Today the US House will vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. This is a Republican dog and pony show, and nothing but, because both their insane NRA conspiracy theory and their deceitful misrepresentation of the facts in the case are falling apart, as a new article in Fortune demonstrates.
…Quite simply, there’s a fundamental misconception at the heart of the Fast and Furious scandal. Nobody disputes that suspected straw purchasers under surveillance by the ATF repeatedly bought guns that eventually fell into criminal hands. Issa and others charge that the ATF intentionally allowed guns to walk as an operational tactic. But five law-enforcement agents directly involved in Fast and Furious tell Fortune that the ATF had no such tactic. They insist they never purposefully allowed guns to be illegally trafficked. Just the opposite: They say they seized weapons whenever they could but were hamstrung by prosecutors and weak laws, which stymied them at every turn.
Indeed, a six-month Fortune investigation reveals that the public case alleging that Voth and his colleagues walked guns is replete with distortions, errors, partial truths, and even some outright lies. Fortune reviewed more than 2,000 pages of confidential ATF documents and interviewed 39 people, including seven law-enforcement agents with direct knowledge of the case. Several, including Voth, are speaking out for the first time.
How Fast and Furious reached the headlines is a strange and unsettling saga, one that reveals a lot about politics and media today. It’s a story that starts with a grudge, specifically Dodson’s anger at Voth. After the terrible murder of agent Terry, Dodson made complaints that were then amplified, first by right-wing bloggers, then by CBS. Rep. Issa and other politicians then seized those elements to score points against the Obama administration, which, for its part, has capitulated in an apparent effort to avoid a rhetorical battle over gun control in the run-up to the presidential election. (A Justice Department spokesperson denies this and asserts that the department is not drawing conclusions until the inspector general’s report is submitted.)
"Republican senators are whipping up the country into a psychotic frenzy with these reports that are patently false," says Linda Wallace, a special agent with the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigation unit who was assigned to the Fast and Furious team (and recently retired from the IRS). A self-described gun-rights supporter, Wallace has not been criticized by Issa’s committee.
The ATF’s accusers seem untroubled by evidence that the policy they have pilloried didn’t actually exist… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Fortune/CNN>
This is a very lengthily and complex article, extensively documented, and a small snippet like this cannot give you even a rudimentary picture of what it is all about, but in short, the Republican description is almost the exact opposite of what Fast and Furious actually was. I urge you to click through and give it the study it warrants.
Rachel Maddow outlined Republican lies and interviewed the article’s author, Katherine Eban. They did an excellent job explaining it.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
This will go down as one of the most embarrassing incidents in congressional history. The one good thing is that, except for bellows from Republicans, the vote will end this shameful political theatre.
12 Responses to “Fast and Phony”
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TC- this is the best concise account of what this mess is really all about— Nauseating isn't it ?
Thanks Phyllis. That was my intent.
Fast and Furious … and FALSE!
(But then again, that's SOP for Repubicans)
Another F word comes to mind.
What an excellent piece. This whole debacle has highlighted a dysfunctional system — state’s attorneys and prosecutors in Arizona more interested in scoring points with the electorate who cherish their guns; ATF agents with their hands tied but trying to play by the rules; criminals always a step ahead; inadequate resources for ATF staff on the ground; prima donna ATF agents who could care less about getting the job done (Haven’t they heard that criminals work evenings and weekends too?); lax laws with federal agents having to play with those lax laws.
This short opening quote from the Fortune Magazine story supports what I said a few days ago about Fast and Furious making a good suspense or political intrigue novel.
"A Fortune investigation reveals that the ATF never intentionally allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. How the world came to believe just the opposite is a tale of rivalry, murder, and political bloodlust."
"Voth and his agents began investigating a group of buyers, some not even old enough to buy beer, whose members were plunking down as much as $20,000 in cash to purchase up to 20 semiautomatics at a time, and then delivering the weapons to others."
I fail to see the logic in "the sale is legal" when teenagers are spending that kind of money. An intelligent person would realise that this is not 'normal' and authorise a continued investigation.
"Their greatest difficulty by far, however, was convincing prosecutors that they had sufficient grounds to seize guns and arrest straw purchasers. By June 2010 the agents had sent the U.S. Attorney's office a list of 31 suspects they wanted to arrest, with 46 pages outlining their illegal acts. But for the next seven months prosecutors did not indict a single suspect."
Seems to me that this case highlights just how broken the judicial system is — when prosecutors won't proceed against anyone! Why is that? Is it because guns are such a big business and right in Arizona that any prosecutor with any aspirations of moving up the food chain, doesn't want to be seen as 'un-electable'? . . . or afraid that in a loss, which of course is a potential outcome in even the most secure cases, would damage their reputation?
"Irony abounds when it comes to the Fast and Furious scandal. But the ultimate irony is this: Republicans who support the National Rifle Association and its attempts to weaken gun laws are lambasting ATF agents for not seizing enough weapons—ones that, in this case, prosecutors deemed to be legal."
And Issa says this isn't political?! Right, and I'm Santa Claus! The conspiracy theory that the Obama administration is trying to “take our guns away’ seems to have its genesis in this mess, and not the recent mess, but going back several years.
I also find it disingenuous of Issa not to have certain others testify at his kangaroo court. If he were truly interested in justice, he would look for all input and then go from there. But in his typical Republican/Teabagger style, he knows what his desired outcome is, so he is following the path to get there. That means no testimony that may or will lead away from what he wants.
Thanks Lynn. Excellent comment. The logic of the dale is legal is that you're dealing with the laws of the Totalitarian Corporate Plutocracy of Brewerstan. It's almost illegal not to buy guns there.
An after thought . . .
Issa, the Republican/Teabagger legislators (state and federal), Rmoney etc should be held in contempt of the people! For people who are supposed to be working for the people, they are the furthest, that I can see, from actually working. All they are doing is creating a lot of dust and dirt to obfuscate things. They are not creating anything of value.
Would that there were such a statute.
" A self-described gun-rights supporter, Wallace has not been criticized by Issa’s committee."
"The ATF’s accusers seem untroubled by evidence that the policy they have pilloried didn’t actually exist…"
I'm not a lawyer but, it seems that they are forcing Attorney General Eric Holder to violate the law…?
That's what they were trying to do.
I grew up around a large number of Lebanese in central Kentucky. Their ancestors were Syriac Christians. They had been driven out of the Levantine by Ottoman Turks. My cousins married into those families. I have never know anyone from those families who were anywhere near as abrasively conservative as Issa.
I live in an area now with a large population of Levantine immigrants. There are three families on my street. There are also Egyptians and Morocans. They are various denomination of Copts or Eastern Orthodox. I find none of these to be as paleo as Issa.
It is very puzzling.
Zen, this to be expected. Most authentic people of faith coexist well. However, there is nothing authentic about Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians.