Thread: Issa Issues Subpoena to Holder in Fast and Furious Investiga

Issa Issues Subpoena to Holder in Fast and Furious Investigation

Published October 12, 2011
| FoxNews.com

Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a subpoena Wednesday to Attorney General Eric Holder as part of his investigation into the gun trafficking operation known as "Fast and Furious."

"Top Justice Department officials, including Attorney General Holder, know more about Operation Fast and Furious than they have publicly acknowledged," the California Republican said in a statement. "The documents this subpoena demands will provide answers to questions that Justice officials have tried to avoid since this investigation began eight months ago. It's time we know the whole truth."

The subpoena seeks, among other things, all communications regarding the operation from 16 top Justice officials, including Holder, his chief of staff, Gary Grindler, and the head of the department's criminal division, Lanny Breuer, as well as correspondence on specific dates to and from the former head of the ATF's Phoenix field division, William Newell.

It also asks for all documents and communications referring or relating to the murder of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agent Jaime Zapata, including any correspondence outlining the details of Zapata's mission at the time he was murdered.

Zapata was killed in a drug cartel ambush on a northern Mexican highway with a gun that was purchased in a town outside Forth Worth, Texas. Three Dallas-area men -- one accused of buying the gun, his brother and their neighbor -- are facing federal weapons charges, although none related to Zapata's death.

Congressional investigators are also demanding information regarding the investigation into the death of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. Two guns found at Terry's crime scene were linked to the failed operation that allowed more than 2,000 weapons to "walk."

The subpoena asks for correspondence that Justice Department officials had with the White House about the gun trafficking operation, as well as what information was shared by Justice officials in Mexico.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, sharply criticized Issa for sending the subpoena.

"This subpoena is a deep-sea fishing expedition and a gross abuse of the committee's authority," he said. "It demands tens of thousands of pages of highly sensitive law enforcement and national security materials that have never been requested before and are completely unrelated to Operation Fast and Furious. Rather than legitimate fact-gathering, this looks more like a political stunt."

This second subpoena follows the first one issued in March to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Asked about the development Tuesday, Holder said his department "will undoubtedly comply with them," noting that Justice officials have already sent "thousands of pages of documents up to the Hill."

But Holder wouldn't answer whether he or anyone else at the department knew about the controversial tactics.

Holder addressed the matter at the end of a press conference about an alleged Iran-tied terror plot foiled by U.S. investigators. "What I want the American people to understand is that in complying with those subpoenas and dealing with that inquiry, that will not detract us from the important business that we have here to do at the Justice Department, including matters like the one that we have announced today," Holder said.

The new subpoena follows a week of back and forth between congressional investigators and Justice Department officials of "who knew what, when." Under scrutiny was Holder's testimony from May 3 when he told Issa that he "probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks."

Fox News obtained documents addressed to Holder as early as nine months before that, which described the concept of Fast and Furious.

In addition to the congressional investigation being led by Issa and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, is calling for a special counsel to look into the matter.

Fox News' William Lajeunesse and Mike Levine contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10 ... stigation/

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Congressional Investigators to Subpoena Holder in Fast and Furious Probe
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-252364.html

Trail of Guns, Death, and Invasion Leads To Barack Obama

http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-251834-0-da ... rasc-.html

by William Gheen
President of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC
www.ALIPAC.us

October 5, 2011

So now Obama's appointed Attorney General Eric Holder has been caught lying to Congress and lying to the public, right in the middle of this scandal.

We know that the Fast and Furious scandal and the trail of guns, death, and invasion of US States leads right back to Barack Obama for several reasons.

OPERATION GUNRUNNER Information Collection Point
http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-233906-0-da ... rasc-.html

Full coverage: ATF's Fast and Furious scandal
http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-1274303-.html#1274303


What Eric Holder knew …
http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-252248-0-da ... rasc-.html

But Holder's Friday letter digs a deeper hole for the attorney general. Holder denied in writing that he had ever heard of "Fast and Furious" "prior to the public controversy about it." The public controversy was the assassination of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry in December 2010 with guns the drug assassins got from the "Fast and Furious" buys.

In May 2011, Holder told Congress he "became aware" of "Fast and Furious" only "a few weeks ago." Last Friday's letter contradicts that statement.

Now will Obama and Hillary be next?

Originally Posted by TakingBackSoCal

Now will Obama and Hillary be next?

===========================

A week ago, I would have said such a concept of catching Hillary in this giant fishnet was impossible.

What a difference a day makes.

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My sources say that as Hillary's trusted subordinate, it was Shapiro who first described to the Secretary of State the details of what has become the Gunwalker Scandal.

The precise extent to which Hillary Clinton's knowledge of, and responsibility for, the Gunwalker Plot, lies within the memories of these two men, Shapiro and Steinberg, sources say.

The sources also express dismay that the Issa committee is apparently restricting itself to the Department of Justice and not venturing further afield. The House Foreign Affairs Committee, they say, needs to summon these two men and their subordinates -- especially at the Mexico Desk at State -- and question them under oath as to what Hillary Clinton knew about the origins of the Gunwalker Scandal and when she knew it.

There is one other thing those sources agree upon. The CIA, they say, knows "everything" about the "Mexican hat dance" that became the Gunwalker Scandal.

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SMOKESCREEN ? >> Iranian Plot to Kill Ambassador

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Fast and Furious Subpoenas

ajc.com
10:19 am October 12, 2011, by Jamie Dupree

House Republicans today announced that they had sent subpoenas to Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department to gain more information about Operation Fast and Furious, the controversial gun-walking program that allowed weapons to go to Mexican drug gangs.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) says his Oversight Committee wants some very basic information, described below.

=

The subpoena seeks the following:

In accordance with the attached schedule instructions, you, Eric H. Holder Jr., are required to produce all records in unredacted form described below:

1. All communications referring or relating to Operation Fast and Furious, the Jacob Chambers case, or any Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) firearms trafficking case based in Phoenix, Arizona, to or from the following individuals:

a. Eric Holder Jr., Attorney General;

b. David Ogden, Former Deputy Attorney General;

c. Gary Grindler, Office of the Attorney General and former Acting Deputy Attorney General;

d. James Cole, Deputy Attorney General;

e. Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney General;

f. Ronald Weich, Assistant Attorney General;

g. Kenneth Blanco, Deputy Assistant Attorney General;

h. Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General;

i. John Keeney, Deputy Assistant Attorney General;

j. Bruce Swartz, Deputy Assistant Attorney General;

k. Matt Axelrod, Associate Deputy Attorney General;

l. Ed Siskel, former Associate Deputy Attorney General;

m. Brad Smith, Office of the Deputy Attorney General;

n. Kevin Carwile, Section Chief, Capital Case Unit, Criminal Division;

o. Joseph Cooley, Criminal Fraud Section, Criminal Division; and,

p. James Trusty, Acting Chief, Organized Crime and Gang Section.

2. All communications between and among Department of Justice (DOJ) employees and Executive Office of the President employees, including but not limited to Associate Communications Director Eric Schultz, referring or relating to Operation Fast and Furious or any other firearms trafficking cases.

3. All communications between DOJ employees and Executive Office of the President employees referring or relating to the President's March 22, 2011 interview with Jorge Ramos of Univision.

4. All documents and communications referring or relating to any instances prior to February 4, 2011 where the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) failed to interdict weapons that had been illegally purchased or transferred.

5. All documents and communications referring or relating to any instances prior to February 4, 2011 where ATF broke off surveillance of weapons and subsequently became aware that those weapons entered Mexico.

6. All documents and communications referring or relating to the murder of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agent Jaime Zapata, including but not limited to documents and communications regarding Zapata's mission when he was murdered, Form for Reporting Information That May Become Testimony (FD-302), photographs of the crime scene, and investigative reports prepared by the FBI.

7. All communications to or from William Newell, former Special Agent-in-Charge for ATF's Phoenix Field Division, between:

a. December 14, 2010 to January 25, 2011; and,

b. March 16, 2009 to March 19, 2009.

8. All Reports of Investigation (ROIs) related to Operation Fast and Furious or ATF Case Number 785115-10-0004.

9. All communications between and among Matt Axelrod, Kenneth Melson, and William Hoover referring or relating to ROIs identified pursuant to Paragraph 7.

10. All documents and communications between and among former U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr., former Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler, Deputy Attorney General James Cole, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein referring or relating to Operation Fast and Furious or any OCDETF case originating in Arizona.

11. All communications sent or received between:

a. December 16, 2009 and December 18, 2009, and;

b. March 9, 2011 and March 14, 2011, to or from the following individuals:

Emory Hurley, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona;
Michael Morrissey, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona;
Patrick Cunningham, Chief, Criminal Division, Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona;
David Voth, Group Supervisor, ATF; and,
Hope MacAllister, Special Agent, ATF.

12. All communications sent or received between December 15, 2010 and December 17, 2010 to or from the following individuals in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona:

a. Dennis Burke, former United States Attorney;

b. Emory Hurley, Assistant United States Attorney;

c. Michael Morrissey, Assistant United States Attorney; and,

d. Patrick Cunningham, Chief of the Criminal Division.

13. All communications sent or received between August 7, 2009 and March 19, 2011 between and among former Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual; Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer; and, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bruce Swartz.

14. All communications sent or received between August 7, 2009 and March 19, 2011 between and among former Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual and any Department of Justice employee based in Mexico City referring or relating to firearms trafficking initiatives, Operation Fast and Furious or any firearms trafficking case based in Arizona, or any visits by Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer to Mexico.

15. Any FD-302 relating to targets, suspects, defendants, or their associates, bosses, or financiers in the Fast and Furious investigation, including but not limited to any FD-302s ATF Special Agent Hope MacAllister provided to ATF leadership during the calendar year 2011.

16. Any investigative reports prepared by the FBI or Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) referring or relating to targets, suspects, or defendants in the Fast and Furious case.

17. Any investigative reports prepared by the FBI or DEA relating to the individuals described to Committee staff at the October 5, 2011 briefing at Justice Department headquarters as Target Number 1 and Target Number 2.

18. All documents and communications in the possession, custody or control of the DEA referring or relating to Manuel Fabian Celis-Acosta.

19. All documents and communications between and among FBI employees in Arizona and the FBI Laboratory, including but not limited to employees in the Firearms/Toolmark Unit, referring or relating to the firearms recovered during the course of the investigation of Brian Terry's death.

20. All agendas, meeting notes, meeting minutes, and follow-up reports for the Attorney General's Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys between March 1, 2009 and July 31, 2011, referring or relating to Operation Fast and Furious.

21. All weekly reports and memoranda for the Attorney General, either directly or through the Deputy Attorney General, from any employee in the Criminal Division, ATF, DEA, FBI, or the National Drug Intelligence Center created between November 1, 2009 and September 30, 2011.

22. All surveillance tapes recorded by pole cameras inside the Lone Wolf Trading Co. store between 12:00 a.m. on October 3, 2010 and 12:00 a.m. on October 7, 2010.

Source: http://blogs.ajc.com/jamie-dupree-washi ... subpoenas/

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Well, I voted yes in the poll - but not sure if it's because thats what I THINK will happen or what I HOPE will happen.