D.C. whispers--major Gunwalker figure hands over documents

Today the whispers floating around Washington, D.C. among the 'inside-the-beltway' pundits concerning the Project Gunwalker case focus on former Deputy Attorney-General David Ogden, a key figure in the scandal. The rumor is that Ogden has handed over to Darrell Issa's House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform a stack of documents that not only vindicate ATF whistleblowers but confirm the guilt of the perpetrators of the scheme within the DOJ and the ATF.

One of the original Gunwalker reporters who first broke the story warns that such behind-the-scenes whispers may be a 'disinformation campaign' aimed at discrediting the allegations by raising false hopes only to see such hopes dashed later on.

Such disinformation is a common practice among government elites. The Clinton Administration, for example, was quite adept at propaganda campaigns aimed at hiding truth by diverting attention to other issues.

However, Issa's committee, when asked about the veracity of the rumors, would neither confirm nor deny that they possess such documents.

If it is true that Ogden has turned over the goods, then this would represent a major turning-point in the ongoing investigation into what has become the single biggest political scandal and cover-up in U.S. history.

Ogden was in on the Gunwalker scheme from the beginning, an Obama appointee and a Hillary Clinton crony who served in the Departments of Defense and State under President Bill Clinton. But only months after accepting the position at DOJ he suddenly resigned, citing administrative differences with Attorney-General Eric Holder.

But the issue that is of central importance to any information provided by Ogden is that the former Deputy Attorney-General was a major part of every meeting that took place in 2009 during which the 'Fast and Furious' scheme took shape. While these meetings never mentioned 'Gunwalker' or 'Fast and Furious' by name, it is clear from the agenda and from the issues discussed that the focus was on Administration policy on the southern border and the guns and drugs flowing in and out of the country.

Sources inside the government have indicated that these meetings were carefully crafted so as not to appear to be laying a foundation for an illegal operation while at the same time doing exactly that through the use of the euphemism--words that had specific meaning only to the participants but not necessarily to anyone else who would read the meeting transcripts.

At one of those meetings in 2009, Ogden stated this:

“DOJ's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is increasing its efforts by adding 37 new employees in three new offices, using $10 million in Recovery Act funds, and redeploying 100 personnel to the Southwest border in the next 45 days to fortify its Project Gunrunner, which is aimed at disrupting arms trafficking between the United States and Mexico.

“ATF is doubling its presence in Mexico itself, from five to nine personnel working with the Mexicans, specifically to facilitate gun tracing activity, which targets the illegal weapons and their sources in the United States.” (Emphasis mine-AGM).

Thus, Ogden not only participated in the planning stages for Gunwalker, but he clearly bought into the Obama Administration's now-discredited meme that "90% of the weapons used by Mexican drug cartels come from the United States."

And when one looks at some of the other participants in these meetings, it is no wonder that Washington is abuzz with rumors concerning even the remote possibility that Ogden has caved to Issa's pressure: former Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, former Acting Director of the ATF Kenneth Melson, Assistant Attorney-General Lanny Breuer, Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys Marshall Jarrett, Assistant Secretary of ICE at Homeland Security John Morton, ATF Phoenix Field Division Special Agent in Charge Bill Newell, and former U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona Dennis Burke--all of whom have been implicated in the illegal operation.

One federal entity is curiously missing from the participants in these meetings--the State Department, with the exception of Steinberg. Far from indicating no involvement by Hillary Clinton in this mammoth scandal, the absence of any State representative has an easy explanation. Hillary's contact was a close friend and confidante of Phoenix ATF head Bill Newell--none other than Kevin O'Reilly, who worked out of the White House and later with Hillary at the State Department, and who now has been shipped to who-knows-where out of sight in Iraq.

Be sure to catch my blog at The Liberty Sphere.

Visit my ministry site at Martin Christian Ministries.

Subscribe by clicking the links at the top of the page, or below, and you will receive free notifications of new articles plus a free newsletter.

A FREE, COMPREHENSIVE EDUCATION IN CONSERVATIVE POLITICS.

You will find it each week at WFHT-AM 1390 in Orlando-Avon Park, Florida on the weekly program 'A Voice for Freedom.' Join Lori Hendry, Ginger Carlisle, and Lin DiCesare each Saturday morning from 11 AM to 12 Noon for interesting guests and news of vital importance to conservatives. Those living outside the station's listening area can listen via the Internet.

Oh, and yours truly will provide a rundown of the top political stories of the week plus searing and insightful commentary from a conservative perspective.