Persons within the Department of Justice whose identities are not yet publicly known apparently broke the law by leaking firearms trace data to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, which she introduced in the Senate Judiciary Committee record in the hearing on Department of Justice oversight earlier this month.
“If I may,” Senator Feinstein requested at the beginning of her questioning of Attorney General Eric Holder (see webcast, at the 69:45 mark), I'd like to put in the record the official firearms trace data from the Department of Justice from 12/1/2006 to 2000...excuse me, 9/30/2011...this is guns [unintelligible] Mexico.”
Left unchallenged and unsaid is how Feinstein obtained the data, which is prohibited by the Tiahrt Amendment from being shared with anyone but law enforcement agencies and prosecutors, and only then in the course of a criminal investigation. That prohibition extends even to Senator Feinstein, as evidenced by the failed attempt earlier this year by Rep. Adam Schiff “to allow Congressional committees to be included on the list of entities to which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms can disclose part or all of the contents of the Firearms Trace System database.”
While there is no reliable evidence that Sen. Feinstein knew she was improperly disclosing data she had been provided, a Senator so active in promulgating new gun laws not knowing existing ones is the most innocuous explanation if she did not. If that’s the case, it strongly implies someone at Justice used the Senator.
Per an anonymous congressional source:
It was Main Justice, not ATF, who leaked the trace data to Feinstein. I am told ATF “was blindsided” by it.
The trace data did not include any Tiahrt nondisclosure warnings.
The information was leaked to provide selective "statistics" that Feinstein could use to promote her views on gun trafficking—no criminal intelligence interpretation was provided, and the way this was done was intentional, with cognizance that the data were going to be misused.
Fair questions to follow up with: Who at Main Justice illegally leaked the data to Sen. Feinstein and did she knowingly abet a violation of the law in order to advance her agenda?
And will Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. Darrell Issa follow up on this in their investigations?
Also see:
A Journalist’s Guide to ‘Project Gunwalker' for a complete list with links of independent investigative reporting and commentary done to date by Sipsey Street Irregulars and Gun Rights Examiner. Note to newcomers to this story: “Project Gunrunner” is the name ATF assigned to its Southwest Border Initiative to interdict gun smuggling to Mexico. “Project Gunwalker” is the name I assigned to the scandal after allegations by agents that monitored guns were allowed to fall into criminal hands on both sides of the border through a surveillance process termed “walking” surfaced.
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/how-did-sen-feinstein-get-atf-gun-trace-data-violation-of-tiahrt-amendment#ixzz1fBiFWG9T
Declassified Memo Hinted of 1941 Hawaii Attack
November 29, 2011 RSS Feed Print Three days before the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt was warned in a memo from naval intelligence that Tokyo's military and spy network was focused on Hawaii, a new and eerie reminder of FDR's failure to act on a basket load of tips that war was near.
In the newly revealed 20-page memo from FDR's declassified FBI file, the Office of Naval Intelligence on December 4 warned, "In anticipation of open conflict with this country, Japan is vigorously utilizing every available agency to secure military, naval and commercial information, paying particular attention to the West Coast, the Panama Canal and the Territory of Hawaii."
The memo, published in the new book December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World went on to say that the Japanese were collecting "detailed technical information" that would be specifically used by its navy. To collect and analyze information, they were building a network of spies through their U.S. embassies and consulates.
Historian and acclaimed Reagan biographer Craig Shirley, author of the just released December 1941, doesn't blame FDR for blowing it, but instead tells Whispers that it "does suggest that there were more pieces to the puzzle" that the administration missed. The 70th anniversary of the attack is next month.
In fact, he compares the missed signals leading up to Japan's attack to 9/11, which government investigations also show that the Clinton and Bush administrations missed clear signals that an attack was coming. [ Read: Mengele Nazi Diaries Could Fetch $1 million.]
"So many mistakes through so many levels of Washington," said Shirley. "Some things never change."
His book also reveals another blockbuster historical moment: On the night of the Pearl Harbor attack, FDR and his war cabinet considered declaring war on all three Axis Powers—Japan, Germany, Italy—but in the end the president only targeted Japan. At the time, the U.S. was still healing from World War I and isolationism was the word of the day.
Shirley, aided by son Andrew as his chief researcher, takes a new tack in his book about Pearl Harbor. Instead of just writing how it all went down, his book attempts to give readers a feel for how the country felt 70 years ago. He accomplishes that by providing anecdotal information from nearly 2,000 newspapers and magazines. [Read: Hitler's Treaty Signing Desk Set To be Auctioned.]
"The goal here," Shirley writes in the preface, "is to make the reader feel as if they are experiencing the day to day events as they unfolded. Some historians don't like to go into the arduous tasks of going through thousands of newspapers preferring instead to rely on those bits and pieces of news reporting they may glean from other books. I did, and consequently the reader will find stories and information from the month of December 1941 they have never heard before."
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/11/29/declassified-memo-hinted-of-1941-hawaii-attack-
Richmond, VA Slaps Local Tea Party with a (Political) Tax Audit
A few weeks back the Richmond, VA Tea Party invoiced their city after they learned that the city had allowed the occupiers to protest without filing any permits or getting insurance. When the Tea Party held its protests in 2009, the city’s permits and insurance requirements cost the Tea Party about $10,000. Since the occupiers were getting preferential treatment, the Tea Party wanted their money back.
Richmond’s response: A tax audit.
In the audit letter signed by Cynthia Carr, Field Auditor for the City of Richmond, it states that our Tea Party is delinquent in filing of Admissions, Lodging, and Meals Taxes with the city and as such our group has been targeted for a comprehensive audit. Well, aren’t we special? In fact, as part of the Business License we have with the City, a form is filled out by our treasurer every month (as required). We have never charged admission or had lodging or meals associated with our rallies. Every month the forms are appropriately filled with zeros. Ms. Carr goes on to say that if we don’t respond within 15 days, the City will make a statutory assessment–meaning they’ll pick an amount to charge us.
The city has, to date, required none of these things of the occupiers. The city’s auditor should be job shopping.
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2011/11/28/richmond-va-slaps-local-tea-party-with-a-political-tax-audit/
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