Does Obama have too many 'moving parts' to get handle on 'Project Gunwalker'?

Yesterday, CBS News investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson continued the superb work of her exposé of "Project Gunwalker" with this report of Tuesday night's interview of President Obama, by Univision reporter Jorge Ramos (see sidebar video). From the very beginning of the interview, Obama made a maximum effort to distance himself (and Attorney General Eric Holder) from the "Gunwalker" allegations, stating categorically that neither he nor Holder authorized "Operation Fast and Furious."

Ramos didn't miss the natural follow-up question, leading to this exchange (thanks to the Sipsey Street Irregulars' Mike Vanderboegh, for the transcription):

Ramos: "Who authorized it?"

Obama: "Well, we don't have all the facts that's why uh, the, uh, IG is in business, to collect the facts.

Ramos: "You were not even informed about it?"

Obama: "Absolutely not. This is a pretty big government, uh, the United States government. I've got a lot of moving parts.

Wait a minute. For the president (and presumably the attorney general) to not "have all the facts" is one thing, but to not yet have even established who authorized a program whereby thousands of firearms were deliberately allowed to be illegally trafficked across the border, is quite another. It's not as if the administration just heard about this operation this week, even if the president is to be believed regarding his and Holder's not having known anything about it from the beginning.

Remember that Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sent Holder a letter pointedly requesting details about the operation on Feb. 16--more than five weeks ago. Actually, Sen. Grassley sent BATFE acting director Kenneth Melson a letter asking for those details as far back as Jan. 26--more than eight weeks ago, and followed it up five days later, with a letter to both Melson and Holder.

That means that Holder has had, at the very least, more than seven weeks to sort through all the administration's "moving parts," and find out who authorized "Operation Fast and Furious." Remember also that the Inspector General to whom Obama refers works for the Department of Justice--the very same department that seems to be up to its eyeballs in the scandal, which is why Sen. Grassley has been pressing for an independent investigation.

It would seem that both Holder and Obama have found themselves left with two extremely unappealing options:

Acknowledge that they have no control over, or indeed even knowlege of, the actions of the people under them, to the extent that a scandal of this magnitude could have festered on their watch, unbeknownst to them; or
Admit that they actually did know, and at the very least tacitly approve, from the beginning, and have been engaging in a massive cover-up.

Extremely unappealing, both, but the first is far less unappealing than the second, making it the obvious choice. The buck, evidently, stops . . . anywhere but here. Actually, the buck looks likely, at this point, to stop on Acting Director Melson's desk, but as it turns out, he could find himself with a much-needed opportunity to pass it, a week from today. From the No Lawyers - Only Guns and Money blog:

Next Thursday, March 31st, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Global Narcotics Affairs is holding hearings. The topic is "A Shared Responsibility: Counternarcotics and Citizen Security in the Americas U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations".

Among the called witnesses is Kenneth Melson, Acting Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. If there was a better time to grill Melson on what he knew about Operation Fast and Furious and when he knew it, it won't be any sooner than this.

Six of the committee's senators (listed at the above link, and also at Sipsey Street) are, according to the NRA, "pro-gun." At least one of them needs to get Melson singing, and any readers who are constituents of them should strongly encourage them to do so (and NRA members should urge that organization to put its own pressure on them). If Melson is smart, he'll appreciate the opportunity to pull himself out from under the bus, by tossing at least one bigger fish under.