Obama talks Gunwalker, ATF will have to cough up documents

[TPaine7]

WASHINGTON - Today at his news conference, President Obama was asked about the unfolding gunwalker scandal, and whether ATF leadership will be replaced.

Mr. Obama answered, "My attorney general has made clear that he certainly would not have ordered gun running to be able to pass through into Mexico. ... I'm not going to comment on -- a on a current investigation. I've made very clear my views that that would not be an appropriate step by the ATF, and we've got to find out how that happened."

Project Gunrunner scandal uncovered at ATF

Mr. Obama added, "As soon as the investigation is completed, I think appropriate actions will be taken."

This week, the Senate confirmed three Obama-nominated Justice Department officials in a deal that will give Congressional investigators access to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms documents that have been withheld for months. The bigger part of the deal, however, is that ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson will provide a "transcribed interview" to Republican and Democratic investigators in mid-July.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20075484-10391695.html


Sunshine is an excellent disinfectant. May the appropriate heads roll.

[Glassunion]

1. This is all a GOP/NRA plot

to cover up US Gun Dealers and Guns shows supplying arms to Mexican Cartels...

[TPaine7]

2. Apparently they have Obama in their pocket, too. All is lost! *wails in despair* n/t

[ProgressiveProfessor]

4. Any other false memes to spread?

[Glassunion]

7. If you keep touching it, you'll go blind.

[spin]

3. Both gun owners and those who oppose gun ownership ...

should be furious at this total failure of the ATF to do their job.

These weapons (possibly as many as 2500) will end up in criminal hands and will be misused. Allowing these firearms to "walk" will result in innocent people seriously injured or killed in Mexico and also possibly in the United States. The death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry has been linked to one of these weapons.

I can't fault the ATF agents in the field. Upper management is responsible for this fiasco.

Agent: I was ordered to let U.S. guns into Mexico
March 3, 2011 6:10 PM

***snip***

Senior agents including Dodson told CBS News they confronted their supervisors over and over.

Their answer, according to Dodson, was, "If you're going to make an omelette, you've got to break some eggs."

There was so much opposition to the gun walking, that an ATF supervisor issued an e-mail noting a "schism" among the agents. "Whether you care or not people of rank and authority at HQ are paying close attention to this case...we are doing what they envisioned.... If you don't think this is fun you're in the wrong line of work... Maybe the Maricopa County jail is hiring detention officers and you can get $30,000 ... to serve lunch to inmates..."

"We just knew it wasn't going to end well. There's just no way it could," Dodson said.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/03/eveningnews/main20039031.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody

There's a big difference between breaking eggs to make an omelet and allowing people to be killed to track the flow smuggled firearms. The end does not justify the means.

What really bothers me is the reaction from the groups who favor strong gun control such as the Brady Campaign and also the response by the NRA.

In The ATF “Fast And Furious” Controversy, Congress Needs To Question Its Own Behavior
» by Paul Helmke on June 29th, 2011 Permalink

If California Rep. Darrell Issa and other congressional members who are in lock-step with the NRA bosses want to get to the bottom of the ATF gun trafficking operation, they need to start looking at their own actions and lack of action. By blocking and loosening laws to prevent gun violence they, too, are culpable in ATF’s “Fast and Furious” apparent debacle.

This poorly executed operation had agents skulking around gun shops to watch and possibly document numerous illegal firearms sales in Arizona. The unstopped gun runners then resold about 2,000 assault weapons to violent Mexican drug cartels. Further tragedy unfolded when two of the guns were found at the murder scene of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December 2010.

***snip***

So rather than look at their complicity in the ATF’s record in stopping gun trafficking, predictably, Congress’ probe has narrowed to make the acting FBI Director Kenneth Melson the primary target. He’s being pressured to resign for not properly managing the operation. But many federal officials, including Rep. Issa, are not doing their part to end the lawlessness along the border and in our communities.

***snip***

It is time for Washington’s politicians to look out for average people who do not deserve to have unethical gun dealers – and the gun lobby that shields them — pushing illegal guns into their neighborhoods.
http://blog.bradycampaign.org/?p=3419

The NRA has this to say.

National Campaign to Fire Attorney General Eric Holder




That one statement from our nation's top law-enforcement official proves that Attorney General Holder is either covering up for Obama, his failed gun control schemes and the crimes committed, or he's incompetent.

Either way, he can't be trusted with the powers of Attorney General, the law enforcement agencies he commands, the sanctity of the Second Amendment, or the lives of Federal agents.

That's why NRA is launching a nationwide campaign to gather hundreds of thousands of signatures on this Petition to Fire Eric Holder, one of the chief architects of Obama's gun ban agenda.
https://www.nra.org/fireholder/

Rather than supporting efforts to find out why the ATF management failed to do their job, Paul Helmke wants to blame Congress for not implementing more gun laws that the ATF might simply ignore. Rather than waiting for the results of an investigation the NRA wants to get rid of Eric Holder right now.


The biggest problem we face in our nation is the inability of rational people who disagree on issues to work together to reach solutions. The fight over the ATF Fast and Furious operation is a good illustration.

First we need to enforce existing laws and then to improve them to be more effective.

If both the NRA and the gun control groups such as the Brady Campaign would sit down with Congress, we might well come up with improved laws that would curtail gun smuggling and the straw purchase of firearms. We should also end up with better management for the ATF. The rights of honest gun owners could be preserved.

But it looks like the NRA and the Brady Campaign will chose to fight like the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns in a playoff game. It will be entertaining but will accomplish nothing.

[Tejas]

5. Umm...Helmke...ATF, not FBI.

"Congress’ probe has narrowed to make the acting FBI Director Kenneth Melson the primary target."


:)

[spin]

9. Good catch. (n/t)

[S_B_Jackson]

6. The ATF's response to the Congressional inquiry isn't the problem, the DOJ's stonewalling IS!

Yes, sunshine is an excellent disinfectant - so why is our President (and his administration) providing cover for the Justice Department's failure to comply with valid oversight requests by Congress?

ATF wasn't operating in a vacuum, and there were some rather serious higher-ups in the DOJ who knew and participated in the dog's breakfast that is know as "Operation Fast and Furious". Heads do need to roll, and Eric Holder's is chief among them.

[Lurks Often]

8. What is the administration thinking?

Do they really think they can stall this investigation past the next election?

I really can't imagine being able to stall this for the next 16 months and the closer the it gets to the 2012 elections, the worse the fall out is going to be.