Cover-up in ATF gunwalker case?

By Sharyl Attkisson

Congressional investigators tell CBS News there’s evidence the U.S. Attorney’s office in Arizona sought to cover up a link between their controversial gunwalking operation known as “Fast and Furious” and the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

More…

Here’s a thumbnail of what happened.

ATF was allowing guns to be sold to straw buyers from the Mexican drug cartels in an operation called “Fast and Furious”.

Mario Avila was one of the cartel straw buyers who got guns via Fast and Furious.

ATF field agents complained allowing guns to “walk” into the hands of criminals was a bad idea and that maybe even federal agents would end up being killed by one of the “walked” guns.

The along comes the night of December 14, 2011 when Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was shot by a border bandit near Rio Rico, Arizona.

Two guns were found at Terry’s murder scene and were immediately indentified  as being ATF “walked”  guns that had been bought by  Avila.

So the feds did evrything they could to hide the fact that the two “walked” guns found at Terry’s murder scene would not be traced to “Fast and FDurious”

Here is a link to the emails that CBS got copies of that flashed around in the wake of Terry’s murder: Warning…they will make you sick at how completely off base our government’s priorities can be:

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/att12.pdf?tag=contentMain;contentBody

GOP lawmakers: Coverup attempted in death of Border Patrol agent

By Melanie Eversley, USA TODAY

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona tried to cover up a link between a government operation and the December 2010 death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, two Republican members of Congress are telling CBS News.

Two assault rifles that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had allegedly allowed onto the street were found at the scene of Terry’s death on the Arizona side of the border.

Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Rep. Darrell Issa of California say there’s evidence that officials at ATF and the U.S. Attorney’s Office sought to hide the link, CBS reports.

The two lawmakers say in a Sept. 1 letter to the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s Office that Emory Hurley, the lead prosecutor on the “Fast and Furious” program that allowed illegal guns on the streets, learned almost immediately that firearms involved in the program had been recovered at the scene, according to CBS.

In the hours after Terry died, Hurley “contemplated the connection between the two cases and sought to prevent the connection from being disclosed,” CBS reports.

Hurley could not be reached. The Justice Department had no comment.

AFT whistleblowers revealed the link to CBS and to the two lawmakers because their supervisors were attempting to cover it up, CBS reports.

Here is the link to the letter sent to the acting US Attorney for Arizona demanding more information about the attempt to squash the disclosure of the “walked” guns….

http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/IssaGrassleyLetter.pdf

ATF promotes supervisors in controversial gun operation

Reporting from Washington—

The ATF has promoted three key supervisors of a controversial sting operation that allowed firearms to be illegally trafficked across the U.S. border into Mexico.

More…

COMMENT: This is amazaing.  Thousand of guns were allowed by these guys to “walk” into the hands of border bandits and the Mexican drug cartels and hundreds have died in Mexico due to these guns.

Two federal agents have been killed by ATF “walked” guns including Border Patrol agent Brian Terry who was muirdered by a border bandit south of Tucson. Two of the ATF “walked” guns were found at Terry’s murder scene.

And the guys that were responsible for this have been promoted?

They should be in jail waiting for their trials for conspiracy to murder, reckless endangerment, lying to Congress and a few other charges.

Congress needs to abolish the ATF. They are a rogue agency totally out of control and Barack Obama is drinking the kool aid from his Attorney General that everything is just fine.

Feds fight victim status for slain border agent’s family

By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY

Federal prosecutors are opposing crime-victim status for the family of a slain U.S. Border Patrol agent in the case of an accused gun dealer who allegedly purchased two weapons recovered at the scene of last year’s Arizona shootout where Agent Brian Terry was killed.

Victim status, among other things, gives family members the right to be notified of court proceedings in the case, confer with prosecutors on matters related to the case, testify at sentencing or parole hearings and receive restitution.

Neither of the weapons allegedly bought by Jaime Avila has been positively identified as the gun that killed Terry, but the firearms also have not been ruled out as murder weapons.

The weapons were among about 2,000 guns purchased by unlicensed dealers who were subjects of a controversial federal gun-trafficking investigation launched in 2009 in which hundreds of the weapons were allowed to fall into hands of violent drug traffickers in Mexico and criminals in the U.S.

The investigation, known as “Operation Fast and Furious,” was ended after Terry’s death in 2010.

Still, federal prosecutors urged a judge not to confer victim status on the Terry family, arguing that the agent was not “directly and proximately” harmed by Avila’s alleged act.

Avila is charged with conspiring to deal in firearms without a license, dealing firearms without a license and making false statements during the firearm purchases.

“The victim of the offenses is not any particular person, but society in general,” prosecutors said in court documents.

The Terry family was not immediately available for comment. But the family’s legal team said it would respond to the government’s action in court papers next week.

“I think it’s pretty bold of the government to take a position on this,” said George McCubbin, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents 17,000 Border Patrol agents.

“It’s the government trying to cover its backside and minimize the embarrassment over a failed gun investigation. There is no other reason for this.”

COMMENT: It is obvious that US Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke…an Obama appointee and up to his ass in the ATF Fast and Furious scandal does not want the truth exposed as to what happened.

From The Examiner:

U.S. Attorney in Phoenix adds insult to injury of slain agent’s family

By Dave Workman

United States Attorney Dennis Burke in Phoenix, a key figure in the Operation Fast and Furious scandal that exploded following the December 2010 murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, has filed a motion opposing the Terry family’s requested intervention as “crime victims” in the criminal case against alleged gun trafficker Jaime Avila.

More…

From Human Events:

Agent Terry’s Family Denied Crime Victim Status In Gun Walker Case

by  John Hayward

Border Patrol agent Brian Terry’s murder at the hands of Mexican criminals carrying at least one weapon from the ATF’s “Operation Fast and Furious” brought that awful program to a screeching halt.  The straw purchaser who secured the weapon carried by Terry’s killers, a 23-year-old Phoenix man named Jamie Avila, is now on trial for gun-trafficking offenses. 

Agent Terry’s family asked to be granted status as crime victims, so they could talk with prosecutors and speak at Avila’s sentencing.  It’s a routine request… but to the surprise of many observers, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Arizona has denied them.  William LaJeunesse of Fox News reports:

U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke argues because the family was not “directly or proximately harmed” by the illegal purchase of the murder weapon, it does not meet the definition of “crime victim” in the Avila case. Burke claims the victim of the Avila’s gun purchases, “is not any particular person, but society in general.”

Prominent litigator and the former U.S. Attorney in Florida, Kendall Coffey disagrees.

“The government apparently is saying they’re not victims, even though it was a federal crime that put the murder weapon in the hands of the killer of Brian Terry,” says Coffey. “They are simply rights of respect, rights of communication and the right to be heard.”

Gosh, it’s a shame Agent Terry was caught in the crossfire when those invaders started shooting at society.

Why would U.S. Attorney Burke issue this unusual decision?  Take a wild guess:

Coffey and others wonder if Burke has a conflict. It was his office that led Operation Fast and Furious. The operation, while executed by agents for the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, was managed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley. Hurley drafted the response to the family’s motion. It was signed by Burke.

Congressional investigators are expected to subpoena both to appear before the House Government and Oversight Committee next month to answer questions about the flawed operation that put some 2,000 weapons in the hands of the Sinaloa cartel.

LaJeunesse goes on to speculate that Avila might have cut a deal with prosecutors that would keep him out of jail, a development that would go over especially poorly if Terry’s family was seated in the courtroom, armed with official crime victim status.  The family may also be considering a wrongful death suit against the federal government, which would involve Burke.  Victim status would pump a lot of energy into that case.

More…

How does the ATF explain allowing over 700 guns to “walk” through one buyer?

“The death of Border Agent Brian Terry was likely a preventable tragedy.”

Scathing report issued by Congress on ATF “Fast and Furious” gun walking scheme

Operation Fast and Furious: Reckless Decisions, Tragic Outcomes”

Issa Releases Documents Showing Intimate Involvement of ATF Director in Controversial Gunwalking Operation

Brian Terry’s family statement at ATF Fast and Furious hearing

Senator Grassley blasts ATF at House hearing on “gunwalker” scandal

Statement of John Dodson about ATF gunwalker scandal: “The very idea of letting guns walk is unthinkable to most law enforcement.”

“It has become common practice for ATF Supervisors to retaliate against employees that do not blindly tow the company line, no matter what the consequences.”

ATF “walked” guns: “I believe that these firearms will continue to turn up at crime scenes, on both sides of the border, for years to come.”

Re: ATF Fast and Furious

Dear Mr. Horne

As you are aware, ATF ran a program called “Fast and Furious” out of their Phoenix office whereby the let assault rifles “walk” into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels and various border bandits.

Two of those ATF “walked” guns, which were sold by a Phoenix area gun shop with the knowledge of ATF, were found at the murder scene of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

While various investigations are on-going at the federal level, there appear to be important state law issues involved in this situation.

I specifically call your attention to Arizona Revised Statutes Title 13 Section 1201 “Endangerment”

13-1201. Endangerment; classification

A. A person commits endangerment by recklessly endangering another person with a substantial risk of imminent death or physical injury.

B. Endangerment involving a substantial risk of imminent death is a class 6 felony. In all other cases, it is a class 1 misdemeanor.

Evidence is mounting that field agents within the Phoenix office of ATF warned their superiors that the “walking” of guns could lead to the deaths of, among others, federal agents.

The warnings of these dedicated and honorable law enforcement officers were ignored by their superiors. The end result was Border Patrol agent Brian Terry died as a result of these “walked” guns.

Arguably senior officials in ATF are chargeable for endangerment under state law.

I would urge you and your staff to look into the record that has been developed so far by the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the sworn testimony by various ATF employees with an eye on what, if any, state criminal laws were violated in the course of the “Fast and Furious” project.

I am suggesting ARS 13-1201 as just one of what may be many examples of violation of state criminal laws by ATF officials.

There is a fundamental issue at stake here.

Sometimes the federal government operates as though it is not subject to any law, even at the federal level. At times it becomes obvious that in the pursuit of their mission, they disregard state law, placing their mission ahead of the public safety and well-being of the people within a state.

Just because they might be federal employees or even federal law enforcement officials, they do not have any kind of immunity for violations of the state criminal code.

I urge you to look closely at the conduct of ATF within Arizona, and investigate whether or not that conduct violated state criminal laws, And if you find the conduct of the ATF senior management did indeed violate state law, please hold those ATF officials accountable to the people of Arizona.

Thank you

Hugh Holub
Attorney at Law
P.O Box 4773
Tubac, Arizona 85646

ATF Officials in Mexico Denied Access to Information by U.S. Counterparts about Reckless Strategy that Allowed Guns to Fall Into the Hands of Mexican Drug Cartels

Issa, Grassley release staff report focusing on impact of Operation Fast and Furious on Mexico

WASHINGTON – Findings in a second staff report released by Representative Darrell Issa and Senator Chuck Grassley show that ATF officials based in the United States Embassy in Mexico City were increasingly worried about the alarming rate of guns found in violent crimes in Mexico from a single ATF operation based out of the ATF’s Phoenix Field Division. Issa is Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and Grassley is Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“The consequences of arming Mexican drug cartels seem obvious. But even guns turning up at crime scenes in Mexico wasn’t enough for Justice Department officials to arrest straw purchasers and shut down their trafficking operations. Tragically, it wasn’t until Fast and Furious guns were found at the murder scene of a Border Patrol Agent that Justice officials finally ended this reckless and arrogant effort,” said Issa.

“It’s incomprehensible that officials at the Justice Department, the ATF and the U.S. attorney’s office would keep their counterparts at the U.S. embassy in Mexico City in the dark about Operation Fast and Furious. Keeping key details secret while straw purchasers continued buying weapons for gun traffickers jeopardized our relationship with our southern ally and put lives at risk,” Grassley said.

The report released today outlines several important findings, including:

• There was little to no information sharing from the Phoenix Field Division, ATF Headquarters and the Justice Department to their colleagues in Mexico City. Every time Mexico City officials asked about the mysterious investigation, their U.S. based ATF counterparts in Phoenix and Washington, D.C. continued to say they were “working on it” and “everything was under control.”

• Lanny Breuer, the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division at the Justice Department, was clearly aware of Operation Fast and Furious and touted the case during a visit to Mexico.

• ATF officials in Mexico City were incredulous that their agency would knowingly allow guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, and they were incensed when they finally began to learn the full scope of Operation Fast and Furious and the investigative techniques used.

Issa and Grassley are leading a congressional inquiry into the ill-advised strategy known as Operation Fast and Furious.

A copy of the report can be found here

Chairman Darrell Issa Hearing Preview Statement

Tuesday’s hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will examine the effects of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) program dubbed “Operation Fast and Furious.”  Specifically, we will review the impact of this program on our neighbor to the south, on our agents working in, and on the people of Mexico.

The Committee’s task today is serious, and the Administration’s effort to impede this investigation slows our work to make public the truth of an acknowledged—and failed—operation.  The Acting Director of the ATF, in a transcribed interview with investigators, has said that the Justice Department is trying to push all of this away from its political appointees.  That is not the response this Committee, Congress and the public, should expect from the ‘most transparent Administration in history.’

In this hearing, lawmakers will hear firsthand from field agents who have worked in Mexico for years and who were systematically kept in the dark by officials in Phoenix and at headquarters about the real nature and scope of “Operation Fast and Furious.”  The Committee will also hear testimony from ATF supervisors who chose to allow weapons to flow from illegal sales in the United States directly into the hands of Mexican drug cartels—without interception or interdiction.

To date, President Obama has been keen to talk about who didn’t know about the program and who didn’t authorize it.  These answers will not suffice.  The American people have a right to know—once and for all—who did authorize it and who knew about it.

Working with our counterpart in this investigation, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Committee will remain focused on these basic questions and pursue the trail of truth to the highest levels of government.  We owe the men and women in law enforcement nothing less because it is their lives on the line. 

###
Witnesses
Mr. Carlos Canino
ATF Acting Attaché to Mexico

Mr. Darren Gil
Former ATF Attaché to Mexico

Mr. Jose Wall
ATF Senior Special Agent
Tijuana, Mexico

Mr. Lorren Leadmon
ATF Intelligence Operations Specialist

Mr. William Newell
Former ATF Special Agent in Charge
Phoenix Field Division

Mr. William McMahon
ATF Deputy Assistant Director for Field Operations
(West, including Phoenix and Mexico)
 

Testimony of Carlos Canino
http://oversight.house.gov/images/stories/Testimony/7-26-11_Carlos_Canino_FF_Testimony.pdf

Testimony of Darren Gill
http://oversight.house.gov/images/stories/Testimony/7-26-11_Darren_Gil_FF_Testimony.pdf

Testimony of WilliamNewell
http://oversight.house.gov/images/stories/Testimony/7-26-11_Newell_FF_Testimony.pdf

Testimony of McMahon
http://oversight.house.gov/images/stories/7-26-11_McMahon_FF_Testimony.pdf

This from the Los Angeles Times July 17, 2011:

Gun-smuggling cartel figures possibly were paid FBI informants

Reporting from Washington— 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.

More…

COMMENT: Now it seems the FBI was paying drug cartel guys as informants…guys were walking guns via the ATF scheme. The FBI neglected to tell ATF about the paid informants.

Interagency cooperation? The federal government doesn’t know what that means.

Two of the ATF “walked” guns ended up at the murder scene of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry south of Tucson.

Now Congress and the ATF want to require gun shops to report sales of more than a couple of guns.

Maybe Congress ought to require the FBI to communicate with ATF.

On July 11th Issa and Grassley sent the following letter to Attorney General Eric Holder:

July 11, 2011

The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr. Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20530

Dear Attorney General Holder:

As our investigation into Operation Fast and Furious has progressed, we have learned that senior officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ), including Senate-confirmed political appointees, were unquestionably aware of the implementation of this reckless program. Therefore, it is necessary to review communications between and among these senior officials. As such, please provide all records relating to communications between and among the following individuals regarding Operation Fast and Furious:

1) David Ogden, Former Deputy Attorney General;

2) Gary Grindler, Office of the Attorney General and Former Acting Deputy Attorney General;

3) James Cole, Deputy Attorney General;

4) Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney General;

5) Kenneth Blanco, Deputy Assistant Attorney General;

6) Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General;

7) John Keeney, Deputy Assistant Attorney General;

8) Matt Axelrod, Associate Deputy Attorney General;

9) Ed Siskel, Former Associate Deputy Attorney General;

10) Brad Smith, Office of the Deputy Attorney General;

11) Kevin Carwile, Section Chief, Capital Case Unit; and

12) Joseph Cooley, Criminal Fraud Section.

These records should include e-mails, memoranda, briefing papers, and handwritten notes. Additionally, any records related to communications referring to a large firearms trafficking case within the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) or in Phoenix should be included in any production.

Please provide this information no later than July 18, 2011, at noon. If you have any questions regarding this request, please contact Tristan Leavitt in Ranking Member Grassley’s office at (202) 224-5225 or Henry Kerner of Chairman Issa’s Committee staff at (202) 225-5074. I look forward to receiving your response.

Darrell Issa Chairman
House Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform

Charles E. Grassley Ranking Member
Senate Committee on the Judiciary

cc: The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member
U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy, Chairman U.S. Senate, Committee on the Judiciary

COMMENT: It is getting harder and harder for Holder to claim he knew nothing about Fast and Furious…..

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 11, 2011

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.”

COMMENT: Maybe the first thing the Justice Department ought to do is release to Congress the names of the buyers of the thousands of guns the ATF “walked” into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels and border bandits. And a list of what crime scenes the “walked” guns have shown up at so far…and keep updating that list as more of the “walked” guns turn up at crime scenes until all of them are accounted for.

Got to remember two ATF “walked” guns turned up at the murder scene of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

Even though the gun shops that were approached by cartel “straw” buyers and the gun shops wanted to refuse to sell, the ATF told them to go ahead and sell guns to the cartel and border bandit “straw” buyers.

So what does the Justice Daprtment do? …try and deflect attention from their crazy scheme which has resulted in hundreds of deaths…including two US federal agents so far…and make it look like the feds are cracking down.

Rather than secure the border the feds want to disarm border residents so the same thing will happen to us that has happened to the residents of many border towns on the Mexican side of the border.

Gun control means only the criminals have guns.

That is not some BS slogan. That is what has happened right next door to us in Mexico which has tough control control laws…. they disarmed their civilian population and now the cartels own major parts of the Mexican side of the borderlands and residents live in terror.

Two of the ATF “walked” guns were found at the murder scene of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry south of Tucson.

Kin connects the dots and proves US Attorney General Eric Holder knew about Fast and Furious, even though Holder denied knowledge in testimony to Congress:

Holder Lied: DOJ News Release Shows Obama Admin Approved ATF Mexico Weapons Smuggling

Tim King Salem-News.com

Eric Holder gave false info. to a Congressional Committee last May about ATF operations tied to the deaths of two U.S. Agents; we have the proof.

(SALEM, Ore.) – New information indicates that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s actions are squarely behind the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) operation known as “Fast and Furious”, which orchestrated the delivery of almost 2,000 weapons to Mexican drug cartels^[1].

Holder openly proclaimed his connection to the operation in April 2009 during a publicized speech in Mexico, then told a Congressional Committee in May 2011, “I probably heard of Fast and Furious the first time in the last few weeks.”^[2]

More….

Family of slain agent weighing legal action

How weapons got in border bandits’ hands ‘important,’ lawyer says

By Brady McCombs Arizona Daily Star Arizona Daily Star

The family of slain Border Patrol agent Brian Terry has retained former Arizona U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton to determine if there is any legal action to take in connection with his slaying.

Charlton, Arizona U.S. Attorney from 2001 to 2007, said the Terry family asked him to review the facts surrounding the events that led to Brian Terry being killed on Dec. 14 in a shootout with suspected border bandits near Rio Rico.

Two Romanian-made assault rifles were recovered at the scene that are believed to have been sold to straw buyers in Phoenix and tracked into Mexico under a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Mexican gun-smuggling investigation, according to U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

More…

COMMENT: One can think of all kinds of grounds for a suit against the ATF bosses who hatched the Fast and Furious scheme that resulted in two ATF “walked” guns ending up at Border Patrol agent Brian Terry’s murder scene.

Reckless endangerment.

Negligent homicide.

Conspiracy to export weapons

Obstruction of justice…..

oops…those are the criminal charges to bring against ATF acting director Kenneth Melson and the Phoenix ATF management.