Daily Border Bulletin - Milbank on Fast and Furious, Holder urges help to stop gun trafficking, SB1070 mastermind loses recall

Milbank, Fast Furious the scandal that isn't: Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank gives his take on yesterdays Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Department of Justice Secretary Eric Holder: there’s not yet evidence of any high-level White House involvement. Neither of the two leading Republicans probing the case, Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), has called for Holder’s resignation. The most that can be done for now, then, is to harangue Holder and his colleagues and hope something shakes loose. And so Sen. John Cornyn (Tex.), head of the Senate Republicans’ reelection effort, was in a rather furious state of mind Tuesday morning as he questioned Holder before the Judiciary Committee. Cornyn went after the attorney general as if prosecuting him.

Holder Urges Lawmakers to Support Efforts to Stop Gun Trafficking:  During the Senate oversight hearing yesterday, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa ranking Republican on the committee was adament that there be no tightening of gun laws as a result of the findings of the ATF program. Holder responded thusly:  “Like each of you, I want to know why and how the firearms that should have been under surveillance could wind up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels,” Mr. Holder said. “But beyond identifying where errors occurred and ensuring that they never occur again, we must be careful not to lose sight of the critical problem that this flawed investigation has highlighted: we are losing the battle to stop the flow of illegal guns to Mexico.  This means, I believe, that we have a responsibility to act.” 

Author of Arizona Immigration Law Loses Recall Election:  Arizona State Senate President Russell Pearce has lost his recall election to political newcomer Jerry Lewis. Pearce is the and only elected official to ever face a recall in the history of Arizona politics: With thousands of ballots counted and results in from all 16 precincts, charter school executive Jerry Lewis led with 53 percent of the vote, compared with about 45 percent for Pearce, a margin of about 1,800 votes. An unknown number of early ballots turned in Tuesday remained to be counted, but Pearce was resigned to defeat.