ATF Project Gunrunner

The report said “[Newell] had been reprimanded ... before for crossing the line, but under a new administration and a new attorney general he reverted back to the use of risky gunwalking tactics.”

Just a footnote really but I think it destroys the "Bush did it" distraction defense of F&F.

This seems to indicate that under the Bush administration, gunwalking was acknowledged to be a bad idea, a failed tactic, and it was dealt with.

But even after being characterized as risky, and over the line and after it was discontinued and forbidden under the Bush admistration - BATFE under Eric Holder and the Obama administration decided to do it anyway. That makes F&F a doubly stupid idea at best and IMO - indicates that the real goal of F&F was not to indict Mexican drug cartel leaders.
 
McClatchy had an article on this today.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/07/30/158873/5-atf-officials-found-responsible.html

I was pleasantly surprised that they brought back Kenneth Melson's testimony that DOJ seemed primarily interested in public relations control, when GunRunner / F&F came to light, rather than a real investigation.

From the article:
The first report did allege some Justice Department involvement, notably that Kenneth E. Melson, then the acting ATF director, was made into a "scapegoat" for Fast and Furious after he told congressional Republicans that his Justice Department supervisors "were doing more damage control than anything" else once Fast and Furious became public.
"My view is that the whole matter of the department's response in this case was a disaster," Melson told the investigators.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/07/30/158873/5-atf-officials-found-responsible.html#storylink=cpy
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I'm curious to see if any other MSM pick up on that.
 
I'm personally convinced that Dennis Burke was the one of the main people who came up with the idea of F&F.

I'm wondering why he is left out of this report?
 
The article implied this report was specific to ATF, and that there would be a subsequent report specific to the DOJ cover-up and its participants.

Not sure if Burke will get mentioned in that one, when it is released.
 
The entire report is here [loooong pdf]. It is absolutely worth sitting down and reading.

Newell is mentioned, as are all the key players up to Breuer. However, this is part 1 of 3, and it keeps its focus on the Phoenix Division for the most part. There's a lot of testimony and documentation I haven't seen before.

It runs in chronological order. While the whole thing is unsettling, Chapter 14 (subtitled "“Ugh...things will most likely get ugly”) goes into new detail on the panic over the death of Brian Terry and the start of the coverup. Newell, Voth, and Burke are implicated by their own words.
 
If this is like corporate America, the announcement would have said Hoover has resigned "to pursue other opportunities".

Such as finding a good lawyer and preparing his defense.
 
Was Dennis Burke behind the whistle blower retaliation?

I don't know if this has been discussed before. But in this article covering the creation of a new DOJ "Whistleblower Ombudsman", Mike Levine says:

In June 2011, Forcelli told the House panel investigating the matter that "grave mistakes" had been made. But when he voiced concern to supervisors, those "concerns were dismissed," he said.

After that testimony, prosecutors in Arizona "made false accusations in an effort to discredit me," Forcelli told Fox News.
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I don't know why he doesn't just name Dennis Burke. What other procecutor in Arizona would launch a punative attack on someone who testified about F&F?


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/08/justice-announces-new-whistleblower-post-in-wake-furious/
 
As above, but from the Boise State NPR:

Fast And Furious Whistle-blower Reaches Agreement Over Retaliation Claims

Peter Forcelli, an ATF agent who blew the whistle on management lapses in the gun trafficking scandal known as Fast and Furious, has reached an agreement with the bureau over his retaliation claims. ...

"We can't reveal the details but Mr. Forcelli's smile could not be broader," lawyer Tom Devine, of the Government Accountability Project, told NPR in an interview. "This outcome was a 180 degree reversal by new management... This dispute is over."
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According to the article, this attorney is also representing another ATF agent, Larry Alt.

And did you check out the last paragraph of the article which links another F&F firearm to a conspiracy to assassinate the Tijuana police chief?
 
The article says that a lawsuit is being prepared against BATFE. I wonder who the plaintiffs are?

Well whoever they are - they have a winner. First of all, what the feds did was wrong - I know that's an over-generalization, but I'm just saying, they'll lose the case because what they did was wrong and they got people killed.

And secondly, as hard as it would be to try to defend their actions, they have the issue of discovery to deal with. U.S. DOJ and the current administration obviously does not want information on F&F to come to light, they won't turn over any documents to the defense. I'm guessing the lawsuit is about money - not necesarily getting to the truth. I guess it depends on if the current administration stays in office, but if it does, the federal government will just pay it.
 
Once the paperwork is finalized and the check is cut, maybe a FOI request could reveal the terms. I'm more familiar with my state's version of the statute and it is essentially impossible for government to confidentially settle a lawsuit.
 
An F&F gun was used in a conspiracy murder the Tijuana police chief.


http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_...rt-plan-kill-police-chief?source=most_emailed

A weapon tied to "Operation Fast and Furious" was seized in Tijuana in connection with a drug cartel's conspiracy to kill the police chief of Tijuana, Baja California, who later became the Juárez police chief, according to a U.S. government report.

The firearm was found Feb. 25, 2010, during an arrest of a criminal cell associated with Teodoro "El Teo" García Simental and Raydel "El Muletas" López Uriarte, allies of the Sinaloa cartel.

Tijuana police said they arrested four suspects in March 2010 in connection with a failed attempt to take out Julián Leyzaola, and that the suspects allegedly confessed to conspiring to assassinate the police chief on orders from Tijuana cartel leaders.

The suspects had an arsenal of weapons and ammunition, and one of the firearms traced back to the operation that the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives (ATF) was monitoring from its field office in Phoenix.
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Tom Servo wrote:

So, Hoover and Burke are the only ones to lose their jobs, and those were largely voluntary? I'm still not seeing the sting here.
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Tom:

Don't hold your breath waiting.

As for other aspects, a law suit being filed against BATFE, see post 2533, I wonder as to the following. Should monetary damages be awarded to the complainant party or parties, who other than the innocent, they being here the taxpayers will supply the monies awarded. By the way, haven't the taxpayers already been hit up, having paid for those illegally purchased firearms, or some of them?
 
Tom Servo:

Re this law suit, there was a front page story/article on it in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Strikes me that the ending of this latest action, how the courts rule in the issues brought will be most interesting to view.
 
Two thousand five hundred thirty eight posts on TFL:D, countless Congressional hearings, a Contempt of Congress vote, and now a civil lawsuit!

And not one single charge has been filed in a court of law against a single person for breaking federal law for knowingly selling firearms to a prohibited person.

This is the real travasty here!

Law does not apply equally if someone at ATF or DOJ says so.

Simple.
 
Wyoredman said:
Two thousand five hundred thirty eight posts on TFL, countless Congressional hearings, a Contempt of Congress vote, and now a civil lawsuit!
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And a Federal law enforcement agent killed with one of the firearms sold illegally with the support and encouragement of the BATFE and the DOJ.

And not one single charge has been filed in a court of law against a single person for breaking federal law for knowingly selling firearms to a prohibited person.

This is the real travasty here!
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Agreed.
 
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