Originally Posted By NoloContendere:
Search the lists for "blog"

Originally Posted By NoloContendere:
Search the lists for "blog"

The Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are appealing a settlement in the case of Dobyns v United States, a post by retired agent Jay Dobyns on the Clean Up ATF member forum announced Friday. In September, U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Francis M. Allegra awarded Dobyns $173,000 and denied government royalty claims against Dobyns for his book, "No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels."

“The battle continues,” Dobyns noted in his post on the website set up by Bureau insiders to expose agency corruption, and from which allegations about the Operation Fast and Furious “gunwalking” scandal were first made. “Today DOJ and ATF appealed the judge's decision on my lawsuit. It will now be heard before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. When? Not sure. How long? Maybe years.”

“The single-sentence notice of appeal does not explain the basis of the appeal,” The Arizona Republic confirmed Friday. “An ATF spokeswoman said she was unfamiliar with the details of the matter and unable to comment further. An attorney for the Department of Justice did not immediately return messages left late Friday afternoon.”

Originally Posted By burbanite:




From that thread....  

WTF?

ETA: I know that forum is difficult to read because of the structure but it is always worth the effort. Jay, he mad....

But the most shocking finding, she says, was the discovery of three classified documents that Number One told her were “buried deep in your operating system. In a place that, unless you’re a some kind of computer whiz specialist, you wouldn’t even know exists.”
“They probably planted them to be able to accuse you of having classified documents if they ever needed to do that at some point,” Number One added.

Originally Posted By RocketmanOU:


What....I....man this is fucked up.

Originally Posted By burbanite:
This is absolute proof that the cover up exists. Now is the time to scream this abuse of EP from the rooftops and use it to show just how desperate that traitor in the White House is to protect his friends. I look at this as a good thing because there is no way to hide it, no way to explain it away, no good answer as to why you would involve your friends wife and hide her from scrutiny.

It is time to ramp up the pressure again and keep this in the forefront. FBHO/FUEH.

Gov just dumped 64K F&F docs improperly withheld under executive privilege.

Originally Posted By UtahShotgunner:
A friend sent me the following:



Anybody have any information?  Google is useless at the moment, showing nothing.

“When Eric Holder wants to know why he was the first Attorney General held in criminal contempt of Congress, he can read the judge’s order that compelled the production of 64,280 pages that he and President Obama illegitimately and illegally withheld from Congress.  Since these pages still do not represent the entire universe of the documents the House of Representatives is seeking related to the Justice Department’s cover-up of the botched gun-walking scandal that contributed to the death of a Border Patrol agent, our court case will continue.  I am deeply concerned that some redactions to these documents may still be inappropriate and contrary to the judge’s order in the case. This production is nonetheless a victory for the legislative branch, a victory for transparency, and a victory for efforts to check Executive Branch power.  As the production is extensive and may contain sensitive information, our investigative staff will be carefully examining the documents turned over last night.”

...snip....

The documents weren't publicly released. But CNN reviewed a handful of the documents, which portray Holder frustrated as he tries to manage a controversy spiraling out of his control.

In one April 2011 email exchange, he cautions aides against moving too forcefully to help block an Issa subpoena of a gun dealer who was helping law enforcement in an investigation.

Holder lashed out: "Issa and his idiot cronies never gave a damn about this when all that was happening was that thousands of Mexicans were being killed with guns from our country. All they want to do -- in reality -- is cripple ATF and suck up to the gun lobby. Politics at its worst."

The remark was a harbinger of a worsening relationship between Holder and Issa, which became public in bitter confrontations during congressional hearings.

In a stunning blow to the federal government’s case against the Reese family in the New Deal case, Judge Robert Brack imposed the following sentence:

Time Served
3 years supervised release
$100 fine per count of conviction
Random drug testing
DNA samples
Refrain from alcohol use or possession of alcohol
Random home/vehicle search
No gun ownership
 

He informed them they have the right to appeal his sentence.

The government had originally sought the maximum sentence of five years each for Rick and Terri Reese, plus an additional few years for testifying in their own defense at trial, which was considered by the government to be “obstruction of justice”.  The government conceded they could not seek more than the max of five years.  The government also sought to have Ryin Reese received the maximum sentence of five years.

Rick and Ryin served 17 months in prison and were released when Judge Brack ordered a new trial after information came out that the government failed to inform the judge, and hence the jury, that a key witness in the case, Deputy Alan Batts, had been the subject of an investigation concerning allegations of corruption for nearly a decade.  Batts was never charged with any crime.

Terri Reese served 7 months and was released on bond early to help defense attorneys prepare for trial.

Over forty family, friends and supporters packed nearly the entire courtroom gallery to listen to arguments from the prosecution on why the Reeses should receive the maximum sentence.  Defense attorneys argued to have the charges reduced to a misdemeanor claiming that Congress wrote statutes that apply to FFLs, Federal Firearms Licensees, making violations of Form 4473 a misdemeanor.  The government claimed they have the option to prosecute under either felony or misdemeanor statutes.

Curiously, AUSA Maria Armijo repeated a number of times during the proceedings that the government was not on trial today and that the government should not be punished – presumably by having the judge impose a lower sentence than the maximum penalty.  Nothing was found in the pleadings reviewed that would explain why she might think the government was on trial today.

Ultimately, Judge Brack agreed with the prosecution that it is the prosecutor’s option on whether to charge FFLs under either a felony statute or a misdemeanor statute.  He was not swayed by the novel defense arguments that defendants have the right to choose which statutes to be sentenced under.

.....Big Snip.........

Not including the firearms purchased in the undercover sting, the Reese case involved approximately 35 firearms – all purchased by straw purchaser Penny Torres and her brother.  Torres admitted on the witness stand that the Reeses had no knowledge they were straw purchasing on behalf of cartel member Jose Roman.

The government claimed the Reeses are the ones to blame for the deaths in Mexico.

Now that sentencing is over, if there are no more appeals or motions in the criminal case, the government will start the scheduling process in the civil case.  Should the government win the civil forfeiture case, each law enforcement agency involved will divvy up the proceeds of the Reese’s property and one or more individual law enforcement officers will receive individual bonuses.