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Tandemkross

Author Topic: BATFE Fast and Furious Scandal - 11/4/2014 DOJ Releases 64,280 Pages of Docs  (Read 34258 times)

Offline GunLink

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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #20 on: July 13, 2011, 09:40:01 AM »
Eric Holder neglected to mention the fact that they were going to be handing thousands of firearms across the border to cartels in this April 2, 2009 address on border security and gun/drug trafficking.  One day earlier and I might have thought this was his sick idea of an April Fools joke.


Attorney General Eric Holder at the Mexico/United States Arms Trafficking Conference
CUERNAVACA, MEXICO ~ Thursday, April 2, 2009
Quote
First, let me express my thanks to Attorney General Medina Mora and Secretary of Government Gomez Mont for making this conference possible.

 This is my first trip to another country as Attorney General.   I wanted to come to Mexico to deliver a single message: We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you in this fight against the narcotics cartels.  The United States shares responsibility for this problem and we will take responsibility by joining our Mexican counterparts in every step of this fight.

 And, together, we will win – thanks in large part to the courage of my Mexican colleagues here today, who are on the front lines every day, and with whom I am proud to collaborate.

 The topic that has been addressed over the past two days could not be more important – the development of an arms trafficking prosecution and enforcement strategy on both sides of the border. 

 I would like to thank the Mexican and U.S. experts who have worked so hard on this issue.  On our side, Secretary Napolitano and I are committed to putting the resources in place to increase our attack on arms trafficking into Mexico.

 Last week, our administration launched a major new effort to break the backs of the cartels.  My department is committing 100 new ATF personnel to the Southwest border in the next 100 days to supplement our ongoing Project Gunrunner, DEA is adding 16 new positions on the border, as well as mobile enforcement teams, and the FBI is creating a new intelligence group focusing on kidnapping and extortion.  DHS is making similar commitments, as Secretary Napolitano will detail.

 But as today’s conference has emphasized, the problem of arms trafficking will not be stopped at the border alone.  Rather, as our experts emphasized, this is a problem that must be met as part of a comprehensive attack against the cartels – an attack in depth, on both sides of the border, that focuses on the leadership and assets of the cartel.  This is the type of full-bore, prosecution-driven approach that the U.S. Department of Justice took to dismantle La Cosa Nostra – once the most powerful organized crime group operating in the United States. 
 With partners like those we have here today, I am confident that together, we will defeat these narcotics cartels in exactly the same way.  I am proud to stand with you, and to join you in this fight.  Thank you again for inviting me here.

Quiero que el pueblo Mexicano sepa que mi nación está con ustedes en la lucha contra los narcotraficantes.

México y los Estados Unidos comparten mas que una frontera—compartimos cultura, sangre e intereses comunes. Somos hermanos unidos contra una batalla que ganaremos.

Tenemos que aprender de uno a otro, trabajar juntos y luchar juntos.  Si hacemos estas cosas, si nos dedicamos juntos a esta lucha, no tengo duda que tendremos éxito.

Translation of Spanish:
I want the Mexican people to know that my nation is with you in the fight against drug traffickers.

Mexico and the United States share more than a border-sharing culture, blood and common interests. We are brothers united against a battle we will win.

We must learn from each other, work together and fight together. If we do these things, if we engage together in this fight, I have no doubt we will succeed.



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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #20 on: July 13, 2011, 09:40:01 AM »

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Offline GunLink

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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #21 on: July 13, 2011, 09:54:19 AM »
No wonder "nobody knew anything" about Project Gun Runner or Operation Fast and Furious.  It was tucked away in the dark void of the stimulus bill.  I must have missed that day in Rebuilding an Economy 101 when they covered "allowing cartels to illegally acquire guns through straw purchases."  File this under "money well spent."  ::)


The Stimulation Of Murder
Investor's Business Daily
Posted 07/08/2011 07:02 PM ET


Right there in the stimulus bill that no one in Congress bothered to read is $10 million for Project Gunrunner (aka Operation Fast and Furious), which resulted in the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and increased drug cartel violence.

Right there in the "shovel ready" stimulus, no black humor intended, is a provision for $40 million for "state and local law enforcement assistance" along our border with Mexico and in high drug-trafficking areas, "of which $10 million shall be transferred to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, salaries and expenses for the ATF Project Gunrunner."
(READ MORE...)

Offline 1slickAR15

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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #22 on: July 14, 2011, 08:13:16 AM »
money well spent

Offline GunLink

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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #23 on: July 26, 2011, 09:07:10 PM »
Holder Lied, Agents Died?
Posted 06:41 PM ET
IBD Editorials



Any doubt that Project Gunrunner had to do with creating an atmosphere for more gun control ended with the revelation by Fox News that two convicted felons were allowed to buy and move more than 300 guns into Mexico, something the FBI should have caught but didn't.  Under current federal law, people with felony convictions are not permitted to buy weapons, and those with felony arrests are typically flagged while the FBI conducts a thorough background check through its National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

Jacob Wayne Chambers and Sean Christopher Stewart obtained more than 360 weapons despite criminal records that should have prevented them from buying even one gun.
...
We suspect the FBI was ordered to look the other way just as ATF agents were told to every time they had a chance to interdict weapons going to Mexico, allegedly the whole purpose of the operation. That order could only have come from Attorney General Eric Holder.

Offline Uncle Buck

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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #24 on: July 27, 2011, 10:08:36 AM »
I watched a little of the hearings held yesterday.  Very interesting to say the least.  One of the female congresswomen was a little (OK, A lot) over the top, when she said everyone was in the pocket of the NRA.

Offline 1slickAR15

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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #25 on: July 27, 2011, 11:36:15 AM »
Lots of those people are "over the top" 

Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) thinks that there aren't laws to prevent this sort of thing  :o

This statement is straight from her house.gov website:

The controversy surrounding ATF's Operation Fast and Furious has revealed a virgin law enforcement issue.  Americans may be astonished to discover that the U.S. has no gun-trafficking law, even for long guns such as AK-47s and .50 caliber sniper rifles.  Without most Americans realizing it, we have tied the hands of law enforcement officers, who can only pursue traffickers for paperwork violations, which carry light sentences.  U.S. attorneys, given caseloads full of felonies, do not usually prosecute violations where there is no penalty sufficient to discourage the crime.  This serious gap in federal law has fueled trafficking of assault weapons, perhaps most notoriously to Mexico, where that government is in an all out war against traffickers and their clients.  This hole in our law is just as dangerous to American citizens, as gangs and criminals here traffic the assault weapons that are commonly confiscated following criminal activity without fear of prosecution.

Traffickers are not gun collectors.  Perhaps most often, they are protecting the delivery of their goods, and their commodity of choice, which is, of course, drugs.  A law against gun trafficking is also a strong weapon against drug trafficking.  Our bill has multiple benefits.  It is a deterrent against the illegal proliferation of guns, which have taken such a tragic toll in human life, and a new and powerful deterrent in the nation's long struggle against drugs.

There is an attempt underway to open a hole in a long-standing gun law that makes it more difficult to traffic handguns.  Since 1968, federal law has prohibited crossing state lines to purchase handguns.  However, the pending gun lobby-backed bill to abolish D.C.'s gun laws would also increase gun trafficking in the District.  The bill would create a unique exception to the federal law that prohibits individuals from crossing state lines to purchase handguns by allowing D.C. residents to do so in Maryland and Virginia.  Gun traffickers could use this exception to purchase large quantities of handguns, including assault pistols, in Maryland and Virginia and then bring them back into the District. 




This "gap" is what fuels trafficking to Mexico??  Are you sure it's not the ATF encouraging sending thousands of guns across the border?  Are you sure that it's not the FBI giving felons the OK to purchase guns during NICS checks?  Are you sure it's not a useless agency ignoring its agents when they call attention to this cluster****?  Are you sure it's not the AG who, at a minimum, purposely ignored the issue and possibly was involved even more?

If what that other congressman said was true about this whole thing being meant to push anti gun agendas then this woman took the bait hook line and sinker!

Offline GunLink

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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #26 on: July 27, 2011, 11:37:20 AM »
From the Democratic Oversight page:  HEARING: Documents for the July 26th Hearing: Operation Fast and Furious: The Other Side of the Border

Read the opening statement of Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings

Read the Testimony of Carlos Canino, ATF Acting Attaché to Mexico

Read the Testimony of Darren Gil, Former ATF Attaché to Mexico

Read the Testimony of Jose Wall, ATF Senior Special Agent, Tijuana, Mexico

Read the Testimony of  Lorren Leadmon, ATF Intelligence Operations Specialist

Read the Testimony of  William Newell, Former ATF Special Agent in Charge, Phoenix Field Division

Read the Testimony of  William McMahon, ATF Deputy Assistant Director for Field Operations

Offline GunLink

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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #27 on: July 27, 2011, 11:45:16 AM »
Gun Runner/Fast and Furious is making front page news:

A gunrunning sting gone fatally wrong
By Sari Horwitz,
Tuesday, July 26, 12:01 AM


Quote
On his first day undercover, John Dodson, who had been an ATF agent for seven years in Virginia, sat in a Chevy Impala with Olindo Casa, an 18-year veteran from Chicago. They watched a suspected gun trafficker buy 10 semiautomatic rifles from a Phoenix gun store and followed him to the house of another suspected trafficker. All of their training told them to seize the guns.

The agents called their superior and asked for the order to “take him.” The answer came back swiftly, instructing them to stay in the car. The message was clear: Let the guns go...But Dodson and Casa were confused and upset.

ATF agents hate to let the guns “walk.” Yet it happened again, day after day, month after month, for more than a year.  (READ More...)








ATF officials admit mistakes in Operation Fast and Furious gun program
By Mike M. Ahlers, CNN
July 26, 2011 5:49 p.m. EDT


Quote
Two federal officials admitted Tuesday they made "mistakes" during the controversial Operation Fast and Furious gunrunner program, but they disputed contentions by a parade of other agents that their bureau knowingly let guns "walk" into Mexico.
...
Newell's insistence that guns were not allowed to cross the border drew an angry rebuke from Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House committee investigating the program, who called Newell a "paid non-answerer" at Tuesday's hearing.

"Are they (the other agents) lying, or are you lying?" Issa asked Newell.
"We did not let guns walk," Newell responded.
"You're entitled to your opinion, not to your facts," Issa said.
...
At the opening of the hearing, Issa, R-California, accused the Obama administration of stonewalling the investigation, saying the Department of Justice continues to withhold information and has "inappropriately interfered" with the committee's work.

"Let me be clear: the Justice Department is not our partner in this effort. They are the subject of this investigation and their continued interference will not be allowed to derail the committee's work," Issa said.

Issa said the Justice Department has blocked efforts to identify those inside the department who were aware of the program, and who endorsed it. (READ MORE...)

Offline GunLink

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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #28 on: July 27, 2011, 11:57:05 AM »
Here are some clips posted to the YouTube account for The Committee on Oversight and Reform:


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WANSbwmYlYI[/youtube]


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6vrRco01XA[/youtube]


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAKXvgR7Aj4[/youtube]


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIcLZZ0tqOs[/youtube]


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZXCJaY1Oi8[/youtube]


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAdav1YDuKo[/youtube]

Offline GunLink

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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #29 on: July 27, 2011, 03:33:38 PM »
"Operation Fast & Furious: The Other Side of the Border" Part 1

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53ETDnGKR2c[/youtube]


"Operation Fast & Furious: The Other Side of the Border" Part 2

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yen7xusqDGs[/youtube]


"Operation Fast & Furious: The Other Side of the Border" Part 3


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z33Lntd4uzU[/youtube]




House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "Operation Fast & Furious: The Other Side of the Border." The hearing continued to explore the scope of Operation Fast and Furious, conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and approved by the Department of Justice. The hearing examined its effect on the country of Mexico.



« Last Edit: July 27, 2011, 03:47:18 PM by GunLink »

Offline GunLink

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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #30 on: July 27, 2011, 03:59:12 PM »

The Department of Justice’s Operation Fast and Furious:
Fueling Cartel Violence

JOINT STAFF REPORT


Prepared for
Rep. Darrell E. Issa, Chairman
United States House of Representatives
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
&
Senator Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member
United States Senate
Committee on the Judiciary

112th Congress

July 26, 2011



I. Executive Summary
The previous joint staff report entitled The Department of Justice’s Operation Fast and
Furious: Accounts of ATF Agents chronicled Operation Fast and Furious, a reckless program
conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the
courageous ATF agents who came forward to expose it. Operation Fast and Furious made
unprecedented use of a dangerous investigative technique known as “gunwalking.” Rather than
intervene and seize the illegally purchased firearms, ATF’s Phoenix Field Division allowed
known straw purchasers to walk away with the guns, over and over again. As a result, the
weapons were transferred to criminals and Mexican Drug Cartels.

This report explores the effect of Operation Fast and Furious on Mexico. Its lethal drug
cartels obtained AK-47 variants, Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifles, .38 caliber revolvers, and FN
Five-seveNs from Arizona gun dealers who were cooperating with the ATF by continuing to sell
to straw purchasers identified in Operation Fast and Furious.

In late 2009, ATF officials stationed in Mexico began to notice a large volume of guns
appearing there that were traced to the ATF’s Phoenix Field Division. These weapons were
increasingly recovered in great numbers from violent crime scenes. ATF intelligence analysts
alerted Darren Gil, Attaché to Mexico, and Carlos Canino, Deputy Attaché, about the abnormal
number of weapons. Gil and Canino communicated their worries to leadership in Phoenix and
Washington, D.C., only to be brushed aside. Furthermore, ATF personnel in Arizona denied
ATF personnel in Mexico access to crucial information about the case, even though the operation
directly involved their job duties and affected their host country.

Rather than share information, senior leadership within both ATF and the Department of
Justice (DOJ) assured their representatives in Mexico that everything was “under control.” The
growing number of weapons recovered in Mexico, however, indicated otherwise. Two
recoveries of large numbers of weapons in November and December 2009 definitively
demonstrated that Operation Fast and Furious weapons were heading to Mexico. In fact, to date,
there have been 48 different recoveries of weapons in Mexico linked to Operation Fast and
Furious.

ATF officials in Mexico continued to raise the alarm over the burgeoning number of
weapons. By October 2010, the amount of seized and recovered weapons had “maxed out”
space in the Phoenix Field Division evidence vault.1 Nevertheless, ATF and DOJ failed to share
crucial details of Operation Fast and Furious with either their own employees stationed in
Mexico or representatives of the Government of Mexico. ATF senior leadership allegedly feared
that any such disclosure would compromise their investigation. Instead, ATF and DOJ
leadership’s reluctance to share information may have only prolonged the flow of weapons from
this straw purchasing ring into Mexico.

ATF leadership finally informed the Mexican office that the investigation would be shut
down as early as July 2010. Operation Fast and Furious, however, continued through the rest of
2010. It ended only after U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered in December 2010
with weapons linked to this investigation. Only then did the ATF officials in Mexico discover the
true nature of Operation Fast and Furious. Unfortunately, Mexico and the United States will
have to live with the consequences of this program for years to come.



II. Findings
  • In the fall of 2009, ATF officials in Mexico began noticing a spike in guns recovered at
    Mexican crime scenes. Many of those guns traced directly to an ongoing investigation
    out of ATF’s Phoenix Field Division.
  • As Operation Fast and Furious progressed, there were numerous recoveries of large
    weapons caches in Mexico. These heavy-duty weapons included AK-47s, AR-15s, and
    even Barrett .50 caliber rifles – the preferred weapons of drug cartels.
  • At a March 5, 2010 briefing, ATF intelligence analysts told ATF and DOJ leadership that
    the number of firearms bought by known straw purchasers had exceeded the 1,000 mark.
    The briefing also made clear these weapons were ending up in Mexico.
  • ATF and DOJ leadership kept their own personnel in Mexico and Mexican government
    officials totally in the dark about all aspects of Fast and Furious. Meanwhile, ATF
    officials in Mexico grew increasingly worried about the number of weapons recovered in
    Mexico that traced back to an ongoing investigation out of ATF’s Phoenix Field
    Division.
  • ATF officials in Mexico raised their concerns about the number of weapons recovered up
    the chain of command to ATF leadership in Washington, D.C. Instead of acting
    decisively to end Fast and Furious, the senior leadership at both ATF and DOJ praised the
    investigation and the positive results it had produced. Frustrations reached a boiling
    point, leading former ATF Attaché Darren Gil to engage in screaming matches with his
    supervisor, International Affairs Chief Daniel Kumor, about the need to shut down the
    Phoenix-based investigation.
  • Despite assurances that the program would be shut down as early as March 2010, it took
    the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent in December 2010 to actually bring the
    program to a close.
  • ATF officials in Mexico finally realized the truth: ATF allowed guns to walk. By
    withholding this critical information from its own personnel in Mexico, ATF jeopardized
    relations between the U.S. and Mexico.
  • The high-risk tactics of cessation of surveillance, gunwalking, and non-interdiction of
    weapons that ATF used in Operation Fast and Furious went against the core of ATF’s
    mission, as well as the training and field experience of its agents. These flaws inherent in
    Operation Fast and Furious made its tragic consequences inevitable.

Offline GunLink

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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #31 on: July 28, 2011, 10:32:20 AM »
Surprise, surprise...White house officials knew about Fast and Furious?


Bombshell: White House Knew About ATF Gunrunning Scandal
1:00 PM, Jul 27, 2011
MARK HEMINGWAY


For various reasons relating to the White House's gun policies and relations with Mexico, many have speculated that the White House was involved.  But this is the first concrete proof that the White House knew what was going on.  (READ MORE...)





ATF Manager says he shared Fast and Furious Info with White House
July 26, 2011 5:02 PM
Sharyl Attkisson


At a lengthy hearing on ATF's controversial gunwalking operation today, a key ATF manager told Congress he discussed the case with a White House National Security staffer as early as September 2010. The communications were between ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix office, Bill Newell, and White House National Security Director for North America Kevin O'Reilly. (READ MORE...)

Offline Uncle Buck

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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #32 on: July 28, 2011, 10:53:35 AM »
Thanks for all the links.  It is taking awhile to digest this, but well worth the read.

Offline 1slickAR15

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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #33 on: July 28, 2011, 11:56:56 AM »
Thanks for all the links.  It is taking awhile to digest this, but well worth the read.


Most of the stuff coming out of those people's mouths is already "digested" if you get my drift ;)

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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #34 on: July 29, 2011, 09:53:16 PM »

Down the Rabbit Hole by Samantha Marx 2006
How Deep Does it Go?

“Fast & Furious” Hearings Raise More Questions Than Answers
Friday, July 29, 2011
NRA-ILA
 

The more information that comes out about the reckless “Fast and Furious” gun running operation conducted by the Phoenix BATFE office, the more clear it seems that knowledge of the operation, and approval for it, went a lot higher than the Phoenix field office, or even the BATFE.

There is now clear evidence, uncovered by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee headed by Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) that senior Obama Administration officials were aware of this disastrous operation.

Last Tuesday, Rep. Issa conducted another round of hearings. Among those who testified were William Newell and William McMahon, BATFE Special Agents who oversaw the program in Phoenix. Those hearings revealed that senior Dept. of Justice officials, including former Deputy Attorney General David Ogden and Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, knew about the program.

Additionally, other federal agencies were identified as having been made aware of the operation, including the IRS, DEA and ICE.

The Committee also heard testimony from four BATFE agents stationed in Mexico during the time “Fast and Furious” was in operation.  All testified they knew nothing of this scheme, in spite of promises from Obama Administration officials, and Obama himself to share all relevant information with Mexican authorities engaged in the fight against the drug cartels.

When asked about the operation, these BATFE agents described it as absurd and ill-conceived, and declared that it was not consistent with established BATFE procedures or methods.

One of the biggest bombshells to come out of the hearing was the revelation that Agent Newell had sent an e-mail, under the subject line “You did not hear this from me,” to Kevin O’Reilly, the National Security Director for North America. That e-mail, dated Sept. 2010, included information about “Fast and Furious.”

After repeated questioning, Newell admitted he had spoken to O’Reilly about the operation.

This revelation, that a senior White House official knew about the program, combined with the senior DOJ officials listed above, casts serious doubts on claims by Attorney General Holder and even President Obama that they knew nothing about “Fast and Furious.”

As more is learned about the “Fast and Furious” operation, two serious questions come to the forefront: Did BATFE abandon standard procedures and methods in this project in order to achieve the political goal of making U.S. gun laws the issue in the war against the Mexican drug cartels?  And if so, was it the BATFE that proposed and advanced the scheme, or was it senior political appointees in the Obama administration who wanted to “prove” that it is American gun freedoms that are “causing” the violence in Mexico?   Stay tuned for more as details continue to emerge.

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Re: BATFE "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #35 on: July 29, 2011, 10:36:08 PM »
US Report: Government Sting Operation 'Reckless'
VOA News
July 26, 2011


A U.S. congressional committee has reported that officials failed to inform diplomats at the U.S. embassy in Mexico about a "reckless" sting operation that allowed hundreds of guns to be smuggled into Mexico.

Tuesday's report, released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said officials with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives jeopardized U.S. relations with Mexico by not telling Mexico-based U.S. diplomats about "Operation Fast and Furious."

The operation allowed Arizona gun dealers to sell AK-47 variants, .50-caliber rifles and .38-caliber revolvers to known intermediaries who would then smuggle the guns to Mexico for resale. U.S. officials hoped to trace the guns to Mexican drug cartels.

The program was shut down after U.S.-purchased weapons were found at the scene of the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in December.

The committee's findings showed more than 100 guns recovered at crime scenes have been linked to the operation.

A separate report released last month by three U.S. senators said 70 percent of the nearly 30,000 firearms recovered in Mexico in 2009 and 2010 came from the United States.

Mexico has been increasingly critical of U.S. efforts to stop guns from crossing the border.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has deployed nearly 50,000 troops in the crackdown against drug violence since he took office in late 2006. More than 37,000 people have been killed in the country's drug war since then.

Offline Uncle Buck

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Re: BATFE Fast and Furious "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #36 on: July 31, 2011, 08:48:18 AM »
I normally am not a conspiracy theorist at all.  But I honestly do believe this operation (or investigation, as Mr. Newell put it) was a back door attempt to be able to say "See, we need stricter gun laws."

Please keep in mind the reason we know about this crap is because the ATF agents turned the whole operation over to the media.  At least a few of the people there still have integrity.

Offline 1slickAR15

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Re: BATFE Fast and Furious "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #37 on: July 31, 2011, 06:30:53 PM »
I normally am not a conspiracy theorist at all.  But I honestly do believe this operation (or investigation, as Mr. Newell put it) was a back door attempt to be able to say "See, we need stricter gun laws."

Please keep in mind the reason we know about this crap is because the ATF agents turned the whole operation over to the media.  At least a few of the people there still have integrity.


Yeah, the agents were just following orders.  I guess they questioned it a few times to  their superiors who said go ahead anyway.  Good on the whistle blowers.  They're just humans doing their jobs, not policy makers.  Somebody up high had something up their sleeve though

Offline GunLink

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Re: BATFE Fast and Furious "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #38 on: August 09, 2011, 09:23:12 PM »
Well, well. Serrano gets another scoop. DEA admits Gunwalker Scandal involvement.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Sipsey Street Irregulars



The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration has acknowledged to congressional investigators that her agency provided a supporting role in the ill-fated Operation Fast and Furious run by the group's counterparts at the ATF.

Michele M. Leonhart, the DEA administrator, said DEA agents primarily helped gather evidence in cases in Phoenix and El Paso, and in the program's single indictment last January that netted just 20 defendants for illegal gun-trafficking.

The development marks the first time another law enforcement agency has said it also worked on Fast and Furious cases other than the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is under two investigations into why it allowed at least 2,000 firearms to be illegally purchased and then lost track of the guns’ whereabouts. . .
(READ MORE...)

Offline ThatGuy762x51

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Re: BATFE Fast and Furious "Gun Walking" Scandal
« Reply #39 on: August 11, 2011, 09:40:31 AM »
I am almost to the point where I've stopped caring.  I am definitely not surprised now every time a new person or agency is found to be involved.