Eric Holder and the ATF
(Added to this website on 7/26/12.)
Eric Holder, the U.S. Attorney General, was second in command when Janet Reno was the Attorney General - the time when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives (ATF) massacred the Branch Dravidians at Waco, and the U.S. Marshals along with the FBI killed a boy, his dog, his mother, and her baby. This was also the time when a little boy was taken from a home at gun point and sent to Cuba to face a life less pleasant.
Now Holder has come into his own under B.O. (his master and protector) He has refused to prosecute black thugs who prevent voters from voting and beat those who disagree with them. But this was a minor matter compared to his attempt to eliminate the Second Amendment by having arms surreptitiously going to Mexico so that the "Democrats" (Communists) could provide an excuse to prevent civilian ownership of firearms.
The ATF, with leaders who are Holder's tools, made certain that about 2,000 guns would go from U.S. gun dealers to Mexico. Since then, Border Patrol agent Brian Terry has been killed by one of those guns as have hundreds of civilians in Mexico. Those responsible should be discovered and charged for their roles in a mass murder.
The Obama/Holder/ATF scheme is known as "Fast & Furious" (F&F). The National Rifle Association, the Gun Owners of American, and the Second Amendment Foundation (among others) all have members who are furious at F&F and have been asking for justice to be served to those responsible for the murders. Congressman Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has been leading an investigation into F&F which included asking for testimony and documents from Eric Holder.
Some pertinent facts in this matter follow.
1. On December 7, 2011, CBS News investigator Sharyl Atkisson shared documents proving that the motive behind F&F was to implement harsher gun regulations on gun stores. She reported that ATF officials at the DOJ discussed using the illegal gun sales to justify "Demand Letter 3" - a registration scheme that would require gun shops to report sales of multiple rifles or long guns. Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding that gun dealers report tracing information on U.S. citizens (which constitutes a federal gun registration program and is a prelude to confiscation of firearms).
2. On a July 14, 2010, ATF Field Ops Assistant Director Mark Chait emailed Bill Newell, ATF's Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of F&F. This email provided further proof that F&F's real mission was to impose more gun bans on law-abiding gun owners. It said: Bill, can you see if these (Fast & Furious) guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time? We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks.
3. Holder has continually denied that senior political appointees at the DOJ were aware of "gun walking" happening. Then a member of Issa's committee read several email exchanges showing that upper-level DOJ officials were fully aware that our government was helping to send guns south of the border. These emails appear to document the fact that Holder has lied and misled Congress throughout their investigation.
As a letter from Gun Owners of America states, the bottom line is:
(1) we have an ATF filled with rabid anti-gun psychos,
(2) we have American Attorney General who would "brainwash" children against guns,
(3) we have Justice Department officials who authorized an operation to smuggle assault weapons into another country and to deliver these assault weapons to the warring drug cartels,
(4) and we have an Obama Administration that tried to hide the fact that these guns killed a federal officer and over 300 civilians, and to use the data to impose more gun control all law-abiding U.S. gun dealers.
It is disturbing that the Department of Justice refused to act on the criminal contempt charges without even bothering to read the results of the Congressional hearings.
During the course of the investigation, Holder lied to the Committee, was evasive, and refused to turn over the pertinent documents. Eventually, the congressmen had enough and voted 255 to 67 on criminal contempt charges for Holder, and a civil contempt charge which passed 258 to 95. Obama, apparently fearing exposure for his part, essentially sealed the documents that would show who was actually responsible, using "executive privilege". Obama's actions seem to have prevented the criminal contempt charges from having any effect. The civil contempt charges could be held up in legal proceedings for years. The alternative first step is to impeach Holder.