"Gunrunner" investigation heating up on the Hill

by Jim Shepherd

[This] week, the U.S. House of Representatives begins hearings entitled "Obstruction of Justice: Does the Justice Department Have to Respond to Lawfully Issued and Valid Congressional Subpoena?"

According to Washington insiders, this hearing is the amping up of the ongoing battle between members of Congress and the Department of Justice over the Congressional investigation of the ATF's "Fast and Furious" debacle. For months, the Justice Department has tossed their "usual responses" up to delay- some would say "stonewall" -an investigation trying to determine if the ATF knowingly allowed firearms to flow into Mexico, despite the fact there was no doubt the guns were being used for criminal enterprise.

As the investigation's continued, it has become obvious that it wasn't some hare-brained idea dreamed up at the street level of ATF. It was sanctioned, if not created, far up the chain of command at ATF. Evidence being gathered from agents now speaking out on the scandal indicates that it may actually have been a top-down project. If that's the case, well, that's willfully breaking the law. A definite no-no for the agencies charged with protecting Americans from lawbreakers.

At the heart of the investigation, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). He's been joined in the "Fast and Furious" matter by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) since word first leaked out about the operation. Grassley, however, lacks the power of the subpoena. Issa does, and his aides say they're preparing "a slew of subpoenas" for Washington figures in regards to the matter.

Both Issa and Grassley have complained their investigations were stonewalled by the Justice Department-and have made it virtually impossible for what appears to have been a five-year "investigation" to fade from public view. In fact, these two have made it nearly impossible for mainstream media to ignore the story, despite the media's obvious reluctance to give it much attention. Outside "new" media, only CBS News has continued to stay on the story. Other outlets, it seems, are perfectly content to have the matter disappear.

Political leanings aside, it's obvious that either top officials at the Department of Justice either sanctioned the operation, or were so totally oblivious as to what was happening under their leadership that they're now "fast and furious" in their efforts to downplay the entire affair.

That's the rub. Attorney General Eric Holder says Fast and Furious only came to his attention in April of this year. Despite his having launched an Inspector General's investigation into the ATF operation, the Congressmen say he's not addressing the ultimate question: who was involved and who-ultimately-is accountable.

Holder disagrees. In fact, he testified in May that the investigation was "looking at who exactly was involved, what the level of knowledge was, and who should be held accountable, if in fact there were mistakes that were made."

That testimony didn't soothe any raw nerves; instead it may have caused a break in the investigation. Lower-level ATF officials, including field agents and their supervisors, convinced they were going to be "tossed under the bus" to protect senior officials, began coming forward with additional details. Those details, Issa's aides say, make it impossible for Justice to either slow-play the matter to death or fix blame down the chain of command.

To date, only produced a small percentage of the documents Issa subpoenaed in regards to the matter have been produced by the Justice Department. Others requested were not produced, based on their "sensitivity".

That, says Issa, calls into question the reasons the remaining documents were too-sensitive to release to the Congressional officials charged with overseeing the Justice Department in order to prevent abuses like "Fast and Furious" and the overall Gunrunner program. Were the documents sensitive because they endangered field agents engaged in a battle with Mexican criminals, or they showed the willing participation, or worse, of senior Justice Department officials?

All that remains to be seen. Fortunately, it appears the unseen will become seen-despite the Justice Department's efforts to the contrary.

Republished from The Outdoor Wire.