Fast and Furious follow-up: Issa, Grassley press Holder on ICE officer Jaime Zapata’s murder
Just delivered to corruptocrat AG Eric Holder’s office: A joint letter from House Oversight and Government Reform chair Darrell Issa and Senate GOP Judiciary Committee ranking member Charles Grassley pushing the DOJ for answers after relations that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) “was aware of straw buying by Manuel Barba during a several month span of which one of the weapons found at the murder scene of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Officer Jaime Zapata was purchased…One of the major flaws found in the tactics used in Operation Fast and Furious, where gunwalking was known to occur, was the failure to conduct surveillance of individuals known to be trafficking weapons to Mexico, which allowed such firearms to reach the border. Issa and Grassley said that the same irresponsible tactic appears to have been used as the ATF allowed guns to cross the border in Texas.” Full letter reprinted below.
Sharyl Atkisson of CBS News reported last week that a second gun tied to Zapata’s murder has been linked to ATF gunwalking operations. Nobody bothered to inform the Zapata family about the prosecution and sentencing of Manuel Barba:
Prosecutors recently sentenced a Texas man, Manuel Barba, for trafficking a weapon connected to the murder of Immigration and Customs (ICE) Agent Jaime Zapata. Nobody was more astonished to learn of the case than Zapata’s parents, who didn’t know that Barba had been arrested or linked to their son’s murder.
“The family was obviously surprised to learn that there was a case involving a weapon linked to the Zapata incident,” attorney Trey Martinez told CBS News. Martinez represents Zapata’s parents and the surviving ICE agent in the assault, Victor Avila. “They were surprised they had never been contacted in the capacity as victims so they could give a response or some kind of reaction at the time of sentencing.”
Barba was sentenced to 100 months in prison on January 30th. When we asked why the Zapatas weren’t contacted, prosecutors in Houston told CBS News they only handled the weapons charges: conspiracy, false statements and exportation/receipt of firearms. Zapata’s actual murder “is being handled by another U.S. Attorney’s office and … is separate and apart from the firearms case that was handled by our district,” said a spokeswoman. She added the firearms offenses “are crimes that do not involve victims in the legal sense of the word and therefore, notifications are not part of the legal process.”
In a related development, CBS News has obtained documents showing that Barba was under ATF surveillance for at least six months before a rifle he trafficked was used in Zapata’s murder. Zapata’s government vehicle was ambushed by suspected cartel thugs in Mexico Feb. 15, 2011.
***
February 27, 2012
VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION
The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Attorney General Holder:
For almost an entire year, we have been requesting that the Department provide information about the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF’s) knowledge regarding Otilio Osorio’s straw purchasing activities. We are interested in him because he was the straw purchaser of the weapon used in the murder of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agent Jaime Zapata on February 15, 2011.
Letters from Senator Grassley on March 4, 2011, and March 28, 2011 provided documentation that, on September 17, 2010, ATF traced trafficked weapons to Otilio’s brother and co-habitant, Ranferi Osorio, as well as the Osorio brothers’ next-door neighbor, Kelvin Morrison. Senator Grassley further inquired why these facts did not prompt ATF to conduct a “knock and talk” with these individuals or begin conducting surveillance on them.
On November 9, 2010, as part of a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigation, ATF witnessed Otilio and Ranferi Osorio providing 40 weapons with obliterated serial numbers to an undercover ATF informant for the purpose of trafficking the weapons to Mexico. Surprisingly, they were not arrested for another three and a half months. Senator Grassley further inquired why they were not arrested at the time they were observed to be in possession of weapons with obliterated serial numbers, which is a crime. He asked whether ATF or DEA continued to surveil the Osorio brothers between early November and their arrest, following the discovery that Otilio Osorio’s weapon was used in the murder of Agent Zapata. Inexplicably, the Department has failed to provide substantive responses to any of these letters, including a subsequent follow-up letter on this matter, sent jointly on October 25, 2011.
ATF has tried to distinguish this case from Operation Fast and Furious and to justify its failure to intervene. In one news article on the Osorio brothers, ATF North Texas spokesperson Tom Crowley is quoted as saying: “[T]aking them down and arresting them at that time would have possibly jeopardized that investigation. . . . None of the tactics used in this investigation were anything similar to what was used in Arizona’s Fast and Furious, including intentionally walking firearms across the border.”[4] Yet failure to conduct surveillance of individuals known to be trafficking weapons to Mexico was a core problem with the tactics used in Fast and Furious. Lack of surveillance is what allowed such firearms to reach the border. The same irresponsible tactic appears to have been used in this matter.
Now, news reports indicate that this may have been an issue with a purchaser of another one of the weapons found at Agent Zapata’s murder scene.[5] Records indicate that ATF opened a case against Manuel Barba in June 2010,[6] approximately two months before he took possession on August 20, 2010, of the rifle which was later trafficked to Mexico and also used in the murder of Agent Zapata.[7] Additionally, the documents show that ATF had indications in October 2010 that Barba was obliterating serial numbers on weapons, the possession of which would have been a prosecutable offense.[8] At least as of December 13, 2010, ATF also was aware that Barba was still under indictment for a 2006 state case, and thus had been unlawfully receiving firearms while under indictment.[9] However, a warrant was not issued for Barba’s arrest in this case until February 14, 2011.[10]
To assist us in better understanding of the circumstances leading up to the murder of Agent Zapata, please answer the following questions:
1. Did ATF have any contact with Barba, such as a “knock and talk,” between June 7, 2010, when Barba’s case was opened, and August 20, 2010, when he received the weapon that would later be used in the murder of Agent Zapata?
2. When did ATF agents first contact Barba in connection with this case?
3. Records indicate Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) interviews were conducted in this case by early October 2010. When were FFLs first contacted by ATF in this case?
4. What information about Barba or the individuals known to be working with him as straw purchasers was communicated to the FFLs?
5. What cooperation did any FFLs agree to provide ATF in this investigation?
6. Did any FFLs ever provide ATF with advance or contemporaneous (within three days) notice of purchases by the individuals suspected to be working with Barba as straw purchasers?
7. Why was Barba not arrested in October 2010 when ATF obtained audio evidence that Barba was obliterating serial numbers before trafficking weapons to Mexico?
8. Why was Barba not arrested in December 2010 when ATF knew he had been unlawfully receiving firearms from straw purchasers while under indictment?
9. How many weapons were purchased between June 7, 2010, and February 14, 2011, by the straw purchasing ring associated with Barba?
10. How many weapons purchased between June 7, 2010, and February 14, 2011, by the straw purchasing ring associated with Barba were interdicted?
Thank you in advance for ensuring your response arrives no later than March 9, 2012. Should you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact Ranking Member Grassley’s staff at (202) 224-5225 or Chairman Issa’s staff at (202) 225-5074.
Sincerely,
___________________________ ___________________________
Darrell Issa, Chairman Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member
Committee on Oversight and Committee on the Judiciary
Government Reform U.S. Senate
U.S. House of Representatives
cc: The Hon. B. Todd Jones, Acting Director
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The Hon. Michele M. Leonhart, Administrator
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
The Hon. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member
U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
The Hon. Patrick Leahy, Chairman
U.S. Senate, Committee on the Judiciary
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Pornstache Holder: I was going to tell them but I hadn’t read the memo yet!
Well, then, I’d say ATF irresponsibility should be cause for Issa and Grassley to demand ATF be disbanded.
As some blogger put it, “Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency.”
Dr. Frederick Issa: Then it was you all the time.
Frau Holder: Yes.
Dr. Frederick Issa: You played that music in the middle of the night…
Frau Holder: Yes.
Dr. Frederick Issa: …to get us to the laboratory.
Frau Holder: Yes.
Dr. Frederick Issa: That was YOUR cigar smoldering in the ashtray.
Frau Holder: Yes.
Dr. Frederick Issa: And it was you… who left my grandfather’s book out for me to find.
Frau Holder: Yes.
Dr. Frederick Issa: So that I would…
Frau Holder: Yes.
Dr. Frederick Issa: Then you and Manuel were…
Frau Holder: YES. YES. Say it. He vas my… BOYFRIEND.
Goodness this isn’t even Friday yet! Go Issa and Grassley, please, please get holder and all involved held accountable! Even if it means bho, big sis, and dear hill!
Thank you so very much for this up-date Michelle. There seems to be no news on these murders by bho and team on the news.
L
The DOJ has supposedly had their IG doing an independent investigation of what occurred here.
That has been going on for over a year and still not a peep as to when her report will be ready.
What has she been doing going on all those vacations with Michell O?
How many more brave federal agents have to die before these idiots are held accountable?
what comes out when you press him? Snake oil? Hanta virus? Really stinky air?
Baby oil?
One more would be too many, and that is quite possible. I have my doubts that the idiots at the top, and most responsible, will ever be held accountable, at least here on earth.
Garth Algar: Holder is nobody’s friend. If Holder were an ice cream flavor, he’d be pralines and gick.
Will this just be another letter/memo/email that Holder doesn’t see? This guy is as bad as the Teflon Don–nothing seems to stick to him. I would just loooove to see Holder squirm. I remember a Gene Hackman film where he said he loved seeing mobsters squirm and adjust their collars while sweating in a courtroom. It’d be great to see Holder charged with criminal malfeasance while Obeyme is in office.
So Issa and Grasely find out about this guy after his trail is over with, but that is not considered witholding information in a Congressional investigation?
AS IF THIS MINCING LETTER DRIPPING WITH UNEARNED RESPECT IS GOING TO ACCOPPLISH ANYTHING???!!!
Holder said that he knew nothing about this when it first went down i.e. Fast and Furious. If he doesn’t know something this big is going on what the he!! is he doing as AG?
Playing dumb is ok with a traffic cop when you got caught going over the speed limit, but about hundreds of guns being sold to a drug cartels?
Eric no one believes you.
Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle: All right! You put a shiv in my partner. You know what that means? G*ddammit! All winter long I got to listen to him gripe about his bowling scores. Now I’m gonna bust your ass for those three bags and I’m gonna nail you for picking your feet in Poughkeepsie.
What he needs is a Candygram from a Landshark!
Candygram!
do we hear the horse every time frau holder’s name is spoken?
Well, why don’t we just send Holder a UN Resolution. That should really put fear in his heart.
This is so much “Bolshoi.”
I think we have learned more about this case from everyone EXCEPT Holder.
I still look for that day when SOMEBODY in the Obumer group actually will get perp-walked in metal cuffs.
i prefer this candygram!
I have lost any confidence of that ever happening.
Holder: Another federal agent dead? Mr. Issa: Go f*** yourself!!!
I have bigger fish to fry. Like stealing the election in November, giving amnesty to illegals, declaring martial law, disarming the people, declaring THE WON President-For Life, etc.
Excellent reporting Michelle.
Pretty much the dem platform for 2012.
And that is what should be said to Holder at the next hearing. We are asking you to step down, because everyone else seems to know more about your job and what has been going on at the DoJ than you.
You must have missed the memo. The justice department is still waiting for Obama to APPOINT an IG. Think about that for a second. The justice department is SHORT at least 1 IG.
EVERY family is looking for some kind of closure when a member is killed! I have never heard of any prosecuter that would not want the family to know that something is being done. There is something else completely wrong with what this justice department is doing in this case.
Try to maintain a little faith people. Issa and Grassley know what they are doing and realize they have to dot their i’s and cross their t’s with this administration, maybe more than any other in our lifetimes.
They know how the Federal government works and know that an international operation like Fast and Furious absolutely cannot be undertaken without the knowledge and approval of the head of every agency involved, the Secretary of State and most likely, the President, as well. They also know those people will shield themselves from this investigation in any way possible.
It simply could not happen, unless there is a shadow government operating within ATF, DEA, State, Homeland Security and the U.S. Attorney’s office, all conspiring to bolster anti-gun laws, or embarass their own agencies. And that is not possible. Nearly all of the people in those agencies are honorable, career, Federal employees.
The silence from the Mexican government also speaks volumes for the depth of the cover-up. One squeek out of one of their high government officials and then nothing. Until last week, when Calderon comes out to decry our lax gun laws that allow so many firearms to get into his Country! Not a word about F and F.
I know, all the top people will claim some form of plausible deniability, but at some point the Congressmen will be receipients of someone willing to “drop a dime” on what’s really been going on. It may require that testimony gets too close to someone with too much to lose, who cries for immunity for their testimony. Issa and Grassley know that time is on their side.
This is one of the biggest scandals to show up in our Federal government in decades. It cannot be uncovered by conventional means. Hang in there Michelle and keep us informed, along with Katy Pavlic.
I understand why, for the reasons of decorum and tradition, that the word “honorable” is attached to Sen. Leahy’s name as the recipient of a carbon (they still use carbon?) copy of the letter. But in my view there is nothing honorable about Sen. Leahy.
There ain’t a single molecule in this SOB’s body that is “honorable”.
Grassley is my Senator. Watching him go up against the regime is like Little Red Riding Hood versus the Crips.
I’m wondering why Hillary Clinton hasn’t been called to testify. This thing has all the feel of a Clinton scandal and I’m convinced she, not Holder is at the heart this. She was the first in 2009 to blame the Mexican drug violence on America made guns and has always been a vocal advocate of strong gun control laws to disarm law abiding citizens. Plus as Secretary of State I cannot imaging any international operation like this going forward without her approval and close involvement at the very least. If they ever managed to get her in front that committee it would be classic Clinton lies, diversions and half truths followed by self-righteous outrage at the VRWC out to get her. Anything but the truth which, for Clintons, is like sunshine to a vampire.
Here’s hoping that when O-blo-me loses, they will bring charges against Holder. Then there will be no pardon for this POC.
That will never happen. It would create a political precedent that would explode into an ugly tradition. We need to learn to vote out crooks, not just the “other” party’s crooks but ALL crooks before they become the majority as we have now. “There but for the grace of God” is an insurmountable obstacle today.
If we are ever going to get Holder, we need to get him now. Won’t happen. It’s just another issue important only because of how it might impact the next election. That is what we have sunk to. It’s always only about the next election.
Win The Future, Ms Malkin? Yet another article and still NOT ONE PEEP from you about the murdered U.S. servicemen in Afghanistan!
Why so reticent on that subject?
What would you have her say that she hasn’t already said?
Imagine if some white racist did this and Zapata was black.
Holder would likely drive the family personally.
ok, wayy off topic, but after a spectacular fireball crash, the rick santorum car is third at daytona.
do you want her to apologize to afghanistan too?
“prosecutors in Houston told CBS News they only handled the weapons charges: conspiracy,false statements and exportation/receipt of firearms. Zapata’s actual murder “is being handled by another U.S. Attorney’s office and … is separate and apart from the firearms case that was handled by our district,” said a spokeswoman. She added the firearms offenses “are crimes that do not involve victims in the legal sense of the word and therefore,notifications are not part of the legal process.”"
Technically it may not have been required, but what would have been the right thing to do you fracking buffoons.
Republicanvet. Oh by the way your son was killed by a gun our government sold to the drug cartels.
I like to put it in a personal way. What if it was this spokeswoman’s son, husband, uncle or whomever?
Fracking is right, frack a bunch of spokeswomen or men. I suppose you could put Carney in as a man, but the jury is still out on that.
Two officers shot execution style in Afghanistan and our government apologizes for burning books that were already defiled by Taliban prisoners. God help us in 2012.
Less than a tiny fraction of the voting population even knows about FandF.
Thus it is not an election issue.
Maybe, just maybe, whoever is the GOP candidate might bring this subject up during the final months. But then again, Obumer’s name is not directly attached to FandF so any attack will be bounced off of Him.
In 3 years Obumer has not had anything stick to him.
I heard many times that the book is supposed to be burned if defiled.
Raider109:
The world of Obowtome is upside down.
People are less important than books.
American are less important than savages TO THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT.
God help us all if this moron is re-elected.
I think God is all that can help us now. The so-called leaders in our Country have sunk so low, I don’t think they could get more corrupt if they tried! This whole koran-burning issue is so disgusting, so vile, and handled so ineptly, it can’t be set right by anyone. The damage is done. The time for proper response was right away!! Unfortunately, this administration NEVER responds to ANYTHING until “careful” thought as to how it will affect the next election. THEN, when they do respond, they get it exactly WRONG, every time!
We have four servicemen dead over stupid books! Has anyone even seen a picture of these men? Their names? Anything? Bueller???? I believe FOX showed one of them. He was shot in the back of the head by one of his afghani co-workers as he sat at his desk. What happened to the afghani? Was he arrested?? Bueller????
What about the other murderers of our guys? Were they caught? Is anyone looking for them? Will we ever get an apology for the murder of 4 of our servicement by afghanis who were SUPPOSED to be our allies and friends?
I want us OUT of that hell hole. Let the afghanistan people deal with their own country. They hate us. After all we have done FOR them, they still hate us and want us gone. Let us listen to their wishes and get the crap out of there. Why are we still there???
Afghanistan is a hopelessly backward, evil, repressive 3rd century sandbox. Why should we spend all our treasure to help them? What are we accomplishing? NOTHING! Let the Taliban have them.
A quote from Greg Gutfeld: “We should bomb afghanistan back to the stone age, except they are already there.”
Unfortunately, he is not a moron. That is what scares me.
Gee Happy, you and Ron Paul have more in common than you think.
Mr. Holder may think he is immune and insulated. He is about to get a serious attitude adjustment. One can only hope he and his boss will be spending quality time at Leavenworth.
I have a LOT in common with Ron Paul, RC! I took a test to see how Libertarian I am and I tested VERY high. However, I don’t think Ron Paul is THE Libertarian we need at this time. He has too many minuses that cancel out the pluses.
I am just so appalled that those horrible people over there can work side by side with our troops, see the kind of work we are doing over there, become “friends” co-workers, share their hopes and dreams with each other, then can so easily sneak up on one of them and shoot him in the back of the head over a burned book. AND, the people shot were not even the ones who burned the books. What kind of evil spawns these actions? How can a “human” do that to another without just cause? I have so much trouble with this, I sometimes lie awake at night just trying to make some sense of it. The only thing I come up with is that evil has taken hold of MUCH of the middle east and the mooslum people. We need to get the he11 out of there before we are infected with it too. I really don’t care any more if the taliban takes over. They are anyway. And MANY of the creatures over there WANT them to. So let them.
The Left love to accuse our guys of hubris. This little man and his boss are living poster boyz for hubris and hypocrisy. They are self-created sterotypes. You really can’t make this stuff up, it’s too preposterous.
On the issue of your post, Mark Levin has a video about bho and his apology. Love or hate Mark, he will always let you know how he feels about things? I have to say, I agree with him!
http://www.therightscoop.com/mark-levins-epic-apology-to-the-troops-for-the-jerk-whos-the-commander-in-chief/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
L
Thanks, letget! I will watch it as soon as Rush’s show is done!
Yes, but not by infidels. And evidently NATO is negotiating with Afghanistan authorities to consider having those responsible for burning the Korans criminally prosecuted.
Holder, just another LIAR in a long line of Obastard LIARS!?!
Why do I have this sneaking suspicion that there was someone else more astonished; and his name is Eric.
Hey Michelle!
Why doesn’t the Mexican government issue an arrest warrant for Eric Holder for ACCESSORY TO MURDER in the deaths of their citizens?
Would the International Court of Justice in the Hague hear the case? If not, which other (non-US) court could be trusted to hear the case impartially?
Bumper sticker suggestion: EXTRADITE HOLDER FOR FAST & FURIOUS MURDERS