Operations Fast & Furious

Congressional Investigators Target FBI Over Fast and Furious

Congressional investigators probing the botched federal gun-trafficking program known as Fast and Furious are now setting their sights on the FBI.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Cali., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, sent a letter Thursday to FBI Director Robert Mueller demanding answers about the guns found at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...rs-fast-and-furious-target-fbi/#ixzz1bMb456CR
 
Operations Fast & Furious - the Gunrunner Scandal




Back in February, American Thinker reported:

Death in the Desert: Project Gunwalker and the ATF Cover-Up


On December 14, 2010, a firefight erupted in the Arizona desert. When the smoke had cleared, Customs and Border Protection Agent Brian Terry was dead, and the seeds of a scandal had been sown. Some of the rank and file of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), often referred to as the ATF, began to grow concerned that a new development in Project Gunrunner probably had resulted in the death of Agent Terry.

First word of the incident began to appear on CleanUpATF.org, a whistle-blower website dedicated to "returning the integrity, accountability and decency to the ATF." Two Second Amendment advocates, Mike Vanderboegh of the blog Sipsey Street Irregulars and David Codrea, a writer at Gun Rights Examiner.com, became immediately aware of the posts, and their interest pushed them to collaborate and use their own sources within the ATF to confirm the allegations being made.

The pair independently corroborated the existence of a deviation from Project Gunrunner which they began to sardonically refer to as Project Gunwalker. Sources told them of the unstated policy to provide assault weapons to straw buyers, who would walk the guns over the border and sell them to members of the Mexican drug cartels for the purpose of manufacturing evidence.

One source of resistance to this development came from Darren Gil, then ATF attaché to Mexico, who felt strongly that the Mexican authorities should be made aware of the change in tactics. Gil brought his concerns to Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Office William D. Newell. Despite Gil's insistence, Newell refused to inform Mexico of the Bureau's intent. Frustrated and considering Newell's refusal to be a significant international policy error, Gil went to Newell's superiors in Washington. One can only speculate as to the conversations that took place, but Gil has since retired from the ATF.

With no further objections, the cynical plan allegedly was put into effect, and a string of subsequent events were unleashed. If played right, however, the Obama administration would get their "evidence," and the ATF could count on increased resources to pursue the very problem they were facilitating. That did not take into account the events that unfolded on the night of December 14 -- events which resulted in the death of Agent Terry.

Vanderboegh and Codrea relentlessly pursued the facts as presented to them by numerous and separate sources. They recognized that if true, the allegations would spell a serious breach of the public trust and the prospect of criminal activity within the ATF.

Finally, with facts in hand, they sought protection for their sources before going public. They approached several staff members on the Senate Judiciary Committee. They were directed from one person to the next. It was a struggle to ensure the safety of the agents putting their lives and careers on the line to expose the actions of the ATF. Eventually, Vanderboegh and Codrea obtained assurances that their informants would come under the whistle-blower protections offered by Senator Grassley of Iowa, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee.


What follows is an excerpt of a letter from Grassley to Acting Director of the ATF Melson:

Members of the Judiciary Committee have received numerous allegations that the ATF sanctioned the sale of hundreds of assault weapons to suspected straw purchasers, who then allegedly transported these weapons throughout the southwestern border area and into Mexico. According to the allegations, one of these individuals purchased three assault rifles with cash in Glendale, Arizona on January 16, 2010. Two of the weapons were then allegedly used in a firefight on December 14, 2010 against Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents, killing CBP Agent Brian Terry.




On January 30, 2011, there came word that the ATF in Phoenix, instead of helping Senator Grassley get to the bottom of the allegations, had begun to exert retaliatory pressure against agents suspected of blowing the whistle on the operation.

The following is an excerpt from the subsequent letter sent from Grassley to Acting Director Melson upon hearing of the retaliation:

As you know, I wrote you on Thursday, January 27, regarding serious allegations associated with Project Gunrunner and the death of Customs and Protection Agent Brian Terry. Although the staff briefing I requested has not been scheduled, it appears that the ATF is reacting in less productive ways to my request. I understand that Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) George Gillette of the ATF's Phoenix office questioned one of the individual agents who answered my staff's questions about Project Gunrunner.​



Mike Vanderboegh is now reporting that the answer to this letter from Senator Grassley has been the January 31 promotion of William D. Newell to Darren Gil's previous position of Mexican attaché to the ATF. Theoretically, this would leave Gillette -- a person already alleged by the whistle-blowers to be deeply involved in coercion of the informants -- in charge of the Phoenix office.
I get why the Republicans and the American people are upset about this retarded cover up and bad sting operation.....
But wheres the Dem's out cry about this?
People are dead and insead of getting the facts one side is using it for a reelection smeer and the other side is trying to spin this....time for those in the know to face up to what they allowed to happen and the guilty must be fired,jailed and used as an example of an out of control big government failure!
Protect those that protect our nations border ,call write and visit your elected officals don't let this fade away during the Superbowl,the election or any other event stagged to make us forget the real world issue's!
Or the next big government idea might be walking nukes for the terrorist,yep they are just that dumb!!
 
I get why the Republicans and the American people are upset about this retarded cover up and bad sting operation.....
But wheres the Dem's out cry about this?
People are dead and insead of getting the facts one side is using it for a reelection smeer and the other side is trying to spin this....time for those in the know to face up to what they allowed to happen and the guilty must be fired,jailed and used as an example of an out of control big government failure!
Protect those that protect our nations border ,call write and visit your elected officals don't let this fade away during the Superbowl,the election or any other event stagged to make us forget the real world issue's!
Or the next big government idea might be walking nukes for the terrorist,yep they are just that dumb!!

A_J's corollary #9, “When a Republican does it, it is a high crime and misdemeanor, when a Democrat does it, then it is, *shrug*, they ALL do it...”

That's all you need to know.

:)
 
It seems that for the magnitude of the Fast and Furious scandal, there isn’t much outrage.

Arizonans don’t need me to tell them that Fast and Furious is a big story. This scandal started in our backyard — in the ATF’s Phoenix office — and was administered by a U.S. attorney appointed by President Obama.

Every step of this operation seems riddled with incompetence and dishonesty.

High-ranking U.S. officials used taxpayer money — stimulus money no less — to buy guns and ship them to Mexico. The administration claims these firearms were shipped to Mexico in an attempt to destabilize Mexican drug cartels.

A further investigation will help us determine if, in fact, the administration’s real agenda was indeed promoting gun control.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/20/where-is-the-outrage-over-fast-and-furious/#ixzz1bXCrYu00
 
It seems that for the magnitude of the Fast and Furious scandal, there isn’t much outrage.

Arizonans don’t need me to tell them that Fast and Furious is a big story. This scandal started in our backyard — in the ATF’s Phoenix office — and was administered by a U.S. attorney appointed by President Obama.

Every step of this operation seems riddled with incompetence and dishonesty.

High-ranking U.S. officials used taxpayer money — stimulus money no less — to buy guns and ship them to Mexico. The administration claims these firearms were shipped to Mexico in an attempt to destabilize Mexican drug cartels.

A further investigation will help us determine if, in fact, the administration’s real agenda was indeed promoting gun control.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/20/where-is-the-outrage-over-fast-and-furious/#ixzz1bXCrYu00

It reminds me of the elaborate plots cooked up by middle schooler's trying to pull a fast one over on someone. And the reaction is about the same as you'd expect from middle schooler's after they got caught red-handed.

These are not the actions of allegedly responsible adults in positions of power.

Ishmael
 
The Narco Terrorist threat would all but vanish if we just legalized and regulated drugs, no diff than the prohabition of alcohol. It is much harder to run an organized crime ring when there is no black market to fund them. You would think after 40 years and trillions spent the fact that a middle schooler can score an 8ball of coke far easier than a pack of smokes would change the minds of the retards who persist in the delusion that the war on drugs is even slightly effective.
 
The Narco Terrorist threat would all but vanish if we just legalized and regulated drugs, no diff than the prohabition of alcohol. It is much harder to run an organized crime ring when there is no black market to fund them. You would think after 40 years and trillions spent the fact that a middle schooler can score an 8ball of coke far easier than a pack of smokes would change the minds of the retards who persist in the delusion that the war on drugs is even slightly effective.

Then you just have high drivers on the road with the drunks. Secure the border.
 
Regardless if you’re a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or Tea-Party member, you should call or write both your Senators and all your Representatives. Demand that they join the 31 House Democrats who urged President Obama to order the executive branch to cooperate with the House Oversight committee investigation. Demand that they support and back the investigation and insist that those responsible are identified and prosecuted. Let them know that this is not a time to play partisan politics if they want to have a country to live in. IT IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT to contact Rep. Darrell Issa’s office to let him know that We The People support his courageous pursuit of the truth of this scandal. Duncan Hunter’s office should likewise hear from you with demands for his clear and unambiguous public support for Issa’s investigation.
 
Regardless if you’re a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or Tea-Party member, you should call or write both your Senators and all your Representatives. Demand that they join the 31 House Democrats who urged President Obama to order the executive branch to cooperate with the House Oversight committee investigation. Demand that they support and back the investigation and insist that those responsible are identified and prosecuted. Let them know that this is not a time to play partisan politics if they want to have a country to live in. IT IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT to contact Rep. Darrell Issa’s office to let him know that We The People support his courageous pursuit of the truth of this scandal. Duncan Hunter’s office should likewise hear from you with demands for his clear and unambiguous public support for Issa’s investigation.

Claire doesn't want to know one damned thing about it unless I can prove that Bush started it...
 
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