Posted on 11/01/2011 2:29:47 PM PDT by brityank
ATF Gunwalking docs show Justice Dept. feared bad press
By Chris SchollAn e-mail exchange among Justice Department officials in 2010 shows some in the Department worried about bad press if reporters knew the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives let guns "walk" into the hands of drug cartels.
The e-mail exchange occurred in October 2010, almost four months before the gunwalking scandal broke publicly.
DOJ official knew of ATF gunwalking in April 2010
It's included among more than 500 pages of documents released Monday by the Justice Department in response to a Congressional subpoena. The exchange is especially revealing because it demonstrates a level of awareness among some at Justice, which oversees ATF, that the practice of "gunwalking" could be viewed as embarrassing.
"It's a good case," wrote Laura Sweeney, a Justice public affairs specialist about a gunwalking case known internally as Operation Wide Receiver started in 2006. "But the only obstacle will be explaining why we let them continue to send guns to Mexico while we were investigating."
ATF Fast and Furious secret audio recordings
Among the recipients of that e-mail was James Trusty, at that time Justice's Deputy Chief for Litigation. "I think we can navigate through this stuff fine," Trusty wrote. "Bottom line is bad guys who trafficked guns into MX (Mexico) are being targeted and indicted, so I don't see any of these questions as being so dreaded as to negate the good news component."
The case prosecutor pointed out that ATF had intercepted 50 of the hundreds of weapons ATF let walk in Wide Receiver. Sweeney in Public Affairs wrote, "Well done!!"
The three agreed to move forward on publicizing arrests in the case, minimizing the negative gunwalking aspect. But a second e-mail exchange later shows that higher officials in the department eventually nixed publicity.
"Why did we decide not to do any press (even a press release) on it?" wrote Mythili Raman, Chief of Staff to the head of Justice's Criminal Division.
"Lots of guns allowed to go south," Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein replied. "(we) agreed the case would be weaved into anti-ATF story."
Guns the ATF let walk in a similar case known as Operation Fast and Furious, started in 2009, turned up at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry just a month later.
More Fast and Furious coverage:
Eric Holder to testify on Fast and Furious
Memos contradict Holder on Fast and Furious
Agent: I was ordered to let guns "walk" into Mexico
Gunwalking scandal uncovered at ATF
How about deadly and criminal?
Arrest and ship these miscreants to Mexico, and give them some real justice!
Treasonous too.
The list, ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
Yep - Send them to Mexico for trial. I doubt they’ll get off from the murder charges they deserve there!
There is no analogy between Wide Receiver and GunWalker, NONE. With the latter program there was no attempt to track the weapons at all; it was purely supplying illegal weapons to violent gangs under the cover of a bogus sting operation. The purpose was clearly to undermine the Second Amendment by justifying the UN Small Arms Treaty. For the media to continue to equate the two programs is beyond dishonesty; it's outright disinformation.
The only thing this data does establish is that the DOJ had foreknowledge that any such sting operation was fraught with peril. That means that only an order from on high could reasonably be expected to overcome the resulting institutional resistance. Of course, that is NOT the picture being painted here by SEE-BS.
Different kind of borderwar? Turf’s up.
State-sponsored terrorism.
The NBP voter intimidation case dismissal was state sponsored racism, so does any evil this regime does shock anyone with a conscience anymore?
They were concerned how they would appear politically because that could diminish their power because, like criminals, they have no ethics.
They were not concerned nor sorrowful about the fact that they took innocent life and abetted the most evil criminals in North America.
This is a snapshot of the amorality involved within a humanist elite. And they now have control over our bodies through health “care.” They have canceled our constitution and live in power above the rule of law.
They are not just circling wagons in a defensive maneuver anymore.
Thanks for the ping.
Sho ‘nuff.
AZ sheriff says 2 guns tied to ‘Fast and Furious’
An Arizona sheriff says that two guns seized as part of a major drug smuggling bust have been connected to a botched federal investigation known as “Fast and Furious.”
SNIP
The two guns were among 108 weapons seized in three busts in September and October that authorities said effectively dismantled a major drug smuggling ring tied to the Sinaloa cartel.
Jason Weinstein
You’ll note that Pinal County is not a border county, and sits between Tuscon and Phoenix. So that group of guns apparently didn’t make it into Mexico - how come they got “lost”?
At first glance this looks like a selective release of documents to further the “Bush did it too” meme. Lots of information about Wide Receiver, not much about Fast and Furious.
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