Allegheny County Sportsmen's League Legislative Committee Report

Allegheny County Sportsmen’s League Legislative Committee Report May 2012 Issue 2011 ALLEGHENY COUNTY SPORTSMEN LEAGUE ON THE INTERNET http://www.acslpa.org Contacts: Legislative Committee Chairman, Kim Stolfer (412.221.3346) - [email protected] Legislative Committee Vice-Chairman, Mike Christeson - [email protected] Founding Fathers: "Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them." --Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833 Issa releases blistering memo supporting Committee recommends that Congress find the Holder contempt citation Attorney General in contempt for his failure to By Dave Workman, comply with the subpoena issued to him.” Senior Editor The 64-page memorandum, sent to members of the House Oversight House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa has Committee, includes a draft contempt citation for issued a blistering Holder. It notes that, “Much of Operation Fast and memorandum detailing Furious remained a mystery when the Department of his case for issuing a Justice forcefully dismissed whistleblower accusations Contempt of Congress and denied that anything improper had occurred to citation against Attorney Congress on February 4, 2011.” General Eric Holder for the Justice Department’s This refers to a letter sent to Senator Charles stonewalling and cover-up on the investigation of Grassley (R-IA), ranking member on the Senate Operation Fast and Furious. Judiciary Committee, by then-Assistant Attorney The memorandum alleges that, “For over a year, General Ronald Weich, in response to two inquiries the Department has issued false denials, given Grassley sent to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, answers intended to misdirect investigators, sought to Firearms and Explosives, related to accusations of intimidate witnesses, unlawfully withheld subpoenaed “gun walking.” It was in that letter – later rescinded documents, and waited to be confronted with by the Justice Department – that Weich told Grassley, indisputable evidence before acknowledging “…the allegation…that ATF ‘sanctioned’ or uncomfortable facts.” Read the memorandum here. otherwise knowingly allowed the sale of assault The Issa memo further contends that the Justice weapons to a straw purchaser who then transported Department has shown “demonstrable contempt for them into Mexico—is false.” the congressional investigation” and “has inflicted But months of investigation, conducted jointly by harm on the people of two nations seeking the truth – Issa’s committee and Grassley’s office, proved and very pointedly on the family of fallen Border otherwise. Patrol Agent Brian Terry and ATF whistleblowers In his memorandum, Issa asks, “Why, after all, who now face retaliation in the wake of their own would anyone be so stupid as to think arming drug heroic efforts to expose wrongdoing.” cartels was a good idea?” Issa, a California Republican who has been point TGM and its predecessor, Gun Week, have been on man pushing the congressional investigation, adds in the forefront of the Fast and Furious story for more his executive summary, “Having exhausted all than 15 months. The Issa memorandum calls attention available options in obtaining compliance, the to the fact that “A congressional investigation and Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform reports by journalists utilizing whistleblowers and other sources have shed immense light on what Issa’s memorandum details how Operation Fast occurred and why.” and Furious was initiated and how it eventually went After Issa released his memorandum, Grassley off the rails, and how the Justice Department allegedly issued the following statement: began stonewalling Congress on the investigation. It “The subpoena authority of the House Oversight also notes that former U.S. Attorney for Arizona Committee, and the Chairman’s willingness to use it, Dennis Burke—who resigned abruptly last August— helped shed light on Operation Fast and Furious and had stalled on indictments against street-level straw the Justice Department’s desire to allow guns to walk buyers. Further Issa said “…no one at ATF into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. Congressman headquarters ordered the Phoenix Field Division to Issa deserves credit for moving forward on contempt. simply arrest the straw purchasers in order to take The Attorney General and the Justice Department are them off the street.” thumbing their nose at the constitutional authority According to the memorandum, “Fast and Furious provided to the legislative branch to conduct first came to the attention of ATF Headquarters on oversight. December 8, 2009, just weeks after the case was “The Attorney General is facing a real test of officially opened in Phoenix. ATF’s Office of leadership here. He has a choice to make. He can Strategic Information and Intelligence (OSII) briefed force the department to come clean, or he can force a senior ATF personnel about the case on December 8, high-stakes political conflict between the legislative 2009, discussing in detail a large recovery of Fast and and executive branches. It’s past time to hold Furious weapons in Naco, Sonora, Mexico. accountable those public officials responsible for our “The next day, December 9, 2009, the Acting ATF own government’s role in walking guns into the hands Director (Kenneth Melson) first learned about Fast of criminals. The family of Agent Terry deserves and Furious and the large recovery of weapons that more than what they’re getting from this had already occurred. The following week, OSII administration.” briefed senior ATF officials about another large cache Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC), a member of of Fast and Furious weapons that had been recovered the Oversight Committee, released a statement noting in Mexico. that “It did not have to come to this.” “On January 5, 2010, OSII presented senior ATF “Congress has been patient – indeed too patient in officials with a summary of all of the weapons that my judgment – with the Department of Justice and its could be linked to known straw purchasers in Fast and failure to comply with the lawful request for the Furious. In just two months, these straw purchasers production of documents,” Gowdy said. “I understand bought a total number of 685 guns. This number that for some everything is political. Surely the raised the ire of several individuals in the room, who Department of Justice can rise above petty, partisan expressed concerns about the growing operation. politics and comply with a subpoena. The Department “On March 5, 2010, ATF headquarters hosted a of Justice expects others to comply with subpoenas larger, more detailed briefing on Operation Fast and yet they will not do so themselves.” Furious. David Voth, the Group Supervisor A freshman congressman and former federal overseeing Fast and Furious, traveled from Phoenix to prosecutor, Gowdy said Congress has a constitutional give the presentation. He gave an extremely detailed responsibility to exercise oversight over the Executive synopsis of the status of the investigation, including Branch. the number of guns purchased, weapons seizures to “For us to make it as a republic,” he said, “the date, money spent by straw purchasers, and citizens must have confidence in the institutions of organizational charts of the relationships among straw justice and must have confidence in the top law purchasers and to members of the Sinaloa drug cartel. enforcement official in the country. How can they At that point, the straw purchases had bought 1,026 possibly have either if the Department of Justice is weapons, costing nearly $650,000.” withholding documents, ignoring legal process, and Issa asserts in his executive summary that the providing no answers when lives have been lost and Justice Department’s “refusal to work with Congress will continue to be lost as a result of this botched and to ensure that it has fully complied with the terribly ill-conceived operation?” Committee’s efforts to compel the production of documents and information related to this controversy documents related to Operation Fast and Furious. So is inexcusable and cannot stand.” far, he said, the few thousand pages of documents that Noting that allowing an estimated 2,000 firearms to have been delivered have curiously not included any be walked into the hands of Mexican drug cartel e-mails or memoranda with Holder’s name on them. gunmen “may have led to the death” of Border Patrol That prompted Gowdy to recall from his days as a agent Brian Terry in December 2010, Issa disdained prosecutor that when there are documents that would the operation. benefit someone’s case, “most people go ahead and “The consequences,” Issa said, “of the lack of produce them pretty quickly.” However, when judgment that permitted such an operation to occur are someone either destroys evidence or withholds it, tragic.” The GunMag May/2012 there is the presumption that the evidence is detrimental to their case. Republicans moving on contempt citation When Gowdy spoke with TGM, he was heading for Holder; Gowdy says ‘He will comply’ into a meeting with Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), By Dave Workman, Senior Editor chairman of the House Oversight Committee. He CBS News is reporting that House Republicans are indicated that the subject was Fast and Furious, and preparing to pursue a contempt citation against that two other committee members with backgrounds Attorney General Eric Holder, in an attempt to force as prosecutors were also attending. him into releasing thousands of pages of documents Issa and Senator Charles Grassley have complained that have been subpoenaed by the House Committee for months that Holder and his subordinates in the on Oversight and Government Reform relating to Justice Department have been withholding documents. Operation Fast and Furious. Many of the documents that have been provided to the The gun trafficking sting operation was mounted committee have been so heavily redacted as to be by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and useless.

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