By Lynn Woolley

June 20, 2012

Broadcast media – other than Fox News and a reporter named Sharyl Attkisson on CBS – have pretty much ignored the botched government gunrunning scheme known as “Fast & Furious.”  That all changed around 9 a.m. on Wednesday when bulletins started breaking.

First, we learned that Attorney General Eric Holder, facing a Contempt of Congress vote, had not reached an agreement with Congressman Darrell Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.  That meant that Issa would likely move forward with the vote, something both Holder and President Obama would rather not see during a campaign.

But the news continued to come.  The President himself intervened by exerting executive privilege over a trove of documents related to the operation when it was being run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  This is significant because the President has attempted to remain at arm’s length from this still-emerging scandal.  But the “executive” in executive privilege refers to him specifically.  So this is about more than just protecting his friend, the Attorney General. 

If you get your news from MSNBC, you may not be up to speed on the background of the story.  The BATF&E was selling thousands of guns along the U.S.-Mexico border with the hope of tracing them to leaders of the Mexican drug cartels.   The scheme backfired when these guns began showing up at major crime scenes, and when a U. S. Border Patrol Agent named Brian Terry was murdered.  No one knows how many Mexican Nationals have died because of “Fast & Furious,” but the number is likely in the hundreds and the Mexican government is concerned.

Progressive members of the Oversight Committee ignore the murders, and say the scandal is all about politics.  Rep. Elijah Cummings says Holder came to the Committee “in good faith.”  Rep. Carolyn Maloney calls it “a political witch hunt.”  MSNBC, a network that had virtually ignored the story, suddenly discovered it on Tuesday night as “Hardball” host Chris Matthews proclaimed the reason for the probe is a single word: “ethnic.” 

If Matthews is right, and this is about nothing more than a bunch of white Republicans going after an African-American president and his African-American attorney general, then why not simply turn over the papers and make Issa and his committee members look bad?

The answer is almost certainly that there is something the Justice Department and the White House would prefer the Committee not see.  What it might be is a matter of speculation, but it isn’t hard to make an educated guess.

What did the President know and when did he know it?  Yes, that sounds positively Watergate – but the claim of executive privilege means Obama is involved somehow.  And another thing:  What statements has the President made about his lack of involvement that might be contradicted in the papers?  And what about Holder himself and Janet Napolitano of Homeland Security?  Are any of these people open to perjury charges?  Finally, was the operation designed to create an atmosphere in which the government could more easily pass gun control legislation?

We don’t know the answers to these questions.  But we do know that “Fast & Furious” has left a lot of dead bodies in its wake including a border agent.   The President may be forced to throw Holder under the bus.  After all, Holder is also embroiled in the emerging security leaks scandal – and the election looms. 

But whether Holder stays or goes, the President’s claim of executive privilege has thrust Fast & Furious into the big time and now the mainstream media will cover it.  As it always does, the truth will come out. 

Lynn Woolley is a Texas-based radio talk show host.  Contact him at www.BeLogical.com.