I see a 'fall guy'
Explains Obama's use of executive privilege!
(CNSNews.com) – Dennis K. Burke, who as a lawyer for the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 1990s was a key player behind the enactment of the 1994 assault-weapons ban, and who then went on to become Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano's chief of staff, and a contributor to Barack Obama's 2008 presidential primary campaign, and then a member of Obama's transition team focusing on border-enforcement issues, ended up in the Obama administration as the U.S. attorney in Arizona responsible for overseeing Operation Fast and Furious.
When Obama nominated Burke to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, Burke told the Arizona Capitol Times he believed he understood what the president and his attorney general wanted him to do.
"There's clearly been direction provided already by President Obama and Attorney General Holder as to what they want to be doing, and this is an office that is at the center of the issues of border enforcement," said Burke.
Over the course of several days, CNSNews.com left multiple telephone messages with Burke for comment on this story. He did not respond.
Dennis K. Burke has had a long career working as an aide and political appointee to Democratic elected officials. From 1989 to 1994, he was a counsel for the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, working in that capacity for several years on an assault-weapons ban, which was finally enacted on Sept. 13, 1994 as the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. That act expired on Sept. 13, 2004. (See NYT: Dennis Burke, Sen. DeConcini, Weapons Ban.pdf)
Burke has a long history of being anti-2nd Amendment...like most Democrats. Burke also resigned after admitting to releasing documents to smear ATF whistle blower, Agent Dodson.
From 1994-95, Burke served in the Clinton Justice Department in the Office of Legislative Affairs, and in 1997-99, he was an assistant U.S. attorney in Arizona.
From 1999 to 2003, Burke was chief deputy and special assistant to Arizona Attorney General Janet Napolitano.
In 2003, when Napolitano became governor, Burke became her chief of staff. He stayed in that job until the fall of 2008, when he left to help Democratic political campaigns, including then-Sen. Obama's presidential campaign.
Responding to a question about violence on the border, Napolitano said the administration was going to work with the Mexican government on the issue. Then she said: "Secondly, it is looking at, government-wide, at what we can do to stop the southbound export of weaponry, particularly assault-type weapons and grenades that are being used in that drug war."
Except they didn't work with the Mexican government or with Mexican law enforcement. Mexico is still waiting for answers from Team Obama, the most "transparent" administration in history (wink). Just to clarify things for left-wing Obama defenders who attempt to claim Operation Wide Receiver, which happened under the Bush Administration is the same thing as Operation Fast & Furious. 1) The Bush Administration worked with the Mexican government and Mexican law enforcement, unlike Fast & Furious. 2) Nobody was killed under Operation Wide Receiver. Under Fast & Furious several hundred Mexican citizens were killed along with 1 border agent (Brian Terry) and 1 ICE agent (Jamie Zapata). 3) All guns were traceable, unlike those that "walked" under Fast & Furious. 4) There was actual arrests and all guns recovered under Operation Wide Receiver, where over 2,00o guns were "lost" and 700 showed up at crime scenes in Mexico..still no arrests. 5) Wide Receiver was shut down in 2007.
The White House, White House spokesman Jay Carney and Attorney General Eric Holder have all tried to blame Bush but facts stop them cold.
Napolitano further noted that drug cartels were targeting Mexican government officials and law enforcement officers, and that, given the seriousness of the threat, Obama's national security adviser, the attorney general, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Customs (of which the Border Patrol is part) would all be working on the issue.
Obama, Holder and Napolitano are all tied to this scheme.
"I've met with the attorney general of Mexico and the ambassador already," said Napolitano during the February 2009 hearing. "One of the things that I particularly am focused on is southbound traffic in guns, particularly assault weapons, and cash that are being used to funnel and fund these very, very violent cartels."
Then the administration came up with the idea to traffic firearms (Fast & Furious) to the cartels, which couldn't be traced, and laundered money for the cartels, which they lost.
The same day Napolitano testified in the Homeland Security Committee, Attorney General Holder addressed the issue of drug-trafficking-related gun violence in northern Mexico. He said he had had conversations about the issue with the Mexican attorney general and that the Obama administration believed that re-instating the assault-weapons ban in the United States--the one Dennis Burke had initially helped push through as Senate aide in 1990s--would help the situation in Mexico.
Yes, Holder bragged about 'launching a "major new effort" to break the backs of the cartels. Was that 'Fast and Furious?' We won't know until a court forces Holder/Obama to unseal and release all the records.
"Well, as President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons," Holder said. "I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum."
What are the other 'gun-related changes' Obama wants to make...besides allowing criminals to purchase and traffic guns across the border to push for stricter gun control laws?
Four-and-a-half months later, on July 10, 2009, Obama nominated Burke to be the U.S. attorney in Arizona. The Senate confirmed Burke on Sept. 15 of that year.
Gave Obama $$$, got a cushy job. This seems to happen a lot with Obama donors and bundlers.
It was in July 2010, after his nomination as U.S. attorney, that Burke told theArizonaCapitol Times that he had "been working on homeland security and border enforcement issues" during the transition, and that there had "clearly been direction provided already by President Obama and Attorney General Holder as to what they want to be doing."
"What I hope to do, if confirmed by the Senate," Burke told the paper, "is to ensure that those plans and strategies are being implemented and we're moving quickly on prosecutions."
After the nomination, former Sen. Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.) had high praise for Burke's work in getting the assault weapons ban through Congress back in the 1990s.
Be sure to read the full article. This is what investigative reporting use to look like...before Obama became president. What we do know:
Holder bragged about the scheme. Holder openly lied about the scheme. Holder and the DOJ had to retract their testimony twice (gave false information to Congress). Obama ordered the scheme and his stimulus paid for it. Obama said that he had only heard about the gun trafficking scheme through news reports (He somehow knew before Holder knew), yet now he is claiming executive privilege to hide these documents. Was Obama lying then or now? Remember, three of Obama's national security advisers had knowledge about the scheme. It is clear that Obama invoked his executive privilege tactic to hide the facts and to hide the fact that he and Holder are lying.
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