Freepers are obsessed with "Fast & Furious" ATF operation...

[scheming daemons]

saying it will lead to impeachment of Obama.


It's the new birtherism.

[RandomKoolzip]

1. Huh?

Is there a link somewhere? Never heard of this.

[scheming daemons]

3. It is where ATF gave guns to Mexican drug cartels in order to "track them"

Backfired badly.


It's the only thing Rush Limbaugh is talking about today.

[spin]

16. Yes. Here's several from CBS news.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/03/eveningnews/main20039031.shtml

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3NPuSmrWCg

http://www.cbsnews.com/8300-31727_162-10391695.html?keyword=Fast+and+Furious

[SpiralHawk]

2. Huh? Wha?

No capiche...

Is this one of those Freeper CrytoWanks? Or is the OP in fact really truly about something?

[scheming daemons]

5. ATF operation to track guns by giving them to MExican drug lords...

...backfired badly.

[MicaelS]

8. It's a real scandal, Holder might be forced to resign...

Fast and Furious aka "Gunwalker". CBS News has been on the story since it broke. Basically what happened was that the ATF allowed mass sales of guns from US border states gun dealers to people the ATF knew would be importing them illegally to Mexico. The ATF then wanted to "trace" them to drug cartels, and somehow "bust" them. And one of those guns ended up killing a US Border Patrol Agent.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7358389n&tag=mncol;lst;10

[SpiralHawk]

12. Holder would not be a loss

As AG he has been a true disappointment, letting the RepubliCons slide again and again, while sending the Heavy Artillary out to bust the state-legal medical marijuana dispensaries for people who are sick and dying.

My wife died of cancer 10 years ago. She never smoked marijuana, but when she was so desperately sick and suffering the side effects of chemo and radiation, her girlfriends brought her some. Our eyes were opened as the pot made a huge difference in her ability to withstand the horrors of cancer and the so-called 'therapies' for it. I learned something important then, and I think Holder has been a complete ass making sick people suffer more...while letting the real criminals (R) have a free pass.

[MicaelS]

13. I'm sorry for your loss...

And I agree with you on Holder's poor showing. And I think cannabis should be completely legal. Regulate it, tax it, allow people to grown small amounts for their own use. That more than anything would help reduce violence, the drug cartels and calls for gun control. .

[buddysmellgood]

4. It's a legitimate scandal, but they are wetting themselves thinking

it will bring down the administration. Hopefully it will lead to the FBI absorbing ATF and we can get some serious gun law enforcement.

[MrDiaz]

11. More gun control. REALLY?

It seems to me that the laws on the books work fine. The ATF screwed this up not the everyday gun owner. They literally allowed the mexican drug cartels to get weapons from our country with no consequence. The whole thing seems fishy to me. Especially when the mexican president said that the violence over there is our fault for not having stricter gun control.

[buddysmellgood]

23. Ha! What a joke. We have virtually no gun control. My brother

was shot in the head by a guy who was legally blind. Don't tell me we have gun control. The NRA will not stop until it can force guns on everyone.

[aquart]

6. But WE didn't impeach Bush.

Which is still unforgivable.

[Liberal Veteran]

7. Did the Freepers finally get tired of swimming in their own poo?

[banned from Kos]

9. I thought this ridiculous ATF program began in 2008

My memory is pretty damn good - but I wouldn't bet this time.

If so, Obama/Holder have nothing to be concerned about.

[slackmaster]

18. That is true, but it continued well into the Obama administration

It should have been stopped a long time ago.

[Skip_In_Boulder]

10. Freepers always have to be obsessed with something

It's all they have. They never have any real issues.

[X_Digger]

14. Well, Melson (Acting Director) looks to be covered in poo

Melson had a feed into the hidden cameras planted in gun stores on his office computer. Dealers wanted to turn down the sales, but the ATF strong-armed them.

And there's indication that *some* DOJ officials knew / signed off on warrants for wiretaps. Now it's just a question of whether Melson will fall on his sword, or will he 'name names' at the DOJ.

[MicaelS]

17. I think Holder tried to throw Melson under the bus, but...

He wouldn't go. http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/07/atf-chief-testifies-before-congress-in-secret-over-controversial-gun-program.html

The acting head of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Fire Arms agency, facing scrutiny over a controversial gun program across the U.S. - Mexico border linked to the death of a Border Patrol agent last year, appeared secretly before Congressional investigators on July 4 with his own private attorney, rather than lawyers from the Justice Department.

According to sources close to the investigation, ATF Acting Direction Ken Melson had previously wanted to testify before the oversight committees but Justice Department officials sought to delay his testimony.

According to a letter sent to Attorney General Eric Holder by Rep Darrel Issa, R-CA and Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who have been investigating the Fast and Furious program, Melson expressed dismay during testimony over how the operation was run and that “he was sick to his stomach” when he reviewed internal documents.” The letter also notes that Melson’s testimony corroborated information indicating that DEA and FBI may have had a role in the operation.

In the July 5,2011 letter lawmakers who were once very critical of Melson and his tenure at ATF, have since changed their tune and are now urging the Attorney General to ensure Melson is being treated fairly – even suggesting that action against Melson by the Justice Deparmtment could have the effect of “intimidating others who might want to provide additional information to the committees.”

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/alcohol-tobacco-firearms-chief-ken-melson-clean-atf/story?id=14009585

Melson testified that he and top management at ATF moved to reassign supervisors working on Fast and Furious and that officials at DOJ allegedly tried to prevent ATF from notifying the oversight committees about the full nature of the management moves. The letter sent to Holder notes, "If his account is accurate, then ATF leadership appears to have been effectively muzzled while the DOJ sent over false denials and buried its head in the sand. That approach distorted the truth and obstructed our investigation. The Department's inability or unwillingness to be more forthcoming served to conceal critical information that we are now learning about the involvement of other agencies, including the DEA and the FBI."

The letter further notes on that issue, " said that ATF was kept in the dark about certain activities of other agencies, including DEA and FBI. Mr. Melson said that he learned from ATF agents in the field that information obtained by these agencies could have had a material impact on the Fast and Furious investigation as far back as late 2009 or early 2010."

"The evidence we have gathered raises the disturbing possibility that the Justice Department not only allowed criminals to smuggle weapons but that taxpayer dollars from other agencies may have financed those engaging in such activities," Issa and Grassley noted.

According to the letter based on Melson's testimony Justice Department officials in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General (ODAG) have not been forthcoming with the congressional investigation. "Mr. Melson provided documents months ago supporting his concerns to the official in the ODAG responsible for document production to the Committees, but those documents have not been provided to us."

[spin]

15. It may not lead to the impeachment of Obama but it is a very important story ...

that keeps growing.

ATF chief says his agency kept 'in the dark' about gun-trafficking operation
POSTED: Wednesday, Jul. 06, 2011

WASHINGTON The embattled head of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has told congressional investigators that the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration had kept his agency "in the dark" about their dealings with Mexican drug cartel figures linked to a controversial gun-trafficking investigation.

Kenneth Melson, the ATF's acting director, has been under pressure to resign over the agency's handling of the gun-trafficking operation, known as Fast and Furious. But in two days of meetings with congressional investigators, Melson disclosed that other law enforcement agencies had a connection to the operation. His statements sharply ratcheted up the affair, and strongly suggested that House and Senate investigations, as well as an internal review by the Justice Department, will widen.

"Our investigation has clearly expanded," one source close to the congressional investigation said Wednesday. "We know now it was not something limited to just a small group of ATF agents in Arizona."

***snip***

"The evidence we have gathered raises the disturbing possibility that the Justice Department not only allowed criminals to smuggle weapons but that taxpayer dollars from other agencies may have financed those engaging in such activities," they said in their letter to Holder.

Read more: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/07/06/2091356/atf-chief-says-his-agency-kept.html#ixzz1RSLCT0sl

R

[librechik]

19. ha--I was just going to say they must think they can get Obama, then

what fucking jerks

[ProgressiveProfessor]

20. It already is being a high profile problem. I am thinking that Holder will take the fall for it

It is impacting relations with Mexico and makes any additional gun control in that area laughable. It also destroys the meme that private US gun sales are hurting Mexico

[madinmaryland]

21. They are obsessed because Insannity spent his show babbling on about it.

(I was stuck in a vehicle that had it on) It was actually pretty pathetic listening to him try and compare it to Watergate.

[Fuzz]

22. Murdoch knows nothing about phone tapping, Obama knows about what the ATF does and probably approved

this operation personally.

Things you have to believe to be a freeper.

[tuckessee]

24. Good for them. Someone should be obsessed with it.

Who knows how many Mexicans were killed because of the BATF and Eric Holder.

As a result of Fast & Furious, the BATF should be smashed into a million pieces and never reconstituted and the responsible parties (including Holder) should be turned over to Mexico for prosecution.