(Stone-Magnon @ Feb. 01 2011,8:53 pm)

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Who is BAT?

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The death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent north of Nogales, Ariz., on December 14, 2010 might turn out to be the death knell for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF.

Allegations have surfaced suggesting that one of the guns used by Mexican bandits during the firefight in which Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed might have been smuggled into Mexico with the knowing assistance of ATF officials. If these allegations prove to be true, it is quite possible that the long troubled agency could be dismantled. Even if there proves to be no connection with Agent Terry's death, the scrutiny generated by an investigation could crash the agency.

There are actually four separate but connected accusations against ATF officials: First, that they intentionally arranged to have hundreds of firearms "walked" across the U.S. border into Mexico. Second, that they instructed U.S. gun dealers to proceed with questionable and illegal sales of firearms to suspected gunrunners. Third, that they intentionally withheld information about U.S.-sanctioned gun smuggling from the Mexican government. Fourth, that one of the guns ATF allowed or helped to be smuggled into Mexico was involved in the death of Agent Terry.

The accusations first arose on an ATF insider Internet forum called < www.CleanUpATF.org, > where suggestions of these possible misdeeds were characterized as rumors, speculation and "word on the street."

The forum is a gathering place for disgruntled ATF employees frustrated with ATF management and aimed at rooting out waste, fraud, abuse and managerial malfeasance.

After the initial rumors were picked up by Internet blogger Mike Vanderboegh of SipseyStreetIrregulars.blogspot.com and David Codrea of WaronGuns.blogspot.com and Examiner news, more information began trickling out, and Codrea and Vanderboegh began receiving independent and credible corroboration of the rumors.

At this point the two claim that there are government employees prepared to step forward with personal knowledge and documentation to prove some or all of the accusations, but that the whistleblowers fear reprisals and are seeking official protection from someone in Congress before turning over their information. So far members of Congress are running in the opposite direction.

Read more: Did U.S. agency smuggle guns to Mexico to justify its budget? < http://www.wnd.com/index.p...lwSNRtn >

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   United States Attorney A. Brian Albritton, Virginia O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge of central and northern Florida Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) operations, and Susan McCormick, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations, Tampa Field Office announce the initial results of Operation Castaway, an intensive and wideranging Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) firearms trafficking investigation conducted by ATF, ICE, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, and the Miami-Dade Police Department. ATF describes Operation Castaway as the most significant firearms trafficking investigation in Central Florida history.

   According to court documents, a group of defendants connected to Hugh Crumpler, III, were involved in a major international gun trafficking operation. . . . Firearms like those involved in this investigation are often smuggled through Honduras and other Central and South American countries before being used in violent crimes in Mexico and other countries in the region. A number of the firearms trafficked by the defendants in Operation Castaway have been linked to violent crimes around the world.

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Jay Dobyns began receiving death and violence threats in 2004 following his infiltration of the Hells Angels. That violence included verified murder contracts against him, credible threats to locate and torture his then 15-year-old daughter, threats to inject him with the AIDS virus to disguise the means murder, and genuine threats to kidnap his wife and videotape the Hells Angels gang raping her.ATF did nothing.

As a direct result, Jay filed a complaint against ATF for their mismanagement of the threats and settled it in 2007. In that formal settlement, ATF explicitly committed to doing whatever was necessary to prevent these outrageous threats against a badged federal agent and his family from ever occurring again.

Then, in August of 2007, Jay’s home was burned to the ground while his family slept inside. ATF determined that the fire was arson, but did nothing more. Not only did they make no attempt to locate the criminals, but even actively turned their backs on obvious opportunities to do so. Then, they even started a whisper campaign implying that Jay himself was responsible for the fire, even though it was immediately established that he was over 100 miles away conducting official ATF business. There is essentially no limit to how far these uncommon criminals will go to ruin anyone that stands up to their incompetence and corruption.

As a direct result of ATF’s refusal to honor their lawful obligations, Jay filed a civil lawsuit against ATF for breach of the 2007 settlement agreement. The Department of Justice, headed by Eric Holder and attorney Kent Kiffner, and with the direct co-conspiratorial assistance of ATF’s infamous Attorneys, Eleaner Loos, Rachael Bouman and Valerie Bacon, fought tooth and nail to have Jay’s lawsuit dismissed from Federal court.

Despite ATF’s best efforts to have Jay’s case thrown out, in 2010, United States District Court of Claims Judge, Hon. Francis Allegra, accepted Jay’s lawsuit, citing that clear grounds were displayed in his compliant to prove negligence, breach of contract, retaliation and reprisal by ATF.

Two weeks after acceptance of the Dobyn’s lawsuit, DOJ (again Holder, Kiffner, Loos, Bouman and Bacon) filed a countersuit against Jay, seeking one-half-million dollars in alleged “damages” to the DOJ, based on Jay’s New York Times Best Selling book, “No Angel”.

Here’s the kicker: The DOJ/ATF countersuit was filed three full years after ATF became aware of Jay’s book. Moreover, the completely bogus and frivolous lawsuit deliberately (and illegally) skipped over every relevant DOJ, ATF and OPM policy, law and regulation pertaining to mandatory procedures for the imposition of internal discipline. You see, according to ATF, Dobyns, who was and remains an ATF employee, apparently did something so seriously wrong as to deserve a million-dollar federal lawsuit, using the full weight and power of the United States government. However, these supposedly heinous acts by Jay did not merit even the most trivial form of disciplinary action! Not so much as a verbal admonishment, let alone suspension or termination! Get the picture?

This established a precedent that enabled Jay to expose the story publicly without violating other terms of the settlement agreement whereby ATF specifically authorized him to write “No Angel”. In short, ATF’s countersuit had absolutely zero merit and was filed solely for the purpose of ruining Jay financially. And this utterly illegal and despicable stratagem was wholeheartedly approved and supported by none other than current ATF Acting Director Ken Melson.

This is what lawyers call “malice aforethought” and “malicious prosecution”. It was perpetrated upon Jay with precisely the same motivations that led to their recently proposed termination of Jay’s friend and partner, Vince Cefalu. It was solely designed to “chill” anyone ever from so much as thinking of speaking out against ATF, to retaliate against Jay for his prior whistle-blowing, and in direct and illegal reprisal for his refusing to “sit down, shut up and go away”.

The chain of command during the first series of threats against Jay, during the arson of his home, and during Project “Gunrunner” and Operation “Fast and Furious” – you guessed it – Michael Sullivan, Ronnie Carter, Ken Melson, Billy Hoover, Bill McMahon, Bill Newell, George Gillett.

Coincidence? Right.

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Attorney General Roy David Urtecho says that street gangs in his country are seeking to establish direct business contacts with Colombian and Mexican cartels and they have also tried to take over all drug smuggling operations in the Central American nation of Honduras.

The gangs known as MS-13 and M-18, have recruited over 70,00 youths who have traditionally been the lookouts and sicarios for the capos, but they are now making an effort to take formal control of the drug trade within their own country.

Commenting at an international forum on law enforcement, Urtecho says that the Sinaloa cartel is one of the main groups that maintain a heavy presence in the area, and states that his country is an imprtant gateway for Colombian drugs to enter Mexico and the United States. He went further to say that Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán has stayed in Honduras at various times and continues to do so to this very day.

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Honduran officials report that Mexican drug traffickers are expanding their activities in the country and forming links with local bosses in four different provinces, fuelling concerns that organized crime is overwhelming the region.

According to Prensa Latina, Security Minister Oscar Alvarez said that the Sinaloa Cartel and the Zetas have been detected in Ocotepeque, Copan, Colon and Atlantida. The four northern states form much of the Atlantic coastline in Honduras, as well as a large chunk of the border with Guatemala. The Mexicans, Alvarez said, move freely throughout these regions, but rather than seeking to take over areas, the foreign gangs are working through already existing networks of local bosses to increase their presence and expand their operations.

This comes weeks after the discovery of a cocaine-processing lab, which are typically found in the Andean producer nations. This is the first such finding in Central America, and suggests a threat that is mutating. Currently, an estimated 400 tons of cocaine pass through the region on an annual basis, but Central America has not historically been a cocaine-processing region. Alvarez says that the goal for Honduras is to prevent Mexican gangs from laying down enduring roots in the country.

Authorities say that the Honduran cocaine lab was operated by the Sinaloa cartel. Arms stores belonging to the same group have also been captured in Honduras. The shift of cocaine processing from the Colombia, Peru and other Andean nations to Central America could fundamentally shift the economics of the cocaine supply chain. Rather than the South Americans controlling two vital steps in the process—i.e. the collection of the coca base and its processing in laboratories to produce crystallized cocaine—the Colombians would be left just supplying the base. This, in turn, would allow the Mexicans to derive significantly more profit, because instead of buying kilos of cocaine for up to $3,000, they can pay just $1,000 for the base and process it themselves, before selling it in U.S. for up to thirty times that amount.·

Furthermore, this would shorten the distance that the cocaine needs to travel, which would both lower the transportation costs and decrease the chance of seizure. As a major center of operations, Central America is all the more appealing because the weaker law-enforcement agencies mean that there is less chance that expensive cocaine will be seized, which further reinforces the profitability of a northward shift.·

The threat from organized crime to Central America is arguably more serious than in any other region of the Western Hemisphere. The isthmus has been a vital trafficking route ever since the restriction of the Caribbean route connecting the Colombian jungles to the retail markets in Miami and the rest of the United States. However,·the past decade has brought about a particular significant deterioration of security in Central America, with murder rates in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador among the highest in the world.

The incursion of Mexican drug traffickers has been most widely reported in Guatemala, as the Guatemalan government has struggled to prevent the incursion of the Zetas into states like Alta Verapaz and Peten. (Of course, there have also been reports that, far from combating them, elements of the Guatemalan governments are actually selling arms to groups linked to the Zetas.) Street gangs in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador like MS-13 and M-18 have also forged stronger links with the Mexican gangs.

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   As Mexican cartels infiltrate Central America, corrupt elements within the region’s militaries from places like Honduras are providing them with arms far superior to those of local police. But the question remains: Just how many of the weapons used by Mexican cartels come from military stockpiles in Central America versus civilian gun stores in the United States?

   The question is central. The source of the guns fueling a war that has left over 36,000 dead in Mexico since December 2006, has governments and advocate groups on both sides of the border pointing fingers. Mexico is reportedly considering suing U.S. gunmakers, reports CBS News.

   But gun stores along the U.S. border states are only one source of weaponry used in Mexico. As InSight has reported, Guatemala's military stockpiles have been filtered illegally to the Zetas criminal gang. On top of this, according to a 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable first obtained by WikiLeaks and recently released by McClatchy, the Honduran military has “lost” several U.S.-supplied military weapons in recent years.

   The cable, avaliable below, cites a Defense Intelligence Agency report entitled “Honduras: Military Weapons Fuel Black Arms Market,” which noted that the serial numbers on light anti-tank weapons recovered in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and San Andres Island, Colombia, matched the numbers on guns that had previously been sold to Honduras. In addition to the guns, U.S. authorities seized a number of M433 grenades from criminal groups in Mexico, which were also traced back to the Honduran army.

   Such revelations, when paired with recent allegations of high-level government links to drug trafficking in Honduras, present a dim forecast for anti-arms trafficking efforts in Central America. They also add fuel to an already heated debate over the cartels' main source of arms. While testifying to the U.S. Senate on March 30, General Douglas Fraser, the head of the U.S. Southern Command, implied that corrupt military officers in Central America bear most of the responsibility for arming Mexican drug traffickers.

   "Over 50 percent of the military-type weapons that are flowing throughout the region have a large source between Central American stockpiles, if you will, left over from wars and conflicts in the past," said Fraser.

   Since then, major media outlets like the AFP and McClatchy have picked up the comment, casting it as proof that Central American military arms are fueling Mexico’s drug violence.

   But while General Fraser’s comment that over 50 percent of “military-type” weapons come from Central America may be true, it is misleading. The weapons coming from Central America only account for military-grade arms, which include anti-tank weapons as well as M-16 and G36 assault rifles.

   The civilian versions of these weapons, such as the AR-15 and the AK-47 variants, account for many more of the seizures made in Mexico, according to several United States Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) sources consulted by InSight. Indeed, ATF agents have repeatedly told InSight that the most commonly carried weapons by cartel foot soldiers are modified, automatic AK-47 variants from Romania and China. These cheaper versions are readily available in many American gun stores and bought, legally, by straw buyers at the behest of middlemen who sell them, illegally, en masse to the cartels in Mexico.

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FAIRFAX, Va. --(Ammoland.com)- As we pass the six-month anniversary of the tragic Tucson shooting, multiple press reports indicate the Obama administration is planning to unveil new, but unspecified, gun control initiatives.

   At a Thursday briefing, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, “As you know, the President directed the Attorney General to form working groups with key stakeholders to identify common-sense measures that would improve Americans’ safety and security while fully respecting Second Amendment rights. That process is well underway at the Department of Justice with stakeholders on all sides working through these complex issues. And we expect to have some more specific announcements in the near future.”

Carney provided no further details on the initiatives, but he isn’t the only one saying something is in the works.

   According to a related article on NPR.org, U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) said, “I have spoken to the president. He is with me on [gun control], and it’s just going to be when that opportunity comes forward that we’re going to be able to go forward.” And longtime anti-gun activist Sarah Brady has said that in March, the president told her “I just want you to know that we are working on [gun control] … We have to go through a few processes, but under the radar.”

Rest assured we’ll report any significant developments in the weeks ahead.

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   STATEMENT OF DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL JAMES COLE REGARDING INFORMATION REQUESTS FOR MULTIPLE SALES OF SEMI-AUTOMATIC RIFLES WITH DETACHABLE MAGAZINES

   WASHINGTON - Deputy Attorney General James Cole issued the following statement today regarding information requests for multiple sales of semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines in select states along the Southwest Border:

   "The international expansion and increased violence of transnational criminal networks pose a significant threat to the United States.  Federal, state and foreign law enforcement agencies have determined that certain types of semi-automatic rifles - greater than .22 caliber and with the ability to accept a detachable magazine - are highly sought after by dangerous drug trafficking organizations and frequently recovered at violent crime scenes near the Southwest Border.  This new reporting measure -- tailored to focus only on multiple sales of these types of rifles to the same person within a five-day period -- will improve the ability of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to detect and disrupt the illegal weapons trafficking networks responsible for diverting firearms from lawful commerce to criminals and criminal organizations.  These targeted information requests will occur in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas to help confront the problem of illegal gun trafficking into Mexico and along the Southwest Border."

   SOME BACKGROUND FROM DOJ:

   To address the problem of illegal gun trafficking into Mexico, ATF will send an information request to Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) in the four Southwest Border states:  Texas, California, Arizona, and New Mexico. The point of this request is to provide a targeted approach to address the problem of illegal gun trafficking through sales to "straw purchasers," people who claim to be the true buyers of firearms but in reality are purchasing firearms on behalf of others.

   

   ATF will tailor the information request to address the specific threat.  It applies only to firearms dealers in the four border states, and its prospective reporting requirements apply only if a firearms dealer sells within five business days to a single individual two or more long guns having all of the following characteristics:

   

   o          Semi-automatic action;

   o          A caliber greater than .22, including .223 caliber firearms; and

   o          The ability to accept a detachable magazine.

   

   The issuance of ATF's information request follows two periods of public notice and comment, as required by law.  On December 17, 2010, ATF published a notice in the Federal Register requesting public comments on the information request for 60 days.  After reviewing the comments submitted in response to this notice, ATF published a second notice in the Federal Register on April 29, 2011, requesting public comments for 30 days.  OMB reviewed the last set of public comments before approving the information collection request.  

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“This political maneuver seems designed to protect the careers of political appointees at the Justice Department and not public safety.  It’s disconcerting that Justice Department officials who may have known about or tried to cover-up gunwalking in Operation Fast and Furious are continuing attempts to distract attention from clear wrongdoing.  In Operation Fast and Furious, gun dealers didn’t need this regulation as they voluntarily provided ATF agents with information about suspected straw purchasers.  In return for this voluntary cooperation, the Justice Department betrayed them by offering false assurances that they would closely monitor sales of weapons that dealers otherwise did not want to make.”

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“We’ve learned from our investigation of Fast and Furious that reporting multiple long gun sales would do nothing to stop the flow of firearms to known straw purchasers because many Federal Firearms Dealers are already voluntarily reporting suspicious transactions.  In fact, in just the documents we’ve obtained, we are aware of 150 multiple long guns sales associated with the ATF’s Fast and Furious case, and despite the fact that nearly all of these sales were reported in real time by cooperating gun dealers, the ATF watched the guns be transported from known straw purchasers to third parties and then let the guns walk away, often across the border.  This makes it pretty clear that the problem isn’t lack of burdensome reporting requirements.  The administration’s continued overreach with regulations continues, and is a distraction from its reckless policy to allow guns to walk into Mexico.”

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   Now, the very critics who have tied the bureau’s hands are expressing outrage over a novel, and we would agree questionable, ATF operation intended to curb gun smuggling into Mexico…

   Those who would clobber the bureau for possible mistakes should look in the mirror and accept some responsibility for its failings.

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   "Giving the ATF corruptocrats more power at this point would result in more weapons for the Mexican drug gangs. Talk about rewarding bad behavior.

   "Don't give them more power. Give them and the higher ups at the Justice Department who have approved Fast &  Furious jail time."—Alan Gottlieb, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

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To help combat firearms trafficking into Mexico, ATF began Project Gunrunner as a pilot project in Laredo, Texas, in 2005 and expanded it as a national initiative in 2006. Project Gunrunner is also part of the Department's broader Southwest Border Initiative, which seeks to reduce cross-border drug and firearms trafficking and the high level of violence  associated with these activities on both sides of the border.

   In June 2007, ATF published a strategy document, Southwest Border Initiative:  Project Gunrunner (Gunrunner strategy), outlining four key components to Project Gunrunner: the expansion of gun tracing in Mexico, international coordination, domestic activities, and intelligence. In implementing Project Gunrunner, ATF has focused resources in its four Southwest border field divisions. In addition, ATF has made firearms trafficking to Mexico a top ATF priority nationwide.

[DOJ IG report, Review of ATF's Project Gunrunner, November 2010]
< http://www.justice.gov/oig/reports/ATF/e1101.pdf >

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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.

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We have recently learned that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has afforded potential witnesses for the Committee's investigation into Operation Fast and Furious access to a shared drive on its computer system replete with pertinent investigative documents, including ATF e-mails. Although our staff has been advised the Department has since terminated access to this document cache, we write to seek additional information relating to this egregious decision. We also ask that you promptly self-report this matter to the Office of Inspector General (OIG).

As we understand it, the shared drive contains the documents that have been produced to the Committees through the course of our investigation, those made available for in camera review and possibly documents that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has not yet provided to the Committee. These witnesses had not previously seen many of these documents.

Allowing witnesses access to such documents could taint their testimony by allowing them to tailor their responses to what they think the Committees already know. Additionally, witnesses who gain access to documents they have not previously seen could alter their recollection of events. This practice harms not only our investigation, but also the independent investigation that you instructed the Inspector General to conduct.

One witness who had access to these documents informed us of this questionable practice:

   Q: What other documents have you gone through other than your emails?

   A. A couple of the things that have been produced. They put a link on our computer, some kind of drive that I can click on and read things that have been produced. So I do that every once in a while, but not normally.

   Q: And what is the purpose of that, to your knowledge?

   A. Just to refresh my recollection about what is out there, you know.

   Q: So you have a link on your computer so that you know what we have been provided by Justice?

   A. Yes. There is a link in our computer for Gunrunner, Fast and Furious produced to Congress, and there is updates every once in a while of those documents that are being produced.

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    Former Deputy Attorney General David Ogden

    Former Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler

    Deputy Attorney General James Cole

    Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer

    Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco

    Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein

    Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Keeney

    Associate Deputy Attorney General Matt Axelrod

    Former Associate Deputy Attorney General Ed Siskel

    Brad Smith, office of the Deputy Attorney General

    Kevin Carwile, section chief, Capital Case Unit

    Joseph Cooley, Criminal Fraud Section

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   You will note the question mark in the header of the first story after "Part of Operation Castaway?"

   Here is the exact wording:

   "Whether the allegations of our source refer to the on-going Operation Castaway remains at this hour unclear, but our source is certain that O'Brien has allowed the 'walking' of straw-purchased firearms to Honduras using the same failed strategy as the Phoenix Field Division's Operation Fast and Furious. That Operation Castaway involved arms smuggling to Honduras is also certain."

   This is careful language for a reason. We asked the question because although other sources suggested it might be related to Operation Castaway we could not confirm it. We went with what our central source (who was closest to the source of the story than anyone else) said, which was that although he was certain of gunwalking to Honduras he was not certain it was a part of the Castaway operation.

   Our second story, my analysis piece on "Why Honduras?" and my letter to Melson included nothing about Castaway.

   Elsewhere on the Internet and in the mainstream media, others made the connection to Castaway, which may have been related to a combination of this language in the DOJ press release on Castaway, "Operation Castaway remains an ongoing investigation…

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Eric Holder Feigns Ignorance of Operation ‘Fast and Furious’ Now, But He Bragged of Overseeing Its Implementation in 2009

News about Operation “Fast and Furious” is now ubiquitous. Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson’s Fourth of July testimony to Senator Charles Grassley and Representative Darrell Issa blew the cover off what appears to be one of the biggest political cover-ups in the last 50 years.

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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. [Holder speech, 4/2/2009, via Justice.gov]

< http://www.justice.gov/ag/speeches/2009/ag-speech-090402.html >

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gun runner = Op Fast and Furious.

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Do you believe Obama was born in America?
Do you believe we landed on the moon?
Do you believe that the twin towers were taken down with explosives?

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Islamic terrorist groups are setting up shop in Mexico and forming alarming ties with the country's brutal drug cartels, according to a 2010 internal memo from the Tucson Police Department.

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In July of this year, Mexican authorities arrested Jameel Nasr in Tijuana, Baja California. Nasr was alleged to be tasked with establishing the Hezbollah network in Mexico and throughout South America. In April of last year, the arrest of Jamal Yousef – in New York City - exposed a weapons cache of 100 M- 16 assault rifles, 100 AR-15 rifles, 2,500 hand grenades, C4 explosives and antitank munitions. According to Yousef, the weapons, which were being stored in Mexico, had been stolen from Iraq with the help of his cousin who was a member of Hezbollah.

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   ...last week, ATF, along with ICE, announced that 11 people in the small border town of Columbus, N.M., including the mayor and police chief, had been indicted on gun-trafficking charges.

   From the ATF’s PR announcement on the indictment in Columbus:

   The indictment alleges that, between January 2010 and March 2011, the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to purchase firearms for illegal export to Mexico. During this 14-month period, the defendants allegedly purchased about 200 firearms from "Chaparral Guns," a store owned and operated by defendant Ian Garland.

   But in the case of both of these “good stories,” the facts not included in the PR spin raise some serious questions as to what is really going on behind the curtains of the drug war.

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   Congressional investigators probing the controversial “Fast and Furious” anti-gun-trafficking operation on the border with Mexico believe at least six Mexican drug cartel figures involved in gun smuggling also were paid FBI informants, officials said Saturday.

   The investigators have asked the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration for details about the alleged informants, as well as why agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which ran the Fast and Furious operation, were not told about them.

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Why don't you head over to cleanupatf.org and find out yourself, you have a computer, log on and read it.  It is there, but you refuse to read.  Instead you like to sit in your little rose colored world and deny that a govt agency would do such a thing, denial just isn't a river in Egypt you know.

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   “They’ve found anti-aircraft weapons and hand grenades from the Vietnam War era,” Plumlee said. Other weapons found include grenade launchers, assault rifles, handguns and military gear including night-vision goggles and body armor.

   “The information about the arms trafficking was provided to our U.S. authorities long before the ‘Columbus 11′ investigation began,” said Plumlee, referring to recent indictments accusing several Columbus city officials of arms trafficking in conjunction with alleged accomplices in El Paso and Chaparral, N.M.

   Jesús Rejón Aguilar, the number three man in the Zeta’s hierarchy, disclosed last week that the Zetas bought weapons in the United States and transported them across the Rio Grande. Mexican federal authorities captured Rejón on July 3 in the state of Mexico, and presented him to the news media the next day. His recorded video statement was uploaded on YouTube.

   Jordan agreed with Plumlee’s allegations that the Zetas are operating in the Columbus-Palomas border.

   Plumlee, who has testified before U.S. congressional committees about arms and drug trafficking, said the roads in Southern New Mexico provide smugglers easy access to Mexico’s highway networks.

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   The program is set up so that the sale of U.S. guns to foreign entities involve direct negotiations with the governments of those countries purchasing the weapons. The description of the program specifically states that it regulates the sale of U.S. firearms to other countries or international organizations.

   How, then, did a drug cartel purchase weapons through this program when it is neither an international organization nor a government?

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   The ATF was not the only ones running guns to Mexico. Apparently the State Department was playing, too. And then consider this angle — was the State Department competing with the ATF for the hearts and minds of the Mexican drug trade?

   …

   If the ATF is supplying the Sinaloas (with Calderón’s tacit approval and/or help) and State is playing for the Zetas, where does that leave the rest of America?

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The President, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of State are considered to be statutory attendees of NSC meetings, but they are also regularly joined by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Director of National Intelligence, the National Security Advisor, and other executive officials. The NSC conducts its meetings in the White House Situation Room, and the National Security Advisor’s presence in the West Wing provides the President with direct access to research, briefings, and intelligence related to all aspects of national security. During times of crisis, the National Security Advisor is also responsible for operating out of the Situation Room in order to provide the President and other members of the NSC with regular updates pertaining to the situation at hand.

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"It's embarrassing to this country and me," said LaPaz County Sheriff Don Lowery. "I've spent fifty years in uniform, and it's embarrassing for me to stand before you and apologize for people that we elect."

Lowery, a Democrat, said when it comes to this case, he is not a politician and believes people should be held accountable for the case, no matter what their party affiliation is.

"If this guy (Holder) done something wrong," Lowery said, "He needs to be terminated, if he did. It needs to be investigated first."

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Holder says that his testimony to Congress, stating he first heard of Fast and Furious earlier this year, “was truthful and accurate… I have no recollection of knowing about Fast and Furious prior to the public controversy about it.”

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Holder maintains he didn’t know about the controversial gunwalking tactics used in the case.

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The Attorney General says that while he was sent received memos on Fast and Furious, they are “actually provided to and reviewed by members of my staff and the staff of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General.”

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   As CBS News has reported, the Deputy Attorney General during Fast and Furious, Gary Grindler is now Holder’s Chief of Staff. Documents provided to Congress indicate Grindler received a detailed briefing on Fast and Furious in March of 2010 and made handwritten notes on briefing materials.

   However, in the letter, Holder says Grindler “was not told of the unacceptable tactics employed in the operation in his regular monthly meetings with ATF…”

   “I now understand some senior officials within the Department were aware at the time there was an operation called Fast and Furious although they were not advised of the unacceptable operational tactics being used in it,” says Holder’s letter.

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In his letter, Holder also criticized the House Committee investigating Fast and Furious, saying he cannot sit idly by “as law enforcement and government employees who devote their lives to protecting our citizens be considered ‘accessories to murder’.”

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It wasn’t an ATF operation. They were part of that. It was a joint operation in which DEA knew more than ATF.

QUOTE

Why are they denying knowing about something that they were briefed on? … Exactly when, the American people want to know, how did it happen?

QUOTE

This is about Justice Department knowing, and this is where the American people have a right to know more, knowing that these guns were deliberately intended to end up in the hands of the drug cartels without any kind of traceability, except if you find a gun in the scene of the crime. That is the reason that it is felony and stupid — and I use the word “felony” deliberately — program.

QUOTE

I think Holder should be held accountable, he is after all the head of the DOJ and knew what was going on.

(Liberal @ Oct. 14 2011,12:42 pm)

QUOTE

Obviously the shrub must have been working on gun control too, considering the program was originally a Bush program.
Maybe you'd like to see them sharing a cell with Bush and Gonzales?

Bigger than Watergate?

QUOTE

   House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) made headlines this week byissuing a subpoena for documents from Attorney General Eric Holderabout a botched weapons investigation, but Holder is apparently not Issa’s only target.

   A little-noticed provision of the subpoena targets the White House, specifically naming Eric Schultz, a communications aide who was hired in May to respond to media inquiries on oversight matters. …

   The subpoena also requires Holder to produce “all communications between and among Department of Justice (DOJ) employees and Executive Office of the President employees, including but not limited to Associate Communications Director Eric Schultz, referring or relating to Operation Fast and Furious or any other firearms trafficking cases.”

QUOTE

   “The question is whether the White House has been instructing the Justice Department on what [documents] to release,” the source said.

   The source added that recent allegations by a CBS reporter that Schultz yelled at her over her coverage of Fast and Furious in part prompted Issa’s questions on the matter, but the source maintained that the inquiry is unrelated to Schultz’s communications with reporters.

QUOTE

   Laura: So they were literally screaming at you?

   Attkisson: Yes. Well the DOJ woman was just yelling at me. The guy from the White House on Friday night literally screamed at me and cussed at me.

   Laura: Who was the person? Who was the person at Justice screaming?

   Attkisson: Eric Schultz. Oh, the person screaming was [DOJ spokeswoman] Tracy Schmaler, she was yelling not screaming. And the person who screamed at me was Eric Schultz at the White House.” …

   And I’m certainly not the one to make the case for DOJ and White House about what I’m doing wrong. They will tell you that I’m the only reporter–as they told me–that is not reasonable. They say the Washington Post is reasonable, the LA Times is reasonable, the New York Times is reasonable, I’m the only one who thinks this is a story, and they think I’m unfair and biased by pursuing it.

QUOTE

Bigger than Watergate?  That's a no-brainer.  The scope of this fiasco is far greater.

QUOTE

How many federal departments were involved in either the operation or subsequent coverup of Watergate?

QUOTE

How many people were directly affected negatively by Watergate?

QUOTE

How much illegal contraband was smuggled across the border to supply illegal drugs to Americans because of Watergate?

QUOTE

How many people were murdered from Watergate?

QUOTE

How many people were killed because of Watergate years after the break-in? (assuming these guns will kill for years to come.)

QUOTE

How many innocent people were dragged or accused of wrong-doing with Watergate?

QUOTE

How was Watergate a direct attempt to undermine the Constitution and attempt to hamper your constitutional rights?

QUOTE

Bigger than Watergate?     Yep, it is.

(Liberal @ Oct. 14 2011,12:42 pm)

QUOTE

Obviously the shrub must have been working on gun control too, considering the program was originally a Bush program.
Maybe you'd like to see them sharing a cell with Bush and Gonzales?

Bigger than Watergate?

QUOTE

Still stuck on stupid, eh Lib.  Still insist that this is a conspiracy theory?  Hmmm, guess those subpoenas were fake as well.

QUOTE

There is so far 18 pages of this, how about you prove it didn't happen.

QUOTE

QUOTE

We watched and listened as you and your Democrat sycophants

QUOTE

“The documents dumped today by the Justice Department prove that this administration knew that guns were walked in Operation Wide Receiver, yet did nothing about it even as it was happening again in Fast and Furious.  I’ve said all along that walking guns is wrong, period.  I don’t care who did it.  We know that Lanny Breuer knew about guns being walked in Operation Wide Receiver, which is why he needs to do the right thing, hold himself accountable and resign.”—Sen. Charles Grassley

QUOTE

   Been thinking more about "Wide Receiver I." ATF HO should/will be embarrassed that they let this many  guns walk Im stunned based on what weve had to do to make sure not even single operable weapon walked in UC operations Ive  been involved in planning and there will be press about that In addition this diary that casts aspersions on one of the  agents is challenge for the case but also something that is likely to embarrass ATF publicly For those reasons think  we need to make sure we go over these issues with our front office and with Billy Hoover before we charge the case Of  course we should still go forward but we owe it to ATF HQ to preview these issues before anything gets filed.

   Im not suggesting we need to send the memo further up the chain it would take you or me really long time to convert what Laura wrote into something we could send to Lanny but we should schedule time to brief Lanny and Mythili on the case next week end of the week bc he testifies on Wed and is jammed up before then and then to brief Billy after that.

QUOTE

Went fine. You know how he is. Wants us to meet with Ken and Billy at some point so they know the bad stuff that could come out. I’m going to come in late tomorrow – probably near noon – work from home in the am and then work til around 6.

QUOTE

As you’ll recall from Jim’s briefing, ATF let a bunch of guns walk in effort to get upstream conspirators but only got straws, and didn’t recover many guns. Some were recovered in MX after being used in crimes. Billy, Jim, Laura, Alisa and I all think the best way to announce the case without highlighting the negative part of the story and risking embarrassing ATF is as part of Deliverance.

QUOTE

The chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona has cited his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination in refusing on Friday to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in its ongoing investigation into the failed “Fast and Furious” gunrunning operation.

Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican and committee chairman, said the prosecutor, Patrick J. Cunningham, had been subpoenaed by the committee to testify on Tuesday but his attorney notified the panel that Mr. Cunningham intended to exercise his right not to incriminate himself at his scheduled deposition.

“The assertion of the Fifth Amendment by a senior Justice official is a significant indictment of the department’s integrity in Operation Fast and Furious,” Mr. Issa said. “The former head of the [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] has previously told the committee that the Justice Department is managing its response to Operation Fast and Furious in a manner designed to protect its political appointees.

“This is the first time anyone has asserted their Fifth Amendment right in this investigation and heightens concerns that the Justice Department’s motivation for refusing to hand over subpoenaed materials is a desire to shield responsible officials from criminal charges and other embarrassment,” he said.

Mr. Issa described Mr. Cunningham’s response to the subpoena as “extremely rare,” adding that “even more alarming” was how broad Mr. Cunningham had intended to rely on the Fifth Amendment. He said the prosecutor’s lawyer, Tobin J. Romero, informed the committee that the only information Mr. Cunningham would provide was his name and title at the Justice Department.

“Coming a year after revelations about reckless conduct in Operation Fast and Furious were first brought to light, the assertion of the Fifth Amendment also raises questions about whether President Obama and Attorney General [Eric H.] Holder have made a serious and adequate response to allegations raised by whistleblowers,” Mr. Issa said.

“Did Attorney General Holder really not know a senior Justice Department official fears criminal prosecution or is this just another example of him hiding important facts?” he said. “The committee will continue to demand answers.”

In a letter to the committee, Mr. Romero wrote: “As a professional courtesy, and to avoid needless preparation by the committee and its staff for a deposition next week, I am writing to advise you that my client is going to assert his constitutional privilege not to be compelled to be a witness against himself. The Supreme Court has held that ‘one of the basic functions of the privilege is to protect innocent.’

“My client is, in fact, innocent, but he has been ensnared by the unfortunate circumstances in which he now stands between two branches of government. I will therefore be instructing him to assert his constitutional privilege,” Mr. Romero wrote.

Mr. Issa said the “only legally valid reason” for asserting the Fifth Amendment was fear that testimony could aid one’s own criminal prosecution. He said in his response to the committee, Mr. Cunningham’s attorney rejected assertions made by other senior Justice Department officials in Washington that his client held key responsibility for reckless tactics in Fast and Furious and false information provided to Congress.

Mr. Cunningham, who will leave his post on Jan. 27 for a private sector job, has been chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix for the past two years. A former assistant U.S. attorney in the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force in Arizona, Mr. Cunningham supervises federal criminal prosecutions, victim and witness services and asset forfeitures in Phoenix, northern Arizona and the Yuma section of the Arizona-Mexico border.

He had refused on several occasions to testify voluntarily before the committee about his role in the Fast and Furious operation. The committee was seeking information on what he knew about the operation and whether he approved any of the tactics used in it.

QUOTE

Mr. Obama and Mr. Holder have denied any responsibility for the botched Fast and Furious operation.

< full story >

QUOTE

"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous, crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war, or public danger; nor shall any person be subject, for the same offence, to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

QUOTE

You cannot be forced to testify at your own criminal trial, and the prosecution is not allowed to tell the jury that your lack of testimony implies anything about your guilt though, of course, the jury members may well come to that conclusion on their own. Also, if you are compelled to testify at somebody else's trial, you don't have to answer questions that might incriminate you in (the)wrongdoing (the famous, "I plead the fifth" statement).

QUOTE

taking the Fifth n. the refusal to testify on the ground that the testimony might tend to incriminate the witness in a crime, based on the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution which provides that "No person...shall be compelled to be a witness against himself," applied to state courts by the 14th Amendment. The term became famous during televised Senate committee hearings on organized crime in 1951, when a series of crime bosses "took the Fifth." (See: self-incriminantion)

QUOTE

The privilege does not extend to the incrimination of third-parties. Nor does it extend to witnesses who have been granted immunity from prosecution, whether transactional or limited. Further, the privilege is limited to natural persons and does not extend to corporations.

QUOTE

Mr. Cunningham, we have been told, will refuse to answer any questions beyond his name and position.  This is extraordinary in that the only valid reason to assert Fifth Amendment rights is fear of criminal prosecution.

QUOTE

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger

QUOTE

Why is it when someone in Congress wants information or proof positive like a birth certificate, college admission records or testimony, someone in the Obama administration either digs in their heels, drags their feet or plain refuses to provide information.

QUOTE

So when the Oversight Committee asks him if he gave false or misleading information to them, he states "I plead the Fifth Amendment, but if I was to answer the question truthfully, I was told to do it by...

Three choices; the fifth, the truth and incrimination.

QUOTE

Obviously, that clown Issa suspects criminal culpability on someone's part.

QUOTE

This isn't even a trial.  This is  an inquiry to testify to the Judiciary Committee.

QUOTE

Wow, you actually seem to understand the Fifth amendment now. Did you do some reading, or did Rush Limbaugh explain it to his listeners?

QUOTE

Attorney General Eric Holder’s Department of Justice dumped documents related to Operation Fast and Furious on congressional officials late Friday night. Central to this document dump is a series of emails showing Holder was informed of slain Border Patrol agent Brian Terry’s murder on the day it happened – December 15, 2010.
< late night White House document dump >

QUOTE

Oh yeah, that clown Issa has the whole Obama administration running scared now.

QUOTE

Burke forwarded those two emails to Holder’s then-deputy chief of staff Monty Wilkinson later that morning, adding that the incident was “not good” because it happened “18 miles w/in” the border.

Wilkinson responded to Burke shortly thereafter and said the incident was “tragic.” “I’ve alerted the AG [Holder], the Acting DAG, Lisa, etc.”

QUOTE

Legal U.S. Gun Sales Arm Mexican Cartels

By Stephanie Rabiner, Esq. at FindLaw.com

Thu Mar 15, 2012 11:39pm EDT

Recent focus on the relationship between U.S. guns and Mexican cartels has been limited to the ATF's "Fast and the Furious." That plan had agents selling assault rifles to Mexican gun runners so that they could track high-ranking cartel members.

Though the ATF's actions are a bit questionable, there's actually a completely legal -- and perhaps more harmful -- way the U.S. is arming Mexican cartels. It's called "direct commercial sales" and it's operated by the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC).

So how is taxpayer money paying to arm drug dealers?

Under the direct commercial sales program, foreign governments can submit an application to the DDTC. When approved, they are free to purchase weapons made by private U.S. manufacturers.

In 2009 alone, U.S. manufacturers sold 18,709 guns to the Mexican military, reports CBS News. About 26% of those guns were "diverted" into the wrong hands.

This is because an estimated 150,000 Mexican soldiers have defected and now work for cartels. They take their military-issued guns with them.

Between "Fast and the Furious," the direct commercial sales program, and other channels, a significant number of U.S. guns go to Mexican cartels. Some estimate that 90% of all cartel guns seized by ATF can be traced to the U.S.

"Fast and the Furious" will likely never happen again, and gun trafficking is notoriously difficult to stop. But what can the government do about the direct commercial sales program? Can it prevent legally sold guns from being used by cartels?

The U.S. can't monitor Mexico's military and prevent defections. Thus the only way to curtail the number of U.S. guns used by Mexican cartels is to stop selling guns to Mexico. Either the State Department must choose to stop the sales, or Congress must pass a law prohibiting it. Until then, such sales will continue to occur.

Meanwhile, Mexican authorities have arrested a top figure of the Sinaloa drug cartel who has been linked to "Fast and Furious" weapons. Jose Antonio Torres Marrufo, 33, had been a top lieutenant to Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. He was arrested last month.

< Rueters >

QUOTE

Most Americans don't know this gun running even happened thanks to mainstreet media.

QUOTE

‘As we now see, the ATF sat and watched -- scrawled a note on a $10 bill and called it “tracking”.  As early as Dec. 2009, Acosta was known to law enforcement as someone who had the intent to acquire weapons for the purpose of trafficking them to Mexico. DEA notified ATF in Dec. 2009 with information they had acquired on Acosta and passed that info to the ATF. DEA has told our staff that they believed the information they passed to ATF on Acosta was sufficient for an indictment. Yet the ATF chose to wait and watch.’

QUOTE

S/A MacAllister advised Celis-Acosta that he and his associates would be released until further investigation was conducted and warned Celis-Acosta not to participate in any illegal activity unless under her direction. As of June 16, 2010 Celis-Acosta has not initiated any contact with S/A MacAllister.

QUOTE

‘This May 2010 stop was yet another opportunity to apprehend Acosta, put him in jail, and most importantly, take him out of commission as a trafficker. The ATF case agent with responsibility for Fast and Furious was on the scene and allowed the trafficking network’s ringleader to leave him a free man. This new information, obtained by the Committee late last week, is further evidence that Fast and Furious, from its inception, was a reckless program that permitted guns and criminals to endanger the public.’

QUOTE

Please provide the appropriate senior Justice Department officials to brief the Committees no later than March 26, 2012 as to why Celis-Acosta was not arrested at the time of the above –described border crossing. Additionally, please provide a detailed written explanation of why the Department has (1) failed to produce these documents pursuant to category eight of your October 12, 2011 subpoena, and (2) failed to provide notice that the Department is withholding these documents pursuant to a valid legal privilege.’

QUOTE

In a shocking development in the Operation Fast and Furious investigation, documents show Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents allowed grenade parts to walk in addition to guns.

The emails also show Obama administration officials acknowledging that they may lose track of grenades but would still be able to accomplish their original objective even if the grenades explode.

QUOTE

In the 2009 internal ATF email, Obama administration officials admitted they believed Kingery was “trafficking them into Mexico.”

The 2009 email shows the ATF officials had then become aware of Kingery’s alleged grenade trafficking.

The administration officials then put together a plan: They secretly intercepted Kingery’s grenade parts after he ordered them online, marked them with special paint and gave them back to him. Then, they allowed him to take those grenade parts into Mexico. ATF was going to try to find his weapons factory there — even though the U.S. government and its federal law enforcement agencies have no jurisdiction in Mexico

ATF agents had planned to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials — who, unlike ATF agents who ultimately report to Attorney General Eric Holder, report up the chain to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

QUOTE

The emails show ATF agents were aware they might lose track of Kingery while they allowed him to transport the grenade parts into Mexico. The emails also show ATF agents knew that the grenades could end up exploding and killing innocent people if they proceeded with the plan. That didn’t stop the Obama administration’s ATF from allowing the grenades to walk.

QUOTE

“Even in a post blast, as long as the safety lever is recovered we will be able to identify these tagged grenades,” an official wrote in one email.

In addition to those revelations, new evidence photos have emerged: More than 2,000 rounds of ammunition and scores of grenade parts and fuse assemblies are seen in evidence photos that were just turned over to Congress. According to Attkisson’s report, officials had taken Kingery into custody in 2010 — long before Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was murdered with a Fast and Furious-supplied gun — after having caught him trying to transport that ammunition and those grenade parts and fuse assemblies into Mexico hidden inside the spare tire of the SUV he was travelling in.

Attkisson said that ATF agents questioned Kingery at that point but then “inexplicably released” him.

Internally, some in the ATF objected to these practices. For instance, ATF’s Mexico attaché, Carlos Canino — who has cooperated with congressional investigators and appeared willingly before the House Oversight Committee last summer — said ATF was not supposed to allow weapons, including grenades, to walk.

“We are forbidden from doing that type of activity,” Canino wrote in one email. “If ICE is telling you they can do that, they are full of crap.”

This news comes on the heels of Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich’s decision to resign his post at the Department of Justice soon. The University of Baltimore School of Law hired him as its new dean and he starts in July. Weich was the DOJ official who provided provably false information to Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa when Grassley began investigating Fast and Furious.

On Feb. 4, 2011, Weich wrote to Congress that the idea that “ATF ‘sanctioned’ or otherwise knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to a straw purchaser who then transported them into Mexico … is false.”

“ATF makes every effort to interdict weapons that have been purchased illegally and prevent their transportation to Mexico,” Weich added in that letter.

The DOJ has since retracted Weich’s letter.

Not one government official has been held accountable for Operation Fast and Furious. Scores of lawmakers — 125 House members, three U.S. senators, two governors — and many major political figures, including likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, have demanded Holder’s resignation or firing over Fast and Furious.



Read more: < ]http://dailycaller.com/2012...] >

QUOTE

The emails also show Obama administration officials acknowledging that they may lose track of grenades but would still be able to accomplish their original objective even if the grenades explode.

According to an internal email that was provided to Congress by the Department of Justice and first reported by CBS News’ Sharyl Attkisson — who’s been the media’s most dogged reporter in tracking down facts on Fast and Furious – ATF began watching accused smuggler Jean Baptiste Kingery’s AK-47 purchases in 2004. In the 2009 internal ATF email, Obama administration officials admitted they believed Kingery was “trafficking them into Mexico.”

QUOTE

M E M O R A N D U M
To: Members, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
From: Darrell Issa, Chairman
Date: May 3, 2012
Re: Update on Operation Fast and Furious

Since February 2011, the House Oversight and Government and Government Reform Committee
has been conducting a joint investigation with Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member
Chuck Grassley (R-IA) of reckless conduct in the Justice Department’s Operation Fast and
Furious. The committee has held three hearings, conducted twenty-four transcribed interviews
with fact witnesses, sent the Department of Justice over fifty letters, and issued the Department
of Justice two subpoenas for documents. The Justice Department, however, continues to
withhold documents critical to understanding decision making and responsibility in Operation
Fast and Furious.
This memo explains key events and facts in Operation Fast and Furious that have been
uncovered during the congressional investigation; remaining questions that the Justice
Department refused to cooperate in helping the Committee answer; the ongoing relevance of
these questions; and the extent of the harm created by both Operation Fast and Furious and the
Department’s refusal to fully cooperate. The memo also explains issues for Committee Members
to consider in making a decision about holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of
Congress for his Department’s refusal to provide subpoenaed documents.
Attached to this memo for review and discussion is a draft version of a contempt report that the
Committee may consider at an upcoming business meeting.
< Holder contempt >

QUOTE

Attorney General Eric Holder appeared to frustrate House GOP lawmakers Thursday when questioned about which high-ranking Obama administration officials knew about an ill-conceived tactic in the Justice Department's "Fast and Furious" weapons sting.

In a tense exchange in which Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) asked Holder whether he or anybody else in the Justice Department told the White House about the use of so-called "gunwalking" after it appeared to contribute to the 2010 death of a US Border Patrol agent, Holder replied, "I don't know."

The questioning occurred during a hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee, of which Smith is the chairman.

"When was anyone in the White House informed of the tactics used under 'Operation Fast and Furious?'" Smith asked.

Holder replied, "I don't know."

When Smith questioned Holder if he personally told the White House, Holder said, "There was contact between staff ... I don't myself remember any direct contact."

< time to cook his goose >

QUOTE

Through an anonymous source, Issa has obtained information about the initiative that is under a federal court-ordered seal.

Giving such information out is a federal crime, raising the question of whether the Justice Department will seek to prosecute what Republicans are calling a whistleblower.

Issa has asked the DOJ for the documents — wiretap applications it used in the botched federal gun-tracking Operation Fast and Furious — for months. The California lawmaker has taken preliminary steps to move contempt-of-Congress citations against Holder, but it remains unclear if GOP leaders support that move. This new controversy could help Issa attract more Republican support for a contempt-of-Congress resolution.

If Holder does launch an investigation into where the leak originated, the powerful Republican could paint the move as an attempt by the DOJ to hide the documents’ contents. It would also raise the possibility that DOJ investigators will seek information from Issa, who has been trying to determine who approved the “gun-walking” tactics used in Fast and Furious along the U.S.-Mexico border.

On the other hand, not launching a probe would mean turning a blind eye to a criminal breach and could lead Issa’s source and others to reveal other information sealed by a judge.

< mole may whack holder >

QUOTE

"I don't know" and "I don't remember" were answers Holder gave the House Judiciary Committee today when questioned.  

QUOTE

Contempt of Congress is the act of obstructing the work of the United States Congress or one of its committees. Historically the bribery of a senator or representative was considered contempt of Congress. In modern times, contempt of Congress has generally applied to the refusal to comply with a subpoena issued by a Congressional committee or subcommittee — usually seeking to compel either testimony or the production of documents.
< wiki >

(Glad I Left @ Jun. 11 2012,3:19 pm)

QUOTE

Are you stating this as fact or as a conspiracy theorist?

(Liberal @ Jun. 20 2012,1:38 pm)

QUOTE

I don't have a problem with either operation Wide Receiver, or Fast and Furious.

It's pretty obvious this is not an investigation, it's a partisan witch hunt. If they were really concerned about how the program started they would be asking Alberto "I don't recall" Gonzales questions.

QUOTE

You don't have a problem with either operation?

QUOTE

So you are ok with feds breaking the law, to catch criminals for buying weapons?

QUOTE

The whole FnF was setup to justify so called weapons reporting rules (with out Congressional support mind you) along the Southwest border.

QUOTE

So when the Bush Justice Department started Operation Wide Receiver it was intended to justify weapons reporting rules? Do you realize how stupid that sounds?

QUOTE

So if you are ok with the feds breaking the law, then you should have no problem with I or any other person breaking the law, you should back us up, since you are ok with it.

QUOTE

The feds have to abide by the very laws that you and I have to abide by, otherwise it is entrapment by the feds.

QUOTE

Why do you keep bringing up OP WR?  Stuck in the past?  OP WR, NEVER allowed weapons to cross the border, purchases by known mules by the drug cartels were arrested on the spot, the OP was discontinued due to the fact that the ATF was allowing straw purchases to be made.  No agents were killed during that OP.

QUOTE

The first known ATF "gunwalking" operation to Mexican drug cartels, named Operation Wide Receiver, began in early 2006 and ran into late 2007. Licensed dealer Mike Detty informed the ATF of a suspicious gun purchase that took place in February 2006 in Tucson, Arizona. In March he was hired as a confidential informant working with the ATF's Tucson office, part of their Phoenix, Arizona field division.[23] With the use of surveillance equipment, ATF agents monitored additional sales by Detty to straw purchasers. With assurance from ATF "that Mexican officials would be conducting surveillance or interdictions when guns got to the other side of the border",[24] Detty would sell a total of about 450 guns during the operation.[22] These included AR-15s, semi-automatic AK-pattern rifles, and Colt .38s. The vast majority of the guns were eventually lost as they moved into Mexico.[7][23][25]

< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki..._probes >

QUOTE

Why the need for more UNCONSTITUTIONAL regulations regarding small arms?  There wasn't a need for the regulations until the feds created a chit storm of epic proportions.

QUOTE

"Bill - can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks."

QUOTE

In 2009, the US government instructed Arizona gun sellers illegally to sell arms to suspected criminals. Agents working for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were then ordered not to stop the sales but to allow the arms to “walk” across the border into the arms of Mexican drug-traffickers. According to the Oversight Committee’s report, “The purpose was to wait and watch, in hope that law enforcement could identify other members of a trafficking network and build a large, complex conspiracy case…. [The ATF] initially began using the new gun-walking tactics in one of its investigations to further the Department’s strategy. The case was soon renamed ‘Operation Fast and Furious.”
It’s important to note that the Bush administration oversaw something similar to Fast and Furious. Called Operation Wide Receiver, it used the common tactic of “controlled delivery,” whereby agents would allow an illegal transaction to take place, closely follow the movements of the arms, and then descend on the culprits. But Fast and Furious is different because it was “uncontrolled delivery,” whereby the criminals were essentially allowed to drop off the map. Perhaps more importantly, Wide Receiver was conducted with the cooperation of the Mexican government. Fast and Furious was not.
< My Webpage >

(alcitizens @ Jun. 27 2012,5:26 pm)

QUOTE

Truth about Fast and Furious

A Fortune investigation reveals that the ATF never intentionally allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. How the world came to believe just the opposite is a tale of rivalry, murder, and political bloodlust.

Five law-enforcement agents directly involved in Fast and Furious tell Fortune that the ATF had no such tactic. They insist they never purposefully allowed guns to be illegally trafficked. Just the opposite: They say they seized weapons whenever they could but were hamstrung by prosecutors and weak laws, which stymied them at every turn.

Indeed, a six-month Fortune investigation reveals that the public case alleging that Voth and his colleagues walked guns is replete with distortions, errors, partial truths, and even some outright lies. Fortune reviewed more than 2,000 pages of confidential ATF documents and interviewed 39 people, including seven law-enforcement agents with direct knowledge of the case. Several, including Voth, are speaking out for the first time.

< http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/ >

QUOTE

"A Fortune investigation reveals that the ATF never intentionally allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. How the world came to believe just the opposite is a tale of rivalry, murder, and political bloodlust."

QUOTE

   Customers can legally buy as many weapons as they want in Arizona as long as they're 18 or older and pass a criminal background check. There are no waiting periods and no need for permits, and buyers are allowed to resell the guns. "In Arizona," says Voth, "someone buying three guns is like someone buying a sandwich."
And what is wrong with that, Mr Voth?  Why do you hate Freedom?

   By 2009 the Sinaloa drug cartel had made Phoenix its gun supermarket and recruited young Americans as its designated shoppers or straw purchasers. Voth and his agents began investigating a group of buyers, some not even old enough to buy beer, whose members were plunking down as much as $20,000 in cash to purchase up to 20 semiautomatics at a time, and then delivering the weapons to others.

QUOTE

Quite simply, there's a fundamental misconception at the heart of the Fast and Furious scandal. Nobody disputes that suspected straw purchasers under surveillance by the ATF repeatedly bought guns that eventually fell into criminal hands. Issa and others charge that the ATF intentionally allowed guns to walk as an operational tactic. But five law-enforcement agents directly involved in Fast and Furious tell Fortune that the ATF had no such tactic. They insist they never purposefully allowed guns to be illegally trafficked. Just the opposite: They say they seized weapons whenever they could but were hamstrung by prosecutors and weak laws, which stymied them at every turn.

QUOTE

How Fast and Furious reached the headlines is a strange and unsettling saga, one that reveals a lot about politics and media today. It's a story that starts with a grudge, specifically Dodson's anger at Voth. After the terrible murder of agent Terry, Dodson made complaints that were then amplified, first by right-wing bloggers, then by CBS. Rep. Issa and other politicians then seized those elements to score points against the Obama administration, which, for its part, has capitulated in an apparent effort to avoid a rhetorical battle over gun control in the run-up to the presidential election. (A Justice Department spokesperson denies this and asserts that the department is not drawing conclusions until the inspector general's report is submitted.)

QUOTE

“Fortune’s story is a fantasy made up almost entirely from the accounts of individuals involved in the reckless tactics that took place in Operation Fast and Furious.  It contains factual errors – including the false statement that Chairman Issa has called for Attorney General Holder’s resignation – and multiple distortions.  It also hides critical information from readers – including a report in the Wall Street Journal – indicating that its primary sources may be facing criminal charges.  Congressional staff gave Fortune Magazine numerous examples of false statements made by the story’s primary source and the magazine did not dispute this information.  It did not, however, explain this material to its readers.  The one point of agreement the Committee has with this story is its emphasis on the role Justice Department prosecutors, not just ATF agents, played in guns being transferred to drug cartels in Mexico.  The allegations made in the story have been examined and rejected by congressional Republicans, Democrats, and the Justice Department.”

(Botto 82 @ Jun. 28 2012,1:00 pm)

QUOTE

Yes, as indicated by the fact that the people debating our healthcare options don't have to pay a penny for theirs.

As long as BS like this is allowed to continue, there will be no true representation of the will of the People.

QUOTE

Newly reported facts reveal Issa misstatements about Fast and Furious

June 28, Washington DC – Bombshell reporting in Fortune Magazine and the Washington Post sheds new light on the festering, wormy mess that is Darrell Issa’s Fast and Furious investigation. Fortune reports that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives operation was nothing like Issa has claimed. In fact, Fast and Furious was so different that it is virtually impossible for Chairman Issa to be so utterly misinformed. He appears to be lying.

Let’s catch up…

ATF never bought, held or had “2,000 guns”

Fortune reports that the “2000 guns” often named by Issa as having been a part of the program were actually guns that were purchased ordinarily by suspected straw purchasers who were under investigation. They were not guns purchased by ATF, with ATF funds, or for ATF investigations.

As it turns out, only five guns appear to have been purchased with ATF funds. They were all part of an operation conducted by ATF Agent John Dodson, congressman Issa’s ostensible “whistle-blower.” So it appears that John Dodson described his own operation, but made it sound like everyone was doing it. In reality, his investigation was the only example among seven ATF gunrunning units.

Given where he worked, Dodson too, could not have been honestly mistaken. Though not proven, he appears to have made inaccurate claims about the other 1,995 guns under investigation, which would be perjury if he had made them under oath instead of under federal protections for whistleblowers.

All of Dodson’s bait guns were lost and the investigation closed without an arrest. They – these five guns – were the only bait guns bought or lost by ATF, according to Fortune. (Notably, Dodson’s investigation proposal had been rejected by his immediate supervisor but approved by his supervisor’s supervisor.)


< http://technorati.com/politic...darrell >

QUOTE

Issa Pulls a Cunning Move to Detail Secret ‘Fast and Furious’ Wiretap Applications

The ongoing tug-of-war between Attorney General Eric Holder and Rep. Darrell Issa (R- Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, climaxed on Thursday with a historic vote in which Congress held the attorney general in both civil and criminal contempt over his refusal to provide subpoenaed “Fast and Furious” documents.

And now less than 24-hours following the vote, it is being reported that Issa has seemingly dealt another devastating blow to the Justice Department. Roll Call reports that in a very sly move: the chairman has inserted a May 24 letter he wrote to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), in which he quotes from and explains in detail some of the content found in secret wiretap applications from the failed federal gun-walking operation, into the Congressional Record.

Issa argues the wiretap applications are extremely detailed in identifying some of the tactics employed in Fast and Furious, which Holder and the senior DOJ officials still argue they were completely unaware of even though senior Justice Department officials signed off on the applications.

Holder has repeatedly said the wiretap applications are sealed court documents, which is why Issa has been unable to simply release the documents to the public. Issa himself said he got his copies from a group of “furious whistleblowers.” Holder and the DOJ have refused to comment on the applications, therefore details have remained extremely fuzzy.

< The Blaze >

QUOTE

To assist you in better understanding the facts, I appreciate the opportunity to provide relevant and necessary context for some of the information in this wiretap application. Due to the sensitivity of the document, individual targets and suspects will be referred to with anonymous designations. You will notice, however, that the individuals referred to in the wiretap application are well-known to our investigation. Although senior Department officials authorized this application on March 15, 2010, a mere four months after the investigation began, it contains a breathtaking amount of detail.The detailed information about the operational tactics contained in the applications raises new questions about statements of senior Justice Department officials, including the Attorney General himself. Before the Senate Judiciary Committee on November 8,2011, the Attorney General testified:


At a hearing before our Committee on February 2, 2012, the Attorney General also denied that any information relating to tactics appeared in the wiretap affidavits. He testified:
"I think, first off, there is no indication that Mr. Breuer or my former deputy were aware of the tactics that were employed in this matter until everybody I think became aware of them, which is like January, February of last year. The information — I am not at this point aware that any of those tactics were contained in any of the wiretap applications."
Contrary to the Attorney General’s statements, the enclosed wiretap affidavit contains clear information that agents were willfully allowing known straw buyers to acquire firearms for drug cartels and failing to interdict them - in some cases even allowing them to walk to Mexico. In particular, the affidavit explicitly describes the most controversial tactic of all: abandoning surveillance of known straw purchasers, resulting in the failure to interdict firearms. The Justice Department’s Office of Enforcement Operations reviews the wiretap applications to ensure that they are both legally sufficient and conform to Justice Department policy. Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole has verified this understanding. In a letter he sent to Congress on January 27, 2012, he stated that the Department’s ‘‘lawyers help AUSAs and trial attorneys ensure that their wiretap packages meet statutory requirements and DOJ policies."
When Assistant Attorney General Breuer testified last November about the wiretap approval process, however, he stated:
"[The role of the reviewers and the role of the deputy in reviewing Title Three applications is only one. It is to insure that there is legal sufficiency to make an application to go up on a wire, and legal sufficiency to petition a federal judge somewhere in the United States that we believe it is a credible re-quest. But we cannot — those now 22 lawyers that I have who review this in Washington — and it used to only be seven — can not and should not replace their judgment, nor can they, with the thousands of prosecutors and agents all over the country. Theirs is a legal analysis; is there a sufficient basis to make this request."

QUOTE

In the midst of a fiery floor debate over contempt proceedings for Attorney General Eric Holder, House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) quietly dropped a bombshell letter into the Congressional Record.

The May 24 letter to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), ranking member on the panel, quotes from and describes in detail a secret wiretap application that has become a point of debate in the “Fast and Furious” gun-walking probe.

The wiretap applications are under court seal, and releasing such information to the public would ordinarily be illegal. But Issa appears to be protected by the Speech or Debate Clause in the Constitution, which offers immunity for Congressional speech, especially on a chamber’s floor.

QUOTE

In the midst of a fiery floor debate over contempt proceedings for Attorney General Eric Holder, House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) quietly dropped a bombshell letter into the Congressional Record.

       The May 24 letter to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), ranking member on the panel, quotes from and describes in detail a secret wiretap application that has become a point of debate in the GOP’s “Fast and Furious” gun-walking probe.

       The wiretap applications are under court seal, and releasing such information to the public would ordinarily be illegal. But Issa appears to be protected by the Speech or Debate Clause in the Constitution, which offers immunity for Congressional speech, especially on a chamber’s floor.

       According to the letter, the wiretap applications contained a startling amount of detail about the operation, which would have tipped off anyone who read them closely about what tactics were being used.

       Holder and Cummings have both maintained that the wiretap applications did not contain such details and that the applications were reviewed narrowly for probable cause, not for whether any investigatory tactics contained followed Justice Department policy.

       The wiretap applications were signed by senior DOJ officials in the department’s criminal division, including Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco and another official who is now deceased.

QUOTE

COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM

       Washington, DC, May 24, 2012

       Hon. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Ranking Member, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

       DEAR RANKING MEMBER CUMMINGS:

       Last February, I joined Senator Grassley in investigating Operation Fast and Furious, the reckless and fundamentally flawed program conducted by the Phoenix Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms,and Explosives (ATF). As you know, during Fast and Furious, ATF agents let straw purchasers illegally acquire hundreds of firearms and walk away from Phoenix gun stores. The misguided goal of this operation was to allow the U.S.-based associates of a Mexican drug cartel to acquire firearms so they could be traced back to the associates once the firearms were recovered at crime scenes. On December 15, 2010, two guns from the Fast and Furious operation were the only ones found at the scene of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s murder.

       AN ORGANIZED CRIME DRUG ENFORCEMENT TASK FORCE (0CDETF) WIRETAP CASE

       Operation Fast and Furious got its name when it became an official Department of Justice Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Strike Force case. The OCDETF designation resulted in funding for Fast and Furious from the Justice Department’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. The Strike Force designation meant that it would not be run by ATF, but would instead create a multi-agency task force led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The designation also meant that sophisticated law enforcement techniques such as the use of federal wire intercepts, or wiretaps, would be employed.Federal wiretaps are governed by Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, and are sometimes referred to as ‘‘T–IIIs.’’ The use of federal wire intercepts requires a significant amount of case-related information to be sent to senior Department officials for review and approval. All applications for federal wiretaps are authorized under the authority of the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division. In practice, a top deputy for the Assistant Attorney General has final sign-off authority before the application is submitted to a federal judge for approval. This deputy must ensure that the wiretap application meets statutory requirements and Justice Department policy. The approval process includes a certification that the wiretap is necessary be-cause other investigative techniques have been insufficient. Therefore, making such a judgment requires a review of operational tactics. Since gunwalking was an investigative technique utilized in Fast and Furious, then either top deputies in the Criminal Division knew about the tactics employed as part of their effort to establish legal sufficiency for the application, or they approved the wiretap applications in a manner inconsistent with Department policies.From the beginning, ATF was transparent about its strategy. An internal ATF briefing paper used in preparation for the OCDETF application process explained as much:Currently our strategy is to allow the transfer of firearms to continue to take place, albeit at a much slower pace, in order to further the investigation and allow for the identification of co-conspirators who would continue to operate and illegally traffic firearms to Mexican DTOs which are perpetrating armed violence along the Southwest Border.

       * * * * *

       The ultimate goal is to secure a Federal T–III audio intercept to identify and prosecute all co-conspirators of the DTO. . . . Tracking the illegally-purchased guns after they left the premises of Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) would allow ATF and federal prosecutors to build a bigger case,one aimed at dismantling what was believed to be a complex firearms trafficking network. The task force failed, however, to track the firearms. Instead, according to the testimony of ATF agents, their supervisors ordered them to break off surveillance shortly after the guns left the gun stores or were transferred to unknown third parties. Many of the firearms purchased were next seen at crime scenes on both sides of the border.

       THE FAST AND FURIOUS GUN TRAFFICKING NETWORK WAS NOT COMPLEX

       We now know the gun trafficking ring that Fast and Furious was designed to target was relatively straightforward. It involved approximately 40 straw purchasers; a money-man, Manuel Celis-Acosta (Acosta), and; two figures tied to Mexican cartels. Acosta and the cartel figures were the top criminals targeted by ATF and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.On January 19, 2011, 20 suspects were indicted, including Acosta and 19 of his straw buyers. In all, it is believed that the Fast and Furious network purchased approximately 2,000 firearms. An internal ATF document dated March 29, 2011, shows that of the indicted defendants, only a select few purchased the majority of the firearms, andnearly all of the purchases occurred afterATF knew that these defendants were straw purchasers working with Acosta. These four indicted defendants alone illegally purchased nearly 1,300 firearms: Uriel Patina (720), Sean Steward (290), Josh Moore (141), and Alfredo Celis (134).

       THE GOALS OF OUR INVESTIGATION

       A central aim of our investigation has been to find out why and how such a dangerous plan could have been conceived, approved,and implemented. Who in ATF and the Justice Department knew about the volume of guns being purchased? Who approved of the case at various stages as it unfolded? Underwhose authority did this occur? Who could have — and should have — stopped it? By closely examining this disastrous program, our Committee hopes to prevent similar reckless operations from using dangerous tactics like gunwalking ever again. Our investigation also aims to determine what legislative actions might be necessary to ensure that such a program will not happen again.

       THE DEPARTMENT’S FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE COMMITTEE’S SUBPOENAS

       Our Committee is still entitled to thousands of documents responsive to our subpoenas. These documents will undoubtedly shed more light on the misguided tactics used in Operation Fast and Furious. If the Justice Department changes course and complies with the Committee’s subpoenas, some of these documents will cover the targets of an FBI investigation of the individuals who were the link between the drug cartels and the Fast and Furious firearms trafficking ring. Other documents will chronicle the Department’s response to allegations of whistleblowers following Agent Terry’s death and how it shifted its position from the outright denial that there was any misconduct to the Department’s formal withdrawal of its false statement in December 2011. Most importantly, as you are well aware, we are still waiting for documents relating to the individuals who approved the tactics employed in Fast and Furious. In his recent letter to me, Deputy Attorney General James Cole asserted that such documents‘‘will not answer the question’’ of what senior officials were in fact notified of the unacceptable tactics used in Fast and Furious. This statement is deeply misleading. We are aware of specific documents that lay bare the fact that senior officials in the Department’s Criminal Division who were responsible for approving the applications in support of the Fast and Furious wiretap authorization requests were indeed made aware of these questionable tactics. Cole’s letter goes on to state that ‘‘Department leadership was unaware of the inappropriate tactics used in Fast and Furious until allegations about those tactics were made public in early 2011.’’ That statement is even more misleading and utterly false. The information provided to senior officials in the affidavits accompanying the wiretaps includes copious details of the reckless investigative techniques involved. Senior department leaders were not only aware of these tactics. They approved them.

       WIRETAP APPLICATION OBTAINED BY THE COMMITTEE

       The Committee has obtained a copy of a Fast and Furious wiretap application, dated March 15, 2010. The application includes a memorandum dated March 10, 2010, from Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer to Paul M. O’Brien, Director, Office of Enforcement Operations, authorizing the wiretap application on behalf of the Attorney General. The memorandum from Breuer was marked specifically for the attention of Emory Hurley, the lead federal prosecutor for Operation Fast and Furious. In response to your personal request, I am enclosing a copy of the wiretap application. Please take every precaution to treat it carefully and responsibly. I am hopeful that it will assist you in understanding the information brought to the attention of senior officials in the Criminal Division charged with reviewing the contents of the applications to determine if they were legally sufficient and conformed to Justice Department policy. The information is as vast as it is specific. This wiretap application, signed by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blancounder the authority of his supervisor, Assistant Attorney General Breuer, provides new insight into who knew —or should have known — what and when in Operation Fast and Furious.

       To assist you in better understanding the facts, I appreciate the opportunity to provide relevant and necessary context for some of the information in this wiretap application. Due to the sensitivity of the document, individual targets and suspects will be referred to with anonymous designations. You will notice, however, that the individuals referred to in the wiretap application are well-known to our investigation. Although senior Department officials authorized this application on March 15, 2010, a mere four months after the investigation began, it contains a breathtaking amount of detail.The detailed information about the operational tactics contained in the applications raises new questions about statements of senior Justice Department officials, including the Attorney General himself. Before the Senate Judiciary Committee on November 8,2011, the Attorney General testified:

           "I don’t think the wiretap applications—I’ve not seen—I’ve not seen them. But I don’t know — I don’t have any information that indicates that those wiretap applications had anything in them that talked about the tactics that have made this such a bone of contention and have legitimately raised the concern of members of Congress, as well as those of us in the Justice Department. I—I’d be surprised if the tactics themselves about gun walking were actually contained in those — in those applications. I have not seen them, but I would be surprise[d] [if that] were the case."

       At a hearing before our Committee on February 2, 2012, the Attorney General also denied that any information relating to tactics appeared in the wiretap affidavits. He testified:

           "I think, first off, there is no indication that Mr. Breuer or my former deputy were aware of the tactics that were employed in this matter until everybody I think became aware of them, which is like January, February of last year. The information — I am not at this point aware that any of those tactics were contained in any of the wiretap applications."

       Contrary to the Attorney General’s statements, the enclosed wiretap affidavit contains clear information that agents were willfully allowing known straw buyers to acquire firearms for drug cartels and failing to interdict them - in some cases even allowing them to walk to Mexico. In particular, the affidavit explicitly describes the most controversial tactic of all: abandoning surveillance of known straw purchasers, resulting in the failure to interdict firearms. The Justice Department’s Office of Enforcement Operations reviews the wiretap applications to ensure that they are both legally sufficient and conform to Justice Department policy. Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole has verified this understanding. In a letter he sent to Congress on January 27, 2012, he stated that the Department’s ‘‘lawyers help AUSAs and trial attorneys ensure that their wiretap packages meet statutory requirements and DOJ policies."

       When Assistant Attorney General Breuer testified last November about the wiretap approval process, however, he stated:

           "[The role of the reviewers and the role of the deputy in reviewing Title Three applications is only one. It is to insure that there is legal sufficiency to make an application to go up on a wire, and legal sufficiency to petition a federal judge somewhere in the United States that we believe it is a credible re-quest. But we cannot — those now 22 lawyers that I have who review this in Washington — and it used to only be seven — can not and should not replace their judgment, nor can they, with the thousands of prosecutors and agents all over the country. Theirs is a legal analysis; is there a sufficient basis to make this request."

       Assistant Attorney General Breuer failed to acknowledge that before a wiretap application can be authorized, it must adhere to Justice Department policy. Yet, the operational tactics included in the enclosed wire-tap application — including abandoning surveillance and not interdicting firearms — violate Department policy.

       According to Deputy Attorney General Cole, operations allowing guns to cross the border do indeed violate Department policy. In an e-mail he sent to southwest border U.S. Attorneys on March 9,2011, Deputy Attorney General Cole stated,‘‘I want to reiterate the Department’s policy: We should not design or conduct under-cover operations which include guns crossing the border.’’

       The Committee understands the limitations of the Office of Enforcement Operations function. Nevertheless, when presented with alarming details such as those contained in this application, a sensible lawyer — vested with the important responsibility of recommending to the Assistant Attorney General whether a wiretap should be authorized - must raise the alarm. Senior officials reviewing the application for legal sufficiency and/or whether Justice Department policy was followed, however, failed to identify major problems that these manifold facts suggested.

       MARCH 2010 WIRETAP APPLICATION STATES THE MAIN SUSPECT HAD INTENT TO ACQUIRE FIREARMS FOR THE PURPOSE OF TRANSPORTING THEM TO MEXICO

       According to the wiretap application obtained by the Committee, as early as December 2009, the task force had identified the main suspect in Fast and Furious (Target 1),a figure well-known to our investigation. The affidavit provides transcripts of entire conversations obtained through a prior DEA wire intercept. These conversations demonstrate that key suspects in Operation Fast and Furious were running a firearms trafficking ring. In one conversation that took place on December 11, 2009, Unknown Person1 asks, ‘‘Can you hold them [firearms] for me there for a little while there?’’ Target 1 responds, ‘‘Well it’s that I do not want to have them at home, dude, because there is a lot of ... uh, it’s too much heat at my house.’’ Unknown Person 1 then asked where he could store the firearms and Target 1 responds, ‘‘[m]ake arrangements with that guy [Straw Purchaser X], call him back and make arrangements with him.’’ The affidavit acknowledges that while monitoring the DEA target telephone numbers, law enforcement officers intercepted calls that demonstrated that Target 1 was conspiring to purchase and transport firearms for the purpose of trafficking the firearms from the United States to Mexico.

       MARCH 2010 WIRETAP APPLICATION STATES THAT NEARLY 1,000 FIREARMS HAD ALREADY BEEN PURCHASED, AND THAT MANY WERE RECOVERED IN MEXICO

       The Probable Cause section of the affidavit shows that ATF was aware that from September 2009 to March 15, 2010, Target I acquired at least 852 firearms valued at approximately $500,000 through straw purchasers. As of March 15, 2010, twenty-one straw purchasers had been identified. Between September 23, 2009, and January 27, 2010, 139 firearms purchased by these straw purchasers were recovered — 81 of which were in Mexico. These recoveries occurred one to 49 days after their purchase in Arizona.

       MARCH 2010 WIRETAP APPLICATION DESCRIBES HOW SMUGGLERS WERE BRINGING FIREARMS INTO MEXICO

       The wiretap affidavit details that agents were well aware that large sums of money were being used to purchase a large number of firearms, many of which were flowing across the border. For example, in the span of one month, Straw Purchaser Z bought 241 firearms from just three cooperating FFL,s. Of those, at least 57 guns were recovered shortly thereafter either in the possession of others or at crime scenes on both sides of the border. The wiretap affidavit even shows that ATF agents knew the tactics the smugglers were using to bring the guns into Mexico. According to the affidavit:

           "The potential interceptees conspire with each other and others known to illegally traffic firearms to Mexico. The potential interceptees purchase firearms in Arizona and transport them to Mexico or a location in close proximity of the United States/Mexico border. The potential interceptees deliver the firearms to individual(s) both known and unknown who then transport them into Mexico and/or the potential interceptees transport the firearms across the border and deliver them to customers both known and unknown."

       The fact that ATF knew that Target 1 had acquired 852 firearms and had the present intent to move them to Mexico should have prompted Department officials to act. Department officials should have ensured that the firearms were interdicted immediately and that law enforcement took steps to disrupt any further straw purchasing and trafficking activities by Target 1. Similarly, by way of example, if Criminal Division attorneys were reviewing a wiretap affidavit that showed that human trafficking was taking place for the purpose of forcing humans into slavery, the attorneys should act to make sure such a practice would not continue. Accordingly, Target l’s activities should have provoked an immediate response by the Criminal Division to shut him and his net-work down.

       MARCH 2010 WIRETAP APPLICATION CONTAINS DETAILS OF DROPPED SURVEILLANCE

       The wiretap affidavit also describes firearms purchases by individual straw purchasers. For example, Straw Purchaser Y purchased five AK–47 type firearms on December 10, 2009, and surveillance units observed Straw Purchaser Y travel from the FFL where he made the purchase to Target l’s residence. The next day, surveillance units observed Straw Purchaser Y purchase an additional 21 AK–47 type firearms, and within an hour, arrive at Target l’s home.On December 8, 2009, agents observed Straw Purchaser Z purchase 20 AK–47 type firearms. While Straw Purchaser Z was making this purchase, Z saw a commercial delivery truck arrive at the gun store with a shipment of an additional 20 AK–47 type fire-arms. Straw Purchaser Z then told FFL employees that he wanted to purchase those additional firearms. Later that same day,Straw Purchaser Z returned to the FFL to buy them. After Straw Purchaser Z left the FFL with the firearms, Phoenix police officers conducted a vehicle stop on Straw Purchaser Z’s vehicle and identified two of the passengers as Straw Purchaser Z and Target 1. The officers observed the firearms in the bed of the truck and asked the subjects about the firearms. Straw Purchaser Z told them he had purchased the firearms and they belonged to him. ATF agents continued surveillance until the vehicle arrived at Target l’s residence.

       The very next day, nine of these firearms were recovered during a police stop of a third person in Douglas, Arizona, on the U.S.-Mexico border. Five days later, Straw Purchaser Z bought another 43 firearms from an FFL. On December 24, 2009, Straw Purchaser Z bought even more firearms, purchasing 40 AK–47 type rifles from an FFL. All of these rifles were recovered on January 13, 2010, in El Paso, Texas, near the U.S./Mexico border. Although the individual found in possession of all these guns provided the first name of the purchaser, agents did not arrest the individual or the purchaser.Though the wiretap application states that agents were conducting surveillance of known straw purchasers, none of these weapons were interdicted. No arrests were made.

       MARCH 2010 WIRETAP DETAIL SHOW FAST AND FURIOUS FIREARMS HAD BEEN FOUND AT CRIME SCENES IN MEXICO

       The wiretap affidavit also details the very short ‘‘time-to-crime’’ for many of the firearms purchased during Fast and Furious. For example, on November 6, 2009, November 12,2009, and November 14, 2009, Straw Purchaser Y purchased a total of 25 AK–47 type firearms from an FFL in Arizona. On November 20,2009 — just eight days later — Mexican officials recovered 17 of these firearms in Naco, Sonora, Mexico.

       Another straw purchaser,Straw Purchaser Q, purchased a total of 17 AK–47 type firearms from an FFL on November 3, 2009, November 10, 2009, and November 12, 2009. Then, on December 9, 2009, Mexican officials recovered 11 of these firearms in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, along with approximately 421 kilograms of cocaine, 60 kilograms of methamphetamine, 48 additional firearms, 392 ammunition cartridges,$2 million in U.S. currency, and $800,000 in Mexican currency. Once again, although ATF was aware of these facts, no one was arrested, and ATF failed to even approach the straw purchasers. Upon learning these details through its review of this wiretap affidavit, senior Justice Department officials had a duty to stop this operation. Further, failure to do so was a violation of Justice Department policy.

       STRAW PURCHASERS HAD MEAGER FINANCIAL MEANS

       The affidavit provides details of the straw purchasers’ financial records. As of March 15,2010, just four straw purchasers had spent $373,206 in cash on firearms. Yet, these same straw purchasers had only minimal earnings in Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. Straw Purchaser Q earned $214 per week, while Straw Purchaser Y earned only $188 per week. Straw Purchaser Z earned $9,456.92 during FY 2009, and Straw Purchaser X did not report any income whatsoever.

           Name Money spent on firearms by 3/15/10 FY 2009 income*

           Straw Purchaser Y $128,580 $9,776

           Straw Purchaser Q 64,929 11,128

           Straw Purchaser X 39,663 None reported

           Straw Purchaser Z 140,034 9,456

           Total $373,206

       *Incomes based on weekly incomes detailed in wiretap application.

       These straw purchasers did not have the financial means to spend tens of thousands of dollars each on guns. Yet, ATF allowed them to continue acquiring firearms without approaching them to inquire how they were able to obtain the funds to do so. ATF also failed to alert the FFLs with this information so that they could make more fully informed decisions as to whether to continue selling to these straw purchasers.

       CONCLUSION

       The wiretap affidavit reveals a remarkable amount of specific information about Operation Fast and Furious. The affidavit reveals that the Justice Department has been misrepresenting important facts to Congress and withholding critical details about Fast and Furious from the Committee for months on end. As the primary investigative arm of Congress, our Committee has a responsibility to demand answers from the Department and continue the investigation until we get all the facts.

       Sincerely,

       DARRELL ISSA, Chairman