Will the ATF Gunwalker Scandal Take Down President Obama?

The Truth About Guns ^ | 2 February, 2011 | Brad Kozak

[marktwain]

Wow. Its déjà vù all over again. The Gunwalker scandal – in which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) stands accused of smuggling guns into Mexico, arming the drug runners that murdered Border Patrol Agent Terry – is one of those seemingly innocent little land mines that blows up big. Contemplating the chain of command that must have authorized this profoundly illegal program, considering the administration’s response to the growing scandal, the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention, and I’m taken back to the decade we called the 70s. Let’s take a closer look at this latter day potentially presidential scandal…

The ATF has long been an “also-ran” federal agency. As RF has pointed out on many occasions, their work overlaps that of the FBI, DEA, DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, state and local police and others. Since the ATF’s elevation to federal agency status (July 1, 1972), the ATF has been struggling to justify their existence.

When Mexican President Felipe Calderon took America to task [falsely] for arming the Mexican drug cartels, it was Christmas at the ATF. Finally, they had a reason to live. They secured a “mandate” (read: a fully-funded $160m budget) from the Obama administration to curb the so-called “Iron River” of guns flowing from the U.S. into Mexico. It was the first expansion of the ATF in decades.

Here’s the crux of the problem and the setup for the coverup: there IS no river of guns flowing into Mexico. While a few hundred firearms might cross America’s southern border on a annual basis, the Iron River is but a trickle. Not surprisingly, given the lack of a problem to solve and at least five federal agencies attempting to solve it, the ATF managed to apprehend only a few small time gun smugglers. And…that was it.

In November, The Inspector General issued a report condemning the ATF’s Project Gunrunner program in no uncertain terms. Specifically, the IG excoriated the ATF for bureaucratic inefficiency and failing to nab the gun-smuggling “kingpins.” Well duh. There ARE no kingpins.

The pressure for results increased dramatically. Like a gunfighter under pressure, the ATF turned to its core competency: entrapment. As TTAG has reported numerous times, the ATF has a long and ignoble history of using “sting” operations to catch illegal firearms purchasers. There were a few not-so-notable gun running busts, including an Arizona plumber.

As part of this Project Gunrunner effort, the ATF “allowed” straw purchases headed for Mexico to go through. This information first broke cover when a Houston gun dealer told the world that the ATF had green-lighted illegal rifle sales to [alleged] Mexican gun runners. In and of itself, the practice was both ineffective and reprehensible. If it could be proved that the ATF had actually put the buyers up for the deal, well, nothing. Again, quasi-legal ATF “stings” are background noise.

Only these authorized straw man purchases didn’t really work. Not on the scale that the IG and the ATF’s collective ego demanded. It’s a lot harder to sneak IN to Mexico than it is OUT of Mexico. (A one-way, revolving door. How nice.) And so the main accusation: ATF agents escorted said straw purchasers – and their “assault rifles” – across the Rio Grande and into Mexico.

When Agent Terry was killed by drug smugglers, the net was immediately abuzz with the possibility that he was shot with one of the weapons “eased” into Mexico by the ATF. At first, the notion seemed incredible. But it was soon clear that the feds went into full disaster containment mode over Agent Terry’s murder, giving credence to the rumors.

The intrepid Janet Napolitano, head honcho of Homeland Security and former Arizona Governor, raced to the scene of the crime. Since then it’s been radio silence. The FBI has refused to provide the names of the men arrested for Terry’s murder. They also put a lid on any and all other investigative findings. The Agency “declined” to honor a Freedom of Information Act request to provide information on the weapons found at the crime scene.

Meanwhile, the ATF has already decided on its defense, as illustrated by a story at usatoday.com

Bill Newell, ATF special agent in charge for Arizona, said the five separate cases, all part of Project Gunrunner, demonstrate the corruptive reach of Mexican cartels using straw buyers to acquire guns in Arizona for illegal shipment south.

Asked whether agents purposely allowed firearms to enter Mexico as part of an investigation, Newell answered, “Hell, no.” But, he said, suspects under surveillance sometimes elude agents, which could result in guns winding up in Mexico.

So it was an “accident.” Unless the ATF agents did, in fact, walk the guns into Mexico. In that case, there will be hell to pay.

Let’s pause for a moment and consider the implications. The ATF allowed perhaps even transported weapons into Mexico. Two of those weapons may have been used to murder a federal officer. If true, the head of the ATF knows this. The head of the FBI knows this. The head of the Department of Homeland Security knows this. Did anyone bother to tell the President of the United States? One can only assume so.

So what did President Obama know about Project Gunrunner’s criminal conspiracy to murder and when did he know it?

Enter Sen. Charles Grassley, who, By God, is Going To Get To The Bottom Of This. He’s written a letter to acting ATF head Kenneth Melson. Melson is stonewalling. Meanwhile, Grassley says the ATF has read the riot act to the ATF whistleblower who provided evidence of the connection between Project Gunrunner and Agent Terry’s murder.

The administration hasn’t come clean, and shows no inclination to do so. Their instinct is to circle the wagons, damn the torpedoes and stonewall, stonewall, stonewall. But all that stonewalling leads to wretched excesses, where one question ducked leads to a misinterpretation, never corrected, which festers and boils, until you have a real, honest-to God cover-up on your hands.

I don’t want to come across as a nattering nabob of negativism. I’m deeply skeptical of the idea that the President of the United States knew that the ATF was smuggling guns into Mexico – at least until this scandal broke. I think this was a bottom-up job. Clumsy? Yep. Criminal? Definitely. But Obama’s fault (other than failing to keep a watchful eye on the ATF)? Nope. However…

The cover-up is a genuine concern that could well be laid at the feet of the president. Ask yourself a couple of questions…Why did a cabinet-level chieftain fly down to personally oversee the…the…what, exactly? Investigation? Stonewalling? Cover-up? I dunno.

And nobody else outside of the Administration knows either. If the instructions came from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (and that’s a big IF, at this point), then Houston, we have a problem. If the White House ordered Napolitano to put a lid on this thing, that constitutes obstruction of justice. And that’s a big-time crime.

Now you’d think they’d know better. Something like this happens the first thing Obama should do is go on national TV and say something like “We don’t know what happened – yet. But we will. I am dispatching a team to the scene to get the facts. We will report on our findings every step along the way. And just like we had embedded reporters on the front lines of the war, we will embed reporters here, to make certain that there is no coverup.”

Case closed. Problem solved. The MSM gets their red meat. The damage is controlled, and limited to a black eye or a fat lip. Not a fatal wound. The way they’ve played it, we’ll have to wait and see who gets thrown under the campaign bus to prevent Obama from taking a Humpty-Dumpty-like fall from grace.

This is a really bad time for the Obama administration to have its focus diverted to matters of self-preservation. Egypt’s going up in flames. Obamacare’s been shot down in flames. The President is already facing an uphill climb for a second term. Is Obama fiddling while his administration burns?We shall see.

But as we watch the Gunwalker-gate events unfold in the Senate and on TV, remember that the Watergate scandal that destroyed a presidency started with a piece of duct tape on a door. And never forget that a brave border agent, a former Marine, may have died for the ATF’s sins.

[Conservative Vermont Vet]

Shirley, Brad, you jest?

Our Community Agitator in Least, aka, Dear Leader, could be caught on camera, at high noon, in front of the Capital, holding a 12 year old at gunpoint and having his way with her/him and the outcome would be?

A big yawn by the State-Run Media (who would "spike" it) and his sycophant base of Far Left Fellow-Traveling, useful idiots.

As we have seen, he continues to ignore the Constitution and has appointed similar-thinking Czars and Cabinet members who's primary objective is to DESTROY our Republic, no matter what!

The only way to get rid of the Messiah is vote him out and put me down on the Doubting Thomas side when it comes to that, thanks to "our" side (the RINO wusses in Congress) laying down with the "dogs" (Demo-Rats) and rolling over for Obozzo, rather than taking the fight to both.

[1Rowdy1]

Boy they will have some serious issues with living before long then huh.

Rowdy

[sergeantdave]

“Will the ATF Gunwalker Scandal Take Down President Obama?”

Bet it can. Cover-up the American people understand. Nixon/cover-up has been drummed into their heads by the MSM for 35 years.

[Jerrybob]

No government agency is more hated than the BATF and E. Especially among gun owners. Please take a minute and look at this:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2623044/posts

[Jerrybob]

DE-FUND!!!

[bcsco]

This is a ping list promoting Immigration Enforcement and Congressional Reform.
If you wish to be added or removed from this ping list, please contact me.

Whew! We're dug out. Too late yesterday (and too tired) to do a ping...

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[South Texas:]Truck driver glad he survived car chase, assault by Zeta gunmen

Arizona Sheriff Blasts Homeland Security Secretary

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Three Illegal Immigrants Accused in Death of U.S. Teen Moved to Arizona Jail

New Mexico Gov. Martinez Orders End to 'Sanctuary State' Policies

Undocumented Population in Texas Increasing

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Yes, Islamists Are Coming Through Mexico (Another Reason To Close The Border)

KY Immigration Proposal Worries Industry

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Mexican Nationals Plead Guilty To Carjacking

“The Perils of Diversity”

Mass student arrested for alleged e-mail threat (FL-GOP Rep family threatened for immigration)

Baby sitter convicted in burn case

Violence in Northern Tamaulipas continues(Matamoros, Mexico)

Asylum sought for 3-year-old victim of Mexico violence

[South Texas:]FBI Monitoring The Disappearance of Five Americans

Gang gunbattles, street blockades in Mexico

Media begins noticing ‘Project Gunwalker’

Washington Post ‘Project Gunwalker’ piece lets key claim go unchallenged

Senator Calls ATF on Allegations Agency Is Allowing Guns Into Mexico

Border Fence Fund Bill Passes Senate Committee

Bush Worried America Becoming 'Nativist' [and protectionist and isolationist]

A journalist's guide to 'Project Gunwalker'

Radical Muslim Cleric Slips into U.S. Through Mexoco

[bitt]

mark

[texson66]

Remember the comedian who thought “ATF” was a convenience store chain?

[sport]

It won’t hurt obama, the main stream media won’t report it. Bush it would have. The main stream media will cover for obama.

[Blue Collar Christian]

[Nixon/cover-up has been drummed into their heads by the MSM for 35 years.]

That same MSM will not beat the drum against the left. Ever.

[sergeantdave]

“That same MSM will not beat the drum against the left. Ever.”

Doesn’t matter. The bell has been rung. Cover-up = crime, in the minds of Americans.

[zeugma]

Will the ATF Gunwalker Scandal Take Down President Obama?

No. You would need for him to pull out a full-auto weapon and spray the chambers during a joint session of congresscritters for the left to start thinking he might not be up to the job. Even then, they'd probably excuse him and blame the weapon.

[redgolum]

For later.

[Mr Rogers]

“Will the ATF Gunwalker Scandal Take Down President Obama?”

Is “ATF Gunwalker Scandal” a synonym for “silver bullet”?

Sorry, but most Americans won’t give a rat’s rear about it. If using taxpayer money to buy car companies and give them to political cronies for free doesn’t phase America, the ATF Gunwalker Scandal won’t...

[Mr Rogers]

Faze, not phase. Sorry, I’m on meds right now. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

[r9etb]

This is one of the best summations of the Gunwalker scandal that I have read.

For all the words it contains, this is an article that contains no readily discernable facts. Some tantalizing rumors, yes; and the actions of Mr. Grassley are indeed interesting.

But the article nevertheless contains almost no real information.

And this is one of the "best" summations you have read?

[Pan_Yan]

ping to 28

[Pan_Yan]

ping to 28

[Political Junkie Too]

This sounds a lot like Reagan's Iran-Contra scandal. While Iran-Contra did not bring down Reagan's presidency, it did result in the resignation of the National Security Advisor (Adm. Poindexter), and the firing of Col. Oliver North.

Will there be any lower-level resignations/firings over this?

-PJ

[AvOrdVet]

LA Times just confirmed that two ATF supplied weapons were found at the murder scene of the Border Patrol Agent

Guns tracked by firearms bureau found at firefight scene