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Bill USA

(6,436 posts)
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 04:18 PM Sep 2012

Fast And Furious Report: No Evidence DOJ Leadership Knew Of Gunwalking Tactics

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/09/fast_and_furious_inspector_general_report.php?ref=fpnewsfeed

There is no evidence that Attorney General Eric Holder and high-ranking officials at the Justice Department knew that guns were allowed to “walk” during an ATF operation known as Fast and Furious, according to a report released on Wednesday afternoon by the department’s internal watchdog.

Following a 19-month investigation, the Inspector General found that the decision not to take action against low-level “straw purchasers” was made by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s office. Their decision, according to the report, “was primarily the result of tactical and strategic decisions by the agents and prosecutors, rather than because of any legal limitation on their ability to do so.” Dennis Burke, the head of the U.S. Attorney’s office at the time, resigned from his position in August 2011.

The IG report is considered to be the most comprehensive and least partisan account of the scandal available to date. Unlike investigators with Rep. Darrell Issa’s House Oversight Committee, DOJ investigators had access to criminal investigation files.

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The report also found high-ranking DOJ officials did not purposefully provide false information in a Feb. 4, 2011 letter to Congress that responded to questions about the operation. The report found that Burke as well as then-Acting ATF Director Ken Melson and ATF Deputy Director Billy Hoover provided the information the officials relied on and “failed to exercise appropriate oversight of the investigation, and to some extent were themselves receiving incorrect or incomplete information from their subordinates about it.”
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sharp_stick

(14,400 posts)
1. So I'm sure
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 04:31 PM
Sep 2012

that skidmark on the tighty whities of humanity known as Darrell Issa will take this into consideration in his little parade of idiocy now won't he?

Sam1

(498 posts)
3. Is this somehow the equivalent of absolving the Capitan of the Titanic because he was unaware of the
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 07:19 PM
Sep 2012

iceberg?

Ignorance should never be allowed as a defense or an excuse for wrong action or no action at all,

Bill USA

(6,436 posts)
4. The Dept of Justice employs about 120,000 people as attorneys, agents, investigators etc. It is
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 08:23 PM
Sep 2012

is considerably more complex than driving the titanic. Activities of the dept of justice such as investigations and prosecutions of crimes are extremely complex involving detailed knowledge of the cases with a multitude of decisions to be made. The ATF has about 5,000 employees. When you are talking about an organization this large (or, for that matter, one considerable smaller) of necessity, there has to be a number of levels of management to make the whole thing work.

Thus, it really isn't practical for the AG to be directly involved with operational decisions of investigations (as an example). You have to have people who can devote much more of their time to just the investigations going on (as an example) involving certain crimes to manage them and make necessary decisions. You need to have managers closer to the task who are fully informed as to what is going on to make those decisions.

Ultimately, Eric Holder is responsible for the activities of everyone in the DoJ but to pretend, as a practical matter, that Sec. Holder is privvy to or involved in operational decisions of the multitude of investigations, prosecutions, and legal related activities of the dept of Justice is not really sensible. If he was to be checking in on all the decisions, which by the way, dept heads and in the case of investigations - the cheifs of investigation teams are paid to make, he would probably need a [font size="+1"]2400[/font] hr day to keep up with such micromanagement efforts.

The really salient point of the IG's investigation and conclusions is the determination that there was no evidence to support the notion that anybody at DoJ lied to, or with-held information from Congress.


Here is an organization chart for the Department of Justice. As you can see Holder has a Deputy Attornery General under him who has a Associate Attorney General under him and a Solicitor General. you will see there are 8 divisions and 6 law enforcement agencies and 29 offices in the DoJ.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice

Leadership offices
Office of the Attorney General
Office of the Deputy Attorney General
Office of the Associate Attorney General
Office of the Solicitor General

Divisions
Antitrust Division
Civil Division
Civil Rights Division
Criminal Division
Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD)
Justice Management Division (JMD)
National Security Division (NSD)
Tax Division


Law enforcement agencies

Several federal law enforcement agencies are administered by the Department of Justice:

United States Marshals Service (USMS)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) National Institute of Corrections

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Office of the Inspector General (OIG)

Offices

Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)
Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA)
Executive Office of the United States Trustee (EOUST)
Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management
Office of the Chief Information Officer
Office of Dispute Resolution
Office of the Federal Detention Trustee (OFDT)
Office of Immigration Litigation
Office of Information Policy
Office of Intelligence Policy and Review (OIPR)
Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison
Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Bureau of Justice Assistance
- Bureau of Justice Statistics
- Community Capacity Development Office
- National Institute of Justice
- Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
- Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking Office (SMART)
- Office for Victims of Crime
Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education
Office of Legal Counsel (OLC)
Office of Legal Policy (OLP)
Office of Legislative Affairs
Office of the Ombudsperson
Office of the Pardon Attorney
Office of Privacy and Civil Liberties (OPCL)
Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR)
Office of Public Affairs
Office on Sexual Violence and Crimes against Children
Office of Tribal Justice
Office on Violence Against Women
Professional Responsibility Advisory Office (PRAO)
United States Attorneys Offices
United States Trustees Offices
Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
Community Relations Service

Sam1

(498 posts)
6. You are right about driving the Titanic
Fri Sep 21, 2012, 11:47 AM
Sep 2012

and that is why the "driver" is the helmsman and not the Captain.

The comment was off thread in that is dealt with the oversight and reporting systems of the DOJ. I really didn't think anyone would take it as a criticism of the AG for not being personal involved in every detail of the day to day operations.

It was more of a comment about what political appointees know about the functioning of the departments they have responsibility for and maybe what they don't know or don't want to know.


 

Doctor_J

(36,392 posts)
7. A lot of the DU Gun Culture swallowed the right-wing lies on that too
Sat Sep 22, 2012, 06:06 PM
Sep 2012

but they do on most subjects

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