The Fast and Fumbled

[sirs]

Let's see if the MSM does its supposed job, on this one
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The Fast and Furious scandal, in which the Justice Department knowingly gave Mexican criminal gangs thousands of guns, just keeps escalating. The latest development centers around whether or not Attorney General Eric Holder lied to Congress about having knowledge of the controversial gun trafficking operation. Recently released documents say Holder was briefed about the operation long before he told the Judiciary Committee he was first aware of what was going on. (Holder now claims he misunderstood the question was being asked.)

What's more, CBS News investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson -- who's been covering the scandal from the beginning -- says in an interview on the Laura Ingraham Show today that the White House and Justice Department have taken to screaming at her for reporting on the story. You can listen to the full interview below, but here are the key excerpts from Attkisson:

In between the yelling that I received from Justice Department yesterday, the spokeswoman--who would not put anything in writing, I was asking for her explanation so there would be clarity and no confusion later over what had been said, she wouldn't put anything in writing--so we talked on the phone and she said things such as the question Holder answered was different than the one he asked. But he phrased it, he said very explicitly, 'I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.'
 
Ingraham: So they were literally screaming at you?

Attkisson: Yes. Well the DOJ woman was just yelling at me. The guy from the White House on Friday night literally screamed at me and cussed at me.

[Laura: Who was the person? Who was the person at Justice screaming?]

Eric Schultz. Oh, the person screaming was [DOJ spokeswoman] Tracy Schmaler, she was yelling not screaming. And the person who screamed at me was Eric Schultz at the White House."

Finally, Attkisson notes that the White House is claiming that a thorough investigation of the scandal is unwarranted:

[The White House and Justice Department] will tell you that I'm the only reporter--as they told me--that is not reasonable. They say the Washington Post is reasonable, the LA Times is reasonable, the New York Times is reasonable, I'm the only one who thinks this is a story, and they think I'm unfair and biased by pursuing it.

Shhhhhhhhh

[sirs]

So....what was the "purpose/function" of the Fed program, Fast & Furious??

[BT]

I'm confused. I thought CBS was part of the MSM.

[sirs]

Will someone please explain the concept to BT that bias in the MSM does not mean complete absence of any reporting by any agency of the MSM.  If has to do with what is predominantly reported and its repetition vs what isn't.     

[BT]

So when Jay Carney is peppered with questions about Fast and furious at a WH Briefer that doesn't constitute coverage?

ABC's Jake Tapper Presses White House Press Secretary Jay Carney on Operation Fast & Furious

Hmmm. ABC i think is MSM too.

[sirs]

Did you miss the part where I never claimed absense of reporting was the bias?  You must have, since you seem to keep hanging your hat on that flawed concept.

tsk tsk tsk

[BT]

No but i have certainly missed the part where you have proven this bias and the methods in which it is practiced.

[sirs]

asked and answered numerous times already, which you yourself, IIRC, concluded a similar bias yourself, in a debate around a year ago, when you kept falsely pushing how my criticizing the bias was tantamount to advocating legislation like the Fairness Doctrine.

Now, back to the far more substantive question posed, vs the irrelevent effots to paint me as saying/claiming something I haven't.....what was the "purpose/function" of the Fed program, Fast & Furious??

[BT]

You know it's funny, but i was just thinking you seem to be advocating some kind of reporting based on quotas, for the fairness.

But if you aren't, are you just advancing a complaint without recommending a solution?

[sirs]

I'm advocating for an answer to the question......what was the "purpose/function" of the Fed program, Fast & Furious??

[BT]

To strip away second amendment rights.

What do you think it was for?

[sirs]

No clue, which is why I was asking.  So, you're saying the program was some stealth effort by this administration to strip away the 2nd?  Or merely by Holder and his Justice Dept?

[BT]

I wouldn't be surprised if Obama knew about it.

[sirs]

I wouldn't be surprised if Obama knew about it.

So, the trick now is to determine at what layer this program to attempt to weaken the 2nd amendment originated from.
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White House: Holder Testimony "Consistent and Truthful"
Katie Pavlich

Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney adamantly defended Attorney General Eric Holder, saying his testimony given to Congress on May 3, 2011 in response to a question from House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa about when he first knew about Operation Fast and Furious was "consistent and truthful." Holder is under fire for possibly perjuring himself after memos released this week show he was briefed on Operation Fast and Furious as early as July 2010, yet Holder said he had only known about the program for a couple of weeks in May 2011. During his press conference today, President Obama said he has full confidence in his attorney general surrouding Fast and Furious and that Holder didn't know about the program.

"The bottom line is the Attorney General's testimony to both the House and the Senate was constistent and truthful. He said in both March and May of this year that he became aware of the questionable tactics deployed in the Fast and Furious Operation in early 2011 when ATF agents first raised them publically. He then asked the inspector general to investigate the matter, demonstrating how seriously they took them."

The problem? Jay Carney isn't telling the truth about what Holder actually said on May 3, 2011. Here is a refresher.

Issa: When did you first know about the program officially I believe known as Operation Fast and Furious? To the best of your knowledge what date?

Holder: "I'm not sure of the exact date but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks."
At no point did Holder mention the word "tactics." Holder specifically refers to "Fast and Furious."

Now, new memos show Holder was consistently briefed at least five times about Fast and Furious since July 2010. Once again, the memos don't simply mention Eric Holder, they are addressed directly to him.

Senator Chuck Grassley and Congressman Darrell Issa today said that Attorney General Eric Holder received at least five weekly memos beginning in July 2010, including four weeks in a row, describing the ill-advised strategy known as Operation Fast and Furious.  The memos were to Holder from Michael Walther, the director of the National Drug Intelligence Center.
July 5, 2011:
July 12, 2010
July 19, 2011:
July 26, 2011:
August 9, 2011

Article

Sooo....is the WH spinning to try to save face for Holder, or do they know far more, and need to defend Holder at all cost.  Where did Fast & Furious originate?  Who's "bright idea" was it, to begin with?

[BT]

You might want to research operation wide receiver just for background info.