Category Archives: Corruption
FBI and IRS Tea Party
Back in June a House committee wanted answers about IRS efforts to indimidate and silence Tea Party Groups. Lois Lerner, the IRS Director of Exempt Organizations took the fifth. There was very little Tea Party involvement in the campaign 2012 campaign. President Obama was re-elected.
The FBI has now declared “no harm no foul”, as Dan Henninger puts it.
Thus, two of the most powerful public institutions in the U.S.—the FBI and the IRS—have concluded no harm, no foul, and the memory hole swallows the Obama administration’s successful kneecapping of the GOP’s most active members just as they prepared to participate in the 2012 presidential campaign. Many—ruined or terrified by the IRS probes—shut down. Mr. Obama won.
12 Days of Urban
In case any Buckeye football players are saving up to jump the plantation, Time reports that Ohio State is monitoring their checking accounts.
The last time indentured buckeyes got the fee market itch, they traded trinkets for tattoos. This led to the dismissal of Coach Tressel, and the ascension of Coach Urban. Urban, named for one or another of the popular Urban family of popes, immediately produced an infallible season: 12-0.
The almighty NCAA accepted this perfect offering and, after Coach Urban performs his penance of no Bowl Games this year, he and his team will be absolved of the sins of others.
Blackmail
Politico has a good timeline on the Petraeus scandal. His affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, began last November.
The story broke because Jill Kelley, a Tampa event planner, plugged into the MacDill Air Force Base social scene, received “harassing” emails last May and notified the FBI. The emails were traced to Broadwell from a joint account she held with Petraeus. Broadwell and Petraeus communicated with each other through the drafts folder in the account.
While there was no breach of national security, the information was passed on to AG Eric Holder, who sat on it until the day after the election. Obama accepted Petraeus’ resignation on Friday Nov 8.
Krauthammer believes Petraeus thought he would keep his job by supporting the administration’s Benghazi storyline.
Man Boob
Swinger Newt brought the crowd to its feet by trashing the government culture of dependency.
Holder Holds On
Late last Friday the Justice Department dumped 2,000 documents on Congress. The stated purpose was to retract previous statements regarding gun sales to Mexican drug cartels. Despite the furious demands of Daryl Issa and others that he resign, top cop Holder held on during his Thursday testimony before Congress.
Under the supervision of ATF agents, American gun shops have sold over 2,000 guns (oddly a 1 to 1 ratio to dumped documents) to suspected Mexican gang members. The plan was to track the weapons to Mexican drug lords and arrest them. Except government superiors denied requests by agents to track the guns as they “walked” across the border. Why? No one knows, hence all the fury.
Some think it was an evil plot to create drug war violence involving American guns and use the bad publicity to clamp down on gun sales in the U.S. That seems cynical and far fetched. Except Sharyl Attkisson of CBS has come up with what may be a smoking gun:
ATF officials didn’t intend to publicly disclose their own role in letting Mexican cartels obtain the weapons, but emails show they discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called “Demand Letter 3”. That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or “long guns.” Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information.
On July 14, 2010 after ATF headquarters in Washington D.C. received an update on Fast and Furious, ATF Field Ops Assistant Director Mark Chait emailed Bill Newell, ATF’s Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of Fast and Furious:
“Bill – can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks.”
