Gunrunner: Darrell Issa accuses the White House of blocking a key witness from testifying on Fast and Furious
Back in July of 2011 I wrote this post when it was learned that the ATF had shared information about Operation Fast and Furious with a person within the White House. ATF agent Bill Newell is friends with former White House National Security Director for North America, Kevin O’Reilly, and when Mr. O’Reilly asked Mr. Newell for information related to the violence at the Mexican border he provided him with information on Operation Fast and Furious, while reminding him in an email that “you didn’t get this from me.”
So we have at least one member of Barack Obama’s White House counsel who knew about Operation Fast and Furious, but there is more because it turned out that at least two others in the White House also knew about the deadly operation–a Latin American advisory and a national security official. Dan Restrepo and Greg Gatjanis respectively.
Bill Newell eventually testified in front of the Congress and stated that he didn’t remember what the email conversation with Kevin O’Reilly was about and didn’t remember the specifics about the deadly operation, but when audio tapes surfaced which tied Bill Newell more closely to Fast and Furious than he was willing to admit to the Congress his lawyer provided the Congress with a supplemental statement to correct Bill Newell’s “unintentional errors of omission.” In other words, he changed his story.
Grassley hinted that Newell’s poor memory about his emails with O’Reilly looked suspicious. “It’s very convenient that he’d have an absence of mind when he’s under oath in front of a congressional committee
It certainly would be interesting to know what Kevin O’Reilly’s take on this is, but to this date he hasn’t testified in front of Darrell Issa’s Oversight Committee and it isn’t for a lack of trying on the part of Darrell Issa. Darrell Issa and Charles Grassley sent a letter to the White House asking that Kevin O’Reilly be allowed to testify in front of the Oversight Committee and demanded a reply by April 4th.
April 4th has come and gone and the White House has not responded to the letter, prompting Darrell Issa to claim that the White House is blocking Kevin O’Reilly from testifying in front of the Oversight Committee.
To date, the White House has not complied with multiple congressional requests to interview O’Reilly,” Issa and Grassley wrote in their letter to Ruemmler. “Our staffers have had extensive discussions with lawyers in your office, who have represented that the White House does not perceive any need for us to interview O’Reilly and consequently will not make arrangements for him to speak to us.”
Speaking with Fox News Channel host Greta Van Susteren last week, Grassley said that while Newell and O’Reilly are friends, “it’s very, very unusual to have someone at a field office communicating directly with someone at the National Security Council
This isn’t the first time that someone within the Obama regime has missed a deadline imposed by Darrell Issa: In January Darrell Issa sent Eric Holder a letter demanding the disgraced head of the Department of Injustice comply with a subpoena request by February 9th or face Contempt of Congress charges. But when Eric Holder failed to comply Darrell Issa simply extended the deadline indefinitely, leading to speculation that John Boehner is slowing down Darrell Issa’s investigation.
Eric Holder ignored a Contempt of Congress threat and still no action has been taken against him by Darrell Issa; is it any wonder that the White House feels emboldened and sees no need to comply with Darrell Issa’s request to let Kevin O’Reilly testify in front of his neutered committee?
The time for talking is over, the time for action is now. It is time to put up or shut up and if Darrell Issa doesn’t have the guts to bring Contempt of Congress charges against the people who are thwarting his investigation they will continue to do so and we will never get to the bottom of this. By letting Eric Holder skate on the Contempt of Congress charges Darrell Issa has become an enabler because the White House has no fear that he will take any action to remedy their disregard toward the investigation or their unwillingness to comply with it.
America's Watchtower 
I haven’t kept up with this like I should have, but even a blind man can see the White House is stalling and doesn’t want the hard facts to come out until after this fall’s election, if ever. So much for the transparency the sitting president promised the voters in 2008. I agree with you that Issa is enabling the administration by not taking the next step in asking for a contempt order being issued for Holder. Wish I had more input on this but like I said just haven’t kept up with the unfolding events in this case. But then I’ve always been one for generalizations as opposed to details. I’m reminded of an old quote “politicians complicate the obvious while trivializing the momentous”.
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This is a huge scandal Ron and I hope that someday we will get to the bottom of it. Issa has done a great job investigating the scandal but it seems to be stalling and it is time for him to hold people in contempt if he wants to take this to the next level.
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AG Holder has been threatened so many times and nothing has come from it in the way of a serious consequence. It is like telling a little kid, “no, no, I am going to count to three, one, two, three”…and they just look at you….if you don’t follow thru on a punishment, do you think they are going to be scared the next time??? NO. Same difference, same maturity level!
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Exactly Lou! At this point the Obama regime is not scared of Issa because he hasn’t followed through on his threats. They will just keep testing the limits until he finally takes action.
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Why hasn’t Issa asked for a Special Prosecutor? It seems over due to me.
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It is really disheartening at this point Jim. It seems like a special prosecutor shoulf have been named by now and it makes you wonder if it is true that Boehner put the brakes on this investigation.
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Wow, they just don’t stop. If this were a Republican administration, the MSM would be all over this, every night, every day.
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What is your point, Matt? I thought that was a given anymore! We know it and they know we know it, but still they do it. Go figure. Does anything amaze you anymore about the Media? I put nothing past them. I believe nothing they say, sad it has come to that, isn’t it?
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I think that more and more people are finally catching on to the MSM bias and that is why more people are turning to the alternative media for their news.
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You’ve got that right Matt! And yet Holder and Obama get a pass on what could be one of the biggest scandals in US history. The propaganda wing of the Democrat party is in full CYA mode.
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Where to begin with this one Steve. First off Mr. Newell committed a felony by lying to congress while under oath and should be arrested and charged. Second we need to change out our house leadership. Boehner has failed over and over again. He has lost way more battles with the Obama administration than he has won. He has been a complete embarrassment. If it is discovered that he is holding back Issa from doing his job then this is grounds for immediate removal. What we’re seeing with this case is exactly why the American people are losing faith in the system, When they see these criminals getting away with murder and no will to pursue justice for the people, it makes it hard to believe in it. The truth is the system has been completely corrupted by politics. I makes me so mad Steve. VOTE ALL THE BUMS OUT!
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I’m with you John about Boehner. He has been a complete disaster as Leader and it may end up costing Republicans the majority. But if it doesn’t cost them the majority the Republicans must replace him if he wins reelection–he does have a primary challenger, so that should be interesting.
There are a couple of House members that I would like to see come back but for the most part the more of them that lose reelection the better off we will be. You are right, people are losing faith in the system and I am one of them because I just don’t see anyone coming along who will do what is really needed to stop us from continuing down this road.
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Maybe Boehner should be called to testify. If he’s blocking the investigation that makes him and accessory to a crime.
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Now that would be interesting! I hope these rumors are wrong, but something seems to have changed because we haven’t heard much about Fast and Furious lately. Hopefully it is because Issa is putting the finishing touches on it before handing it over to a prosecutor.
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What amazes me.. we ALL know these things. We ALL know how corrupt the White House AND some members of Congress are. We also know that Obama is a fraud and still..
The American people allow this to continue. There IS a lot of talk and no action. What do the people do to have these things change. It’s obvious that these people feel and act that they are above the law. Is it because they ARE? Every website outside the local media just tells of another story of corruption and nothing… nothing is being done.
Impeachment bills for Obama have been in place since 2008. Why is he still able to make the decisions he does and why is he allowed to continue destroying America? Enlighten me please? What exactly do the people have to do?
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Really the only thing that we can do is vote him out in November. Even if the House were to impeach Obama he would never be found guilty in the Democrat controlled Senate so an impeachment hearing would be nothing but show.
It is frustrating but we just have to hope we can vote him out in a few months.
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For starters, Imaj, we have the entitlement recipients that will vote for whomever gives them the most to keep them in the position they are in. That is a powerful draw for votes. The majority of the media are in the tank for Obama, whether they are paid off or just plain far left liberals is a toss up. Corruption is becoming the normal now days. As for impeachment, you can still stay in office, so I fail to see how that will help us. On top of that, it will be legitimizing that Obama is legally eligible to be in office, if we recognize it as such. I feel he is not, I know alot that feel the same way. I want to see him removed. What do we have to do??? That is the big question, isn’t it? Seems like everything that has been negative about him turns out to be a plus for him in the eyes of his groupies.
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For the most part I don’t think the media has been bought off, I think they are controlled by liberals who hire people with like minded beliefs and this is why they are in the tank for Obama.
To me impeachment, even if it were warranted, is not anoption because the Senate will not convict him so it will he a waste of time to even move forward on it, we should focus our efforts on defeating him at the ballot box.
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I think these are great comments and hit all of the points head on. Special Prosecutor. But we need the Senate to investigate, and we must take the Senate.
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Holding onto the House and winning the Senate might actually be more important than winning the presidency, especially in light of the fact that the Republicans are going to nominate a RINO as their candidate.
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Let’s get away from all the understatements. The truth is that the Kid from Kenya has every right to spit his phlegm balls at congress, the judiciary, the people(that’s us)since those who have the power lack the balls to try to reign in this elephant eared, ciggie smoking, junk food eating, arrogant,America hating, snake in the grass. Couple this with the shithead republican establishment and prepare for the worst.
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Sadly, I fear that the Republicans don’t stand a chance against Obama in November. I see no real cohesion or sense of urgency on their part – just a lot of useless hyperbole that is going nowhere. Romney is an empty suit, Santorum is delusional, Gingrich is, well Gingrich and Ron Paul is only half right.
As for Obama he is, in my opinion, an enemy of the Constitution and in the end an enemy of the American people..
Nikita Kruschev’s prognostication on the destruction of the U.S., “We do not have to destroy America with missiles; America will destroy itself from within,” seems to have become a self fulfilling prophesy.
With that in mind we might ask where Barack Obama’s true loyalties lie? WM
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William, I think we know where his loyalties lie just in his actions. Of course there are those that will vote for him even if they have all the damaging information on him. Those are the diehards, aren’t they?
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I agree, I think the Republicans are on the verge of collapsing at a time when Obama should be easily beatable.
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Ignorance is bliss…
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If that is true then we have quite a few very happy people in this country.
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Off point but injteresting – It was reported that the Obama campaign team is having a hard time coming up with a campaign slogan. I would offer:
Yes we couldn’t…..
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How about this: Hey, I tried.
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How about: Michelle ain’t lettin’ me.
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