Brian Terry (courtesy bizpacreview)

“Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act Lawsuit pursued against the Department of Justice by government watchdog Judicial Watch, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled documents being withheld from Congress under President Obama’s claim of executive privilege must be turned over,” townhall.com reports. So, more than two years after Congress held Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for withholding thousands of Fast and Furious documents, we’ll finally see the smoking gun tying the ATF’s anti-gun-running Mexican gun-running operation to the Obama Administration’s covert support of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Support approved and directed at the highest levels, including former DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the President of the United States. Oh wait . . .

“This order forces the Obama DOJ, for the first time, to provide a detailed listing of all documents that it has withheld from Congress and the American people for years about the deadly Fast and Furious gun running scandal,” Judicial Watch released in a statement . . .

The documentation DOJ is required to now turn over is a “Vaughn index” of “all requested Fast and Furious materials from a June 2012 Judicial Watch FOIA request.”

A Vaughn index must: (1) identify each document withheld; (2) state the statutory exemption claimed; and (3) explain how disclosure would damage the interests protected by the claimed exemption.” In ordering the DOJ to provide Judicial Watch the Vaughn index, the Court ruled, “In this circuit, when an agency is withholding documents under exemption claims, courts require that the agency provide a Vaughn index so that the FOIA requester – at a distinct informational disadvantage – may test the agency’s claims.”

In other words, we’ll finally see a list of documents the Administration’s hiding from public scrutiny, not the documents themselves. The judge will review the list and the government’s objections to the FOIA request. If he smells BS, the judge can order the government to provide him with specific documents for review. If, after reading the docs, the judge disagrees with the government’s objections, he can order the documents released to Judicial Watch.

So the process of trying to unravel the Fast and Furious coverup continues. Could the scandal bring down the President, as TTAG suggested back in the day? Not likely. But it could torpedo Hillary Clinton’s presidential aspirations. We’ll take it. The murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry by drug thugs enabled by the ATF et al. deserves nothing less, and a lot more.

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74 COMMENTS

  1. Let me guess, now we will find out that the hard drive of the computer where the documents are stored just crashed…

    • And the backups will have already been destroyed, as it’s past the two year retention period.

        • In terms of records management, when a document’s retention period is exceeded (expiration), you want that document/file irrecoverably destroyed as part of a documented and approved retention policy.

      • And the NSA which does keep tabs on what everyone says- including those at the highest levels of government say, will some how be able to keep quiet and not turn over their records… Oh, if the court made the NSA turn over their transcripts of what they have recorded… what day that would be..

  2. If you think we’ll see even one document out of this, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

    • Unfortunately, I have to agree. If it takes 2+ years to get an order for a /list/ that hasn’t even been furnished yet, I am not holding my breath on any actual docs.

    • They had BETTER produce those documents! If they do not, the issue will be referred to Eric Holder, and we know what a stickler for the law he is! That judge better keep out of sight, I suspect he may soon find himself charged with something really nasty, complete with irrefutable evidence.

    • Why sure we will. 10,000 pages of redactions with a few adjectives, adverbs and prepositions permitted here and there to tantalize everyone.

  4. They ignore the both the Constitution and laws passed by Congress. What makes anyone think that they’ll comply with a judge’s order?

  5. they complied with judge’s orders for IRS scandal. this is good. it will empower other judges to see that the DOJ’s lawyers are full of it and they will lose “credibility” and deference.

  6. I’m surprised TTAG would post a picture of so obvious a fully kitted up SWAT copping, MRAP driving federal agent. It’s bound to scare the native ttagians.

    As for the judge ordeing that from DOJ, purely laughable. As if this regime gives a shit what a judge has to say……

    • I guess you haven’t been paying attention during July. 2 different judges ordered Obama admin to turn over docs and explain in affidavits why they lost Lerner’s emails, etc. They have complied, which is why now the hardrives were found and not as damaged as they claimed. they may battle congress, but lawyers are not going to jail for Barry Hussein Obama Soetoro.

        • Conspiracy of silence lest one implicate one’s self.

          The prospect of potential adverse action or criminal charges are big motivators for silence.

      • The mid-level career GS “workers” have figured out Obuma and the demtards are very likely to loose the Senate in November and that Obuma administration is SUPPOSED to GO HOME in a couple years. The incentives to be a libtard POS fed are less when the chain of command has consistently demonstrated he/they are utterly incompetent, amoral, and useless.

        Expect piles of hidden skeletons to begin floating on the Potomac.

        • Especially when those very same mid-level GS workers sense that they are about to be used as scape goats by sympathetic Democrat functionaries a ‘la the Cincinnati IRS office.

      • In the past, folks have broken laws and have been sentenced to prison for things that benefit the presidency….

    • I don’t know that TTAG or a consensus of its readers has expressed particular concern over federal agents with their equipment acting to uphold the territorial and sovereign integrity of the United States by enforcing federal law at the borders against invaders and smugglers.

      I think I may have heard mention once or twice about MRAPS and full auto armed militarized shock troop cops running hound dog assassination missions in our cities in the dead of night during no knock raids, however. Is that what you’re confused by? Because I think there’s a difference.

      • Uh, seems more like there is no such thing as anybody enforcing any federal law at the borders, there most certainly is no one stopping the continuing invasion. And you can buy any drug you want on any street corner in America. So what are you talking about?

    • Here’s an idea we might ALL be able to get behind. Instead of militarizing the police force with all these MRAPs, we give all these MRAPS the military is desperate to get rid of, to Border Patrol, and we actually secure that border the Chinese could fit 200 divisions though. That way the feds get their solution of what to do with all this military equipment the military doesn’t need anymore, the police stop militarizing, the border get secured and Border Patrol get effective tools to deal with the cartels.

      • And the BP should have the integrated .50 BMGs, too, for the next time they are fired on from south of the border. But none of that is going to happen while Barry is in office.

      • @BOS, I’m with you. But along with the MRAPs and whatever else they would need, the most important thing they need to give the Border Patrol is the ROE to put an end to this nonsense.

  7. i would be crious as to who the judge is for this case. Wonder if it is one of the other 2 DC judges who ordered DOJ/IRS to turn over documents or explain themselves (and for the record, both of these judges were Black males appointed by Democrats – which is even more fun b/c they are going against Holder and Obama and didn’t tow the line).

    • Does that mean Harry Reid is going to call them white men like he did with Clarence Thomas?

  8. Phft… If we ever saw anything they’d make sure it was heavily redacted…
    And if Holder’s been in contempt of court for two years, shouldn’t his ass have been rotting in a cell for that long? Y’know… Like a normal person? Wait… Sorry… Forgot the laws aren’t equal in this country.

    • Imprisoning Lord Holder would infringe on his privilege of peerage, namely the right of the nobility to have access to King Barry to advise his majesty.

    • In a just nation Holder would have been standing before a wall with his blindfold and last cigarette long ago.

    • Holder is in contempt of Congress, not contempt of court, and the Congress has no mechanism to enforce the contempt.

  9. Exposing government foul up’s and misconduct is like pulling teeth similar to how it is in ‘convincing’ many government entities to honor the Second Amendment provisions. They obfuscate the truth any way they can, impede, refuse and dig in their heels until somehow forced (leveraged) to relent.

  10. In the end, the sheeple will ignore any crimes and be fat and happy with there entitlements.

  11. I smell a little of bullshit everytine a hard drive crashes and the data isnt recoverable. After a bomber if Afghanistan used a cell phone detanor the tech qnd intel bubbas were abke to recover stored phone numbers and names, maps of where the phone was used before its new life as a detanator

    • Years ago, one of my client’s admin staff overwrote their own production SAN. I didn’t think it was possible, so I guess it took a special kind of tenacity.

      • Very early on in my service time I learned that a GI could, given enough time, break a titanium cube.

  13. That judge will never, ever rule that documents need to be turned over. He’ll state there’s nothing to see there, they’ll appeal, and we’ll still never see anything.

    The most transparent regime ever has some terrific ability in the CYA department.

  17. Can’t wait to see the highly redacted reports, like Sandy Hook, for national Security of course.

  18. Dang you beat me to the Nixon reference. Dick was an amateur compared to the Odumbo bunch. Look for NOTHING much to happen. Back in my radical anti-Vietnam days I actually worked to elect George McGovern…not sure where McGovern would fit in now.

    • Nixon is a rank amateur compared to Obozo. In the context of Berry, Tricky Dick is a saint.

  19. So happy to see this happen, I’ve been absolutely enraged by this scandal in particular since it occurred. I’m well aware that nothing may ever some of it, and if it does, the scarier part is that most people wont care, and still vote for HillBill, HillBillery, Billary, Hitlery anyway. But, I’m certainly glad that this is still nipping at their heals. The level of this scandal and conspiracy behind it if fully disclosed would be enough to impeach Obumma and hopefully tear down Hitlery.

    • Given that Hillary was State and not DOJ, this albatross will not be tied around her neck. And personally, I think this whole program of supporting Sinaloa goes back for years as a way of keeping track of its activities, and using it to rat out its competition. I wonder how much it goes outside the ATFE and DEA, though, given the entrenched interservice rivalries, although this kind or undercover dirty work seems common enough, and is always justified on national security and law enforcement objectives.

      • The last time something like the Sianola Hat Trick happened, it was Ollie North. He was running DoD, State, DEA, and the CIA. ATF being shown to be corrupt is a bonus. I see the same Agency players this time as this ball of wax melts and spreads due to the sunlight shining on it.

      • Mark N,
        from what I’ve read this is an Executive level sign-off, and when military sales to foreign countries are authorized, its a State sign off, with CIA the delivery boys. Like Benghazi, running Stingers to AQI, in Syria, via Turkey. ATF has a reputation as cowboys, which is why FBI
        doesn’t share, including that one of ATFs targets was a source, but something like this still has to go to the Principals, which means Holder, just as GunWalker did under Bush. The division is there so HRC can claim deniability, but to claim actual ignorance is highly unlikely, as one of her deputies is there in the chairs against the wall, or standing, at the Monday morning National Security brief.

        And they are the ones getting the work done. You do remember her giving a speech in front of the Mexican Senate, flogging the already dicredited 90% of assault rifles seized in Mexico are from LGS, only a week before the Brian Terry shooting?. Not long after Obama was caught on a hot mike promising Brady gun-grabbers he was doing something under the radar screen…

  20. The DOJ will simply claim that the documents are protected under a variety of privileges, the most powerful one of which is going to be national security. Same as they did in trying to protect the no fly list, and this will likely be successful. Then there is the criminal investigations privilege because it is readily apparent that FF was part of the same program whereby the DEA was laundering millions of dollars in Sinaloa money. Even if there is a (theoretically complete) list, we will never see the documents.

    • I suspect that we can expect to see the documents shortly after the unfortunate fatal accidents that will befall certain low- and mid-level players.

      Remember what happened to the people that could finger Slick Willy and Hillary for their stock deals in Arkansas?

  21. Judicial Watch does a great job for this republic! My family and I support them. You can find their website and donate easily.

    On point….the documents released will be greatly redacted but it will be enough to start a new investigation. “Not a smidgen of corruption here” and no where in the most corrupt and leftist administration in U.S. history.

  22. See, if they were smart they would put the FOIA request to NARA. Any document (including electronic documents and emails) important enough to be part of Executive Privilege is a Record, and NARA is required by law to archive same.

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