Issa threatens contempt charges in gunwalker probe
posted at 12:55 pm on April 20, 2011 by Ed Morrissey
Rep. Darrell Issa has tired of waiting for the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to respond to his subpoenas in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s probe of the ATF gunwalker scandal. In a letter today to ATF’s director, Issa warned of contempt proceedings if the DoJ and White House continue their refusal to comply with subpoenas, and pointedly explained why the DoJ’s current investigation isn’t germane to the issue:
For the first time since Republicans took control of the House and gained the power of congressional subpoena, the Obama administration has declined to comply with a subpoena issued by top GOP oversight official Rep. Darrell Issa.
In the face of a subpoena by Issa, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) provided no documents by the April 13 deadline, according to an April 20 letter from Issa to ATF’s director, Kenneth Melson.
Issa is threatening contempt proceedings if ATF does not comply.
Assistant Attorney General Ronald Welch sent a letter to Issa attempting to parry the subpoena by claiming that Issa’s probe would interfere with a concurrent investigation of ATF by Justice. Issa replied that Welch failed to understand the nature of his committee’s investigation. Issa isn’t interested in a concurrent probe — he is investigating the DoJ’s role in the gunwalker program as well as that of the ATF.
Furthermore, both agencies are accountable to Congress and must respond to valid subpoenas. If not, those officials obstructing Congressional investigations can face criminal sanctions. Democrats certainly made that threat often enough in their investigation of the termination of US Attorneys in the Bush administration, and that “scandal” involved the executive branch’s decision to replace its own appointees, not gun-running by the government that resulted in murders of American security personnel.
When Barack Obama ran for office, he promised “the most transparent administration” in American history. How exactly does refusing to comply with Congressional oversight square with that promise?
Update: The Boss Emeritus has followed this case closely and has the letter up at her site now.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Tip
Sarah Palin: Birther Issue; Media Needs To Ask Obama The Tough Questions
Nearly Nobody on April 20, 2011 at 12:56 PM
Stop threatening and start filing contempt charges in gunwalker probe
VegasRick on April 20, 2011 at 12:58 PM
I heard crr6 lamenting Iran Contra the other day. I bet this gunwalker affair really has her outraged. /
Kataklysmic on April 20, 2011 at 12:59 PM
Thanks Issa so much! Please don’t let bho and team get away with not complying with your requests. I might imagine that shredders are already dealing with paper work! bho and team are not above the law, but they think they are.
L
letget on April 20, 2011 at 12:59 PM
Form a posse (raising my hand).
cartooner on April 20, 2011 at 1:00 PM
I find it interesting that the ATF was allowing guns to walk into Mexico at the same time Obama was pushing the Senate to ratify an international gun ban treaty.
There’s a big difference between not letting a crisis go to waste and creating one in order to do the same thing.
Barrack on April 20, 2011 at 1:01 PM
QUIT THREATENING THIS STUFF….
DO IT ALREADY!
DO IT ALREADY!!
DO IT ALREADY!!!
SDarchitect on April 20, 2011 at 1:02 PM
Sorry… but these people will not respond to anything but pain. They will not budge until you demonstrate that you have the WILL to punish them. So go to it!
lm10001 on April 20, 2011 at 1:02 PM
In other news, sales of the book Unintended Consequences by John Ross have been climbing…
fossten on April 20, 2011 at 1:03 PM
Silly. The laws apply to the people, not the law makers and/or enforcers.
rogerb on April 20, 2011 at 1:04 PM
Damning, newly-obtained emails show that a key gun shop owner made explicit concerns in writing last year in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms’ “gunwalking” scandal.
Starting in late 2009, ATF allegedly directed an undetermined number of Phoenix-area gun shop owners to go ahead with sales of thousands of assault rifles and other weapons to suspicious buyers. Insiders claim ATF knew the buyers were connected to Mexico’s drug cartels, but let the guns “walk” onto the street anyway in a misguided attempt to obtain intelligence. ATF and the Justice Department have denied that.
Insert witty screen name here on April 20, 2011 at 1:05 PM
From your lips to God’s ears. Too bad the Republican’s have no ballz to move forward with the threat.
Knucklehead on April 20, 2011 at 1:08 PM
This administration is lawless. It acts in defiance of courts and Congress as it pleases. Contempt proceedings are long overdue on this and numerous other abuses.
petefrt on April 20, 2011 at 1:08 PM
Do it. File charges. The sooner the better. Let the American people see first hand the criminal behavior of this administration.
infidel4life on April 20, 2011 at 1:08 PM
I bet Obama has something on Issa because all he does is TALK.
Stayright on April 20, 2011 at 1:12 PM
Gee.. I wonder why?
So when is the Obama administration going to be held accountable for the deaths of these police officers, soldiers, civilians, and federal agents?
The GOP need to rally around this case with Grassley and Issa.
darclon on April 20, 2011 at 1:15 PM
This is some serious monkey business especially considering the death of an agent may be related to one of the guns used in that failed sting operation.
fourdeucer on April 20, 2011 at 1:20 PM
Until contempt charges are filed, and someone goes to jail for this, I’m not going to hold my breath. Crybaby Boehner talked a good game too until it came time to put up or shut up.
gryphon202 on April 20, 2011 at 1:22 PM
Please, let this be the thing that brings down Holder. Run him out of town on a rail.
Vyce on April 20, 2011 at 1:23 PM
Blahblahblahblah……..do something Issa.
ORconservative on April 20, 2011 at 1:25 PM
Unfortunately (or not?) Congress has no police forces that they can use to go anything further than the contempt charge. What body does Congress have to use to take it any further? DOJ of course.
Anyway, what’s another court order for little Bammie to ignore? Little Bammie can go Stalin on Issa and ask how many officers he has.
slickwillie2001 on April 20, 2011 at 1:26 PM
No, you don’t get it. They ARE being transperant, just not in the way government should be. They are transparently CORRUPT! And they don’t seem to care who knows it.
iurockhead on April 20, 2011 at 1:27 PM
I don’t understand why this has not led to a civil suit by the family of the dead agent. That looks like a no-brainer. In fact many Mexicans in Mexico have been killed by those guns. Why aren’t they trying to bring some kind of suit?
slickwillie2001 on April 20, 2011 at 1:28 PM
The NBP scandal didn’t bring down Holder. Why would this?
gryphon202 on April 20, 2011 at 1:29 PM
So when the demand for information makes it’s way to Holder’s desk, and he refuses to comply or to order his subordinates to comply, is that grounds to remove him? Openly refusing to do his job and openly hiding information from congressional oversight seems like pretty much a slam dunk for impeachment (or whatever process Congress uses to remove corrupt cabinet officials).
iurockhead on April 20, 2011 at 1:31 PM
MSM: crickets
WisCon on April 20, 2011 at 1:32 PM
It was stupid for anybody, even liberals, to believe that Chicago Democrats would stop acting like Chicago Democrats just because they came to Washington DC. In Chicago, they break the law and enforce the law both. Nice work if you can get it, and if you’re liberal enough, you can get it.
RBMN on April 20, 2011 at 1:34 PM
You have been adding valuable comments on this issue since the beginning. Obama, Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon have been trying to make political hay out of the guns showing up in the drug cartels hands coming from the US. Now we learn the ATF has been supplying these weapons covertly to Mexico.
fourdeucer on April 20, 2011 at 1:35 PM
More idle threats? I’ll be impressed when the charges are filed, not a minute sooner.
RedRedRice on April 20, 2011 at 1:35 PM
I think Issa and all other members of congress that have been there more than 1 term are YANKING OUR CHAINS.
Fight like a dammm girl, you girly-men. Find your ballz – the only ballz I see are in Wasilla, AK !!!
stenwin77 on April 20, 2011 at 1:37 PM
CBS News reported last week about Project Gunrunner, an operation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to track how weapons purchased in U.S. gun stores reached Mexican drug gangs. Had Gunrunner been a limited, tightly focused study, it might have provided useful intelligence to shut down major gun-smuggling operations. Instead, it went badly awry.
As CBS reported, nervous gun shop owners in Arizona phoned ATF, warning repeatedly that suspicious buyers were acquiring arsenals of AK-47s and .50-calibre rifles. Later, ATF’s own agents complained when senior-level officials pressed ahead with Project Gunrunner. One agent estimated 2,500 guns crossed the border into Mexico.
On Dec. 14, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered in Arizona. The serial numbers of two AK-47 assault rifles found at the scene were traced to a smuggler under ATF surveillance.
From Stephan Tawney on March 5, 2011
fourdeucer on April 20, 2011 at 1:42 PM
RACISTS! (someone had to say it)
j_galt on April 20, 2011 at 1:42 PM
I suspect that little Bammie and the idiot Holder were willing to sacrifice Mexican lives in order to pump up some statistics to be used to suppress 2nd Amendment rights in the USA.
That’s the heart of this scandal, and that’s what Issa needs to explore.
slickwillie2001 on April 20, 2011 at 1:46 PM
American lives as well, you are exactly right with the cooperation of every Brady Bill supporter. I also don’t know why the family of agent Brian Terry are not on every MSM outlet with their case.
fourdeucer on April 20, 2011 at 1:54 PM
IMPEACH HIM or just shut up Issa.
PappyD61 on April 20, 2011 at 1:54 PM
Are these the same people who “threatened” to cut 100 billion from this years budget?
elfman on April 20, 2011 at 1:56 PM
I’m not usually in favor of the investigative state, but this stinks like yesterday’s mackerel, with a side of limburger.
Drop the hammer Darrell
JohnGalt23 on April 20, 2011 at 1:57 PM
Some mid-level official is going to get “bussed” for this.
Nevertheless, it is worth pressing. Who knows what could turn up.
Kenosha Kid on April 20, 2011 at 2:00 PM
Just do it Darrell,just do it and stop dancing to their tune , make them dance too yours!
Sandybourne on April 20, 2011 at 2:14 PM
Yeah, this Administration does nor respond to threats. Hell, the don’t even respond to the decisions of federal judges. Just file the contempt charges already.
holygoat on April 20, 2011 at 2:15 PM
INDEPENDENT PROSECUTOR!
David Kopel,or Dave Hardy, would be good candidates.
HBowmanMD on April 20, 2011 at 2:27 PM
Screw contempt. This is and should be impeachable.
jdkchem on April 20, 2011 at 2:32 PM
It’s going to be this, pigford or door number 3.
Your can take the man out of Chicago, but you can’t take the Chicago out of the man.
Chip on April 20, 2011 at 2:37 PM
Sometimes I wonder (and I hope I am wrong) if the deaths of innocent civilians and even some American law enforcement officers was the whole point of this operation. If the weapons used in these attacks could be traced back to the US, it would give them ammunition to really tighten up gun control. Maybe I’m becoming cynical, but nothing this administration does surprises me anymore.
MarkM on April 20, 2011 at 2:51 PM
Fooling with the wrong guy.
Boy I bet he has the goods on these creeps.
tarpon on April 20, 2011 at 3:07 PM
Justice investigating AFT?
So who’s investigating Justice?
GarandFan on April 20, 2011 at 3:11 PM
The whole “heinous things Reagan has done” bit, right?
Count to 10 on April 20, 2011 at 3:19 PM
As touchy as Jugears is, can you imagine his petulance if he’s impeached? At least Clinton didn’t give off an outward sign of irritation over it, that I recall. Obie might very well throw a fit.
fossten on April 20, 2011 at 3:25 PM
Don’t forget his boss…
… This little story is not going away!
Seven Percent Solution on April 20, 2011 at 3:51 PM
You beat me to it. By the time Congress finally gets into the ATF offices, they’ll say: “Hey look – nothing happened – there’s absolutely nothing here saying we did anything of the sort…”
eeyore on April 20, 2011 at 4:03 PM
On the Subject of guns and “Transparency”:
Sarah Brady claims Obama pushing ‘under the radar’ gun control
Insert witty screen name here on April 20, 2011 at 4:10 PM
I’d add some ludefisk
stenwin77 on April 20, 2011 at 4:26 PM
My guess is that this would take at least one of three forms.
1. Raising the price of bullets by requiring that tungsten be used in slugs rather than lead under the EPA due to claims that lead shot is poisoning animals
2. Bringing back the idea of making all gunpowder sold commercially in the US only good for about 3-6 months at a time, which would make it virtually impossible to stockpile ammo
3. Use the Giffords tragedy to push through harsh new background checks, either by law or by executive order to the ATF, to make it a huge hassle to buy a gun legally
teke184 on April 20, 2011 at 4:41 PM
Everybody by now has figured out what was going on, and likely still is. After the stupid Greta and Hilary setup on FNC displaying a bunch of decrepit WWII guns and machine guns you can’t buy in the USA, nor sell, something had to be done.
The Mexican gun count of USA supplied weapons just wasn’t there. So this would take care of it, just supply the Mexican drug cartels with more weapons.
The the AW ban comes back … Goodbye Seco0nd Amendment.
tarpon on April 21, 2011 at 10:34 AM