Deputy Attorney General James Cole Involved in 'Fast & Furious' Whistleblower Cover-up?

[friendly_iconoclast]

From the Government Accountability Project blog (Note: Thanks to DUer SSDA for originally posting this here-
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=118&topic_id=437910&mesg_id=438303



http://www.whistleblower.org/blog/31-2010/1311-deputy-attorney-general-james-cole-involved-in-fast-a-furious-whistleblower-cover-up

Deputy Attorney General James Cole Involved in 'Fast & Furious' Whistleblower Cover-up?

by Bea Edwards on July 19, 2011 ( The Whistleblogger / 2010 )

Operation Fast and Furious (F&F) – a program run by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that allowed thousands of lethal weapons to cross the Mexican border – was apparently no secret among high-level political authorities at the Department of Justice (DOJ). Among those in the know? Newly-confirmed Deputy Attorney General James Cole.

Information is now seeping out about the political whiplash that secured a confirmation vote for Cole in exchange for the DOJ’s release of documents to Congress. In a supremely ironic twist, the documents ransomed by Cole’s confirmation strongly suggest that Cole himself was involved in the cover-up of F&F.

To recap, James Cole is no stranger to serious misconduct occurring during his alleged “watch.” Cole was the “Independent Consultant” stationed at AIG by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before, during and after the financial meltdown of 2008. Despite his oversight responsibilities, Cole looked the other way as the AIG Financial Products Division in London ran the corporation off the rails, ultimately driving the international economy off a cliff. The cost to US taxpayers of the AIG bailout was more than $150 billion.

Fast forward to January 2011. After President Obama installed Cole at DOJ as the Acting Deputy Attorney General through a recess appointment, Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and House Oversight & Government Reform Committee Chair Darrell Issa (R-California) began asking Cole’s office for information about F&F. On January 27, Grassley wrote to ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson, requesting information. Four days later, Grassley again wrote to Melson about reports that whistleblowers on F&F were being silenced, stating “Rather than focusing on retaliating against whistleblowers, the ATF’s sole focus should be on finding and disclosing the truth as soon as possible."....

[spin]

1. Bigger and bigger, higher and higher, day by day. (n/t)

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

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[ileus]

4. and basically ignored...

[east texas lib]

2. "The most transparent Administration ever!"

Perhaps they meant "translucent".;)