'Fast and Furious' Whistleblowers Struggle Six Months After Testifying Against ATF Pr

[WillowTree]

Six months ago, several agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives stood before Congress to testify about the details of a U.S. government program that armed Mexico's largest drug cartel with thousands of assault rifles.
The administration denied it at the time and questioned the agents' integrity. The men were nervous and scared. They said they feared for their careers, their reputation and their families.

Witnesses are sworn in at a hearing held by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on "Operation Fast and Furious: The Other Side of the Border," on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 26, 2011.

Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed on Dec. 14, 2010. Weapons found at the scene were linked to Operation Fast and Furious, the ATF program that let guns be purchased illegally and cross the border. Several have now reportedly been tied to crimes in the U.S.

"Any attempt to retaliate against them for their testimony today would be unfair, unwise and unlawful," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, warned the Department of Justice.


Read more: 'Fast And Furious' Whistleblowers Struggle Six Months After Testifying Against ATF Program | Fox News













This just ain't right.

 

[Sunshine]

Six months ago, several agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives stood before Congress to testify about the details of a U.S. government program that armed Mexico's largest drug cartel with thousands of assault rifles.
The administration denied it at the time and questioned the agents' integrity. The men were nervous and scared. They said they feared for their careers, their reputation and their families.

Witnesses are sworn in at a hearing held by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on "Operation Fast and Furious: The Other Side of the Border," on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 26, 2011.

Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed on Dec. 14, 2010. Weapons found at the scene were linked to Operation Fast and Furious, the ATF program that let guns be purchased illegally and cross the border. Several have now reportedly been tied to crimes in the U.S.

"Any attempt to retaliate against them for their testimony today would be unfair, unwise and unlawful," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, warned the Department of Justice.


Read more: 'Fast And Furious' Whistleblowers Struggle Six Months After Testifying Against ATF Program | Fox News













This just ain't right.

Retaliation DOES happen. And anyone who thinks whistleblower statutes offer any protection is delusional. I've seen it happen to nurses repeatedly over the years. Most states have such statutes, but they involve crimes. Med mal is usually a civil issue and not a criminal issue. Therefore those statutes do NOT protect.

 

[The T]

Six months ago, several agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives stood before Congress to testify about the details of a U.S. government program that armed Mexico's largest drug cartel with thousands of assault rifles.
The administration denied it at the time and questioned the agents' integrity. The men were nervous and scared. They said they feared for their careers, their reputation and their families.

Witnesses are sworn in at a hearing held by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on "Operation Fast and Furious: The Other Side of the Border," on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 26, 2011.

Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed on Dec. 14, 2010. Weapons found at the scene were linked to Operation Fast and Furious, the ATF program that let guns be purchased illegally and cross the border. Several have now reportedly been tied to crimes in the U.S.

"Any attempt to retaliate against them for their testimony today would be unfair, unwise and unlawful," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, warned the Department of Justice.


Read more: 'Fast And Furious' Whistleblowers Struggle Six Months After Testifying Against ATF Program | Fox News













This just ain't right.

And the PERPS get swept under the rug

Here's what has happened to the managers of the operation:

-- Acting ATF Chief Ken Melson, who oversaw the operation, is now an adviser in the Office of Legal Affairs. He remains in ATF's Washington, D.C., headquarters.

-- Acting Deputy Director Billy Hoover, who knew his agency was walking guns and demanded an "exit strategy" just five months into the program, is now the special agent in charge of the D.C. office. He, too, did not have to relocate.

-- Deputy Director for Field Operations William McMahon received detailed briefings about the illegal operation and later admitted he shares "responsibility for mistakes that were made.” Yet, he also stays in D.C., ironically as the No. 2 man at the ATF's Office of Internal Affairs.

-- Special Agent in Charge of Phoenix Bill Newell, the man most responsible for directly overseeing Fast and Furious, was promoted to the Office of Management in Washington.

-- Phoenix Deputy Chief George Gillette was also promoted to Washington as ATF's liaison to the U.S. Marshal's Service.

-- Group Supervisor David Voth managed Fast and Furious on a day-to-day basis and repeatedly stopped field agents from interdicting weapons headed to the border, according to congressional testimony. ATF boosted Voth to chief of the ATF Tobacco Division, where he now supervises more employees in Washington than he ever did in Phoenix.

An ATF spokesman in Washington says the key players did not receive promotions, but transfers.

Yeah...right...