In the case that may prove that the Obama Administration is completely corrupt, the question is very simple. 

As CNN’s John King ask on-air, "how did the president know about this
in March, and how did the president know the attorney general knew
nothing about this in march, when the attorney general says in May he
just learned about it a couple weeks ago?"

Real Clear Politics has the story and a video clip of the CNN report, but apparently CNN has removed John King’s ending after President Obama’s comments.  How very odd.  Click here to see the Real Clear Politics posting that does include John King’s ending question.  

After the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent a recent email urging supporters to sign a petition backing the wave of Occupy Wall Street protests, phones at the party committee started ringing.

Politico is reporting that banking executives personally called the
offices of DCCC Chairman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) and DCCC Finance Chairman
Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) last week demanding answers, three financial
services lobbyists told POLITICO.

“They were livid,” said one Democratic lobbyist with banking clients.

The execs asked the lawmakers: “What are you doing? Do you even understand some of the things that they’ve called for?” said another lobbyist with financial services clients who is a former Democratic Senate aide.

Click here to read the entire story.

A related story in the Financial Times Sunday, President Obama honoured Martin Luther King at a dedication to a new memorial on National Mall in Washington.

Referring to protests that have spread from Wall Street to London, Rome and elsewhere, Mr Obama said: “Dr King would want us to challenge the excesses of Wall Street without demonising those who work there.”

Mr Obama had previously said the protests “express the frustration” of ordinary Americans with the financial sector.

Click here to read the story from the Financial Times.

After years of prodding by Congress that included passing multiple pieces of legislation, the United States Government today took a major step towards ending Joseph Kony’s reign of terror on the continent of Africa.

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), the driving force behind the legislative
efforts against Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), reacted to
the announcement that the U.S. will deploy a small number of military
advisors to Uganda to assist the Ugandan military and regional forces to
pursue the LRA in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan. 

“I applaud our nation’s military for making this a priority and taking the steps outlined in our legislation that will eventually protect the children and people from Joseph Kony’s reign of terror,” said Inhofe. “I have witnessed firsthand the devastation caused by the LRA, and this will help end Kony’s heinous acts that have created a human rights crisis in Africa. We must work to bring justice to the children and victims in Uganda devastated by Kony and the LRA.  I have been fervently involved in trying to prevent further abductions and murders of Ugandan children, and today’s action offers hope that the end of the LRA is in sight.”   

"The deployment of military advisers is a huge step forward in the comprehensive effort to see an end to the senseless LRA violence once and for all. This news will be welcomed and applauded by the hundreds of thousands of young Americans who rallied in support of The LRA Disarmament Bill," said Ben Keesey, Executive Director of Invisible Children.

Today’s announcement is in accordance with the Inhofe-sponsored Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-172).  This new effort will address the LRA threat in Central Africa while protecting the civilian population.  Military advisors will provide assistance and information, but they will not engage in offensive combat operations.  

The Department of Defense and the State Department have been coordinating on this plan for over a year.  Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates signed the Execute Order prior to leaving office, and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is now putting that plan into action.

BACKGROUND

• The LRA continues to pose a threat to the stability of Central Africa and its civilian population, with over 300,000 displaced persons across CAR, DRC and South Sudan due to the LRA.  
• Today’s announcement is part of a bipartisan effort in Congress to address the LRA threat and protect the civilian population.
• The Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act requires the United States to work with multilateral partners to develop a viable path to remove Joseph Kony and disarm the LRA, while ensuring the protection of civilians.  The bill authorized $10 million in funding for humanitarian assistance for communities in the DRC, South Sudan and CAR most affected by LRA attacks.  It also authorized $30 million over three years for transitional justice and reconciliation to help the Ugandan government address the grievances and regional divisions that the LRA has exploited for nearly two decades.  
• This was just one of many efforts by Inhofe to raise the visibility of this issue and to end the crisis in Uganda.
• In June 2011, Inhofe attached an amendment to the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC)-passed FY12 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that provides authorization to end the atrocities of Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) by requiring the U.S. Secretaries of Defense and State to submit a comprehensive strategy to ending the human rights crisis in Uganda to the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations.
• In November 2010, when U.S. Gen. Carter Ham was before the SASC for his nomination hearing to be Commander of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), Inhofe raised the issue of Kony and the LRA.
• In May 2010, Inhofe offered similar language to the FY11 NDAA.  The language was eventually removed prior to final passage.
• In April 2009, Inhofe visited the DRC and spoke with President Kabila expressing the critical importance he believes the partnership formed between the DRC, Uganda, and Southern Sudan is to eradicating the LRA.
• Also in April, Inhofe, alongside Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and actor Val Kilmer, participated in an event put on by the group Invisible Children in order to raise awareness surrounding the plight of the LRA’s child soldiers.
• In February 2006, Inhofe sponsored a bi-partisan resolution (S.Res.366) affirming the importance of increased international attention and action to what’s happening with the LRA.
• Inhofe has had 119 visits to countries in the continent of Africa, more than any other Senator in the history of the U.S. Senate.

After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for President of the United States.

As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put great
consideration into family life before making this decision. When we
serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision
maintains this order.

My decision is based upon a review of what common sense Conservatives and Independents have accomplished, especially over the last year.

I believe that at this time I can be more effective in a decisive role to help elect other true public servants to office – from the nation’s governors to Congressional seats and the Presidency. We need to continue to actively and aggressively help those who will stop the "fundamental transformation" of our nation and instead seek the restoration of our greatness, our goodness and our constitutional republic based on the rule of law.

From the bottom of my heart I thank those who have supported me and defended my record throughout the years, and encouraged me to run for President. Know that by working together we can bring this country back – and as I’ve always said, one doesn’t need a title to help do it.

I will continue driving the discussion for freedom and free markets, including in the race for President where our candidates must embrace immediate action toward energy independence through domestic resource developments of conventional energy sources, along with renewables. We must reduce tax burdens and onerous regulations that kill American industry, and our candidates must always push to minimize government to strengthen the economy and allow the private sector to create jobs.

Those will be our priorities so Americans can be confident that a smaller, smarter government that is truly of the people, by the people, and for the people can better serve this most exceptional nation.

In the coming weeks I will help coordinate strategies to assist in replacing the President, re-taking the Senate, and maintaining the House.

Thank you again for all your support. Let’s unite to restore this country!  God bless America.

Late in the day Friday, the White House turned over new documents in the Congressional investigation into the ATF "Fast and Furious" gunwalking scandal.  A late-day end-of-week release is typical when government officials are trying to hide facts from a busy modern public. 

The documents show extensive communications between then-ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix office Bill Newell – who led Fast and Furious – and then-White House National Security Staffer Kevin O’Reilly.  These revelations stand contrary to earlier characterizations of their communication. 

Emails indicate the two also spoke on the phone. Such detailed,
direct communications between a local ATF manager in Phoenix and a White
House national security staffer has raised interest among Congressional
investigators looking into Fast and Furious.

Significant detail is provided in the documents.  CBS News has posted the material linked below.

Newly-released White House documents (pdf)

ATF agents say that in Fast and Furious, their agency allowed thousands of assault rifles and other weapons to be sold to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels. At least two of the guns turned up at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry last December.

ATF Manager says he shared Fast and Furious with the White House

CBS News reports the email exchanges span a little over a month last summer. They discuss ATF’s gun trafficking efforts along the border including the controversial Fast and Furious case, though not by name. The emails to and from O’Reilly indicate more than just a passing interest in the Phoenix office’s gun trafficking cases.

A lawyer for the White House wrote Congressional investigators: "none of the communications between ATF and the White House revealed the investigative law enforcement tactics at issue in your inquiry, let alone any decision to allow guns to ‘walk.’"

ATF Fast and Furious: Who at the White House knew?

Among the documents produced: an email in which ATF’s Newell sent the White House’s O’Reilly an "arrow chart reflecting the ultimate destination of firearms we intercepted and/or where the guns ended up." The chart shows arrows leading from Arizona to destinations all over Mexico.

Newell email (09.03.10) (pdf)

Arizona Gunrunner Impact Team chart (pdf)

In response, O’Reilly wrote on Sept. 3, 2010 "The arrow chart is really interesting – and – no surprise – implies at least that different (Drug Trafficking Organizations) in Mexico have very different and geographically distinct networks in the US for acquiring guns. Did last year’s TX effort develop a similar graphic?"

O’Reilly email (09.03.10) (pdf)

The White House counsel who produced the documents stated that some records were not included because of "significant confidentiality interests."

Also included are email photographs including images of a .50 caliber rifle (right) that Newell tells O’Reilly "was purchased in Tucson, Arizona (part of another OCDTF case)." OCDTF is a joint task force that operates under the Department of Justice and includes the US Attorneys, ATF, DEA, FBI, ICE and IRS. Fast and Furious was an OCDTF case.

An administration source would not describe the Tucson OCDTF case. However, CBS News is reporting that ATF’s Phoenix office led an operation out of Tucson called "Wide Receiver." Sources claim ATF allowed guns to "walk" in that operation, much like Fast and Furious.

Congressional investigators for Republicans Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) have asked to interview O’Reilly by September 30. But the Administration informed them that O’Reilly is on assignment for the State Department in Iraq and unavailable.