An Interview with “Fast and Furious” Author Katie Pavlich
Anne Vinnola 05.31.12
I was fortunate to interview Katie Pavlich, author of Fast and Furious: Barack Obama’s Bloodiest Scandal and its Shameless Cover-Up, and wanted to understand the writer of such an important book and the lady behind the pen.
Q. Can you give a brief background about yourself, who you are?
A. I grew up in the mountains in Northern Arizona on a dirt road. I spent my summers rafting the Colorado River, the falls and springs hunting with my dad all over the state and enjoyed the great outdoors as much as possible. I used to drive a blue Jeep Wrangler, stick shift of course, and plan to buy another one someday. I’m a Daughter of the American Revolution and strongly believe my attitude and love for freedom is embedded deep in my roots. My background is Croatian, German, Irish and Australian, but above all, I’m proud to be an American.
Q. How did you get your start in journalism? Why politics? What stirs you about the state of our land?
A. I actually started out in journalism wanting to be a sports reporter (I love college basketball), but quickly realized politics was my passion and had been since a very young age. I wrote a letter to Bill Clinton at the age of 6 complaining about him raising taxes. I’m not sure I can give just one example of what stirs me the most about the state of America today, but big government seems to be the root of all our big problems. That being said, I still believe America is an amazing place and thank God everyday for the blessing of living here.
Q. What are some of your interests and hobbies?
A. In the media world you don’t have much time for hobbies, however, I’m a hardcore country music fan, I love cowboy boots, I’m trying to learn how to play guitar, I really enjoy putting outfits together (not in a high fashion kind of way, though), being outdoors, rollerblading, spending time with close friends, visiting family and making jewelry.
Q. What about your family life and background? I understand you and your father hunt together, did I read that right? You were raised in the outdoors?
A. I grew up hunting with my dad. He bought me my first rifle when I turned 11 years old, he put my name on it and everything. I’ve taken four deer, three elk and two javelina in my day. My dream hunt is brown bear up in Alaska.
Q. What prompted you to write about this F&F mess? What was the driving force to keep you going?
A. There are a lot of reasons why I wanted to write this book, but the main reason I wrote it is simply because this is a scandal that involves the murders of two of our federal agents, Brian Terry and Jaime Zapata, at the hands of the federal government, not to mention the murders of hundreds of Mexican citizens. The way this Justice Department under the Obama administration has conducted themselves in response to this scandal is absolutely appalling and disgusting. Anyone who believes the President of the United States and the Attorney General are not above the law, need to know about this scandal and help hold federal officials accountable for their actions. Members of the “mainstream” press aren’t covering it like they should, despite the scandal being worse than Iran-Contra and Watergate.
Q. What sort of opposition have you encountered?
A. Well of course Media Matters, the anti-Semitic, George Soros funded, far-left “media” outlet has been attacking me, but that just means I must be doing something right. Overall the support has been amazing and just goes to show people are very interested in knowing more about this topic.
Q. How did you tackle the task of researching Fast and Furious?
A. Well I’ve been covering the Fast and Furious story for more than a year now, but really just digging into the scandal with both hands by finding new angles, making connections with whistleblowers, knowing every detail of the case among others things has enabled me to put together a comprehensive book while giving people, even those who pay close attention to the scandal, new information. Paying close attention to the work of other reporters and journalists, Sharyl Attkisson, David Codrea, Mike Vanderboegh, William La Jeunesse, Bob Owens, Cam Edwards, Matthew Boyle and more, has been extremely helpful.
Q. Who are some of your favorite supporters for this book?
A. Michelle Malkin has been more supportive than I can ever thank her for. The same goes for David Limbaugh, J. Christian Adams, my boss Jonathan Garthwaite at Townhall.com, the entire blogosphere, Mary Chastain at Big Journalism, all the folks over at Breitbart media, loyal readers at Townhall.com and so many more have been behind me on this and it really is amazing. I’m so grateful.
Q. Were you ever afraid to write this book?
A. No I was never afraid. I like a challenge and knew going into it who I would be taking on, but like I said above, I have all the right people behind me and, the families of Brian Terry, Jaime Zapata and countless Mexican victims deserve answers.
Q. How has it been received by the Obama administration?
A. Well considering they are using Media Matters as a mouth piece for the Justice Department and the White House now, it seems they don’t like it too much. See here.
Q. How have the NRA and similar groups reacted to this book?
A. The NRA has reacted positively. They called for Eric Holder’s resignation nearly a year ago and of course, this is a horrific scandal that smeared the very people who either are or eventually will become NRA members.
To read my review of Katie’s book, click here.
