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| Project Gunwalker: ATF Director Melson Will Testify Before The Senate |
| 2011-06-28 |
| Interesting thing, when I read this, it wasn't from one the major LSM. So I googled, "Melson will testify." Lots of entries, but none from the LSM. Bloggers Unite! Thanks to a clever bipartisan deal, embattled ATF chief Kenneth Melson will testify before Congress about his role in the bungled Fast and Furious gun sting--possibly revealing who on Obama's team was in on the scheme. The head of the embattled federal agency that combats gun trafficking has agreed to talk with Senate investigators, a potentially important breakthrough as Congress tries to determine whether higher-ups in the Obama administration knew about a controversial sting that let assault weapons flow across the border into Mexico's drug wars The testimony--expected next month from Kenneth Melson, the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives--was brokered as part of a deal between Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and the committee's top Republican, Iowa's Charles Grassley. Grassley and his fellow Republicans were given full access to ATF documents, Melson, and other key witnesses; and in return, Grassley agreed to release three Obama administration nominees he had been blocking, according to correspondence obtained by NEWSWEEK and THE DAILY BEAST. Grassley had been fighting to get full access for months. He finally got it with a letter Leahy wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder requesting access for both his staff and Grassley's investigators to the evidence and witnesses in the gun-sting investigation. In return, Grassley agreed to let proceed the nominations of Jim Cole to be deputy attorney general, Lisa Monaco to be assistant attorney general for national security, and Virginia Seitz to be head of the Office of Legal Counsel, the letter shows Melson is the highest-known official to date to acknowledge approving a strategy to build criminal cases against Mexican drug cartels by allowing assault weapons to flow from U.S. gun stores through straw buyers and across the border. Officials said his testimony is considered a key piece of evidence, and Grassley's investigators plan to interview him by the middle or end of July. Holder, the attorney general, has denied knowing about the controversial ATF sting, which ran from November 2009 to February 2011, and he has ordered an internal investigation. President Obama has said he believes serious mistakes may have been made. Since the controversy erupted this spring, ATF and federal prosecutors have been ordered to stop all guns flowing to straw buyers. Frontline ATF agents have testified they strongly objected to the agency's decision to "let guns walk," meaning allowing straw buyers to buy guns with ATF's knowledge and letting the weapons leave federal monitoring without being interdicted, the normal practice. Cooperating gun dealers also expressed concerns about the tactic. Congressional investigators in both chambers want to know whether Melson discussed or sought approval for the strategy from Holder or his top deputies, the White House, or other senior law-enforcement officers. They also want to know whether Melson's agency has run into roadblocks or poor information sharing in its efforts to combat larger gun trafficking. As head of the agency that conducted the controversial sting, Melson has faced calls for his resignation. But in private conversations with congressional investigators in recent days, Melson has indicated he does not believe he did anything wrong because he carried out his bosses' wishes and is eager to testify to describe the full picture, according to sources familiar with those conversations. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #9 FTA: It is highly unlikely that the president would have known about the details of the operation unless it originated as one of his ideas... It would take the figurative smoking gun — or perhaps a literal one, with Obama’s fingerprints on it — to acquire enough evidence to impeach the president. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-06-28 22:52 |
| #8 Just remember -- this will be in front of a Senate committee --- majority Demos.... they've already been sending up smoke signals.... |
| Posted by: Sherry 2011-06-28 17:13 |
| #7 From PJM - What could happen. |
| Posted by: newc 2011-06-28 15:38 |
| #6 Someone needs to get a grip on this and fast. It's time to yank the AG off of his hobby horse. |
| Posted by: newc 2011-06-28 15:00 |
| #5 The testimony--expected next month A lot can happen between now and then. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2011-06-28 14:46 |
| #4 This is toublesome: Grassley agreed to let proceed the nominations of Jim Cole to be deputy attorney general, Lisa Monaco to be assistant attorney general for national security, and Virginia Seitz to be head of the Office of Legal Counsel Making deals? For testimony? And a month from now? Where's Issa? |
| Posted by: Sherry 2011-06-28 13:33 |
| #3 No immunity, he may yet be prosecuted. He gets to invoke the 5th if he wants it, nothing more. |
| Posted by: mojo 2011-06-28 13:22 |
| #2 He needs immunity in some form, and probably needs protection before and after he testifies. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2011-06-28 12:45 |
| #1 Since this is basically a homicide investigation (in two countries, no less) Melson really needs to give some thought to taking the Fifth. I wonder if the ATF and DOJ lawyers will mention that to him. |
| Posted by: Matt 2011-06-28 10:34 |