Arsenal Found in Mexico Contains Guns From U.S. Probe

[WillowTree]

An arsenal found in Mexico included at least five assault rifles that U.S authorities trace to a federal operation gone badly awry, according to government documents.

The discovery appears to confirm for the first time fears cited by Republican lawmakers that a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives operation called Fast and Furious failed to stop guns from ending up with drug gangs in Mexico.

The Fast and Furious program, run by the ATF's Phoenix office, monitored weapons purchases by suspected gun traffickers who were believed to be funneling weapons to Mexican drug cartels. Some lawmakers say ATF didn't have the means to track the guns and shouldn't have used such tactics


Read more: Arsenal Found in Mexico Contains Guns From U.S. Probe - FoxNews.com







Somebody has some splaining to do..

 

[WillowTree]

There will be hearings.. You betcha!

 

[waltky]

ATF chief may be forced out this week after botched gun-tracking operation...

ATF chief may be shown door
June 20, 2011, Agency let guns be sold to cartels, which led to death of border agent

WASHINGTON — Kenneth Melson, the embattled head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, is facing possible ouster in the wake of the agency's bungled Operation Fast and Furious. As rumors of his imminent departure swirled around the capital on Monday, the ATF's public affairs chief, Scot Thommason, said in a statement that Melson "continues to be focused on leading ATF in its efforts to reduce violent crime and to stem the flow of firearms to criminals." Thomasson added: "We are not going to comment on any speculations."

Republicans in Congress led by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, have pounded ATF and Justice Department officials over Operation Fast and Furious, in which ATF agents in Phoenix were instructed to observe loads of U.S.-purchased weapons destined for Mexican drug cartels instead of interdicting them last year. The aim was to reach beyond the low-level purchasers and build a complex case against traffickers and their weapons brokers. But the weapons — estimates run as high as 2,500 — eventually reached Mexican cartels and two of them were recovered in December at the site in southern Arizona where smugglers had killed Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

Agents given protection

At a hearing last week, three Phoenix-based ATF agents who have received whistle-blower protection testified that higher-ups had prevented them from arresting cartel-linked "straw purchasers" — gun buyers who violate federal law by purchasing weapons for others. Emails released at the hearing also showed that senior ATF officials, including Melson, were involved in the planning and execution of the operation. One email from March 2010 suggested that Melson arranged for a hidden camera's recording of gun purchases to be wired directly into his office. Justice Department officials are said to be interviewing Andrew Traver, the ATF agent in charge of the agency's Chicago office, as a possible replacement for Melson.

President Barack Obama had nominated Traver as ATF director last year but the nomination stalled in the wake of opposition by the National Rifle Association. The ATF has been without a Senate-confirmed director since 2006. Melson has been acting director since 2009. Defenders of the agency questioned whether Melson is about to become a sacrificial lamb for decisions made higher up in the Justice Department, the ATF's parent. "If anybody thinks the ATF is calling the shots on this, they're wrong," said Michael Bouchard, the ATF's assistant director for field operations from 2004 until his retirement in 2007. "For ATF top officials to take all the hits on this is totally unfair."

Only 20 implicated

 

[Wolfmoon]

Out? Mr. Melson should be tried for murder.