for Part Seven, beginning October 23, 2011 and ending on December 18, 2011.
Click here for Part Eight, beginning December 19, 2011, and ending January 26, 2012.
Click here for Part Nine, beginning January 27, 2012 and ending April 9, 2012.

April 10:

Opportunity to ask Dan Restrepo, Kevin O'Reilly's former boss at the NSC, some Gunwalker Conspiracy questions.

April 14:

‘Gunwalker’ suspect arrested for cocaine month before ATF released him

April 15:

No charges filed in Fast and Furious suspect’s drug and gun bust

April 16:

Promises. promises.

April 18:

Gunwalker Johnny-come-latelies helping to give Holder an escape route

April 19:

‘Gunwalker’ suspect gave ATF and border authorities plenty of clues amidst lies
More promises, promises.

April 21:

Katie Pavlich ‘Fast and Furious’ book acknowledges efforts by others
In Interviews, Author Doesn't Credit Reporters Who Broke Fast and Furious.

From other Gun Rights Examiners

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Anchorage gun shop raises alarms over ATF records request
Holder’s new challenge: Color blindness; Today’s NRA bash
Issa promises NRA that F&F investigation will hold DoJ officials accountable
No Pulitzers for Fast and Furious coverage, no surprise
GSA scandal proves Fast & Furious is ‘tip of the iceberg’


Continue reading on Examiner.com A Journalist's Guide to 'Project Gunwalker'-Part Ten - National gun rights | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/article/a-jo...#ixzz1syICTbTj

[twoguns]

http://www.examiner.com/article/bloo...st-and-furious

Blood on their hands’ seeks to document truth about Fast and Furious

David Codrea
Gun Rights Examiner

“We have launched our new film project ‘Blood on their Hands,” COPS (Citizen’s Organization for Public Safety) Productions CEO Mike McNulty writes in an email to friends and supporters introducing an effort to fund and produce a documentary on government misdeeds resulting in Operation Fast and Furious “gunwalking” crimes.

McNulty is a filmmaker of no small achievement. His production and writing credits include “Waco- The Rules of Engagement,” introduced by actor Robert De Niro at the 1997 Academy Awards, where it was nominated as Best Documentary. From his IMDB biography:

Producer Mike McNulty is Investigative Researcher and Producer of "Waco: A New Revelation." His previous investigative work about Waco earned him an Emmy Award and an Academy Award nomination and Best Documentary of the Year Award from the International Film Association. Mike has in-depth knowledge of the informational and technical demands of documentary productions.

“Our production staff will include my old friend Attorney David Hardy from the Waco days,” McNulty writes on his blog. “Having worked with the Justice department in the past as a Federal Attorney for the EPA, David is our best resource on Holder’s Justice Department and the other US attorneys involved.”

Gun Rights Examiner and War on Guns readers, as well as all knowledgeable gun rights activists, are familiar with Mr. Hardy’s work, his “Of Arms and the Law” blog, and his many contributions including law review articles, books, and his own documentary, “In Search of the Second Amendment.”

“In addition, we will be joined by our old friend Dr. Fred Whitehurst, Retired FBI,” McNulty explains. “The production crew will come from our old friends at Advanced Media. Mr. Chris Bell and his team of pros who helped us produce the ‘FLIR Project’ in 2000 will provide all of the technical support our team will need. There are several others joining our experienced and proven team. “

That said, the film may not get made. Funding for documentaries has always been difficult to obtain without well-resourced backers, and interest in the film community and among their foundation and individual benefactors in exposing the government’s part in sanctioning “gunwalking” is practically nonexistent. In order to deal with that reality, McNulty has turned to us.

He’s established a budget goal of $389,500 which he explains on a “Kickstarter” fundraising page where he’s soliciting individual contributors like you to back this project. Minimum donations start at $1, with progressive contributor thresholds and incentives. It will only be funded if the budget goal is met by May 24, 11:33 pm EDT. Importantly, because the question is a natural, albeit a pessimistic one, per Kickstarter policy, “if the project falls short no one is charged.”

By way of full disclosure, I am prominently featured in the promotion of this project as a citizen journalist involved in helping expose the “gunwalker” story and have agreed to help with it, including by participating as an interview subject. No promises of financial remuneration have been made to me in exchange for my participation, and my expectation is that the team will approach anything I claim objectively.

So now we reach the moment of truth: many of you, over the course of the past year and more have expressed outrage over Fast and Furious, over the way the mainstream media has, for the most part, either ignored or twisted the story to their own ends, and at the interminably slow political process with an outcome that many expect to be disappointed by.

The question now becomes, how outraged are you, really? Enough to do more than leave blog comments…?

Are you willing to help bear the costs? Are you willing to help get the truth out? Without doing that, is there any chance for justice?

Will you make a donation and become a part of what could become an historic project? Will you help spread the word about “Blood on Their Hands” by sharing the link to this column and the links to McNulty’s blog and “Kickstarter” page”?

And if not, will you identify and lead in a superior effort to make the truth known?

Please go here. Right now. Watch the introductory video and read about the project. As you can see, it’s a brand new effort. Please contribute what you can. The pool is now open and a few people have dipped their toes in the water--go ahead and be one of the first to dive in, especially knowing that, if they don‘t raise all the funds, you won’t be charged. And please share the project link via blogs, emails and social media.

Continue reading on Examiner.com ‘Blood on their hands’ seeks to document truth about Fast and Furious - National gun rights | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/article/bloo...#ixzz1t5Mldu90