Investigating Corruption In The United States Government
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
'Fast and Furious' Whistleblowers Struggle Six Months After Testifying Against ATF Program
By William Lajeunesse
FoxNews.com
FoxNews.com
Six months ago, several agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives stood before Congress to testify about the details of a U.S. government program that armed Mexico's largest drug cartel with thousands of assault rifles.
The administration denied it at the time and questioned the agents' integrity. The men were nervous and scared. They said they feared for their careers, their reputation and their families.
Witnesses are sworn in at a hearing held by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on "Operation Fast and Furious: The Other Side of the Border," on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 26, 2011.
Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed on Dec. 14, 2010. Weapons found at the scene were linked to Operation Fast and Furious, the ATF program that let guns be purchased illegally and cross the border. Several have now reportedly been tied to crimes in the U.S.
"Any attempt to retaliate against them for their testimony today would be unfair, unwise and unlawful," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, warned the Department of Justice.
He and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., began an investigation to determine who authorized "Operation Fast and Furious" and aimed to hold accountable those responsible for a plan that helped known criminals run guns across the border in violation of U.S. and international law.
And while President Obama has said the operation was a mistake and that "people who screwed up will be held accountable," the record so far does not bear that out. Those in charge of the botched operation have been reassigned or promoted, their pensions intact. But many of those who blew the whistle face isolation, retaliation and transfer.
Here's what has happened to the managers of the operation:
-- Acting ATF Chief Ken Melson, who oversaw the operation, is now an adviser in the Office of Legal Affairs. He remains in ATF's Washington, D.C., headquarters.
-- Acting Deputy Director Billy Hoover, who knew his agency was walking guns and demanded an "exit strategy" just five months into the program, is now the special agent in charge of the D.C. office. He, too, did not have to relocate.
-- Deputy Director for Field Operations William McMahon received detailed briefings about the illegal operation and later admitted he shares "responsibility for mistakes that were made.” Yet, he also stays in D.C., ironically as the No. 2 man at the ATF's Office of Internal Affairs.
-- Special Agent in Charge of Phoenix Bill Newell, the man most responsible for directly overseeing Fast and Furious, was promoted to the Office of Management in Washington.
-- Phoenix Deputy Chief George Gillette was also promoted to Washington as ATF's liaison to the U.S. Marshal's Service.
-- Group Supervisor David Voth managed Fast and Furious on a day-to-day basis and repeatedly stopped field agents from interdicting weapons headed to the border, according to congressional testimony. ATF boosted Voth to chief of the ATF Tobacco Division, where he now supervises more employees in Washington than he ever did in Phoenix.
An ATF spokesman in Washington says the key players did not receive promotions, but transfers.
Special Agent Jay Dobyns, who is suing the agency for breach of contract, is skeptical.
"These guys are protected. They're insulated. They're all part of a club," Dobyns said, alleging that the ATF has a history of retaliating against its own who speak up.
"They risk everything, knowing that everything they worked for, their careers, their reputations, their finances, are all going to be ruined."
Case in point, he said, is field agent John Dodson. Dodson uprooted his family from Virginia in 2010 to join a new elite anti-gun trafficking group in Phoenix, known as Group 7. Dodson quickly witnessed what was wrong and loudly voiced his objections to Voth and Newell.
Management reassigned Dodson to weekend duty and the wire room, a relatively boring job monitoring telephone traffic and subordinate to junior agents. Soon thereafter, Dodson was temporarily assigned to another group for an additional menial assignment, until ultimately sent to an FBI Task Force, completely away from the ATF, even turning off his ATF building access pass.
Dodson continued to challenge Voth, saying the operation was killing people in Mexico and suggested it was only a matter of time before a "border agent or sheriff's deputy" would be killed by one of the guns they let go.
"If you're going to make an omelet, you've got to scramble some eggs," Voth replied, according to a congressional report.
Voth moved Dodson out of Group 7 shortly before Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was shot by weapons traced to Fast and Furious. Newell, Gillette and Voth began to cover up their tracks. According to an e-mail 24 hours after Terry was shot, Voth wrote:
"We are charging Avila (Jaime Avila bought the alleged murder weapons) with a stand-alone June 2010 firearms purchase. This way we do not divulge our current case (Fast and Furious) or the Border Patrol shooting case."
"Great job," Newell replied.
Dodson first complained internally to the ATF Office of Chief Counsel and Ethics Section, OIG, Office of Special Counsel, and Office of Professional Responsibility. They were unresponsive. Dodson was then contacted by congressional investigators, who began their own investigation.
Because of Dodson, the Terry family hopes to hear the truth about what happened to their son and the American public learned that senior Obama administration officials did nothing to stop guns from reaching an insurgency south of the border.
And what did Dodson get for telling the truth? In Phoenix he was isolated, marginalized and referred to as a "nut job," "wing-nut" and "disgruntled," according to sources.
In Washington, ATF command ordered that "Contact with Dodson was detrimental to any ATF career."
Newell's Attorney told Fox News that all of this was because "Dodson didn't want to work weekends."
Dennis Burke, the Arizona U.S. attorney who resigned in the wake of the investigation, admitted he leaked privacy-protected documents that discredited Dodson. The head of legislative affairs for the Department of Justice, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich, indirectly called Dodson a liar, telling senators the ATF "never intentionally allowed guns" to walk, or to lose sight or control of the weapons.
So what happened to Dodson and the other whistleblowers?
"The only people who have been damaged from Fast and Furious, short of the obvious victims, are the people who tried to tell truth and blew the whistle," Dobyns said.
Dodson was told he was toxic and could no longer work in Phoenix. With sole custody of two teenagers and under water on his house mortgage, Dodson found himself with no place to be and nowhere to go.
A supervisor suggested he'd be treated fairly at an office in South Carolina. Wanting to keep his job, protect his pension and pay the mortgage, Dodson had no other choice. He and his family now live in a small apartment, facing financial troubles, still labeled persona non grata by the very agency he carries a badge for, and regularly assaulted by leaks from "ATF sources at headquarters."
Dodson has tried to remain out of the public eye, has not filed suit and says only that he wishes to return to his work as an ATF agent.
As for the others:
-- Agent Larry Alt took a transfer to Florida and has unresolved retaliation claims against the ATF.
-- Agent Pete Forcelli was demoted to a desk job. Forcelli is a respected investigator, with years as a detective with the New York City Police Department. He has requested an internal investigation to address the retaliation against him.
-- Agent James Casa also took a transfer to Florida.
-- Agent Carlos Canino, once the deputy attache in Mexico City, was moved to Tucson.
-- Agent Jose Wall, formerly assigned to Tijuana, was moved to Phoenix.
-- Agent Darren Gil, formerly the attache to Mexico, retired.
Sources say the agents are in a kind of purgatory. As whistleblowers, they can't be fired. The agency can try, but it would be messy. On the other hand, they can be transferred but face the problems of relocating on their own.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Meanwhile, on the “Holder Should Resign” ranch…
In the heat of a primary contest, endless debates and the rest of the bad economic news making the rounds, it’s easy to let other important stories slip through the cracks. One of them is the ongoing saga of Gunwalker, which we’ve covered here before, and the increasing chorus of voices calling for Attorney General Eric Holder’s resignation over it. Mary Chastain notes today that while the media has remained largely mum on the subject, the number of voices demanding this action has increased to include 51 members of congress and three presidential candidates.
Yes, that would be a great line, were it true, but as Chastain notes, the people in charge now actually have a bit of history on that front. Here’s a video she dug up of then Senator Barack Obama calling for the resignation of Alberto Gonzales, after noting his own prescience in never voting for him in the first place.
Hot Air
Michele Bachmann was the first GOP presidential candidate to demand Eric Holder’s resignation. Last Monday Rick Perry published an op-ed in The Washington Times demanding Mr. Holder’s resignation and yesterday morning Jon Huntsman also remarked that Mr. Holder should resign, yet the majority of the Old Media ignore them and the other congressmen who think Mr. Holder should resign.
There is no excuse from the Old Media we should accept, especially since Mr. Perry’s op-ed appears in The Washington Times. The Old Media can deny it all they want, but we all know if this was a GOP administration they would be contacting every single Democrat politician and reporting anyone calling for the attorney general to resign.
Wait a minute. They already did! Oh yes: Remember my previous articles comparing coverage of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Mr. Holder? That’s right. The Old Media was reporting on Mr. Gonzales so much in 2007 even I was sick of it and that’s when I was still a super liberal.But it’s easy to understand why the Democrats aren’t going along with this idea. After all, the Republicans are just playing politics, right? It’s not like the current administration would ever go around demanding high profile individuals such as the Attorney General step down over some perceived scandal.
Yes, that would be a great line, were it true, but as Chastain notes, the people in charge now actually have a bit of history on that front. Here’s a video she dug up of then Senator Barack Obama calling for the resignation of Alberto Gonzales, after noting his own prescience in never voting for him in the first place.
Hot Air
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Most GOP governors refuse to join calls for Holder's resignation
Republican governors are refusing to weigh-in on whether President Obama should fire his top law enforcement official over a botched gun-tracking operation.
The overwhelming silence of GOP state leaders comes as Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal have joined more than 40 Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill in calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to resign for his role in Operation Fast and Furious.
The Hill spoke with the offices of all 29 Republican governors. Twenty-six of them either declined to comment or did not respond to whether their confidence in the Obama Administration has waned in the wake of Congress’s investigation into Fast and Furious — a gun tracking operation in the Southwest that oversaw the sale of thousands of firearms to known and suspected straw buyers for Mexican drug cartels.
Many of Holder’s critics say he either knew about the operation and did not immediately stop it, or that he didn’t know about Fast and Furious but should have, and they say the attorney general’s ignorance represents incompetence.
Holder has said he did not authorize the operation, which “was flawed in concept, as well as in execution.” He told senators this month that those responsible within the Justice Department (DOJ) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), which immediately oversaw the operation, will be held accountable.
But Jindal said Holder has violated the trust of Americans and Congress, and that he should leave office immediately.
“The Attorney General should resign,” said Jindal in a statement to The Hill. “He has consistently tried to undermine the Second Amendment he was sworn to uphold. His department deliberately allowed violent Mexican gangs to get more guns, and all the evidence indicates that he lied to Congress about it.”
The scrutiny over Holder’s role in Fast and Furious increased several months ago when internal DOJ memos surfaced suggesting he misled Congress over when he learned about the operation. This month before the Senate, Holder clarified his previous remarks, saying he learned about Fast and Furious earlier this year after a whistleblower spurred news reports of the botched operation.
Perry, a Republican presidential frontrunner, also called for Holder to step down, saying that Obama’s continued trust in the attorney general was cause to question his ability to lead the country. Perry pointed to the two weapons sold under the operation and found later at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
“It is high time for Mr. Holder to step down. If he refuses to resign, Mr. Obama must fire him immediately,” wrote Perry in an op-ed this week in The Washington Times.
“America simply cannot tolerate an attorney general who arms the very criminals he is supposed to protect us from and then refuses to comfort the grieving parents of a slain Border Patrol agent. Nor can we tolerate a president who lacks the courage to take decisive action in restoring justice to the Department of Justice.”
But as the GOP in Congress has increased its pressure on Holder and the Obama administration over Fast and Furious, the nation’s Republican governors have largely been hesitant to weigh-in.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, whose state was home base for the failed operation, resisted calling for Holder’s resignation. A spokesman for Brewer told The Hill that the Obama administration has “badly mishandled” Fast and Furious and its response to the operation. He said she was looking forward to the results of the congressional investigation and the DOJ’s inspector general (IG) probe, which has been underway since March.
“The individuals responsible for this failed operation need to be held accountable,” said Matthew Benson, communications director for Brewer, in an email to The Hill.
But Jindal, Perry, and Brewer are outliers in the GOP gubernatorial field. The Republican governors of Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming all declined to comment or did not respond for this article.
Obama has been largely silent on the issue as well. But in a rare interview on the subject with ABC last month, he expressed his continued confidence in Holder and assured that the appropriate people behind the operation’s decisions would be held responsible.
Holder is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in less than two weeks on Dec. 8.
The Hill
Friday, November 25, 2011
Court Hid Evidence From Jury in Border Agent Jesus Diaz Case
Written by Alex Newman
More documents and statements have emerged showing that evidence was withheld from the jury that convicted Border Patrol Agent Jesus “Chito” Diaz, Jr., prompting strong criticism and a growing uproar in Congress. On November 22, the non-profit Law Enforcement Officers Advocate Council (LEOAC) released official documents related to the case that were obtained during discovery process — when the defense is allowed to review the evidence against the defendant. The judge in the case had issued an order prohibiting defense attorneys from releasing the information, but LEOAC and its legal counsel obtained the documents well before the order was given. They do not believe the restriction applies to third parties.
Among the trove of documents sent to The New American and posted online were interviews with trainee agents who claimed to have witnessed the alleged excessive use of force. Also included were interviews with agents who were in the area but did not see agent Diaz engaging in any improper behavior. A complaint from the Mexican Consulate was made available as well.
According to experts, the picture that emerges from a review of the documents is troubling. And more than a few prominent individuals have expressed deep concerns about a possible miscarriage of justice.
Longtime law-enforcer and use-of-force expert Dave Grossi, who testified at the trial on behalf of agent Diaz, said the court deliberately suppressed key evidence. If the jury had known the whole truth, he contends, the outcome of the case might have been very different.
“One can only guess what the jury’s findings might have been had they known about the ‘armed escort alert’ received by the agents 24 hours earlier that escalated their awareness level, or the presence of the gang [tattoos] all over the second smuggler's face, head, neck and body,” Grossi noted, referring to a warning received by the Border Patrol that drug traffickers crossing the border were employing heavily armed squads.
“Be that as it may, Agent Diaz is now doing time for what many feel was proper and reasonable force given the totality of the circumstances he faced,” he added. “It was 0300 hours in a dark pecan field, and Diaz knew he was dealing with violent, dope-smuggling gang members, one of whom was potentially armed and still at large somewhere in that field.”
Andy Ramirez, president of LEOAC, agreed with the assertions. “After reviewing trial transcripts and discovery, we concur with expert Grossi that key facts were filtered by the court to prevent the jury from learning the truth,” he said in a statement.
The evidence that was presented to the jury, on the other hand, was often highly dubious — even according to federal investigators. Consider, for example, the testimony of the drug smuggler who was allegedly deprived of his rights by agent Diaz.
A U.S. government report created during one of the original investigations of the incident noted that the drug smuggler — who was ultimately given immunity to testify against Diaz — would be a witness whose "credibility is questionable at best." Not only that, the smuggler admitted to lying in court.
“Diaz is in prison in part because he ‘allegedly lied’ to BP agents. The illegal drug smuggler gets total immunity for ‘admittedly lying’ about the same incident,” noted law-enforcement expert Grossi. “Justice? You tell me.”
But that is not all. Of the dozen agents and trainees who were there on the night of the incident, two testified in court that — in their opinion — Diaz’s use of force was “unnecessary.” But those same individuals offered often contradictory testimony — some of which was later shown to be inaccurate.
But instead of hiding the questionable testimony from the jury, the judge chose to admit it even while blocking access to other key facts. Critics like LEOAC, which has been advocating the Diaz family’s cause for months, are outraged about the apparent injustice.
“It is unconscionable that such statements be allowed as evidence against Agent Diaz given not only the amount of hearsay by government witnesses but also the repeated perjury and lack of credibility among witnesses,” noted LEOAC chief Ramirez. "This ruling is about suppression as the documents show a case that screams to be brought to public scrutiny given the inconsistencies in the statements by several government witnesses who contradict their own statements as well as each other."
LEOAC and other Diaz supporters also contend that the five counts of “lying to investigators” were also bogus. “These charges were solely filed in retaliation for Agent Diaz's refusal of the plea bargain offered by the USAO,” Ramirez argued.
And the reason the judge and the prosecutor worked to prevent the release of the documents was simply to stop Americans from discovering a travesty, according to critics such as Ramirez. “What is more clear is that such records as the discovery in the prosecution of Agent Diaz, as well as the file in the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, which was also sealed as reported by the Arizona Daily Star, only further prove that transparency on the part of the Obama Administration means to hide or prevent such facts from being revealed to the American people, where it can be scrutinized by the Court of Public Opinion,” Ramirez said.
But despite government stonewalling, Diaz’s cause is gaining more and more traction as the media begins to reveal the details of his prosecution. Meanwhile, agent Diaz continues to pick up supporters, too. Last week, more than three dozen members of Congress signed a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding a detailed explanation of the Justice Department’s prosecution.
"It is our belief that the prosecution of Agent Diaz by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas, also responsible for putting other agents behind bars, is a disservice to the men and women of the Border Patrol and the mission they undertake," the Congressmen wrote.
“Despite claims of abuse by the smuggler, who was given full immunity in exchange for his testimony, photographic evidence and testimonies from other agents at the scene have testified that no such violence took place,” the letter states. The facts in this case do not indicate that the drug smuggler was harmed during the arrest or that excessive force was used."
Of course, Holder has so far refused to cooperate on the issue, or on much else for that matter. But Congressmen are getting upset and do not plan to give in.
“In two separate letters, I’ve asked the Attorney General to provide information and take action on what has proven to be a serious miscarriage of justice,” said Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), referring to the Diaz case. “The Attorney General has been silent so far, perhaps because he’s busy making excuses on why he should not be held accountable for Operation Fast and Furious."
Related articles:
Jailed Border Agent Diaz’s Family Ordered to Pay Fine
Holder Admits Lies in Fast and Furious, Refuses to Resign
Critics Furious As Border Agent Diaz Gets Two Years in Prison
Jailed Border Agent Jesus Diaz Denied Bond; Family Speaks Out
Union Official Accused of “Sabotage” in Border Agent Case
Feds Prosecuted U.S. Border Agent for Mexico
Border Group: Obama Amnesty “Contempt for Law”
Border Patrol Boss Attacked as Propagandist
Calls Grow for Holder Resignation Over "Fast and Furious
New American
More documents and statements have emerged showing that evidence was withheld from the jury that convicted Border Patrol Agent Jesus “Chito” Diaz, Jr., prompting strong criticism and a growing uproar in Congress. On November 22, the non-profit Law Enforcement Officers Advocate Council (LEOAC) released official documents related to the case that were obtained during discovery process — when the defense is allowed to review the evidence against the defendant. The judge in the case had issued an order prohibiting defense attorneys from releasing the information, but LEOAC and its legal counsel obtained the documents well before the order was given. They do not believe the restriction applies to third parties.
Among the trove of documents sent to The New American and posted online were interviews with trainee agents who claimed to have witnessed the alleged excessive use of force. Also included were interviews with agents who were in the area but did not see agent Diaz engaging in any improper behavior. A complaint from the Mexican Consulate was made available as well.
According to experts, the picture that emerges from a review of the documents is troubling. And more than a few prominent individuals have expressed deep concerns about a possible miscarriage of justice.
Longtime law-enforcer and use-of-force expert Dave Grossi, who testified at the trial on behalf of agent Diaz, said the court deliberately suppressed key evidence. If the jury had known the whole truth, he contends, the outcome of the case might have been very different.
“One can only guess what the jury’s findings might have been had they known about the ‘armed escort alert’ received by the agents 24 hours earlier that escalated their awareness level, or the presence of the gang [tattoos] all over the second smuggler's face, head, neck and body,” Grossi noted, referring to a warning received by the Border Patrol that drug traffickers crossing the border were employing heavily armed squads.
“Be that as it may, Agent Diaz is now doing time for what many feel was proper and reasonable force given the totality of the circumstances he faced,” he added. “It was 0300 hours in a dark pecan field, and Diaz knew he was dealing with violent, dope-smuggling gang members, one of whom was potentially armed and still at large somewhere in that field.”
Andy Ramirez, president of LEOAC, agreed with the assertions. “After reviewing trial transcripts and discovery, we concur with expert Grossi that key facts were filtered by the court to prevent the jury from learning the truth,” he said in a statement.
The evidence that was presented to the jury, on the other hand, was often highly dubious — even according to federal investigators. Consider, for example, the testimony of the drug smuggler who was allegedly deprived of his rights by agent Diaz.
A U.S. government report created during one of the original investigations of the incident noted that the drug smuggler — who was ultimately given immunity to testify against Diaz — would be a witness whose "credibility is questionable at best." Not only that, the smuggler admitted to lying in court.
“Diaz is in prison in part because he ‘allegedly lied’ to BP agents. The illegal drug smuggler gets total immunity for ‘admittedly lying’ about the same incident,” noted law-enforcement expert Grossi. “Justice? You tell me.”
But that is not all. Of the dozen agents and trainees who were there on the night of the incident, two testified in court that — in their opinion — Diaz’s use of force was “unnecessary.” But those same individuals offered often contradictory testimony — some of which was later shown to be inaccurate.
But instead of hiding the questionable testimony from the jury, the judge chose to admit it even while blocking access to other key facts. Critics like LEOAC, which has been advocating the Diaz family’s cause for months, are outraged about the apparent injustice.
“It is unconscionable that such statements be allowed as evidence against Agent Diaz given not only the amount of hearsay by government witnesses but also the repeated perjury and lack of credibility among witnesses,” noted LEOAC chief Ramirez. "This ruling is about suppression as the documents show a case that screams to be brought to public scrutiny given the inconsistencies in the statements by several government witnesses who contradict their own statements as well as each other."
LEOAC and other Diaz supporters also contend that the five counts of “lying to investigators” were also bogus. “These charges were solely filed in retaliation for Agent Diaz's refusal of the plea bargain offered by the USAO,” Ramirez argued.
And the reason the judge and the prosecutor worked to prevent the release of the documents was simply to stop Americans from discovering a travesty, according to critics such as Ramirez. “What is more clear is that such records as the discovery in the prosecution of Agent Diaz, as well as the file in the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, which was also sealed as reported by the Arizona Daily Star, only further prove that transparency on the part of the Obama Administration means to hide or prevent such facts from being revealed to the American people, where it can be scrutinized by the Court of Public Opinion,” Ramirez said.
But despite government stonewalling, Diaz’s cause is gaining more and more traction as the media begins to reveal the details of his prosecution. Meanwhile, agent Diaz continues to pick up supporters, too. Last week, more than three dozen members of Congress signed a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding a detailed explanation of the Justice Department’s prosecution.
"It is our belief that the prosecution of Agent Diaz by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas, also responsible for putting other agents behind bars, is a disservice to the men and women of the Border Patrol and the mission they undertake," the Congressmen wrote.
“Despite claims of abuse by the smuggler, who was given full immunity in exchange for his testimony, photographic evidence and testimonies from other agents at the scene have testified that no such violence took place,” the letter states. The facts in this case do not indicate that the drug smuggler was harmed during the arrest or that excessive force was used."
Of course, Holder has so far refused to cooperate on the issue, or on much else for that matter. But Congressmen are getting upset and do not plan to give in.
“In two separate letters, I’ve asked the Attorney General to provide information and take action on what has proven to be a serious miscarriage of justice,” said Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), referring to the Diaz case. “The Attorney General has been silent so far, perhaps because he’s busy making excuses on why he should not be held accountable for Operation Fast and Furious."
Related articles:
Jailed Border Agent Diaz’s Family Ordered to Pay Fine
Holder Admits Lies in Fast and Furious, Refuses to Resign
Critics Furious As Border Agent Diaz Gets Two Years in Prison
Jailed Border Agent Jesus Diaz Denied Bond; Family Speaks Out
Union Official Accused of “Sabotage” in Border Agent Case
Feds Prosecuted U.S. Border Agent for Mexico
Border Group: Obama Amnesty “Contempt for Law”
Border Patrol Boss Attacked as Propagandist
Calls Grow for Holder Resignation Over "Fast and Furious
New American
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Was Former DEA Agent Jailed for Exposing ATF Arms Trafficking?
By Bill Conroy -Narcosphere
Iran/Contra-Era Whistleblower Cele Castillo Alleged in 2008 That Federal Agents Were Helping to Smuggle Guns into Mexico
Cele Castillo, a former DEA agent who blew the whistle on the CIA-backed arms-for-drugs trade used to prop up the 1980s Contra counter-insurgency in Nicaragua, is now sitting in a federal prison for what may well be another act of whistleblowing in this century.
Before Castillo reported to the federal pen in July 2009, where he is now stuck until April 2012, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records, he shared with this reporter a series of revelations concerning arms trafficking and what he thought were corrupt ATF agents.
Those revelations, now some three years old, dovetail in great detail with the still unfolding ATF Fast and Furious operation, in which federal ATF agents allowed thousands of high-powered weapons purchased by criminal operatives at U.S. gun stores to be smuggled into Mexico unimpeded.
And Fast and Furious, as recent news reports have revealed, was not the first such operation put in play by U.S. federal law enforcement agencies. A similar “gun-walking” tactic was employed by ATF in 2006 and 2007 under the Bush administration through a program known as Operation Wide Receiver.
Castillo’s case, which involved allegations that he purchased and sold firearms illegally, was largely ignored by the mainstream media, though Narco News reported extensively on it and Castillo’s contention that he had been framed and was the victim of prosecutorial misconduct. [Past coverage at this link.]
At the time, as he was going through the buzz-saw line that is the federal judicial system, Castillo told Narco News that he was likely being targeted because of his role in exposing the CIA-backed effort to overthrow the Sandinista government in Nicaragua some 25 years earlier, or possibly because he had evidence of corruption within the ATF. But in truth, Castillo really didn’t know what direction the assault was coming from or why he was being targeted.
Now, though, in light of the exposure of ATF’s Fast and Furious, it seems the question needs to be asked:
Did Castillo, well before Fast and Furious came to light this year, rip back the curtain on a long-running U.S.-government sanctioned program to supply illegal arms to paramilitary units supported by the Mexican military — units charged with clandestinely carrying out the dirty work of the drug war in Mexico?
The answer to the question should matter to all of us, because that “war” has cost the lives of more than 50,000 Mexican citizens since it was launched in late 2006 under the reign of Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
Well, here’s what Castillo told Narco News in late 2008, some three years before news of Fast and Furious and Operation Wide Receiver starting making headlines in the mainstream news:
Castillo, who never lost his investigative edge, said in 2008 that some of his information was coming from a U.S. government informant, who was later murdered. In addition, he claimed a notorious prison gang, the Texas Syndicate, was working with the supposedly corrupt ATF agents to assure the gun-trafficking into Mexico remained protected from law enforcement intervention.
Castillo’s claims sound strangely similar to allegations that have surfaced recently in the case of Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla, a high-level leader of the Sinaloa Cartel now standing trial in federal court in Chicago on narco-trafficking charges. Zambada Niebla claims the leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel has a quid pro quo arrangement with the U.S. government through which they were granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for providing information on rival drug cartels. Zambada Niebla, in court pleadings, also alleges the Fast and Furious operation was part of an effort to supply Sinaloa Cartel enforcers with weapons.
From Zambada Niebla’s pleadings:
Among those receiving weapons through the ATF operation, the pleadings continue, were DEA and FBI informants working for drug organizations, including the leadership of those groups.
“The evidence seems to indicate that the Justice Department not only allowed criminals to smuggle weapons, but that tax payers’ dollars in the form of informant payments, may have financed those engaging in such activities,” Zambada Niebla's pleadings allege. “…It is clear that some of the weapons were deliberately allowed by the FBI and other government representatives [including the ATF] to end up in the hands of the Sinaloa Cartel and that among the people killed by those weapons were law enforcement officers.
“… Mr. Zambada Niebla believes that the documentation that he requests [from the US government] will confirm that the weapons received by Sinaloa Cartel members and its leaders in Operation ‘Fast & Furious’ were provided under the agreement entered into between the United States government and [Chapo Guzman confidante] Mr. Loya Castro on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel that is the subject of his [Zambada Niebla’s] defense….”
The fact that the same attorney’s son was facing federal gun charges, similar to those brought against Castillo, also was deemed by the judge to be little more than an “inference” of a conflict of interest on the part Castillo’s attorney. Hence, the judge, at a hearing held on Friday, July 10, 2009, in federal court in San Antonio, Texas, ruled that Castillo was not likely to succeed in the appeal of his conviction then pending before the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals — and he did not succeed.
As a result, the judge — after extending in mid-February 2009 Castillo’s report-to-prison date by some four months due to the very same ethical concerns raised about his attorney — did an about face at the July 10, 2009, hearing and ordered that Castillo report to prison on July 30, 2009 — to begin serving a 37-month sentence for violating federal firearm regulations, a sentence enhanced due to the judge’s apparent belief that Castillo sold weapons in Mexico.
Castillo, as well as other law enforcers who spoke with Narco News, at the time, contended that the federal prosecutor in the case turned Castillo’s paperwork violation (selling legally purchased weapons without a firearms-dealer permit) into a federal arms-trafficking case as payback for his whistleblowing activity.
The key to the severity of the prison sentence meted out to Castillo — who besides being a former DEA agent also is decorated Vietnam veteran with no prior criminal record — is that the prosecutor in his case argued, and the judge seemed convinced, that Castillo was likely trafficking weapons into Mexico — and by implication to members of narco-trafficking cells.
But Narco News obtained documents (letters that were filed with the Department of Justice) that allege the judge in Castillo’s case was mislead about the trafficking charges by the prosecutor in the case.
Those documents also show that after the federal judge, W. Royal Furgeson Jr., was made aware of that allegation, he chose to chastise Castillo for bringing those charges to his attention outside the proper channels.
Subsequently, Furgeson then revoked Castillo’s bail at the July 10, 2009, hearing and ordered him to report to prison to serve out an extreme sentence based on the allegedly misleading — possibly perjured — statements advanced by the federal prosecutor,
Castillo lays all of this out in a letter sent to Judge Furgeson (dated May 1, 2009, and obtained by Narco News). That same letter, including evidence to back up the allegations, Castillo says, also was delivered to the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General and to the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. In addition, Castillo says he wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder making him aware of the allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in his case as well.
From Castillo’s letter to the judge:
What Castillo could not have known at the time of his arrest and prosecution is that ATF, through Operation Wide Receiver and later Fast and Furious, was engaged in a legally-sanctioned program allowing thousands of weapons — purchased at guns stores in the U.S., where Castillo also purchased his hobby firearms — to be smuggled, or “walked” into Mexico and into the hands of drug-war mercenaries and assassins.
Is it possible that Castillo had unknowingly penetrated a version of these ATF operations without realizing it, thinking he had stumbled onto some corrupt agents in league with the drug cartels? Could it be that Castillo is now sitting in federal prison, a framed man, because he knew too much and had been deemed a dangerous person who was too close to exposing a clandestine arms-trafficking operation designed to prop up a U.S.-backed drug cartel?
These are questions that can’t be answer absent a full investigation into Castillo’s plight. But who is going to undertake such an investigation, the Department of Justice, which put him behind bars in the first place?
Castillo’s fate after exposing the CIA-supported Iran/Contra era arms-for-drugs smuggling operation in Central America certainly was not embraced by powerful forces within the standing U.S. bureaucracy.
Castillo, while a DEA agent in Central America in the 1980s, during the Reagan/Bush administration, uncovered evidence that the CIA and the White House National Security Council, through San Antonio, Texas, native and national counter-terrorism coordinator Lt. Col. Oliver North and other CIA assets, were carrying out illegal operations at two hangers at Ilopango Airport in El Salvador. Those airport hangars, Castillo contends, served as weapons and narcotics transshipment centers for funding and arming the U.S.-backed Contra counter-insurgency against the government of Nicaragua.
From that moment forward, Castillo became a target of those pulling the strings in that dirty war.
“Cele became a household word inside DEA,” Sandalio Gonzalez, a retired DEA commander, told Narco News in a prior interview. “They ruined his reputation over the stuff that happened in El Salvador [Iran/Contra] and he became a target. He took on the Establishment, and it didn’t come out so good for him.”
Castillo’s investigation into the Ilopango operation was eventually torpedoed via CIA interference and he was subjected to a steady stream of retaliatory DEA internal investigations.
Castillo subsequently, after a 12-year career, retired from the DEA, but until the day he reported to prison in late July 2009, he remained an outspoken critic of the hypocrisy of the war on drugs, penning a book about his experiences in DEA, called Powderburns, and appearing on numerous radio and TV shows — including a Showtime series called American Drug War.
Castillo also told Narco News in a prior interview that, as part of his part-time work as a consultant on criminal cases, he had uncovered, prior to his arrest in March 2008 on firearms charges, evidence that two ATF agents “were on the payroll of a Mexican cartel.”
“One informant, who actually paid one of these ATF agents in Monterrey, Mexico, told me about their involvement,” Castillo asserts. “That informant later got whacked. They [the ATF brass] know who these corrupt agents are, but they don’t want to deal with the embarrassment of cleaning the whole mess up.”
Well, more than two years after Castillo reported to jail, it appears that it could be more than embarrassment that prevented ATF from launching an investigation into its own; it may well be the agency itself, and its leadership well into the high ranks of the Justice Department that oversees ATF — via Operation Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious — were, in fact, complicit in the arms trafficking.
It’s at least a scenario that should be considered by someone in power who is not corrupt, or bought-and-paid for, or seeking to simply score partisan political points. Is there yet one honest man or woman in our government who cares about justice, who will lend a hand to a man who does?
This reporter visited Castillo in prison last year and had been in regular contact with him via the prison’s email system up until earlier this year, when Castillo was informed that his mother, whom he was very close to, had died. He was not allowed to attend the funeral.
Then, in late October of this year, officials with La Tuna federal prison in Anthony, Texas, sent out the following email:
Stay tuned…..
Narcosphere
Cele Castillo, a former DEA agent who blew the whistle on the CIA-backed arms-for-drugs trade used to prop up the 1980s Contra counter-insurgency in Nicaragua, is now sitting in a federal prison for what may well be another act of whistleblowing in this century.
Before Castillo reported to the federal pen in July 2009, where he is now stuck until April 2012, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records, he shared with this reporter a series of revelations concerning arms trafficking and what he thought were corrupt ATF agents.
Those revelations, now some three years old, dovetail in great detail with the still unfolding ATF Fast and Furious operation, in which federal ATF agents allowed thousands of high-powered weapons purchased by criminal operatives at U.S. gun stores to be smuggled into Mexico unimpeded.
And Fast and Furious, as recent news reports have revealed, was not the first such operation put in play by U.S. federal law enforcement agencies. A similar “gun-walking” tactic was employed by ATF in 2006 and 2007 under the Bush administration through a program known as Operation Wide Receiver.
Castillo’s case, which involved allegations that he purchased and sold firearms illegally, was largely ignored by the mainstream media, though Narco News reported extensively on it and Castillo’s contention that he had been framed and was the victim of prosecutorial misconduct. [Past coverage at this link.]
At the time, as he was going through the buzz-saw line that is the federal judicial system, Castillo told Narco News that he was likely being targeted because of his role in exposing the CIA-backed effort to overthrow the Sandinista government in Nicaragua some 25 years earlier, or possibly because he had evidence of corruption within the ATF. But in truth, Castillo really didn’t know what direction the assault was coming from or why he was being targeted.
Now, though, in light of the exposure of ATF’s Fast and Furious, it seems the question needs to be asked:
Did Castillo, well before Fast and Furious came to light this year, rip back the curtain on a long-running U.S.-government sanctioned program to supply illegal arms to paramilitary units supported by the Mexican military — units charged with clandestinely carrying out the dirty work of the drug war in Mexico?
The answer to the question should matter to all of us, because that “war” has cost the lives of more than 50,000 Mexican citizens since it was launched in late 2006 under the reign of Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
Well, here’s what Castillo told Narco News in late 2008, some three years before news of Fast and Furious and Operation Wide Receiver starting making headlines in the mainstream news:
During the [Mexican] presidential elections, El Chapo [Joaquin Guzman Loera, the leader of the Sinaloa drug organization] supported [Mexican president] Calderon. Calderon then rented the military to El Chapo to take out Osiel [Cardenas Guillen, head of the rival Gulf Cartel]. Keep in the back of your mind: why has Chapo never been arrested? Calderon took back the military and is now working hand-in-hand with El Chapo.Castillo, at the time, assumed the ATF agent, actually two of them that he identified, were on the take, not part of an officially sanctioned U.S. operation. But events that have unfolded since 2008 open that assumption up to a possible different interpretation.
… The majority of the guns that are going into Mexico from the gun shows are going to the The Mexican paramilitary unit out of Monterrey, Mexico. … A Mexican military captain, "El Capi," is doing all the purchases.
…. These people are part of President Calderon's people who control the drug trade into the U.S. There is an ATF agent … who works with these people.
Castillo, who never lost his investigative edge, said in 2008 that some of his information was coming from a U.S. government informant, who was later murdered. In addition, he claimed a notorious prison gang, the Texas Syndicate, was working with the supposedly corrupt ATF agents to assure the gun-trafficking into Mexico remained protected from law enforcement intervention.
Castillo’s claims sound strangely similar to allegations that have surfaced recently in the case of Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla, a high-level leader of the Sinaloa Cartel now standing trial in federal court in Chicago on narco-trafficking charges. Zambada Niebla claims the leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel has a quid pro quo arrangement with the U.S. government through which they were granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for providing information on rival drug cartels. Zambada Niebla, in court pleadings, also alleges the Fast and Furious operation was part of an effort to supply Sinaloa Cartel enforcers with weapons.
From Zambada Niebla’s pleadings:
The United States government considered the arrangements with the Sinaloa Cartel an acceptable price to pay, because the principal objective was the destruction and dismantling of rival cartels by using the assistance of the Sinaloa Cartel — without regard for the fact that tons of illicit drugs continued to be smuggled into Chicago and other parts of the United States and consumption continued virtually unabated.As a result of Operation Fast and Furious, the pleadings assert, about “three thousand people” in Mexico were killed, “including law enforcement officers in the state of Sinaloa, Mexico, headquarters of the Sinaloa Cartel.”
Essentially, the theory of the United States government in waging its “war on drugs” has been and continues to be that the “end justifies the means” and that it is more important to receive information about rival drug cartels’ activities from the Sinaloa Cartel in return for being allowed to continue their criminal activities, including and not limited to their smuggling of tons of illegal narcotics into the United States. This is confirmed by recent disclosures by the Congressional Committee’s investigation of the latest Department of Justice, DEA, FBI, and ATF’s “war on drugs” operation known as “Fast & Furious.”
Among those receiving weapons through the ATF operation, the pleadings continue, were DEA and FBI informants working for drug organizations, including the leadership of those groups.
“The evidence seems to indicate that the Justice Department not only allowed criminals to smuggle weapons, but that tax payers’ dollars in the form of informant payments, may have financed those engaging in such activities,” Zambada Niebla's pleadings allege. “…It is clear that some of the weapons were deliberately allowed by the FBI and other government representatives [including the ATF] to end up in the hands of the Sinaloa Cartel and that among the people killed by those weapons were law enforcement officers.
“… Mr. Zambada Niebla believes that the documentation that he requests [from the US government] will confirm that the weapons received by Sinaloa Cartel members and its leaders in Operation ‘Fast & Furious’ were provided under the agreement entered into between the United States government and [Chapo Guzman confidante] Mr. Loya Castro on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel that is the subject of his [Zambada Niebla’s] defense….”
The frame-up
Despite being represented by an attorney who was suspended by the State Bar of Texas for misapplying clients’ funds shortly after Castillo inked a dubious plea deal with the federal prosecutor, the judge in Castillo’s case, at the urging of the that same prosecutor, determined that there was no evidence of Castillo’s defense being tainted by the stink of ineffective assistance of counsel.The fact that the same attorney’s son was facing federal gun charges, similar to those brought against Castillo, also was deemed by the judge to be little more than an “inference” of a conflict of interest on the part Castillo’s attorney. Hence, the judge, at a hearing held on Friday, July 10, 2009, in federal court in San Antonio, Texas, ruled that Castillo was not likely to succeed in the appeal of his conviction then pending before the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals — and he did not succeed.
As a result, the judge — after extending in mid-February 2009 Castillo’s report-to-prison date by some four months due to the very same ethical concerns raised about his attorney — did an about face at the July 10, 2009, hearing and ordered that Castillo report to prison on July 30, 2009 — to begin serving a 37-month sentence for violating federal firearm regulations, a sentence enhanced due to the judge’s apparent belief that Castillo sold weapons in Mexico.
Castillo, as well as other law enforcers who spoke with Narco News, at the time, contended that the federal prosecutor in the case turned Castillo’s paperwork violation (selling legally purchased weapons without a firearms-dealer permit) into a federal arms-trafficking case as payback for his whistleblowing activity.
The key to the severity of the prison sentence meted out to Castillo — who besides being a former DEA agent also is decorated Vietnam veteran with no prior criminal record — is that the prosecutor in his case argued, and the judge seemed convinced, that Castillo was likely trafficking weapons into Mexico — and by implication to members of narco-trafficking cells.
But Narco News obtained documents (letters that were filed with the Department of Justice) that allege the judge in Castillo’s case was mislead about the trafficking charges by the prosecutor in the case.
Those documents also show that after the federal judge, W. Royal Furgeson Jr., was made aware of that allegation, he chose to chastise Castillo for bringing those charges to his attention outside the proper channels.
Subsequently, Furgeson then revoked Castillo’s bail at the July 10, 2009, hearing and ordered him to report to prison to serve out an extreme sentence based on the allegedly misleading — possibly perjured — statements advanced by the federal prosecutor,
Castillo lays all of this out in a letter sent to Judge Furgeson (dated May 1, 2009, and obtained by Narco News). That same letter, including evidence to back up the allegations, Castillo says, also was delivered to the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General and to the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. In addition, Castillo says he wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder making him aware of the allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in his case as well.
From Castillo’s letter to the judge:
[The prosecutor] made a federal case that I had not documented any names of the people [to whom] I had sold guns. I was given 4 point [sentencing enhancement] for trafficking because [the prosecutor] had once again lied.
… My attorney once again assured me that there was no reason why Your Honor [Furgeson] would not place me on probation, because I had no previous criminal record plus my health issues [a chronic heart condition and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder] would be brought under consideration. He stated that in the worst scenario, I would get one year, (home confinement)....
… [The prosecutor] also knew exactly whom the guns went to because the [federal] agents had followed me when I delivered the shotguns. Two agents, from two different agencies [ATF and ICE] have written reports [REPORT OF INVESTIGATION] to that effect with the full name and telephone numbers of the individual who took custody of the guns. Now may there be no mistake that the individual who took custody of the guns did in no way shape or form break the law by taking custody of the guns. He was not a prohibited person and the government knew this to be a fact.
… I know that if Your Honor had heard the truth, I would have probably fallen into the probation level of the federal guidelines. Now I can prove that [the prosecutor] lied to Your Honor, with [my attorney’s] handwritten notes and the two [federal] agents’ reports.
Caging the Whistleblower
Is it possible that Castillo had unknowingly penetrated a version of these ATF operations without realizing it, thinking he had stumbled onto some corrupt agents in league with the drug cartels? Could it be that Castillo is now sitting in federal prison, a framed man, because he knew too much and had been deemed a dangerous person who was too close to exposing a clandestine arms-trafficking operation designed to prop up a U.S.-backed drug cartel?
These are questions that can’t be answer absent a full investigation into Castillo’s plight. But who is going to undertake such an investigation, the Department of Justice, which put him behind bars in the first place?
Castillo’s fate after exposing the CIA-supported Iran/Contra era arms-for-drugs smuggling operation in Central America certainly was not embraced by powerful forces within the standing U.S. bureaucracy.
Castillo, while a DEA agent in Central America in the 1980s, during the Reagan/Bush administration, uncovered evidence that the CIA and the White House National Security Council, through San Antonio, Texas, native and national counter-terrorism coordinator Lt. Col. Oliver North and other CIA assets, were carrying out illegal operations at two hangers at Ilopango Airport in El Salvador. Those airport hangars, Castillo contends, served as weapons and narcotics transshipment centers for funding and arming the U.S.-backed Contra counter-insurgency against the government of Nicaragua.
From that moment forward, Castillo became a target of those pulling the strings in that dirty war.
“Cele became a household word inside DEA,” Sandalio Gonzalez, a retired DEA commander, told Narco News in a prior interview. “They ruined his reputation over the stuff that happened in El Salvador [Iran/Contra] and he became a target. He took on the Establishment, and it didn’t come out so good for him.”
Castillo’s investigation into the Ilopango operation was eventually torpedoed via CIA interference and he was subjected to a steady stream of retaliatory DEA internal investigations.
Castillo subsequently, after a 12-year career, retired from the DEA, but until the day he reported to prison in late July 2009, he remained an outspoken critic of the hypocrisy of the war on drugs, penning a book about his experiences in DEA, called Powderburns, and appearing on numerous radio and TV shows — including a Showtime series called American Drug War.
Castillo also told Narco News in a prior interview that, as part of his part-time work as a consultant on criminal cases, he had uncovered, prior to his arrest in March 2008 on firearms charges, evidence that two ATF agents “were on the payroll of a Mexican cartel.”
“One informant, who actually paid one of these ATF agents in Monterrey, Mexico, told me about their involvement,” Castillo asserts. “That informant later got whacked. They [the ATF brass] know who these corrupt agents are, but they don’t want to deal with the embarrassment of cleaning the whole mess up.”
Well, more than two years after Castillo reported to jail, it appears that it could be more than embarrassment that prevented ATF from launching an investigation into its own; it may well be the agency itself, and its leadership well into the high ranks of the Justice Department that oversees ATF — via Operation Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious — were, in fact, complicit in the arms trafficking.
It’s at least a scenario that should be considered by someone in power who is not corrupt, or bought-and-paid for, or seeking to simply score partisan political points. Is there yet one honest man or woman in our government who cares about justice, who will lend a hand to a man who does?
This reporter visited Castillo in prison last year and had been in regular contact with him via the prison’s email system up until earlier this year, when Castillo was informed that his mother, whom he was very close to, had died. He was not allowed to attend the funeral.
Then, in late October of this year, officials with La Tuna federal prison in Anthony, Texas, sent out the following email:
Inmate 11807280 - CASTILLO, CELERINO III no longer has access to the Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System; therefore, he/she may not send or receive messages.“This is the kind of stuff [Castillo’s case] that happens in nations ruled by dictatorships,” former DEA commander Gonzalez told Narco News in a prior interview.
Stay tuned…..
Narcosphere
What Fast and Furious and Occupy Wall Street Have in Common
By
In Operation Fast and Furious, Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was murdered on American soil; he was shot with a gun that was put in the hands of the shooter by an agency under the direction of Barack Obama’s Justice Department – the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). In the months that have transpired since, culpability has been creeping closer to Obama himself, thanks to suspect and conflicting testimony from a range of officials at DOJ, including Attorney General Eric Holder. Those following the scandal have been choking on the stench of cover-up for months.
Speaking of stench, since the mayor of Oakland – Jean Quan – allowed protesters to ‘re-occupy’ her city after ordering police to clear the area, millions of dollars of damage has been done; crime has surged, and a man was shot dead at the Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, the site of Occupy Oakland. The question of whether Quan has the blood of that man on her hands hangs in the air like smoke from a fired gun on a still night. Since the shooting on November 10th, there appears to be multiple attempts to cover-up some facts there too.
Barucha Peller, a woman who fancies herself as a bit of a spokesperson for Occupy Oakland, didn’t just attempt to distance the movement from the shooting; she made it sound as if the man’s chances of survival would have been diminished but for her colleagues:
“The only direct Occupy Oakland involvement was in order to provide emergency first-aid services.”
Thanks to Zombie at Pajamas Media, it’s been learned that the San Francisco Chronicle shamefully scrubbed a portion of one of its reports that identified the victim as having been an Occupy Oakland occupier. It only served to make Peller’s claims even more despicable.
At the very beginning of the Obama administration, the ATF portrayed itself as an entity that did everything it possibly could to interdict weapons headed for Mexico. In reality, it was facilitating their transport. Mexican drug cartels were the beneficiaries of at least 2,000 guns. In a February 4, 2011 letter to Senator Chuck Grassley, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich reiterated that the ATF was doing all it could to protect Americans when he wrote:
“ATF makes every effort to interdict weapons that have been purchased illegally and prevent their transportation to Mexico.”
Nine months later, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Lanny Breuer conceded that Weich’s statement was false.
In much the same way that Quan is responsible for protecting her city’s police and citizens to the best of her ability, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano is responsible for doing the same for American citizens and her agents – of which Terry was one. In testimony she gave to the House Judiciary committee on October 26, 2011, Napolitano admitted to never talking with Holder about Fast and Furious, even though ATF agents knew within hours of Terry’s death that it had the blood of one of Napolitano’s agents (Terry) on its hands.
Not only that but on June 26, 2011 former ATF Special Agent William Newell conceded that Fast and Furious was an operation that included DHS as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which reports to DHS.
Indications are that Napolitano contributed – as yet, to an unquantifiable degree – to the environment which led to Terry’s death. Prior to the November 2nd general strike in Oakland, Quan seemed to preside over the equivalent of human cock fighting when she encouraged all city employees to take the day off and join the protests – that is, all city employees except the police. Oakland’s cops were all required to report for work.
Individuals at Justice, DHS, and quite possibly State all have questions to answer about their roles in Fast and Furious, as well as the resultant death of Terry. They all report up a chain that ends with Barack Obama.
Oakland is where former Obama green jobs czar, Van Jones got his start. Jones is one of the main organizers of the #Occupy Wall Street movement. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), whose district includes Oakland, has a rich history with Jones and helped get him hired by the White House; Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett practically admitted as much in August of 2009. Lee also said she supported the Occupy Oakland protests and had spoken with Quan about it.
Barack Obama’s subordinates at various links down the chain, supported an operation that resulted in the shooting death of an American Border agent. Former Barack Obama subordinates and colleagues supported a movement in Oakland that resulted in the shooting death of a civilian. Violence, crime, and millions of dollars in damages at these protests all across the country almost gave the potential for such a death the air of inevitability.
We Know Barack Obama supports the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has devolved into a cesspool of violent crime in many cities, not just Oakland. At last count, there have been more than 4000 arrests nationwide. The president’s support for Occupy Wall Street does not assuage the suspicions of those who wonder about his level of support for Fast and Furious; it does the opposite.
Obama’s support for Occupy Wall Street might one day tell us how something like Operation Fast and Furious ever saw the light of day.
Ben Barrack is a talk show host on KTEM 1400 in Texas and maintains a website at www.benbarrack.com.
Western Center For Journalism
In Operation Fast and Furious, Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was murdered on American soil; he was shot with a gun that was put in the hands of the shooter by an agency under the direction of Barack Obama’s Justice Department – the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). In the months that have transpired since, culpability has been creeping closer to Obama himself, thanks to suspect and conflicting testimony from a range of officials at DOJ, including Attorney General Eric Holder. Those following the scandal have been choking on the stench of cover-up for months.
Speaking of stench, since the mayor of Oakland – Jean Quan – allowed protesters to ‘re-occupy’ her city after ordering police to clear the area, millions of dollars of damage has been done; crime has surged, and a man was shot dead at the Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, the site of Occupy Oakland. The question of whether Quan has the blood of that man on her hands hangs in the air like smoke from a fired gun on a still night. Since the shooting on November 10th, there appears to be multiple attempts to cover-up some facts there too.
Barucha Peller, a woman who fancies herself as a bit of a spokesperson for Occupy Oakland, didn’t just attempt to distance the movement from the shooting; she made it sound as if the man’s chances of survival would have been diminished but for her colleagues:
“The only direct Occupy Oakland involvement was in order to provide emergency first-aid services.”
Thanks to Zombie at Pajamas Media, it’s been learned that the San Francisco Chronicle shamefully scrubbed a portion of one of its reports that identified the victim as having been an Occupy Oakland occupier. It only served to make Peller’s claims even more despicable.
At the very beginning of the Obama administration, the ATF portrayed itself as an entity that did everything it possibly could to interdict weapons headed for Mexico. In reality, it was facilitating their transport. Mexican drug cartels were the beneficiaries of at least 2,000 guns. In a February 4, 2011 letter to Senator Chuck Grassley, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich reiterated that the ATF was doing all it could to protect Americans when he wrote:
“ATF makes every effort to interdict weapons that have been purchased illegally and prevent their transportation to Mexico.”
Nine months later, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Lanny Breuer conceded that Weich’s statement was false.
In much the same way that Quan is responsible for protecting her city’s police and citizens to the best of her ability, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano is responsible for doing the same for American citizens and her agents – of which Terry was one. In testimony she gave to the House Judiciary committee on October 26, 2011, Napolitano admitted to never talking with Holder about Fast and Furious, even though ATF agents knew within hours of Terry’s death that it had the blood of one of Napolitano’s agents (Terry) on its hands.
Not only that but on June 26, 2011 former ATF Special Agent William Newell conceded that Fast and Furious was an operation that included DHS as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which reports to DHS.
Indications are that Napolitano contributed – as yet, to an unquantifiable degree – to the environment which led to Terry’s death. Prior to the November 2nd general strike in Oakland, Quan seemed to preside over the equivalent of human cock fighting when she encouraged all city employees to take the day off and join the protests – that is, all city employees except the police. Oakland’s cops were all required to report for work.
Individuals at Justice, DHS, and quite possibly State all have questions to answer about their roles in Fast and Furious, as well as the resultant death of Terry. They all report up a chain that ends with Barack Obama.
Oakland is where former Obama green jobs czar, Van Jones got his start. Jones is one of the main organizers of the #Occupy Wall Street movement. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), whose district includes Oakland, has a rich history with Jones and helped get him hired by the White House; Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett practically admitted as much in August of 2009. Lee also said she supported the Occupy Oakland protests and had spoken with Quan about it.
Barack Obama’s subordinates at various links down the chain, supported an operation that resulted in the shooting death of an American Border agent. Former Barack Obama subordinates and colleagues supported a movement in Oakland that resulted in the shooting death of a civilian. Violence, crime, and millions of dollars in damages at these protests all across the country almost gave the potential for such a death the air of inevitability.
We Know Barack Obama supports the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has devolved into a cesspool of violent crime in many cities, not just Oakland. At last count, there have been more than 4000 arrests nationwide. The president’s support for Occupy Wall Street does not assuage the suspicions of those who wonder about his level of support for Fast and Furious; it does the opposite.
Obama’s support for Occupy Wall Street might one day tell us how something like Operation Fast and Furious ever saw the light of day.
Ben Barrack is a talk show host on KTEM 1400 in Texas and maintains a website at www.benbarrack.com.
Western Center For Journalism
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
U. S. Government May Be Primary Suppliers of Mexican Drug Cartel Guns
Border Narcotics Intelligence has been saying this for over a year!.This is nothing new.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Department of Justice Challenges Utah’s Immigration Law
Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Department of Justice Challenges Utah’s Immigration Law
Several Provisions Interfere with Enforcement of Federal Immigration Law
WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice today challenged Utah’s immigration law, which comes after recent lawsuits in Arizona, Alabama and South Carolina.
In a complaint, filed in the District of Utah, the department states that several provisions of Utah’s H.B. 497 are preempted by federal law. The provisions were enacted on March, 15, 2011.
The department’s lawsuit comes after several months of constructive discussions with Utah state officials. Notwithstanding today’s lawsuit, department officials expect this important dialogue to continue.
The department’s complaint states that H.B. 497 clearly violates the Constitution because it attempts to establish state-specific immigration policy. The law creates and mandates immigration enforcement measures that interfere with the immigration priorities and practices of the federal government in a way which is not cooperative with the primary federal role in this area. The law’s mandates on law enforcement could lead to harassment and detention of foreign visitors and legal immigrants who are in the process of having their immigration status reviewed in federal proceedings and whom the federal government has permitted to stay in this country while such proceedings are pending.
The federal government has the ultimate authority to enforce federal immigration laws and the Constitution does not permit a patchwork of local immigration policies. A state setting its own immigration policy interferes with the federal government’s enforcement efforts.
“A patchwork of immigration laws is not the answer and will only create further problems in our immigration system,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “The federal government is the chief enforcer of immigration laws and while we appreciate cooperation from states, which remains important, it is clearly unconstitutional for a state to set its own immigration policy. We will continue to monitor and coordinate with our federal partners as we remain concerned about the potential impact of these state laws.”
“This kind of legislation diverts critical law enforcement resources from the most serious threats to public safety and undermines the vital trust between local jurisdictions and the communities they serve,” said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. “The Department will continue to enforce federal immigration laws in Utah in smart, effective ways that focus our resources on criminal aliens, recent border crossers, repeat and egregious immigration law violators and employers who knowingly hire illegal labor.”
The department notified Utah state officials of its position that the Utah’s Immigrant Guest Worker statutes, H.B. 116 and H.B. 469, are clearly preempted by federal law. Given that the provisions do not take effect until 2013, and in light of the constructive conversations the department continues to have with Utah officials about these provisions pursuant to the Justice Department’s long-standing policy of exploring resolution short of litigation before filing suit against a state, the department is not challenging these provisions today. If, however, Utah fails to comply with federal law in this area, the department will not hesitate to take the legal action necessary to vindicate the important federal interests in this matter before these laws go into effect.
The suit was filed on behalf of the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and State, which share responsibilities in administering federal immigration law. The department will soon request a preliminary injunction to enjoin enforcement of the certain provisions of H.B. 497.
The Justice Department previously challenged S.B. 1070, H.B. 56, and Act No. 69 on federal preemption grounds in Arizona, Alabama and South Carolina, respectively. The department continues to review immigration-related laws that were passed in Indiana and Georgia. Courts have enjoined key parts of the Arizona, Alabama, Georgia and Indiana state laws and temporarily restrained enforcement of Utah’s law.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Smith: Backdoor Amnesty Hurts American Workers
| For Immediate Release November 17, 2011 | Contact: Jessica Baker, (202) 225-3951 |
Smith: Backdoor Amnesty Hurts American Workers
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) issued the following statement criticizing the Obama administration’s decision to move forward with administrative amnesty.
Chairman Smith: “The policies put forth today by political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security show that its ‘working group’ is only working for illegal immigrants. The administration’s decision to move forward with backdoor amnesty could mean jobs, but not for unemployed Americans. This massive administrative amnesty to illegal immigrants could instead allow illegal immigrants to receive work authorization and could put more Americans on the unemployment rolls. We know that when this administration issues deferred action to illegal immigrants, it routinely grants 90% of them work authorization.
“How can the Obama administration justify granting work authorization to illegal immigrants when so many American citizens don’t have jobs? Twenty-three million Americans who are unemployed or can’t find full-time work must wonder why this administration puts illegal immigrants ahead of them. Citizens and legal immigrants should not be forced to compete with illegal workers for scarce jobs. The administration should put the interests of American workers first.”
Background on Administrative Amnesty: In June, the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued two memos to agency officials on how to exercise prosecutorial discretion, such as granting deferred action, deciding whom to stop, question, arrest, or detain, and dismissing a removal proceeding. Following these memos, in August DHS announced that its newly created working group will begin a case-by-case review of illegal immigrants in removal proceedings and with a final order of removal to determine if those individuals should be removed at the agency’s discretion.
According to the new guidance released today, ICE will start reviewing all incoming and most pending cases before an immigration court. These changes could allow millions of illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. without a vote of Congress. In reviewing the cases, DHS political appointees have made clear that many illegal immigrants are not considered “priorities” for removal, including potential DREAM Act beneficiaries, an illegal immigrant who has had a long-term presence in the U.S., has an immediate family member who is a U.S. citizen, and/or has compelling ties to the U.S. Today’s announcement also states that ICE may administratively close asylum cases where the immigrants makes a joint request to close. Although it is estimated that a large percentage of asylum applications are fraudulent, these individuals are eligible for work authorization.
DHS Stonewalls Judiciary Committee
| For Immediate Release November 18, 2011 | Contact: Jessica Baker, (202) 225-3951 |
DHS Stonewalls Judiciary Committee
On November 4, the Immigration Subcommittee issued a subpoena to DHS for a list of illegal and criminal immigrants that have been flagged by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but have not been detained or placed in removal proceedings by the agency. Chairman Smith originally asked for the subpoenaed information from DHS in August. Following the agency’s failure to provide the subpoenaed information, Chairman Smith issued the following statement and sent a letter to DHS.
Chairman Smith: “Although officials at the Department of Homeland Security promised they would provide the data requested on criminal immigrants, they have stonewalled my request and provided information that is completely useless to the Committee. As part of our oversight responsibility, the Committee requested unique identifiers for the criminal immigrants intentionally released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement so that we can cross-check the information to see if they have gone on to commit more crimes. This data will be used to inform Congress on the problem of criminal immigrants and their affect on public safety.
“Instead of providing this information, all DHS gave was a list numbered 1 through 220,995. Proving the administration can count is not what we asked for. The Obama administration is trying to control what information the Committee sees and is wrongfully trying to keep crucial information from the American people. The American people have a right to know what crimes hundreds of thousands of immigrants have committed after ICE intentionally chose not to detain them.
“It seems administration officials are afraid that the information will show that illegal immigrants intentionally released by ICE have committed crimes that could have been prevented. Why else would they hide the information? The administration’s refusal to enforce all immigration laws places our communities at risk.”
###
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Republican Threatens Legal Action Against DHS Over Immigrant-Data Subpoena
By Judson Berger
APOct. 19, 2011: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington.
A top House Republican is threatening to enforce a subpoena for criminal immigrant information "to the fullest extent" of the law, after claiming the Obama administration "stonewalled" his request.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith for months has been seeking a comprehensive list of names and other information for the thousands of immigrants who are flagged, but not taken into custody or deported through a program known as Secure Communities.
Earlier this month, a subcommittee on his panel subpoenaed the Department of Homeland Security for the information, claiming it was "not acting in good faith." It was the first subpoena issued by the committee since it came under GOP control.
The department ended up turning over documents by a Nov. 10 deadline -- but Smith claimed all he received was a list of numbers.
"Instead of providing this information, all DHS gave was a list numbered 1 through 220,995. Proving the administration can count is not what we asked for," Smith said in a statement.
He wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Friday urging her to "immediately comply" with the subpoena.
"If you do not, the committee will be forced to seek enforcement of the subpoena to the fullest extent allowed by the law," Smith wrote.
Secure Communities is a program that allows federal immigration officials to check the names and fingerprints of suspects booked at federal, state and local jails against their immigration databases.
Republicans want detailed information about criminal immigrants who were not pursued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, so they can then check their records and see if they went on to commit more crimes.
Smith said he received a sprawling list from the department on Nov. 10 that included just three things for each entry -- a "unique ID," a date and time for each "encounter," and the national origin for a few hundred of them. He said the "unique ID" was merely a number, from 1 to 220,955, which he described as "useless."
The Department of Homeland Security said it is trying to comply with Smith's requests.
"DHS previously told to the committee it would provide the data requested without being compelled by subpoena. We have begun to provide that data as it becomes available and will continue to do so," DHS spokesman Matthew Chandler said in a statement Saturday.
Chandler stressed that ICE removed 216,000 criminal immigrants in fiscal 2011, described as an 89 percent increase from 2008.
According to DHS, more than 107,000 immigrants convicted of crimes have been removed after being flagged through Secure Communities.
The number represents a fraction of all immigrants flagged through the program. But DHS claims many immigrants who are flagged could not be arrested or deported.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Nelson Peacock earlier wrote a letter explaining to Smith that many of the immigrants whose names show up in their system through Secure Communities are legal and would simply not count as a "removable alien."
He said, for instance, that naturalized U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents could show up. Peacock also noted that ICE would not take somebody into custody if they are already serving time for a criminal offense.
Smith, though, wrote in his letter to Napolitano that it appears that either DHS "never planned to comply" with his request or that the White House intervened for "political reasons."
Friday, November 18, 2011
More Administrative Amnesty, This Time from USCIS
The Obama Administration has issued yet another "prosecutorial discretion" (read "Let'em go!") memo, this time changing USCIS policy so that certain illegal aliens whose applications for immigration benefits such as green cards, citizenship, or temporary status are denied may nevertheless avoid being forced to leave the country.
Since 2006, it has been the policy that the USCIS officers who adjudicate benefits applications were encouraged to issue Notices to Appear (NTAs) if an individual's application was rejected. The NTA is an order for an alien that the U.S. government official believes is deportable to report to immigration court, and is the first step in the removal process. This was an important policy, as it ensured that those aliens who for a variety of reasons – fraud, criminal history, poverty, communicable diseases, connection to terrorism, past immigration violations, involvement in genocide, etc. – were rejected for legal status were put on the path to removal rather than allowed to remain here.
Whoa, said the Obama administration, that needs to be reined in. According to the memo, now "USCIS must ensure that its issuance of NTAs fits within and supports the Government's overall removal priorities...."
Henceforth, only those unqualified applicants who are a national security concern, who have committed marriage fraud or some other offense flagrant enough as to result in termination of status, who are "egregious" public safety cases, or who have a criminal history sufficiently serious to fit into ICE priorities (a rather high threshold these days) will be directed to appear immigration court to explain why they deserve to stay here.
Now, those who are merely illegal aliens or unqualified applicants and who unsuccessfully attempt to launder their status by applying for a benefit can get a free pass. This will include, for example, people who try to apply for a student or work visa but are not qualified, green card applicants who fail to show they can support themselves financially, people who submit frivolous applications to buy time here (often through fake job offers), applicants who have committed what DHS considers to be minor crimes, people who lack the family relationships that the law requires.
Speaking of qualifying family relationships, or lack thereof, in August USCIS and the State Department issued another little-noticed policy change to enable aliens who "regularly reside in the same dwelling as the principal non-immigrant and with whom the principal non-immigrant maintains the type of relationship and care as one normally would expect between nuclear family members" will be entitled to a temporary visa for as long as their partner, friend, great-grand-niece-thrice-removed, or whoever is here. What is not mentioned is how in the world consular officers and adjudicators are supposed to determine the authenticity of these relationships, and woe to the officer who asks too many questions.
Never mind the law, the Obama administration appointees will decide who gets to be in America.
Center For Immigration Studies
Epilogue: Justice for Border Patrol Agent Jesus Diaz?
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| Tactics & Training with Dave Grossi |
One can only guess what the jury’s findings might have been had they known about the “armed escort alert” received by the agents 24 hours earlier that escalated their awareness level
By now, most of you know that this past summer, veteran Border Patrol Agent Jesus Diaz was found guilty of several charges resulting from his use of physical force against a drug-smuggling illegal immigrant and has been sentenced to two years in federal prison. Few of you may know that I was the police procedures expert who testified for Agent Diaz at his federal criminal trial this past February. I wrote about the case in a somewhat disguised fashion as part of a two-part series entitled “A Disturbing Trend: Criminal Charges Against Cops” for PoliceOne this past March and April. I deliberately masked the specific issues as Diaz had not been sentenced at that time. However, now that the punishment phase is over, I can fill in some of the blanks from that case.
As the national media has been reporting, back in October 2008, Agent Jesus Diaz was one of a team of Border Patrol agents who responded to a sensor activation at the USA-Mexico border near Eagle Pass, Texas. This area is a frequent crossing point for illegals who are smuggling dope across our southern border.
Upon Diaz’s arrival, the suspect in question — age 15 — was already in cuffs. He was just one of three dopers who had made the crossing each carrying a 50-pound backpack loaded with marijuana.
The juvie and one other smuggler were caught rather quickly — the third escaped leaving behind his 50-pound backpack. He was tracked a short distance by the BP canine that had responded to the sensor activation. The dog was still actively alerting to the third suspect’s near presence, but had been pulled off the track to try to locate more dope. The scene was chaotic — a very dark abandoned pecan orchard, one suspect still at large, and the two who were in custody had not been searched or even patted down thoroughly. All this info was known to the jury that convicted Diaz.
What the Judge Wouldn’t Allow
Now here’s what they didn’t know... because they were not allowed to hear it.
The day before this incident, the Border Patrol field office in Eagle Pass, Texas had received a memo that indicated that drug smugglers were going to be escorted by armed guards across the river and back — not so much to protect the smugglers from the BP agents, but to make sure the smugglers returned with the money they received from the dope sale. However, the judge wouldn’t allow that important officer safety info to be presented in court — despite the vigorous objections of Agent Diaz’s attorneys.
The jury was also not allowed to view photographs or even hear about the gang tattoos the second smuggler had all over his body. Those tats bore the name “Vatos Locos” across the suspect’s shaved head, forehead, arms, and neck. The Crazy Boyz gang is well known to the BP agents that work the Eagle Pass station as an extremely violent criminal gang. Those tats, along with the armed escort memo, also raised their awareness level up a notch or two. But, the court wouldn’t allow the “armed alert” memo or the presence of the “gang tats” to be discussed in open court.
Another matter than was rather disturbing about this trial — the second such trial Diaz faced within the preceding six-month period (the first had resulted in a mistrial) — was the presence of a mannequin the US Attorney’s Office dragged into the courtroom (over the objections of Diaz’s two very capable and aggressive attorneys) and plopped down in front of the jury.
This dummy had arms that permitted 180-degree rotation from the traditional proned-out behind-the-back position normally used for handcuffing, all the way up over the head around to the front of the body; a position impossible for anybody other than Rubber Man to achieve. This 180-degree rotation was a frequent maneuver that the Assistant U.S. Attorney repeatedly demonstrated in court, again over Diaz’s attorney’s objections, in spite of the fact that no one, not even the illegal drug smuggler, ever testified that this maneuver was ever performed by Diaz.
One Can Only Guess...
In fact, the illegal drug smuggler — now an adult — never testified to any injury suffered at the hands of Agent Diaz, except for some “pressure on his back” from Agent Diaz’s knee that was intended to keep him down in the prone position after he resisted being brought up to a standing position for escort. In fact, the post-arrest photographs taken by the BP agents showed no visible marks on the juvie dope smuggler whatsoever.
It should also be noted that of the dozen BP agents at the scene, nine gave sworn statements that they never witnessed Diaz do anything improper during his handling of the illegal smuggler. Two agents did testify at trial that “in their opinion” the takedown and ground stabilization by Diaz against the doper that Diaz was trying to control, was “unnecessary.” However, they also testified under cross-examination that they never had a hold of the drug smuggler’s arm, were not in a position to feel any resistive tension or any attempts by the suspect to pull away — facts that Diaz testified to.
The drug smuggler never told any BP agents at the time of his arrest that he was abused in any way by any BP agent. That complaint was only made to the Mexican Consulate after the illegal drug smuggler was whisked away after being granted safe passage back across the border to Mexico.
One can only guess what the jury’s findings might have been had they known about the “armed escort alert” received by the agents 24 hours earlier that escalated their awareness level, or the presence of the gang tats all over the second smugglers face, head, neck and body. Be that as it may, Agent Diaz is now doing time for what many feel was proper and reasonable force given the totality of the circumstances he faced. It was 0300 hours in a dark pecan field, and Diaz knew he was dealing with violent, dope-smuggling gang members, one of whom was potentially armed and still at large somewhere in that field.
Compounding Diaz’s predicament was the fact that his articulation skills were less than perfect. Rather than using the phrase “to the best of my recollection, I didn’t ask the doper where the marijuana was” his statement to IA, which was given some eight (8) months after the fact, contained the words “I did not ask the suspect where the marijuana was.” Two other agents heard him ask that question.
Diaz told me he never recalled asking the question. Perhaps his IA statement should have used that “never recalled” qualifier. As such, his conviction was not just for excessive force, but for lying to a federal agent about his actions. I could only testify that I visited that dark field late at night with Diaz and his two attorneys, and that arm twisting is a part of handcuffing, and ground stabilization is a trained and taught technique of suspect control. There was nothing I could say about the inaccurate statement Diaz made to his IA superiors other than some officers may recall seeing or hearing things differently than other officers at the scene of high-stress events.
As an aside, the now adult drug smuggler was granted full immunity for not only the illegal border crossing, but the possession of 50 pounds of marijuana he carried across the border. He was escorted back and forth no less than four times by our own government agents to testify against one of their own. And in an ironic twist of fate, after testifying under oath that he only felt “pressure” on his back and arms during the arrest, the illegal drug smuggler testified as a prosecution witness for the US Attorney’s Office that he “lied” to the BP agents when they originally asked him if he was treated roughly by any agent during the arrest.
The Bottom Line
Diaz is in prison in part because he “allegedly lied” to BP agents. The illegal drug smuggler gets total immunity for “admittedly lying” about the same incident.
Justice? You tell me.
Police One.com
ICE memo on prosecutorial discretion
The ICE prosecutorial discretion memo and processing guidance
ICE MEMO 2
Federal officials should consider dismissing pending immigration cases involving certain groups of illegal immigrants – including children, college students, the elderly and victims of domestic violence – according to new Homeland Security guidelines issued Thursday.
A memo laying out the guidelines, obtained by the Houston Chronicle, offers a clearer picture of the groups of immigrants who would benefit from the Obama administration’s much-publicized plan to review 300,000 pending cases in immigration courts.
More on the story by the Chronicle’s Susan Carroll here.
ICE MEMO 2
Federal officials should consider dismissing pending immigration cases involving certain groups of illegal immigrants – including children, college students, the elderly and victims of domestic violence – according to new Homeland Security guidelines issued Thursday.
A memo laying out the guidelines, obtained by the Houston Chronicle, offers a clearer picture of the groups of immigrants who would benefit from the Obama administration’s much-publicized plan to review 300,000 pending cases in immigration courts.
More on the story by the Chronicle’s Susan Carroll here.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Obama’s Abuse of Executive Orders – Worse Than Fast and Furious
Washington DC - -(Ammoland.com)- Operation Fast and Furious has left a hideous scar on our nation to date.
It should result in the prosecution of Attorney General Eric Holder, former U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, and a slew of ATF supervisors who oversaw the ridiculous operation from the word go.
As a result of their foolishness and criminality, taxpayer money was used in the purchase of weapons intentionally passed to criminals, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry is dead, hundreds upon hundreds of Mexican citizens have been killed, and over one thousand firearms are still unaccounted for. (Although the lion’s share of those weapons will probably be found in Mexico, we know some are undoubtedly in the U.S. because they keep showing up at crime scenes in Arizona and Texas.)
Yet as bad as Fast and Furious was, and will continue to be when as more facts unfold, I am persuaded that Obama’s clear usurpation of the Constitution via his misuse of Executive Orders is worse.
In other words, although Fast and Furious was a completely lawless situation that has endangered both Mexicans and Americans physically, and which is being used even now to push for more gun control, it was largely conducted under a cover of secrecy.
But Obama’s attempts to legislate from the White House are being done right in the open and pose a clear violation to the separation of powers established by our Founding Fathers nearly 225 years ago. This strikes at the very core of our nation’s foundation by disrupting the pattern and order of government set forth in the Constitution, as well as the customs and conventions we’ve trusted heretofore.
The Constitution clearly gives the power of legislating to Congress – period.
A check on that power resides in the Executive Office, where the president can sign acts into law or not. In this he has some discretion over what kind of acts Congress passes into law, but he has no authority to legislate: no authority whatsoever. And he cannot create authority to legislate because all authority belongs to the people, save that authority which they delegate to various office holders and branches of government in ways plainly outlined in the Constitution.
Remember: All powers not delegated to the government by the Constitution, “nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” In other words, original powers outside of those delegated to the federal government continue to reside with the people (see 10th Amendment).
When Obama stands before crowds of zombie-like hippies, freaks, or union employees, and uses the mantra“We can’t wait” to justify legislating in Congress’ place, he’s not only taking a power unto himself that isn’t his to take, he’s also bypassing a check purposely placed on his office by our Founding Fathers. The simple fact is, Congress has checked Obama’s agenda and refuses to pass legislation that would further it. Yet because Obama is even haughtier than your typical leftist, he refuses to be checked.
In just the past few months the little emperor has used Executive Orders to reduce the size of student loan payments, to create new gun control laws, and to enable Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to allow borrowers who owe more than their houses are worth to refinance at lower interest rates.
We have a serious problem on our hands here folks. This man has absolutely no respect for our Constitution or for the office of the president. He would be king, if we would but be his subjects.
AWR Hawkins
About:
AWR Hawkins writes for all the BIG sites, for Pajamas Media, for RedCounty.com, for Townhall.com and now AmmoLand Shooting Sports News.
AWR Hawkins writes for all the BIG sites, for Pajamas Media, for RedCounty.com, for Townhall.com and now AmmoLand Shooting Sports News.
His southern drawl is frequently heard discussing his take on current events on radio shows like America’s Morning News, the G. Gordon Liddy Show, the Ken Pittman Show, and the NRA’s Cam & Company, among others. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal (summer 2010), and he holds a PhD in military history from Texas Tech University.
If you have questions or comments, email him at awr@awrhawkins.com. You can find him on facebook at www.facebook.com/awr.hawkins.
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