Saturday, November 5, 2011
DOJ official knew of ATF "gunwalking" in April 2010
By Sharyl Attkisson
WASHINGTON - There is new information about how much the Department of Justice new about the controversial ATF tactic of letting guns "walk" into the hands of criminals.
Gunwalking is a controversial investigative tactic in which police allow suspects to traffic guns without stopping them in order to see where they end up. Documents just released this afternoon show the head of the Justice Department's criminal division, Lanny A. Breuer, learned about the tactic of ATF gunwalking as early as April of last year.
In a memo, Breuer's deputy wrote him that, in a case called "Wide Receiver" started under the Bush Administration, "ATF let a bunch of guns walk" in an effort to catch the big fish of Mexican drug cartels and said the gunwalking case could be "embarrassing" to ATF.
Today, Breuer issued a statement saying he "regrets" that he didn't alert others in Justice Department leadership, apparently including his boss Attorney General Eric Holder.
In a separate ATF case reported by CBS News earlier this year, called "Fast and Furious" and started under the Obama Administration, Breuer says he likewise regrets not alerting leaders about the similarities in the cases. That, said Breuer, was a mistake.
Republican Congressional investigators say this new information contradicts the Justice Department's original letter to them earlier this year insisting that gunwalking allegations were "false."
CBS NEWS
WASHINGTON - There is new information about how much the Department of Justice new about the controversial ATF tactic of letting guns "walk" into the hands of criminals.
Gunwalking is a controversial investigative tactic in which police allow suspects to traffic guns without stopping them in order to see where they end up. Documents just released this afternoon show the head of the Justice Department's criminal division, Lanny A. Breuer, learned about the tactic of ATF gunwalking as early as April of last year.
In a memo, Breuer's deputy wrote him that, in a case called "Wide Receiver" started under the Bush Administration, "ATF let a bunch of guns walk" in an effort to catch the big fish of Mexican drug cartels and said the gunwalking case could be "embarrassing" to ATF.
Today, Breuer issued a statement saying he "regrets" that he didn't alert others in Justice Department leadership, apparently including his boss Attorney General Eric Holder.
In a separate ATF case reported by CBS News earlier this year, called "Fast and Furious" and started under the Obama Administration, Breuer says he likewise regrets not alerting leaders about the similarities in the cases. That, said Breuer, was a mistake.
Republican Congressional investigators say this new information contradicts the Justice Department's original letter to them earlier this year insisting that gunwalking allegations were "false."
CBS NEWS
Thursday, November 3, 2011
ATF legal counsel had "moral objections" to gunwalking
By Sharyl Attkisson
WASHINGTON - An ATF attorney raised "moral objections" to a plan to provide criminals with firearms "to be released into the community, and possibly into Mexico, without any further ability by the U.S. Government to control their movement or future use." That's according to a memo written to the U.S. Attorney in Arizona in July of 2006. Yet ATF went ahead with the so-called "gunwalking," in its operation "Wide Receiver," and later in "Fast and Furious" and numerous other cases.truncate
Gunwalking refers to a controversial investigative tactic allowing guns to be sold to suspected traffickers to see where they'd end up, and try to take down a "big fish" in a drug cartel. As CBS News reported last March, Wide Receiver let hundreds of weapons "walk" in 2006 and 2007, prior to inception of the larger Fast and Furious operation in 2009 and 2010.
The 2006 memo citing "moral objections" from ATF's legal counsel is among more than 600 pages of subpoenaed documents turned over this week to Congressional investigators. The memo asks then-U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton to weigh in on the gunwalking proposal. Charlton told CBS News he has no memory of the memo but "I don't believe I would have or ever did approve letting guns walk." He says his Assistant U.S. Attorney on the case at the time recently assured him the memo was disapproved.
"It's almost an I.Q. test," Charlton told CBS News, meaning nobody would approve the "preposterous" idea as outlined in the memo. But he notes, "Somebody did it (gunwalking) anyway, in disregard of what was disallowed, and repeated it again in Fast and Furious."
Phoenix ATF Special Agent in Charge Bill Newell oversaw both gunwalking operations. Newell was named to head the Phoenix office in June 2006. One month later came the memo seeking approval for the gunwalking. At a January press conference, Newell was asked if guns were allowed to walk in Fast and Furious, and he replied "hell, no." That answer was soon revealed as false, and Newell was transferred to ATF headquarters.
In a strange twist, former U.S. Attorney Charlton, now in private practice, represents the family of a murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Guns from Fast and Furious were found at Terry's murder scene. Because of publicity surrounding Charlton's connection to a previous gunwalking case, he's stepping aside as lead attorney for the Terry's, and handing that role to a partner.
Bill Newell, special agent in charge of ATF Phoenix
(Credit: AP Photo/Matt York)Gunwalking refers to a controversial investigative tactic allowing guns to be sold to suspected traffickers to see where they'd end up, and try to take down a "big fish" in a drug cartel. As CBS News reported last March, Wide Receiver let hundreds of weapons "walk" in 2006 and 2007, prior to inception of the larger Fast and Furious operation in 2009 and 2010.
The 2006 memo citing "moral objections" from ATF's legal counsel is among more than 600 pages of subpoenaed documents turned over this week to Congressional investigators. The memo asks then-U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton to weigh in on the gunwalking proposal. Charlton told CBS News he has no memory of the memo but "I don't believe I would have or ever did approve letting guns walk." He says his Assistant U.S. Attorney on the case at the time recently assured him the memo was disapproved.
"It's almost an I.Q. test," Charlton told CBS News, meaning nobody would approve the "preposterous" idea as outlined in the memo. But he notes, "Somebody did it (gunwalking) anyway, in disregard of what was disallowed, and repeated it again in Fast and Furious."
Phoenix ATF Special Agent in Charge Bill Newell oversaw both gunwalking operations. Newell was named to head the Phoenix office in June 2006. One month later came the memo seeking approval for the gunwalking. At a January press conference, Newell was asked if guns were allowed to walk in Fast and Furious, and he replied "hell, no." That answer was soon revealed as false, and Newell was transferred to ATF headquarters.
In a strange twist, former U.S. Attorney Charlton, now in private practice, represents the family of a murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Guns from Fast and Furious were found at Terry's murder scene. Because of publicity surrounding Charlton's connection to a previous gunwalking case, he's stepping aside as lead attorney for the Terry's, and handing that role to a partner.
Justice Dept. official grilled over “Fast and Furious”
Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer asserted he had no prior knowledge of the botched “Fast and Furious” gun walking operation, but said he regrets that he did not connect the dots. (Getty Images)
By JORDAN FABIAN
Channel: Politics
Lanny Breuer, the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, faced congressional scrutiny Tuesday after confessing that he knew of the government’s use of a controversial “gun walking” tactic in weapons investigations, but failed to warn other officials about it.
Breuer issued a statement late Monday acknowledging he was briefed in April 2010 about the use of “gun walking” in an operation titled “Wide Receiver” that began in 2006 under the Bush administration.
But Sen. Charles Grassley (Iowa), the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, grilled Breuer at a subcommittee hearing about his knowledge of the ”Fast and Furious” gun walking operation that began under President Obama’s administration, and has sparked multiple investigations. Breuer said he was not briefed on “Fast and Furious” and that he only heard about it once it was made public.
“You said that when you first learned about gun walking and ‘Wide Receiver,’ you instructed one of your deputies to schedule a meeting with the ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] acting director to ‘bring these issues to our attention.’ When you first learned about gun walking and ‘Fast and Furious,’ did you do the same thing, and if not, why?” asked the Iowa senator.
“I did not, Senator, and that’s what I regret,” answered Breuer.
Asked what prompted him to make a connection between his previous knowledge of gun walking and “Fast and Furious,” Breuer said, “As I was involved in this exercise and as all of this came to light, I - in thinking about it - realized that I should have, back in April of 2010, drawn that connection. I have expressed that regret, first personally to the attorney general of the United States, then I determined I should do it publicly as well.”
Breuer’s admission is the first time that a top Justice Department official acknowledged that the government made errors when dealing with “gun walking” tactics. But that’s not likely to stop scrutiny over Justice officials.
The New York Times writes:
Republican lawmakers leading the investigation, Representative Darrell Issa of California and Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, have been scrutinizing Mr. Breuer because his office signed off on wiretap applications for the Fast and Furious case, although the department has said Mr. Breuer did not know the details of the tactics A.T.F. agents were using.Even though he expressed his “regret” for not notifying top Justice officials, he also placed blame on the ATF, according to The Hill newspaper.
“At the time, I thought that dealing with the leadership of ATF was sufficient and reasonable … If I had known then what I know now, I, of course, would have told the deputy and the attorney general,” he said. “I thought we had dealt with it by talking to the ATF leadership.”
Under both “Wide Receiver” and “Fast and Furious” ATF agents allowed members of Mexican drug cartels to purchase guns from dealers in Arizona with the intention of tracking the weapons as they made their way back over the border.
But hundreds of guns went missing, and two guns involved in “Fast and Furious” were found at the scene of the killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December, prompting an outcry from public officials.
Attorney General Eric Holder will face added scrutiny when he testifies before a Senate panel on Nov. 8, then before a House committee on Dec. 8. Over two dozen Republican lawmakers have called for his resignation.
For his part, Breuer expressed remorse over Terry’s death and said his intention has always been to fight cartels tooth and nail.
“From the very beginning of my time as the Assistant Attorney General, I became very committed to doing everything we could to fighting the drug cartels and doing what we can to stop what they are doing,” he said. “In that vain, we offered assistance [to law enforcement at the Southwest border.
El Paso County Sheriff's Office did not know operation was part of 'Fast and Furious'
By Hayley Kappes / El Paso Times
Sheriff Richard Wiles reiterated on Tuesday that his office was asked to assist with surveillance by the DEA, but that they did not know the operation was a part of "Fast and Furious" until months later.
Wiles talked about the issue this morning during a press conference regarding grants the agency recently received.
In regard to the federal "Fast and Furious" operation, Wiles said the sheriff's office had assisted in surveillance of a suspect targeted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms once for 6 hours in March 2010. It was not for six to eight months, he said.
Sheriff Richard Wiles reiterated on Tuesday that his office was asked to assist with surveillance by the DEA, but that they did not know the operation was a part of "Fast and Furious" until months later.
Wiles talked about the issue this morning during a press conference regarding grants the agency recently received.
In regard to the federal "Fast and Furious" operation, Wiles said the sheriff's office had assisted in surveillance of a suspect targeted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms once for 6 hours in March 2010. It was not for six to eight months, he said.
John Cornyn says probe into Texas-style Fast and Furious heating up
Sen. John Cornyn (AP photo)
Congressional investigators, led by House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Senate Judiciary Committee senior Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, are looking through more than 650 pages of documents the Justice Department handed over Monday.
Asked about whether Texas Department of Public Safety officials might have had a role in a Texas-based scheme, Cornyn responded he wasn’t aware of any such involvement.
“But we certainly continue to dig through the information,” the San Antonio Republicn told reporters Wednesday in a conference call.
Cornyn, a Senate Judiciary Committee member, also said he planned to ask Attorney General Eric Holder “specific questions about a Texas connection” to Fast and Furious when the Justice Department chief testifies before the panel next week.
In Fast and Furious, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents in Phoenix were instructed to trail illegally purchased firearms so agents could build a case against Mexican drug cartels, a tactic known as “gun-walking.” Two of the 1,400 guns agents lost track of later turned up at the scene of the December 2010 murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
Cornyn has accused Holder of ignoring his inquiries about whether ATF agents in Texas conducted investigations similar to Fast and Furious. Late last month Cornyn asked Issa and Grassley to investigate whether a Texas operation, if it existed, led to the murder of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jaime Zapata on Feb. 15.
One of the guns used in the Zapata murder was traced by ATF to a purchase in the Dallas area by Otilio Osorio, who was arrested earlier this year with his brother, Ranferi, and a neighbor, Kelvin Leon Morrison, on charges of trafficking guns to Mexico.
Issa and Grassley have asked Holder to provide them with information on when ATF became aware of the Osorio brothers’ smuggling operation and whether agents had them under observation when Otilio Osorio purchased the weapon used in the Zapata murder.
Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas (official photo)
“As more evidence unfolds about this reckless and ill-conceived operation, the American people have lost confidence in the Justice Department to investigate itself,” Poe said.
The Justice Department Inspector General’s office is conducting an investigation of Fast and Furious. No date has been set for release of its results.
Holder told the House Judiciary Committee in May he found out about Fast and Furious a few weeks earlier. Congressional investigators then released internal memos describing the operation by name that were sent to Holder in July 2010.
Holder has defended his testimony as truthful, saying staffers who read the memos didn’t alert him “because the information presented in the reports did not suggest a problem.”
On Tuesday Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s criminal division, told Congress he found out in April 2010 about “gun walking” that occurred under the administration of President George W. Bush in Operation Wide Receiver, another Phoenix-based program, in 2006 and 2007.
Breuer told the Senate Judiciary Committee he didn’t find out guns were being trailed in Fast and Furious until the public controversy started earlier this year. He also said he regretted not telling Holder or the deputy attorney general about gun-walking in Wide Receiver after he found out about it.
“I did not do that, and I regret not doing that,” Breuer said.
Breuer added, “I thought we had dealt with it by talking to the ATF leadership.”
Issa and Grassley are investigating Fast and Furious to figure out who in the Justice Department knew about the authorization and who signed off on it.
Texas On The Potomac
Stewart Powell of the Houston Chronicle Washington bureau contributed to this report.
puneet.kollipara@chron.com
twitter/pkollipara
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Video Of Today's Senate Judiciary Hearing
In this video you will see testimony from Justice Departments Attorney Lanny Bruer and Diane Feinstein claims lax gun laws are to blame for gun running into Mexico.
Lanny Bruer plays to her rhetoric and lies in order to carry out the Obama administrations mission for more gun control in the United States.
Grassley Questions Justice Department Criminal Division Head on Fast and Furious
Prepared Statement of Ranking Member Chuck Grassley
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism
“Combating International Organized Crime: Evaluating Current
Authorities, Tools and Resources”
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Yesterday Assistant Attorney General Breuer made a public statement regarding an ATF case known as Operation Wide Receiver. In the statement, he said:
“When the allegations related to Operation Fast and Furious became public earlier this year, the leadership of ATF and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona repeatedly assured individuals in the Criminal Division and the leadership of the Department of Justice that those allegations were not true.”
The Justice Department officially assured me that the allegations were not true. On February 4, 2011, the Department sent me a letter that read: “ATF makes every effort to interdict weapons that have been purchased illegally and prevent their transportation to Mexico.” However, as Mr. Breuer’s admissions in yesterday’s statement made clear, the Department’s claim was not true.
According to documents received last night, Mr. Breuer's deputy asked the most basic question of Wide Receiver that anyone should have known to ask of Fast and Furious upon becoming aware of the number of guns involved: “[D]id ATF allow the guns to walk, or did ATF learn about the volume of guns after the FFL began cooperating?” In Operation Wide Receiver, around 300 guns were walked by ATF. In Fast and Furious, just 5 of the straw buyers were allowed to purchase nearly 1000 guns while an FFL was cooperating, while being watched by ATF, while their phone calls were being monitored by a wiretap approved by Justice Department headquarters, and while a prosecutor from headquarters was assigned to the case.
The headquarters prosecutor was assigned to Fast and Furious because of an email that ATF Director Ken Melson sent Mr. Breuer in December 2009. Director Melson requested an attorney to work with ATF Phoenix Field Office on a case. Mr. Breuer said it was a “terrific idea” and assigned someone from the Gang Unit by March 2010.
That same month, Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler—now the Attorney General’s Chief of Staff—was being briefed in person on investigative details of Fast and Furious. The briefing included a very detailed PowerPoint presentation from ATF, and Mr. Grindler made a number of hand-written notes on a print-out of the PowerPoint. The PowerPoint included such details as the fact that by March 12, one straw buyer had already bought as many guns as were ever walked in Wide Receiver. The PowerPoint also included a map of where in Mexico guns were being recovered and the amount of money each straw buyer had spent on the gun purchases, most in the tens of thousands of dollars, along with a note from Mr. Grindler saying “all cash.”
The American people—and especially the family of murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry—deserve answers from the Justice Department about why they claim they didn’t know gunwalking was occurring in Operation Fast and Furious when the department’s fingerprints are all over it.
“Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice” November 8, 2011
Senate Judiciary Committee
Full Committee
Full Committee
DATE: November 8, 2011
TIME: 10:00 AM
TIME: 10:00 AM
ROOM: Dirksen 226
OFFICIAL HEARING NOTICE / WITNESS LIST:
NOTICE OF COMMITTEE HEARING
The Senate Committee on the Judiciary has scheduled a hearing entitled “Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice” for Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
By order of the Chairman.
Witness List
Hearing before the
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
On
“Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice”
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 226
10:00 a.m.
The Honorable Eric H. Holder Jr.
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
Washington, DC
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Holder to answer questions about gun running operation
The Senate appearance will come a month before Holder is set to face questions before a Republican-led panel.
Some Republicans have called for Holder's resignation because of the gun smuggling operation which allegedly lost track of thousands of guns intended to prove that the Mexican cartels were getting weapons from the United States. Two of the weapons turned up at the scene of the shooting death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in December.
Holder's Senate appearance was announced Monday by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
Holder has described the operation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms as flawed and against Justice Department policies.
ABC NEWS
Monday, October 31, 2011
NRA calls for Holder’s resignation — and urges you to do the same
By Tina Korbe
Attorney General Eric Holder’s part in the Fast and Furious scandal that intentionally funneled U.S. firearms to Mexican drug cartels has been narrowed down to either (a) a lethally irresponsible knowledge (and presumed authorization) of the program or (b) a lethally irresponsible ignorance of the program. Either way, the president has precious little factual support for his undimmed confidence in his AG — and politicians and outside organizations are calling him on it.The number of congressional representatives to call for Holder’s resignation, for example, has grown to 17. Newly in that group: Reps. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), Allen West (R-Fla.), Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.), Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.), Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and Dennis Ross (R-Fla.).
Now, add the National Rifle Association to the list of those clamoring for Holder to exit. The NRA has launched an ad campaign to urge the American people to pick up the phone, call the president and demand that he “hold Holder accountable.” The ad is a concise summation of the scandal that, somehow, has still yet to reach the eyes and ears of many in the lefty media (and, consequently, to reach the minds of those who consume mostly left-leaning media):
So far, Holder has hewn to the line that his congressional testimony of May 3 (referenced in the NRA video — and suspiciously confusing) was “truthful and accurate.” But he only spoke up to defend himself on that front because one outspoken congressman, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), said any in the administration who knew of and accepted the program could potentially be an accessory to murder. Otherwise, the DOJ pattern from Holder down has been to stonewall the Congressional investigation of F&F.
The AG testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee next Tuesday, though, so we’ll see if he answers any questions convincingly then. It’s too much to hope he’ll inadvertently assume responsibility for either the program itself or his general incompetence, but no doubt that’ll be what Sen. Chuck Grassley will be gunning for.
One last reminder: NRA has a stake in this because the general plan of the program suggests it might have been politically motivated to “prove” that legally purchased weapons yet cross the border and do harm. As always, I hate to believe that, but have to admit it as a plausible possibility.
Update: Another new tidbit of information about Fast and Furious, via CBS reporter Sharyl Atkisson. Apparently, Lanny Breuer, head of the criminal division of the DOJ, definitely knew that the ATF had employed the gunwalking strategy during “Operation Wide Receiver,” a program started under the Bush administration. Why does that matter? Atkisson explains:
Today, Breuer issued a statement saying he “regrets” that he didn’t alert others in Justice Department leadership, apparently including his boss Attorney General Eric Holder.
In a separate ATF case reported by CBS News earlier this year, called “Fast and Furious” and started under the Obama Administration, Breuer says he likewise regrets not alerting leaders about the similarities in the cases. That, said Breuer, was a mistake.
Republican Congressional investigators say this new information contradicts the Justice Department’s original letter to them earlier this year insisting that gunwalking allegations were “false.”
Hot Air
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Sharyl Attkisson, CBS News Investigative Reporter and recent CUATF.org "Hall of Fame" Inductee
Sharyl Attkisson, CBS News Investigative Reporter and recent CUATF.org "Hall of Fame" Inductee on the October 6th, 2011 "O'Reilly Factor" discussing recent developments in her outstanding coverage of the "Fast & Furious" scandal, etc.
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