Post by homebase on Sept 26, 2011 16:14:12 GMT -5
U.S. Government Used Taxpayer Funds to Buy, Sell Weapons During 'Fast and Furious,' Documents Show
Not only did U.S. officials approve, allow and assist in the sale of more than 2,000 guns to the Sinaloa cartel -- the federal government used taxpayer money to buy semi-automatic weapons, sold them to criminals and then watched as the guns disappeared.
This disclosure, revealed in documents obtained by Fox News, could undermine the Department of Justice's previous defense that Operation Fast and Furious was a "botched" operation where agents simply "lost track" of weapons as they were transferred from one illegal buyer to another. Instead, it heightens the culpability of the federal government as Mexico, according to sources, has opened two criminal investigations into the operation that flooded their country with illegal weapons.
Operation Fast and Furious began in October 2009. In it, federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives encouraged gun stores to sell weapons to an arms smuggling gang, then watched as the guns crossed the border and were used in crimes. Each month, the agency allowed hundreds of guns to go South, despite opposition from some agents.
All told, the gang spent more than $1.25 million for the illegal guns.
In June 2010, however, the ATF dramatically upped the ante, making the U.S. government the actual "seller" of guns.
Read more: www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/26/us-government-bought-and-sold-weapons-during-fast-and-furious-documents-show/#ixzz1Z5rPTPCN
This might shock some but really it's business as usual. Although this time the head of the BATF resigned. He was sacrificed, thrown under the bus but I don't think it will stop there - the dogs are out and the flow of information is uncontrollable - at least at this time.
Will Fast And Furious Cost Obama's Attorney General His Job?
Investigations into a gunrunning sting gone haywire are creeping closer to the top of the U.S. Justice Department and its head, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr.
A congressional report released yesterday reveals that top DOJ officials had knowledge of the sting, known as Operation Fast and Furious, in which U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) agents allowed more than 2,000 firearms to “walk” across the U.S. border to Mexico and into the hands of Mexico’s brutal drug cartels. As many as 1,700 of those weapons have since been lost. More than 100 have been linked to crimes on both sides of the border, including the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent last December.
U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), who are leading the congressional investigation into the operation, have made it clear that the attorney general — a confidant of President Barack Obama — is a central focus of their probe.
“I do have serious concerns that the attorney general should have known a lot more than he says he knew,” Issa told the Washington Post. “In some ways, I’m more disappointed that he’s saying he didn’t know than if he says he was getting briefings and he didn’t understand.”
So far, the DOJ has stonewalled the Issa/Grassley probe. But recent testimony from the embattled ATF director made the astounding claim that the cartel leaders targeted by Fast and Furious were allegedly paid informants for the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI.
Read more: www.businessinsider.com/operation-fast-and-furious-how-the-gunrunning-scandal-could-bring-down-obamas-attorney-general-2011-7#ixzz1Z5y7JPKP
Not only did U.S. officials approve, allow and assist in the sale of more than 2,000 guns to the Sinaloa cartel -- the federal government used taxpayer money to buy semi-automatic weapons, sold them to criminals and then watched as the guns disappeared.
This disclosure, revealed in documents obtained by Fox News, could undermine the Department of Justice's previous defense that Operation Fast and Furious was a "botched" operation where agents simply "lost track" of weapons as they were transferred from one illegal buyer to another. Instead, it heightens the culpability of the federal government as Mexico, according to sources, has opened two criminal investigations into the operation that flooded their country with illegal weapons.
Operation Fast and Furious began in October 2009. In it, federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives encouraged gun stores to sell weapons to an arms smuggling gang, then watched as the guns crossed the border and were used in crimes. Each month, the agency allowed hundreds of guns to go South, despite opposition from some agents.
All told, the gang spent more than $1.25 million for the illegal guns.
In June 2010, however, the ATF dramatically upped the ante, making the U.S. government the actual "seller" of guns.
Read more: www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/26/us-government-bought-and-sold-weapons-during-fast-and-furious-documents-show/#ixzz1Z5rPTPCN
This might shock some but really it's business as usual. Although this time the head of the BATF resigned. He was sacrificed, thrown under the bus but I don't think it will stop there - the dogs are out and the flow of information is uncontrollable - at least at this time.
Will Fast And Furious Cost Obama's Attorney General His Job?
Investigations into a gunrunning sting gone haywire are creeping closer to the top of the U.S. Justice Department and its head, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr.
A congressional report released yesterday reveals that top DOJ officials had knowledge of the sting, known as Operation Fast and Furious, in which U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) agents allowed more than 2,000 firearms to “walk” across the U.S. border to Mexico and into the hands of Mexico’s brutal drug cartels. As many as 1,700 of those weapons have since been lost. More than 100 have been linked to crimes on both sides of the border, including the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent last December.
U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), who are leading the congressional investigation into the operation, have made it clear that the attorney general — a confidant of President Barack Obama — is a central focus of their probe.
“I do have serious concerns that the attorney general should have known a lot more than he says he knew,” Issa told the Washington Post. “In some ways, I’m more disappointed that he’s saying he didn’t know than if he says he was getting briefings and he didn’t understand.”
So far, the DOJ has stonewalled the Issa/Grassley probe. But recent testimony from the embattled ATF director made the astounding claim that the cartel leaders targeted by Fast and Furious were allegedly paid informants for the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI.
Read more: www.businessinsider.com/operation-fast-and-furious-how-the-gunrunning-scandal-could-bring-down-obamas-attorney-general-2011-7#ixzz1Z5y7JPKP