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Posted on 10/20/2011 9:24:15 AM PDT by Kaslin
Darrell Issa investigates the rumored third gun present at ATF Agent Bryan Terry's murder.
A war within a war appears to have broken out regarding allegations of a third weapon at the scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s murder.
The Department of Justice claims that only two semi-automatic AK-pattern rifles were recovered at the scene of the shootout between a Border Patrol tactical team and armed Mexican criminals that night in the Arizona desert. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) ruffled feathers within the DOJ and with Democrats on his committee by repeating allegations of a third weapon at the scene, and by announcing plans to question the FBI about the investigation of Agent Terry’s death.
Border Patrol agents had mentioned a third weapon to Agent Terry’s family. CBS News obtained audiotape of a conversation between an ATF agent who was part of Operation Fast and Furious and the dealer who sold weapons under ATF direction to cartel smugglers. The blunt conversation is very hard to spin:
Agent: Well there was two.
Dealer: There’s three weapons.
Agent: There’s three weapons.
Dealer: I know that.
Agent: And yes, there’s serial numbers for all three.
Dealer: That’s correct.
Agent: Two of them came from this store.
Dealer: I understand that.
Agent: There’s an SKS that I don’t think came from … Dallas or Texas or something like that.
Dealer: I know. talking about the AK’s –
Agent: The two AK’s came from this store.
Dealer: I know that.
Agent: OK.
Dealer: I did the godd***ed trace –
Agent: Third weapon is the SKS has nothing to do with it.
Dealer: That didn’t come from me.
Agent: No and there is — that’s my knowledge. And I spoke to someone who would know those are the only ones they have. So this is the agent who’s working the case, all I can go by is what she told me.
Dallas has long been alleged to be the site of another major gunwalking operation running weapons to the cartel, one of 10 claimed gunwalking operations in five states. The FBI’s statement on the allegation released Monday seems definitive:
The FBI has made clear that reports of a third gun recovered from the perpetrators at the scene of Agent Terry’s murder are false.
The FBI is very careful with their words: they declare there was not a third gun recovered a) “from the perpetrators,” b) “at the scene of Agent Terry’s murder.”
An inference one could make from the careful phrasing: if there was a third weapon, it was not recovered in direct proximity to one of the Mexican criminals involved in the crime, and it was more than likely dropped as the suspects fled the scene — which is also what allegedly happened with both of the AK-pattern rifles used in the shootout. They were recovered a short distance away.
If the alleged third weapon was an SKS fired by the criminals at the crime scene as ATF agents have indicated, then its absence can be verified if the FBI didn’t carefully sanitize the crime scene. The FBI would have collected and cataloged all evidence at the crime scene, including the shell casings recovered and their precise location. A location map of the recovered casings help tell the story of who fired what and when, and can help track the movements of the shooter.
Shell casings can also be used to “fingerprint” weapons based upon the marks left by the weapon’s firing pin, chamber, and extractor. While less precise than matching a bullet to the rifling of a barrel, the casings recovered at the crime scene will tell us what kind of weapons were used not just by their caliber (SKS and AK-pattern rifles are both chambered to fire 7.62×39 ammunition), but by the marks left on the shell casings themselves. If congressional investigators are sharp, they’ll subpoena every bit of information about the shell casings at the Terry murder scene. If casings consistent with the extractor markings of an SKS can been identified, then the FBI and DOJ are in serious trouble.
Other ATF communications make the DOJ’s claim that there was no third weapon even more suspect:
In one, an intelligence analyst writes that by 7:45 p.m. — about 21 hours after the shooting — she had successfully traced two weapons at the scene, and is now “researching the trace status of firearms recovered earlier today by the FBI.”
In another email, ATF-Phoenix Deputy Director George Gillett asks: “Are those two (AK-47s) in addition to the gun already recovered this morning?”
The DOJ seems once again to be blocking reasonable inquires into their own conflicting stories, and attacking the investigators.
Though Operation Fast and Furious is now in it’s tenth month, the Obama administration has made no attempt to hold the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, State, or Treasury to account for the government’s gun trafficking conspiracy.
We still don’t know:
It appears that the primary mission of Eric Holder’s Department of Justice is to insulate President Obama’s political appointees from the consequences of their actions, and to obstruct the pursuit of justice by Congress as much as possible.
I believe you're right and there is still more.
Worse Than Gunwalker? State Dept. Allegedly Sold Guns to ZetasPhil Jordan, a former CIA operative and one-time leader of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s El Paso Intelligence Center, claims that the Obama administration is running guns to the violent Zetas cartel through the direct commercial sale of military grade weapons:
Jordan, who served as director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s El Paso Intelligence Center in 1995, said the Zetas have shipped large amounts of weapons purchased in the Dallas area through El Paso.
(snip)
“They’ve found anti-aircraft weapons and hand grenades from the Vietnam War era,” Plumlee said. Other weapons found include grenade launchers, assault rifles, handguns and military gear including night-vision goggles and body armor.
More about State Department involvement...
— has sources claiming “Obama’s man in the State Department,” (former) Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg, was the State Department operative who helped Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and the Department of Justice Deputy Attorney General David Ogden formulate the strategy that led to the tactics used in Operation Fast and Furious.Steinberg took office as Deputy Secretary of State on January 28, 2009
A little more than two years later, it was announced that Steinberg's time in the Obama State Department was over. From the New York Times, 30 March 2011:
Mrs. Clinton heaped praise on Mr. Steinberg, describing him as an “indispensable” partner. “On every foreign policy challenge, big and small, he has helped formulate our policy and oversee its execution,” she wrote. Mr. Steinberg, she said, played “Oscar to Jack Lew’s Felix,” referring to Jacob J. Lew, her other deputy, who left earlier this year to become Mr. Obama’s budget director.
Want to read even more about State Dept. involvement? ...
Sipsey Street Exclusive: "In at the beginning." The State Department & the Gunwalker Scandal.
My photo was from “The Third Man.”
It is indeed curious why they are bending over backwards to hide the identity of this third gun. Somehow it leads to where they truly fear to go.
1. Crazy Ohio private suicide zoo guy - 1 year spent in jail for WEAPONS VIOLATION
2. Victor Bout, Russian arms dealer & inspiration for “Lord of War” - On trial for dealing weapons to drug dealers in Latin America
LESSON: When POTUS is diverse & liberal the law only applies to, “little people”.
Challenge: Construct an argument refuting the idea that Obama is different from dictators in Africa. Use logic and examples to do that.
There’s also the story of the grenades operation (Indiana IIRC). Not only numerous players by numerous plays. So much to go wrong, so much hanging fruit...
Well, well. Sounds like the third gun will trace back to some other horrible government initiative we don’t yet know about.
This Administration SUCKS.
The SKS is in the FBI oubliette right next to the front door from Mt. Carmel.
...Yer right, They sure "bollocksed" this one up...
uhbummer is the pusher and wanna be dictator
We all know dang well that if this were a Pubbie admin, that people would have already been jailed for this.
This just makes me want to spit nails I’m so frustrated.
Prayerfully, as per a fellow FReeper, Melson gave Issa a thumb/flash drive when he testified on July 4th ~
What's beginning to intrigue me, is the fact of Hillary in all this "bollocksing". Hillary and Bill are not newbies to intrigue and scandal coverups. Certainly to the point of being in the pro league vs. these bush league shenanigans.Yet it seems she's embroiled in some way in this as well. Without having the time to flesh out my thoughts on this to any great degree, I'm still wondering whether she's been playing the administration's game, or one of her own that we haven't seen any evidence of as yet.
Thee third weapon is being hidden because it comes from a gun dealer who, if discovered, will make the situation worse for the DOJ, so they are hidding the second gun dealer....is he a prominant liberal...maybe sold many more onerous weapons to the cartels such as Barrett Sniper rifles in .50 cal?
Whatever the case, the FBI is back peddling like all get out so that Issa does not discover the second gun dealer’s identity , or the guns he provided.What if he also provided hand grenade components?
Something is up.
Thanks
‘Goodness, that’s awkward.’
—The Third Man
I think you hit the nail on the head with No. 2.
When hillery finally threw in the towel during the primary, I knew they weren't giving up. She may have given up on the presidency but the Clintons NEVER give up on getting even.
Issa already knows about 36 Barret .50 BMG rifles allowed to walk to the cartels.
Ouch. That's going to leave a mark.
Looks like Grassley & Issa pwned the FBI and their indignant rant.
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