Working in the bowels of the Fast and Furious mess have been two largely unthanked writers, Examiner.com gun blogger David Codrea and citizen journalist Mike Vanderboegh of the Sipsey Street Irregulars blog. Over the months, and now years, of this newest BATFE scandal, they have continued to locate and publicize whistleblowers’ accounts, incriminating documents, and other strings that unraveled this unbelievably stupid operation. I wish I could say it was “criminally stupid” what various DOJ lawyers and law-enforcement “professionals” committed in F&F, but the fact of the matter is, when you work for FedGov, you can wrongly shoot people (ask Randy Weaver) or immolate dozens of women and children (in Waco) and still retire with a fat taxpayer-funded pension. So I hold no hope that there will ever be a reckoning — dismissals at the least, frog-walking would be better — for officials who thought it was a grand idea to hand thousands of semi-auto rifles to members of the Sinaloa drug cartel.
But there is a new angle on this that at least might shine some sunlight into F&F. Messrs. Codrea and Vanderboegh have sent a letter asking presidential candidate Mitt Romney to make good on his words of support for the Congressional investigation into Operation Fast and Furious “gunwalking,’ and for his campaign’s words of condemnation for the Obama administration invoking executive privilege. In their letter, they ask Romney to publicly commit that he will revoke the current administration’s executive privilege claim.
The letter, addressed to “Dear Candidate Romney,” says in part.
You recognized the wrongness of the administration’s actions in [a] July 17 release, “Transparent Hypocrisy: Obama’s Fast And Furious Broken Promises,” when your campaign informed voters “After Slamming The Use Of Executive Privilege During His 2008 Campaign, President Obama Is Now Using It To Avoid Telling The Truth About Operation ‘Fast And Furious.'”
…If elected president, you will have the authority to revoke claims of executive privilege made by your predecessor. You will be able to give the American people the truth about the “materially false” information first provided, then rescinded, and then covered up by the Obama administration.
…Will you pledge and commit, that if elected in November, you will rescind Obama’s executive privilege order and direct your Attorney General to fully cooperate with and assist the [House Oversight] Committee in document production and whatever else it needs to finally determine and tell the American people the truth?
I plan to follow up and send a similar letter. If Romney will promise to do just that one thing, then I will transform from a lukewarm Mittens supporter to a full-bore Romney is the Guy! guy. GT
To follow the progress of our tests, please “Like” the Gun Tests Magazine Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/GunTests. To read up-to-date information on new firearms and accessory introductions, gun legislation, and the latest efforts to restrict the 2nd Amendment, log on to www.GunReports.com, or “Like” the GunReports Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/GunReports.
