IG's Report on Fast & Furious Leads To Single Resignation of Designated Fall-Guy;
But Report Suggests Others, Including Lanny Breuer, Should Face Disciplinary Action

I'm not sure if this is a white-wash or a partial white-wash. After all this time, I don't see a lot of tough conclusions here. What I see is one guy set up to take the blame, and some CYA stuff that "questions remain."

Wasn't it your job to answer those questions? What is the point of a one year investigation which seems to conclude "more evidence is needed"?

If more evidence is needed, isn't that a serious indictment of Eric Holder right there? He's the one refusing to turn over evidence.

Here, however, are some excerpts from the FoxNews article.

A bombshell report released Wednesday on Operation Fast and Furious faulted a range of federal agencies for the failed anti-gunrunning program and accused officials in charge of a "disregard" for public safety. In the wake of the report, one Justice Department official resigned.

First whitewash: Holder didn't know.

...

The report says Attorney General Eric Holder was not made aware of potential flaws in the program until February of last year. But the report cites 14 other department employees -- including Criminal Division head Lanny Breuer -- for potential wrongdoing, recommending the department consider disciplinary action against them.

It also marked Jason Weinstein, the deputy assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division, as the highest-ranking DOJ employee in a position to stop the program...

The report slams both ATF Phoenix and the U.S. Attorney's Office for not taking action....

"Indeed, no one responsible for the case at either ATF Phoenix Field Division or the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona raised a serious question or concern about the government not taking earlier measures to disrupt a trafficking operation that continued to purchase firearms with impunity for many months," the report said. "Similarly, we did not find persuasive evidence that any supervisor in Phoenix, at either the U.S. Attorney's Office or ATF, raised serious questions or concerns about the risk to public safety posed by the continuing firearms purchases or by the delay in arresting individuals who were engaging in the trafficking.

This is all very nebulous to me. We have a lot about failure to act, but who actually cooked this up? Who signed off on it?

When you direct blame generally, at large groups, that hardly advances the prosecutorial ball. Because you're not singling out individual bad actors.

Which is what an investigator is supposed to do.

This report seems to tell us "mistakes were made." Yes, that's a load for that. This is something we've known for two years.

Who, specifically, authorized this? Who covered it up?

After a year of investigating, this CYA document is it? This is the report that's supposed to resolve the issue?

posted by Ace at 03:54 PM

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