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« A new Project Gunwalker, running to Honduras | Main | Paper on free blacks obtaining gun permits pre-civil war period »

Acting Director Melson met investigators in secret

Posted by David Hardy · 7 July 2011 05:20 PM

Dave Workman has the story. Melson was scheduled for a formal interview later, at which he'd be accompanied by Justice attorneys. Instead he met with the investigators, bringing his personal attorney, on July 4. I think the day is significant. Government attorneys would be off-duty. Government employees would be at home, reducing the chance of accidentally being seen and identified. And Melson wouldn't be on duty, so no one would wonder where he'd gone. I know from my gov't days that Justice doesn't see itself as attorney for your agency, let alone for you. It sees itself as attorneys for the entire government (and at the higher, appointed, levels, as attorneys for the Administration. They throw agencies (let alone acting agency heads) under the bus whenever required to do so.

Melson was in a tight bind. He probably read the stories about his forthcoming resignation as leaks meant to prepare him for becoming the fall guy in this. He was once a careerist with full civil service protection (to the extent the higher levels care about that), then he became SES, with lessened protection, and may even have become an appointee (that I'm not sure about) who can be fired at will. He's about to get shoved out the door. When he goes to the investigators, he's desperate, essentially defecting.

How much did he tell them? I think we'll know soon. He's apparently pointing the finger at Justice, which would mean at least an Assistant AG (political appointee), and very likely AG Holder himself, who certainly would have approved whatever the AAG was doing.

I've never heard of an agency head defecting, as it were. Closest think I can think of is John Dean, counsel to the President, meeting secretly with investigators during Watergate, and maybe "deep throat," Mark Felt, who was Associate Director of the FBI, leaking to the press. And Watergate involved quite a bit less than running thousands of guns to the most violent criminals on earth with fatal results.

· BATFE

4 Comments | Leave a comment

Cory Brickner | July 7, 2011 8:11 PM | Reply

Thanks for your insight David! Now this is shaping up to the Executive scandal that I always knew it was.

Mark-1 | July 8, 2011 6:37 AM | Reply

I've been watching this case's progress. I don't know what the Fed's were thinking. This Gunwalker Project just isn't a domestic issue, but an international.

The US Gov't running guns and arms to para-military criminal thugs...Incredible.

Cory Brickner | July 8, 2011 11:51 AM | Reply

There was a news article today on CNS News saying that the current administration isn't enforcing the laws already on the books.

It doesn't take much to do the math here. They want a bloody massacre from the very weapons they let walk to use as an impetus to re-ban military style weaponry. You can't get any more blatant than this.

AvgJoe | July 10, 2011 8:59 PM | Reply

A little note on history here. We all know the guns laws that came from Clinton/s. As Secretary of State Hillary is on record for talking about the large number of American gun store and gun show firearms ending up in the hands of the drug gangs in Mexico. Holder was on board spewing this same lie at the same time Hillary was. Then the pro-firearm groups started looking in the all the facts on this Mexican gun issue. It turned out that the percent of firearms found and or taking in by Mexican LE was a very low number. Both Hillary and Holder had egg on their faces. As for both they follow the communist golden rule: "The ends justify the means". So operation Gun Walkers was cooked up and put in place.
The bottom line on all of this is very simple. International crimes were committed to cheat the American people out of their Constitutional rights. I'm not a legal expert but my gut feelings are the Operation Gun Walker with the intended out come to attack the Second Amendment is full on Treason.

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