So now we learn that two departments, under the Justice Department, are tied together in the “Fast and Furious” gun running scandal that walked guns across the border and into the hands of Mexican drug cartel members. Of course Attorney General Eric Holder knew about this scam and I believe he lied under oath while testifying before Congress.
It looks like the D.E.A. doesn’t want to be the fall guy so they are confessing to being involved in the gun-trafficking scheme.
The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration has acknowledged to congressional investigators that her agency provided a supporting role in the ill-fated Operation Fast and Furious run by the group’s counterparts at the ATF.Michele M. Leonhart, the DEA administrator, said DEA agents primarily helped gather evidence in cases in Phoenix and El Paso, and in the program’s single indictment last January that netted just 20 defendants for illegal gun-trafficking.
The development marks the first time another law enforcement agency has said it also worked on Fast and Furious cases other than the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is under two investigations into why it allowed at least 2,000 firearms to be illegally purchased and then lost track of the guns’ whereabouts.
Nearly 200 of the weapons showed up at crime scenes in Mexico, and two semi-automatics were recovered after a U.S. Border Patrol agent was slain south of Tucson.
Leonhart made the acknowledgement in a letter to Rep.Darrell Issa (R-Vista), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the senior GOP member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. A copy of the letter was obtained Friday by The Times.
Leonhart wrote that her agents in Phoenix and El Paso were “indirectly involved in the ATF operation through DEA-associated activity. “
She added, “the DEA El Paso Division responded to a duty call in March 2010 from ATF for assistance in conducting an ongoing surveillance operation in the El Paso area as part of Operation Fast and Furious.”
But she said her agents in Phoenix “had the most notable associated investigative activity, though DEA personnel had no decision-making role in any ATF operations.” That included helping obtain phone numbers and addresses, issuing subpoenas for informationon the phone subscribers, and paying linguist costs of $128,000 to help translate intercepted calls.
So two departments, under Attorney General Eric Holder’s authority, are involved in this gun trafficking scheme that killed a Border Patrol Agent and Holder wants us to believe he had no idea about the operation?
There is also questions about whether the F.B.I. is tied to this scandal. If the F.B.I. is tied to this scheme, the number of federal agencies, under DOJ control, comes to three (3). Yet, Attorney General Eric Holder testified he didn’t know about Operation Fast and Furious.
It should be noted that Holder openly bragged about this scheme while in Mexico and that the $800 billion stimulus put forth by the Democrats, and signed into law by Obama, paid for this illegal gun-trafficking scandal. This is happening in Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano’s back yard where she happened to be State Attorney General and Governor.
Your taxpayer dollars hard at work?
At least some bloggers can write. Thank you for this blog.