AP's Yost Ignores Fri. Fast and Furious Doc Dump Email Saying Holder Was 'Alerted' The Day Brian Terry Died
Well, let's see. During the early days of the Clinton administration, we had the sad spectacle of Treasury aide Josh Steiner telling Senators investigating the Whitewater real estate deals and the Resolution Trust Corporation that that he written untrue things in his diary, i.e., that "essentially .... he had lied to his diary." During the Paula Jones trial, the jury was entertained (members are said to have laughed) when Bill Clinton tried to answer a question by saying that "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."
Soon, another insufferable howler may eventually enter the lexicon, courtesy of Monty Wilkinson, former deputy chief of staff to Attorney General Eric Holder, namely, "I lied in an email when I wrote that 'I've alerted the AG.'"
The subject deserving of an "alert" was the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry on December 14, 2010 at the hands of Mexican criminals using guns which had previously disappeared during the course of Operation Fast and Furious. As reported by Matthew Boyle at the Daily Caller, Wilkinson's supposed lie, which was emailed that day to now-former Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, appears to be the only thing standing between Holder and definitive proof that the Attorney General did not tell the truth when he told the House Judiciary Committee in early May 2011 that he had only learned of Fast and Furious a “few weeks” earlier (later amended to "a couple of months").
Don't expect even a little recognition of how serious this matter is from Pete Yost at the Associated Press, otherwise known as the Administration's Press.
On Friday evening, in a report which has already disappeared from the wire service's national site, Yost played stall-ball for six paragraphs with less important information and wrote the following in the final two (bolds are mine throughout this post):
Also among the documents are Justice Department emails involving a former top aide to Attorney General Eric Holder. The emails show that then-deputy chief of staff Monty Wilkinson was notified by then-U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke the day after Terry was slain that guns found at the murder scene were connected to an investigation that Burke and Wilkinson had planned to discuss. The emails did not identify the investigation, but it was Operation Fast and Furious.
In a letter to the committee, the Justice Department said that Wilkinson does not recall a follow-up call with Burke and that Wilkinson does not recall discussing this aspect of the matter with the attorney general. According to the letter, the department has been advised that Burke has no recollection of discussing this aspect of the matter with Wilkinson.
Note that Yost did not mention the existence of the (excuse the expression in the circumstances) smoking-gun email where Wilkinson specifically said that "I've alerted the AG." If this were a Republican or conservative scandal (or even an non-scandal like the Valerie Plame affair), the discrepancy between what Wilkinson claims now and what he wrote in an email on the date of Terry's death would have led the story and have been front-page and broadcast-leading news everywhere.
Today, Yost put up an absolutely pathetic report entitled "Changes in wake of troubled arms trafficking probe," which droned on and on about how "The Justice Department is tightening procedures," while repeating the same falsehood the AP reporter employed a week ago (noted at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), namely that the problem isn't with the operation itself, it's with the "investigation":
The Justice Department is tightening procedures for responding to information requests from Congress in the aftermath of a troubled arms trafficking investigation.
In Operation Fast and Furious, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed hundreds of weapons to flow across the border into Mexico.
The Justice Department told three congressional committees in a letter Friday night that it has improved coordination between agents and their managers in carrying out arms trafficking investigations.
Attorney General Eric Holder probably will face questions about the changes when he testifies Thursday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. That committee has been investigating the department's mistakes in the probe since early last year.
DOJ's posturing is so risible it's hard to know where to start. Brian Terry and at least 300 Mexican citizens are dead, not because of a botched "investigation," but because of an operation whose only conceivable "logic" was to create enough mayhem on our southern border to foster a domestic political climate receptive to the idea of taking Americans' guns away.
So I guess the strategy now is for Holder to get in front of Congress and say, "We've improved how we investigate our screw-ups. Now leave us alone, and don't you dare ask me what I knew and when I knew it. Oh, and that email doesn't prove that Monty Wilkinson actually 'alerted' me to anything. And even if he really did, I just had a faulty memory when I previously testified and can't be held accountable for that. Oh, and you're all a bunch of racists for coming after me."
Pete Yost or some other hack from the AP will surely be there cheering Holder on.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
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Comments
AP
Submitted by mmilesll on Sun, 01/29/2012 - 11:59pm.
This outfit proves almost daily that they don't deserve to still be in business. The idea that any of the "journalist" know what they are doing is laughable.
No black democrat will ever be convicted or removed when the
Submitted by nonncom on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 11:14am.
liberals are in power....Holder has proven that to call him incompetent is an understatement, just like his boss....
Oh Where Oh Where
Submitted by Ashrak on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 12:33am.
is the Silent Speaker? You know, John Boehner.
This piece touches on the ridiculousness of media ignoring this scandal and burying it endlessly no matter how much torching evidence comes out.
But what about the reality that the REPUBLICAN Speaker remains silent, sidelined as if he can only say what the AP allows him to say?
Articles of Impeachment should have already been filed, voted on and sent to the Senate. Yet here we are, so many dead and more than a year on and John Boehner cannot be bothered to step up to the plate as the Speaker of the "opposing" party. We might as well have Nancy Pelosi in there - as John Boehner is running just as much interference for Barry as she would and did. Heck, at least then the silent might make some SENSE!
John Boehner, how about you "tell us where you're at" on this. How about you , ummmm, you know......SPEAK to this?
Ash, I saw a comparison of this on Blue Bloods
Submitted by UpNorth on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 12:42am.
Friday. Selleck's character was speaking of what he was doing and what was going on at a time in the past, and his answer pointed out an obvious contradiction in the way F & F is being handled. His line was similar to, I was a beat cop and Watergate was on every channel of every TV every day.
Nowadays, we can't even depend on the LSM to cover anything about F & F, the death of Brian Terry and the deaths of hundreds of Mexican citizens, not to mention the transparent attempt of this regime to abrogate the rights guaranteed free citizens under the Constitution. With the exception of one female reporter at See BS.
The only Congresscriters that
Submitted by ricklail on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 12:40pm.
The only Congresscriters that know anything about F&F are the Republicans on Rep Issa's committee. The Commiecrats are doing their best to turn the hearings into a reason for more gun control. Bonehead and Can't do it have no idea what F&F is really all about. We know more than they do. We know it was a way to try and promote more gun control. It worked in that Obama and Holder issued a
bogusillegal demand letter requiring the firearms dealers in the border states to keep track of multiple sell of long guns.The GOP better not shy away
Submitted by jkwtrading on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 12:46am.
The GOP better not shy away from Obama constitutionality.. that issue can bite them soo hard their asses will sting forever. they cannot just hide and hope it goes away..
The republicans and
Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 6:23am.
The republicans and candidates that remain silent on this are no different that the sub human who pulled the trigger. Holder and obama need to be in jail for murder.
Not to mention
Submitted by HockeyKid on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 8:53am.
their attempt to build a direct political assault on the constitutional rights of American citizens. That's treason, friends, not to mention dereliction of duty, malfeasance, conspiracy to commit a felony, and the list goes on. It's time for Congress to "uphold and defend the Constitution...".
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
The Media Spin has Never Stopped
Submitted by Rovin on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 9:24am.
The Justice Department told CBS News that the officials in those emails were talking about a different case started before Eric Holder became Attorney General. And tonight they tell CBS News, Holder misunderstood that question from the committee - he did know about Fast and Furious - just not the details.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20115038-10391695.html
Washington (CNN) -- Documents leaked on Capitol Hill to CNN and other news organizations purport to show Attorney General Eric Holder knew about a controversial gun-running operation earlier than he had testified.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' controversial Operation Fast and Furious involved ATF agents allowing illegal sales of guns believed to be destined for Mexican drug cartels to "walk" from Phoenix gun stores into Mexico.
But a high-level Justice Department official strongly rejected the notion that Holder had improperly testified at a Senate hearing in March. The senior official described the initial report by CBS News as "wildly off base."
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/04/politics/holder-fast-and-furious/index.htm...
On May 3, he was asked by Issa when he first learned about Fast and Furious. "I'm not sure of the exact date," Holder testified. "But I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks."
Justice Department officials said Holder was referring to the date when he first learned about the operational details of Fast and Furious, not the program itself.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-atf-guns-20111004,0...
holder lied
Submitted by gr29az on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 9:28am.
holder lied people died
Normally this is where I would ask, "Where are the republicans?"
Submitted by Dave. on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 9:54am.
But I have pretty much given up on them even trying to stop the Dear Ruler from carrying out his hideous plans.
They are too busy helping to fund them.
And by the time these doltz figure out what Obama is really doing, it's going to be too damn late to do anything about it.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
does anyone try to contact these reporters directly
Submitted by ladeflippinda on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 10:07am.
Or do we just criticize them from the sidelines and hope they read the posts here. I would hope the author of this blog would have the respect to talk to the reporter and see how he came up with these ideas. And note if attempts were made to contact the reporter and the AP.
Contact the AP?
Submitted by Ashrak on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 11:07am.
You mean the same AP that spins less people working into a "strong" increase in wages at .5%? That AP? Maybe it is time to accept that the AP is not interested in your contact or that from anyone else.
They do not exist to report the facts, they exist to spoon feed you what the powers that be want you to believe - in spite of the facts.
Go here and ask Mike V if he has ever contacted the AP or other reporters......
See, the reality is this - many of us sent mail after mail and made call after call to newspapers, television news and especially Congresscritters and they are all ignoring this Scandal to the absolute best of their ability.
Maybe you should be wishing for reporters to offer some respect - for TRUTH and the dedicated blogosphere members who saw to it that this story, this GunWalker Scandal, made it into the "mainstream media" to the extent it has.
It is through comments sections like this, boards like right here at Newsbusters that this story was kept alive. Heck, I am just a nobody and I was the first to point to this Scandal on the pages of NewBusters! And that was after a month of watching others do so absent "mainstream media" ignore it entirely. A year later, those reporters you say deserve respect STILL try to ignore it all. Indeed, it is reporters who should be paying respects and they are owed most to the whistleblowers themselves and the several who have been screaming at the top of their lungs about this from the very start.
Mike V, David C, Dave W and Bob O should have mainstream media reporters beating down their doors in attempt to tell the stories those folks have been churning out from the start. Sharyl A is to be commended as well, as a "authorized journalist" who has broken from the mainstream Hush. To an extent, William LJ over at FOX has earned some respect as well. (No offense to the authors here at NB who have written articles - their contributions here are self evident to all who read here)
The only in depth reporting
Submitted by ricklail on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 12:16pm.
The only in depth reporting done on F&F is done by Cam Edwards and his guest on NRA,news.com. His program Cam and Company comes on each night at 9 on Sirius Radio Patriot 125. You can also listen online. Matthew Boyle of The Daily Caller is the only online journalist covering F&F in depth. There is also the National Gun Rights Examiner. I like what he is reporting on all gun issues .
If you take away the defense,
Submitted by Ruths husband Ben on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 11:07am.
If you take away the defense, "I was a lying sack of poo, but I am better now." all of Washington may have to serve jail time.
Nice pick, Holder
Submitted by CobraMan on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 11:39am.
So, the former deputy chief of staff to Attorney General is a self-admitted liar? Yea, you made a great pick there, didn't you, Holder? Makes me wonder just how you pick your own STAFF, anyways? And you want us to continue trusting you?
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Rep Issa is scheduled to have
Submitted by ricklail on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 12:08pm.
Rep Issa is scheduled to have Holder appear before his commit5te this week I bet the first ihing he ask is when did you know about F&F. If he sticks to his previous testimony I bet Issa digs into him over this e-mail Can't wait for the spun answer this time.
Id be willing to bet the farm that IF the MSM covers this hearing it will favor Holder and call the hearings a witch hunt. Never mind that the IG has been investigating for a year and has yet to release his report
Where is the republican leadership????
Submitted by cocodrie on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 12:54pm.
I now know that an elephant can fit in the butt of a jackass.
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