boils down to a very polite way of saying "Don't hand me any more of this crap, don't expect me to go away, and do not tell me not to talk to people." For instance,
Unfortunately, the reaction to my request has, so far, been little more than delay and denial. I finally received a letter at close of business on Friday, February 4, in response to my request. It came not from the ATF, but from the Justice Department. In that letter, the Department categorically denied that the ATF “knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to a straw purchaser….” The Department said the ATF makes “every effort to interdict weapons that have been purchased illegally and prevent their transportation into Mexico.”
However, as I explained in my initial letter to Acting Director Melson, the allegations I received are supported by documentation. It is already public record that federal agents arrested Jaime Avila on December 15, 2010—the very same day that CBP Agent Terry died. The ATF had been tracking Avila’s firearms purchases because Avila was a suspected trafficker since at least November 2009.1 According to the whistleblowers, at least one gun dealer wanted to stop participating in sales like those to Avila sometime around October 2009. However, the ATF allegedly encouraged the dealer to continue selling to suspected traffickers and asked the dealer to forward information about the sales to the Bureau.
I think that pretty much breaks down to "Don't lie to me again."
Further down,
After the shooting of CBP Agent Terry, law enforcement officials recovered from the scene two assault rifles.9 On December 16, 2010, ATF’s trace results confirmed that serial numbers 1983AH3977 and 1971CZ3755 match two of the three rifles purchased by Avila and tracked by the ATF nearly a year earlier.10 In addition to these specific weapons, the indictment of Avila and others references approximately 769 firearms. Of those, the indictment refers to the recovery of only about 103 weapons. So, where are the other approximately 666 weapons referenced in the indictment? Why did the ATF not seize them?
"We already KNOW about this, and you lie to us about it? You actually think I'll just let this pass by?"
And one of my favorite parts:
The Justice Department’s reply asked that Committee staff stop speaking to law enforcement personnel about these matters. However, if not for the bravery and patriotism of law enforcement personnel who were willing to put their careers on the line, this Committee would have been forced to rely on nothing more than rumors in the blogosphere and a Justice Department denial to resolve these allegations. We need more than that. To be an effective check on Executive Branch power, we need cold, hard facts. We will seek them from whatever source is necessary.
"You do NOT tell me who I can and cannot talk to; and if I find you screwing with somebody for speaking to me, you'll regret it."
I could be mistaken, but I do think this letter boils down to "I know you lied to us, and I don't like it; I don't like you trying to tell me I can't speak to law enforcement personnel; and I damn well do not like being blown off." We'll see what happens next. Can just about guarantee there are people in BATFE, FBI and the Justice Department having nightmares about being put under oath and asked questions about this: "Do I try to cover up my part in this and wind up facing perjury charges?" In particular the BATFE people(sorry excuses for lawmen that they are) who were involved in this
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