House Committee to Seek More Info on White House Links to Gunrunner Op

[bonnie]

House Committee to Seek More Info on White House Links to Gunrunner Operation

Thursday, July 28, 2011

By Fred Lucas

A man is reflected in a bullet riddled window of a gym in Tijuana, Mexico, Monday Feb. 28, 2011. According to police at the scene, a man was shot to death by unknown gunmen inside the gym while he was working out. (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias)

(CNSNews.com) – Congressional investigators plan to seek information from the White House National Security Council staff regarding communications about the botched gunrunning sting known as Operation Fast and Furious, which now has a publicized connection to the White House.

“Very clearly, part of the problem is there has been political interference at the highest level,” House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) told CNSNews.com during a conference call Wednesday. “We are going to be asking the National Security Council what occurred.”

On Tuesday, the Oversight Committee held a hearing on Operation Fast and Furious, in which the Phoenix office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) allowed about 2,000 guns to flow to Mexico, through straw purchasers, with the intent of tracing the weapons to Mexican drug trafficking organizations.

At the hearing, a top ATF official, William Newell, took questions about an e-mail he sent to White House staffer Kevin O’Reilly.

The operation, which began in September 2009, was halted in December 2010 after two of the guns from the operation were found at the murder scene of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. With hundreds of guns still unaccounted for, the Justice Department ended the investigation with the indictment of 20 straw purchasers on minor charges.

Newell, the former ATF special agent in charge of the Phoenix field office – now the ATF’s Attaché to Mexico – told the Oversight Committee Tuesday that he communicated with O’Reilly in the fall of 2010. A Sept. 3, 2010 e-mail from Newell to O’Reilly, obtained by the House committee, begins, “You didn’t get this from me.”

As members asked why he informed O’Reilly of this case, Newell said the two are friends. He went on to say the e-mail message “wasn’t improper. He’s been a friend of mine for a long time. He asked me for information.”

Issa said, “It’s amazing” that Newell just happens to have a good friend in the White House.

“This e-mail by the way was not provided to us by the Justice Department. It was given to us by a whistleblower,” Issa added. “He was very quick to answer, he was just a friend. But, very clearly, this is the kind of thing we are discovering. One of the reasons we do these hearings is to inform the public, but also motivate the public. We are finding more good people both in and out of law enforcement.”

Asked further about getting testimony from O’Reilly or others in the NSC, Issa said the committee will make every effort.

“Try yes,” Issa said. “One of things that have made this a slow investigation is that we’re getting no cooperation. Even under subpoena we’re going through that.”

Attorney General Eric Holder told the House Judiciary Committee in May that he only knew about the case in the last few weeks. Meanwhile, the White House has not answered questions as to when President Barack Obama first became aware of the operation.

The highest ranking Obama administration official that the committee knows was aware of the operation early on was Lanny Breuer, the assistant attorney general for the criminal division at the Justice Department. That is because his office approved wiretaps for this operation in spring 2010. Breuer will be called to testify to the committee, Issa said.

“We not only want to stop agents who think this is a good idea – and they are few and far between,” Issa said in the conference call. “We also want to stop the people who funded, authorized, coordinated and helped with the cover-up.”

[Dr. Shane]

I think this news story really highlights the bias of the mainstream media. If this had been a Republican administration the press would be calling for heads to roll. This is story is much bigger than Abu Ghraib.

Mexico is in a war with drug cartels and the US government sells automatic military weapons to the cartels without informing the Mexican government. Hello! Normally when a nation is at war and we sell military weapons to their enemy, that is a big deal. The claim is that we were trying to use the weapons to somehow track the cartels. Well, why weren't gps devices placed on them and, more importantly, why were not government officials in Mexico informed about this?

The idea that we were selling military weapons to the enemy of of one of our allies, strongest trading partners and bordering nation without the Attorney General or the President knowing about it is unbelievable. Whoever did that without the authority from the White House needs to be prosecuted for some crime. Heads need to roll. Who are these people that took it upon themselves to sell military weapons to drug cartels without informing either the Mexican government or the White House?

[Dr. Shane]

Hannity is doing a special on this scandal tonight. I am still baffled that the mainstream press hasn't been all over this. This is way bigger than Abu Ghraib.

[phkrause]

That's not correct. I have heard and seen this story on almost every news station. I also heard them ask for heads to roll, etc.

[Dr. Shane]

I am glad to hear that. My routine has me watching Good Morning America in the mornings, Al Jazerra English and FOXNews in the evenings. I have seen this story a couple times on FOXNews but no where else. Living on the border, everyone here is up in arms about the story. Many in Mexico that I come into contact with while doing missionary work are talking about this. I don't see the national media giving this even half of the attending that Abu Graib got.

Let me list why this is a bigger scandal:

1. Our government was actually selling arms to the enemy of one of our allies.

2. The Mexican drug war is literally on our border.

3. The Mexican drug war claims lives of Americans

4. The drug lords are bringing their product to the US.

Compare that to Abu Graib.

1. Abu Graib was prisoner abuse (no death)

2. The abuse was done to enemies of the US.

3. Prisoner abuse, while not acceptable, is common in most prisons in most countries.

4. The number of people impacted by the abuse was relatively small compared to the number of people killed by Mexican drug cartels using weapons they bought from the US government.

Yet we do not see national media, with perhaps now the exception of FOXNews, beating a drum for heads to roll.

Understand that from the Mexican prospective, we are the enemy now. These drug cartels are terrorizing normal, every-day citizens in Mexico and the US is selling the cartels military weapons. We, the United States of America, have Mexican blood on our hands - and some of our own blood too.

[Tom Wetmore]

I agree with PK. I saw coverage on this months ago by the so-called mainstream media. That Fox is just now catching up with it seems more of an indictment of Fox than the rest of the news media. (I wouldn't necessarily expect Al Jazzera to pick it up...) NBC (and MSNBC) have covered it.

[bonnie]

I agree with PK. I saw coverage on this months ago by the so-called mainstream media. That Fox is just now catching up with it seems more of an indictment of Fox than the rest of the news media. (I wouldn't necessarily expect Al Jazzera to pick it up...) NBC (and MSNBC) have covered it.

There is no comparison to the constant ad-nausem showing of some prisoners being humiliated. Have the pictures of the dead as a result of this idiocy been shown over and over and over.

Death provided by the WhiteHouse administration is probably not as important as being humiliated

[Dr. Shane]

I think PK was just saying that I was mistaken in that the story has been reported widely. I don't think he was trying to say that it wasn't as big of a story as Abu Graib. He can correct me if I am wrong there.

If it is true that neither Obama or Holder knew about this, that is a big major issue right there. If they did know there is a big problem. If they didn't know, there is a big problem. How can the ATF sell military fire arms to the enemy of one of our allies without Obama or Holder knowing about it?

[phkrause]

There is no comparison to the constant ad-nausem showing of some prisoners being humiliated. Have the pictures of the dead as a result of this idiocy been shown over and over and over.

Death provided by the WhiteHouse administration is probably not as important as being humiliated

Not sure what you are trying to say here, but I'm guessing your saying that there was to much pictures of Abu gray. I would agree, and FoxNews played those day after day after day for a long time. I actually thought that the other networks did show very little. Also remember FoxNews saying that they couldn't believe other networks were showing these images, but yet they did the most of it.

[bonnie]

I think PK was just saying that I was mistaken in that the story has been reported widely. I don't think he was trying to say that it wasn't as big of a story as Abu Graib. He can correct me if I am wrong there.

If it is true that neither Obama or Holder knew about this, that is a big major issue right there. If they did know there is a big problem. If they didn't know, there is a big problem. How can the ATF sell military fire arms to the enemy of one of our allies without Obama or Holder knowing about it?

I was not responding to PK however,

It was not treated as nearly as big a story as Abu Graib.Had this been a republican issue we would have been treated to graphic pictures of those who died as a result

There is no issue as the mainstream media supports Obama to the max.

[phkrause]

I think PK was just saying that I was mistaken in that the story has been reported widely. I don't think he was trying to say that it wasn't as big of a story as Abu Graib. He can correct me if I am wrong there.

If it is true that neither Obama or Holder knew about this, that is a big major issue right there. If they did know there is a big problem. If they didn't know, there is a big problem. How can the ATF sell military fire arms to the enemy of one of our allies without Obama or Holder knowing about it?

I agree Shane.

As far as what Obama and Holder knew, I can't really say. Kind of reminds me of the Contra stuff that went on. It almost seems we will never know. Almost seemed as if Oliver North was willing to take the whole hit on himself.

[Dr. Shane]

I think this is around the same scale of a scandal as Iran-Contra was. Of course, in that scandal we sold arms to the enemy of our enemy (not the enemy of an ally), and we funneled the money to the enemy of an enemy, and no Americans got killed with the weapons we sold.

[Tom Wetmore]

While Fox and conservative talking heads would like us to think that, it is simply untrue. I watch and listen to a significant amount of so-called mainstream media and there is no shortage of criticism reported about Obama and no shortage of unflattering, critical and negative commentary.

On the other hand, I don't think you could ever accuse Fox of truly fair and balanced reporting... Nice slogan - too bad they don't actually follow it.

[bonnie]

While Fox and conservative talking heads would like us to think that, it is simply untrue. I watch and listen to a significant amount of so-called mainstream media and there is no shortage of criticism reported about Obama and no shortage of unflattering, critical and negative commentary.

On the other hand, I don't think you could ever accuse Fox of truly fair and balanced reporting... Nice slogan - too bad they don't actually follow it.

You really need to tell the liberal mainstream they don't know what they are talking about and even when they say they are guilty it will be denied by some

Mainstream media admits "bias". ... Whether or not Obama succeeds as president, we have the biased news media ...

www.gather.com/​viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977525476

.Halperin at Politico/USC conf.: 'extreme pro-Obama' press ...

Media bias was more intense in the 2008 election than in any ... since the Iraq war," Halperin said at a panel of media analysts. "It was extreme bias, extreme pro-Obama ...

www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/​15885.html -

Harvard Study Confirms Liberal Media Bias

... the left-wing liberalism, so when it admits to media bias in favor ... Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) front page ... pro-Democratic, pro-liberal bias of mainstream media.

www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/​1922725/posts

[Dr. Shane]

I watch and listen to a significant amount of so-called mainstream media and there is no shortage of criticism reported about Obama

[Dr. Shane]

Just to give an idea of the magnitude of what is going on. The best selling book in Mexico last year was about how the average citizen can avoid being targeted by the drug cartels.

So Mexicans are buying this book, reading it, turning on the news and discovering that the US government is supplying the drug cartels with weapons.

[olger]

NOT good, Shane.