There are two sources for this article–Andrew McCarthy today at PJMedia and a Washington Times article also posted today.
Yesterday President Obama asserted executive privilege in refusing to allow the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to see the documents they have requested regarding Operation Fast and Furious.
The article at PJMedia quotes the Wall Street Journal‘s description of the Obama Administration’s narrative on Fast and Furious:
The gun-walking tactics in Fast and Furious turned up in earlier ATF cases, during the Bush administration. When they were uncovered by Justice officials in the Obama administration, a top Justice official raised concerns with ATF officials, according to Justice documents released last year. But the officials never alerted Mr. Holder, didn’t do enough to prevent similar cases and weren’t aware the operation was under way until months later, according to Justice documents.
Mr. Holder, in a letter last week to Mr. Issa, said, “The record in this matter reflects that until allegations about the inappropriate tactics used in Fast and Furious were made public, department leadership was unaware of those tactics.”
I’m waiting for someone to stand up and say, “I didn’t know the guns were loaded.” Unfortunately, the Obama Administration’s narrative has a few problems–Andrew McCarthy points out that there were wiretaps involved in Fast and Furious. Under law, wiretaps have to approved directly by the Attorney General or his appointee. If the Attorney General approved the wiretaps, how come he didn’t know anything about Fast and Furious?
The Washington Times reports:
Mr. Boehner’s press secretary, Brendan Buck, said that until now “everyone believed that the decisions regarding Fast and Furious were confined to the Department of Justice. The White House decision to invoke executive privilege implies that White House officials were either involved in the Fast and Furious operation or the cover-up that followed.
“The administration has always insisted that wasn’t the case. Were they lying, or are they now bending the law to hide the truth?” he asked.
“This is a very sad day for the United States of America,” said Rep. John L. Mica, Florida Republican, concerning the president’s assertion of executive privilege. “There is no way this committee is not entitled to these documents.”
As in most Washington scandals, it seems as if one of the major problems with Operation Fast and Furious is going to be the cover-up. A border patrol officer was killed with a weapon that Fast and Furious allowed to be sold and send to Mexico. That alone should be enough for Congress to get any information it asks for in order to ascertain exactly what happened.
I strongly suggest that you follow the links above to PJMedia and the Washington Times to read the entire stories. This is a serious scandal that has been misreported and under-reported in the major media.
