Holder's Dept. of Justice 'Aware of' ATF Gunrunning

From Anthony Martin, Conservative Examiner

Breaking--CBS News: ATF whistleblower indicates high level approval of scheme

March 25th, 2011 5:35 pm ET

In a new development in the continuing scandal at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives--a division of the Department of Justice--CBS News is reporting today that Barack Obama is denying all knowledge of the illegal scheme but that an ATF whistleblower insists that someone in the highest levels of the Administration not only knew about it but gave their approval.

The ATF's lead official in Mexico, Darren Gill, reported in an exclusive interview with CBS News today that his Washington Bureau supervisor told him point-blank that the person who approved the scheme is higher up in the Administration than ATF director Kenneth Melson.

That would mean at the very least the Justice Department, which has oversight of the agency.

A video of the interview can be found in the top left column. A second portion of the interview can be found at the CBS News site.

The key portion of the interview is in this exchange:

"Is the director aware of this," Gil asked the supervisor. Gil says his supervisor answered "Yes, the director's aware of it. Not only is the director aware of it, D.O.J.'s aware of it... Department of Justice was aware of it."

Gil goes on to say senior Justice official Lanny Breuer and several of his deputies visited Mexico amid the controversy last summer, and spoke to ATF staff generally about a big trafficking case that they claimed was "getting good results." Gil says Melson, ATF's Acting Director, also visited Mexico City. Gil's Deputy Attache and his Analyst questioned Melson about the case that surrounding all the weapons showing up in Mexico. "His response was 'it's a good case, it's still going on,'" recalls Gil, "and we'll close it down as soon as we possibly can."

Thus, not only is the ATF's acting director implicated in illegal activity, but so is someone yet unnamed at the Department of Justice.

continues

CBS News video:

Republicans Plan to Hire Dozens of Investigators to Target Obama - Western Jounalism

Also, for the record...

Republicans Plan to Hire Dozens of Investigators to Target Obama
Posted by Caleb on June 18, 2010 · Comments (48) [I.O. Ed: comments at W.J.]

Rep. Darrell Issa, the conservative firebrand whose specialty is lobbing corruption allegations at the Obama White House, is making plans to hire dozens of subpoena-wielding investigators if Republicans win the House this fall.

if the Republicans win the majority Rep. Issa is going after Obama’s corruption

The California Republican’s daily denunciations draw cheers from partisans and bookings from cable TV producers. He even bought his own earphone for live shots. But his bombastic style and attention-seeking investigations draw eye rolls from other quarters. Now, he’s making clear he won’t be so easy to shrug off if he becomes chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in 2011.

Issa has told Republican leadership that if he becomes chairman, he wants to roughly double his staff from 40 to between 70 and 80. And he is not subtle about what that means for President Barack Obama.

At a recent speech to Pennsylvania Republicans here, he boasted about what would happen if the GOP wins 39 seats, and he gets the power to subpoena.

“That will make all the difference in the world,” he told 400 applauding party members during a dinner at the chocolate-themed Hershey Lodge. “I won’t use it to have corporate America live in fear that we’re going to subpoena everything. I will use it to get the very information that today the White House is either shredding or not producing.”

Read More: By JAMES HOHMANN & JAKE SHERMAN, Politico

...and I encourage you to see this and other matters of policy and politics, also perhaps to scan the comments, at Western Journalism.

h/t: CJ

Massive Fascist Collusion Between Obama/Pelosi Democrats & General Electric, Uncovered by Bill O'Reilly

I.O. may update about this posting later, but as for now, suggests you tune into The O'Reilly Factor, on Fox News.

Then, link in to The Mark S. McGrew Show, tonight...

Thursday April 23, 2009, 9pm ET,,, 6pm PST

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Sentinel_Radio

Join the discussion by calling: (646) 727-2652

FBI Investigating 38+ Cases Related to Financial Crisis (ABC News)

Will these investigators be motivated to get to the depths of the financial crisis -- including Congress -- including the Cloward-Piven organization behind the revised Community Reinvestment Act? Keep in mind that naysayers of the CRA's impact ignore how this condoned the practice of giving out bad mortgages, overall. After all, what goes for Fannie-Mae "backed" mortgages to poor people in the inner city also goes in principle for unregulated mortgagers and their loans to others. "Fairness," after all....

That, not to mention the large mortgagers being sued (by Barack Obama and other ACORN lawyers) to make unjustified loans. I.O. is looking for the video of the man who said he was in a board meeting at a bank, when ACORN people broke into the room and encircled all at the table, standing silently behind them for awhile, then departing -- one of them being Barack Obama.

Initial excerpt from the recommended ABC News article:

Fraud 'Directly Related' to Financial Crisis Probed
FBI Agents Could be Reassigned from National Security Due to Booming Caseload
By Jason Ryan, Feb. 11, 2009

The FBI has opened investigations into more than 500 cases of alleged corporate fraud, including 38 that involve major firms and are "directly related" to the national economic crisis, FBI Deputy Director John Pistole told Congress today.

FBI Says 38 Firms Directly Involved in Current Financial Crisis Could Expand to Over 100 firms Currently Over 500 Ongoing Corporate Fraud Investigations; TARP IG Warns of Fraud (ABC News Photo Illustration)

The surge in white-collar investigations is putting such a strain on the FBI that Pistole said the bureau is considering reassigning agents from national security, which has been the bureau's priority since the 9/11 attacks.

"The FBI has more than 530 open corporate fraud investigations, including 38 corporate fraud and financial institution matters directly related to the current financial crisis," Pistole told the Senate Judiciary Committee today.

The 38 companies, he said, "are significantly large companies, businesses everyone knows about but I cannot comment publicly."

Pistole's comments suggested widespread criminal activity among many of the nation's corporate giants.

"These are significantly large, similar to Enron," Pistole said. The number of firms under scrutiny could eventually top 100, as the investigations widen, he said.

Will this federal investigation flesh out all the criminals and scoundrels on and behind the scene, or will it be used to focus the spotlights away from Congress and the friends of Barack? Clue-1: just look for the words, "Congress" and "oversight." Clue-2: who is being targeted, but private enterprises, a.k.a., capitalists, a.k.a., bourgeosie?

One must believe there was oversight -- just not moral, ethical oversight. Then, what kind of oversight?

hat tip: Carmen the Journalist

Fitzgerald Finally Makes a Move: Blagojevich - and what of Obama?

Law enforcement never sleeps -- and in Chicago the Feds can hardly catch a nap

Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich is under arrest. It's the Rezko investigation, which led to much more, into a "political corruption crime spree." This includes trying to sell Barack Obama's seat on the U.S. Senate. And this, along with fresh evidence of attempted manipulation of the Chicago Tribune by Blagojevich, apparently triggered the arrest, in an otherwise long, arduous effort of collecting information, the kind for which Fitzgerald is famous. What I.O. has noted throughout the day follows.

On Illinois Review - "Source: Feds take Gov. Blagojevich into custody" (The FBI took him from home shortly after 6am CT.) This is also subject matter that HillBuzz covers. And let's give John Kass a day or two and see what he says. And, the I.O. sidebar should be interesting to watch.

On CBS-2 News Chicago, via Drudge - "CROOK COUNTY: GOVERNOR, YOU'RE UNDER ARREST"

11:30am CT, on TV - Patrick Fitzgerald is giving a press conference (C-SPAN link). He credits the Chicago Tribune, which found key information (in its face) held it from the public for awhile at the request of federal investigators, then published it Friday. This apparently led to even further evidence via bug or "wire," and wiretap. Instances of pay to play in state contracts are also in the complaint.

On Obama - Fitzgerald said that the complaint makes no allegations about him, "and that's all I can say," an interesting way to put it. See the exact quote, below.

Fitzgerald also stressed, "I encourage people to talk to us... to let us get to the bottom of what has happened here," and later reiterated, "...we need people, in the public, to stand up and say 'enough.'"

Later - Talking Democrat heads are starting to play Blago as a nutty oddball, while Obama tried to stay away from it all, yada, yada, "aloof," yada.

2:21pm CT. on TV - Obama: "saddened and sobered" about Blago, but since there is an ongoing investigation, he does not want to comment. (Instead, he focuses on spreading Al Gore's ploy for man-made global socialism, now inconveniently relabeled "climate change," as if this is news to the Earth.) Reporters lunge. Obama: "...sad day... ...won't comment..." Oh, but he hasn't spoken with the Illinois Governor lately, not even about the Senate seat he has just vacated. Even though he by some reports, had Valerie Jarrett in mind for it.

4:46 CT - The Patriot Room is requesting information about which of the Obama advisers were communicating to Blagojevich.

5:19 CT - A video of the entire federal investigator interview is on C-SPAN.org. In the video, the first question and answer I find, specifically about Obama occurs at about 18:07. He is asked if he would address whether or not "Obama was aware that any of these things were taking place." Fitzgerald replied, "I'm not gonna speak for what the president-elect [sic] was aware of. We make no allegations that he is aware of anything and that's i-as simply as I can put it."

The second Obama Q&A occurs at 32:19. Fitzgerald was asked a question in an interesting way:

"You spoke before about if senator - you didn't know the awareness that senator - president-elect Barack Obama knew about this [I.O., he did not say this. The reporter seems to be grappling for words to put in Fitzgerald's mouth, prone to clear Obama.] so is it safe to say he has not been briefed and can you also tell us if any phone calls were made to president-elect Obama that you intercepted or to Rahm Emanuel?

Fitzgerald responded:

I'm not going to go down anything that's not in the complaint and what I simply said before is I'm not gonna -- I have enough trouble speaking for myself -- I'm never gonna try and speak in the voice of a president or a president-elect. So, I simply pointed out that if you look at the complaint, there is no allegation that the president-elect -- there's no reference in the complaint to any conversations involving the president-elect, or indicating that the president-elect was aware of it and that's all I can say.

What does this mean for Barack Obama, regarding any matters such as: the Rezko land deal, the Broadway Bank loan, and the odd favor of anointing Alexi Giannoulias, his man for IL Treasury Secretary? Did Obama or his staff know of Blago's senatorial shakedown and come clean to the Feds? Have Obama and Blago been in touch, lately, as David Axelrod has stated, but Obama and staff later denied?

There are many allegations in the federal complaint and it has taken a great deal of time for the FBI to collect all the evidence gained so far, in its ongoing work. One does wonder how much they have learned about Obama during this time and why Fitzgerald continues to plea to citizens in the know, to come clean.


PS, 12/11 - I think I've seen Brando give that hug... or was it Pacino?