An attempt to present a different perspective on the continuing investigation into Operation Fast and Furious is being mounted Thursday morning on Capitol Hill by Democrat Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, who has invited several prominent anti-gunners, but no gun rights experts, industry representatives or whistleblowers.
According to a press announcement, this forum is designed to address “the flow of illegal guns on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border.”
“Law enforcement officials have testified that improvements to our nation’s gun laws are needed to address this increasingly devastating problem,” the press release said, “including enhanced penalties for illegal straw purchases, the enactment of a firearms trafficking statute, and a reporting requirement for the purchase of multiple long guns, such as fifty-caliber (sic) assault weapons and multiple AK variants.”
Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Bellevue-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, called the forum a “Capitol Hill kangaroo court with the singular goal of deflecting public attention away from the Justice Department’s horrible mishandling of a gunrunning sting that has flooded Mexico with guns.”
“The real culprits here are the ATF officials and people in the Justice Department who either approved this operation or knew about it and allowed it to happen, and everybody knows it.”—Alan Gottlieb
One Congressional source close to the Fast and Furious investigation by Congressman Darrell Issa, told this column simply, “We aren’t invited.”
Cummings had wanted to stage a “hearing” but he does not have the authority since he is not a committee chairman. Thursday’s session is variously described as a forum or “briefing” but it is not a hearing, as asserted by an article on the Main Justice website.
Here is a roster of the people Cummings has invited to speak:
· Senator Charles Schumer (NY)
· Kristen Rand, Legislative Director, Violence Policy Center
· Paul Helmke, President, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
· Arturo Cervantes, Mexico Ministry of Health
· Michael R. Bouchard, former Assistant Director Field Operations, ATF
· Thomas Mahoney, Assistant State’s Attorney Supervisor, Gang Prosecution Unit, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office
· Eric Olson, Senior Associate, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
· Colby Goodman, Author of “U.S. Firearms Trafficking to Mexico: New Data and Insights Illuminate Key Trends and Challenges”
Conspicuously absent from this lineup is anyone from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, National Rifle Association, CCRKBA, Second Amendment Foundation, Gun Owners of America, or ATF whistleblowers John Dodson, Jay Dobyns or Vincent Cefalu, the latter who was just fired by ATF despite warnings to the ATF from Sen. Charles Grassley earlier this year about retaliation. This column discussed that development yesterday.
“Operation Fast and Furious is a product of the Obama administration, and Cummings is running interference for the White House and Attorney General Eric Holder,” Gottlieb said.
Issa staffers have advised this column that further official committee hearings are in the works, but no schedule is available. Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson has reportedly stated he wants to testify, but a story appearing yesterday at Examiner.com that quoted The Daily Beast was branded as “not true” by a Senate staffer.
However, an interview with Issa that appeared on Fox News suggests Melson will come before the House Committee and that Sen. Grassley will be there. This may not be during a formal hearing.
“Cummings wants to whitewash a Justice Department debacle and blame the mayhem in Mexico on gun rights, gun owners and gun dealers.”—Alan Gottlieb
Dodson has already testified before Issa’s committee, and odds are that Dobyns and Cefalu will be invited as Issa pursues the investigation to determine who approved the operation, who knew about it and when, and what they did or did not do about it. Issa also expressed disappointment today over remarks from President Obama regarding Fast and
Furious.
"President Obama's remarks today on Operation Fast and Furious were disappointing. There was no sign of urgency to provide answers or explain why no one at the Justice Department has accepted responsibility for authorizing an illegal gunwalking operation six months after Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's murder. The American people expect more from the President than unsubstantiated assertions that the Attorney General didn't know about this reckless program and no explanation about who authorized it."—Congressman Darrell Issa
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