Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Documents Suggest Bush Administration Used 'Fast And Furious' Tactics
NPR ^ | January 5, 2012 | Carrie Johnson

Posted on 01/06/2012 11:01:26 AM PST by neverdem

The Justice Department sent nearly 500 pages of documents to Republican lawmakers Thursday that suggest the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives may have used questionable tactics and lost track of American-made weapons in a gun trafficking investigation on the Mexican border as early as 2006.

The documents sent to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) could add a new dimension to a political controversy that's raged on Capitol Hill for a year. Issa and other Republican lawmakers have accused the Obama administration of acting recklessly by losing track of almost 2,000 guns on the Southwest border in a botched ATF operation called Fast and Furious. Two of those weapons were recovered near the body of slain U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December 2010.

The newly released email messages and briefing papers suggest there may be similarities between the Obama operation "Fast and Furious" and an earlier effort during the Bush administration to target the flow of guns into Mexico. The papers include several communications between ATF supervisors and Justice Department prosecutors in Arizona who were trying to build a case against "a very powerful, aggressive and violent" Mexican drug cartel in an earlier operation dubbed "Wide Receiver."

A senior Obama administration Justice Department official who briefed reporters on the documents said the papers show law enforcement officers in the Bush years could have filed criminal conspiracy and false statements charges against lower level figures in the gun trafficking operation, but they decided to watch and wait until they could move higher up the chain of command.

"We want the... manufacturing and distribution pieces also – we want it all," an ATF official wrote in March 2006.

The case ultimately languished in the U.S. Attorney's office in Arizona until the Obama administration sent help from Washington D.C. and indictments were handed down in May and October 2010. Six people have been convicted in connection with Wide Receiver, the senior Justice Department official said.

The new disclosures could be featured in a Feb. 2 hearing where Attorney General Eric Holder will square off against Issa over the ATF failures. The last time the two men met on Capitol Hill, fireworks erupted, when Issa likened Holder to the Nixon era Attorney General John Mitchell and Holder reached back to the era of Joseph McCarthy and asked Issa whether he "had any shame."


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Mexico; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: atf; banglist; batfe; dea; dhs; doj; fastandfurious; fbi; gunrunner; gunwalker; holder; issa; obama; propaganda; widereceiver
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-75 next last
To: neverdem

Without tracking devices in the guns, how can Holder even claim that this was a TRACKING program?

And without informing Mexico of the project, how can Holder deny that this is an act of war? Obama just signed authorization for him to use war powers on anybody who materially supports our terrorist enemies - and yet Holder and his cronies are arming the drug cartels waging war against the Mexican government.


21 posted on 01/06/2012 11:17:30 AM PST by butterdezillion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

But officer, I think the guy in front of me was speeding too.


22 posted on 01/06/2012 11:18:01 AM PST by Proud2BeRight
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lucky9teen

LOL. This scandal is about to blow up and destroy Holder so the Libs and NPR are in a panic to give him any cover they can. Fast and Furious “Tactics”. What the Hell does that mean? That could be anything.


23 posted on 01/06/2012 11:19:42 AM PST by Opinionated Blowhard ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

National
Politburo
Radio


24 posted on 01/06/2012 11:22:02 AM PST by wac3rd (Somewhere in Hell, Ted Kennedy snickers....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem; 444Flyer; MestaMachine; Nachum

NPR LIES!!!

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WIDE RECEIVER AND FAST AND FURIOUS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bESZcRMCBKk&feature=player_embedded#!


25 posted on 01/06/2012 11:24:27 AM PST by Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid!
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem
I knew this was coming. These pathetic losers are without shame.

Project Gunrunner started in 2005 under Dubya and was with the full knowledge and cooperation of the Mexican government. It resulted in 1,400 arrests and no deaths.

Fast and Furious started in October 2009, eight months into the Obama Administration -- without the knowledge of the Mexican government and over the objections to LEOs on the ground -- and this resulted in 1,800 weapons, most of which were semi-auto rifles, safely in the hands of Mexican drug dealers, and who knows how many dead.

There is a difference.

26 posted on 01/06/2012 11:25:24 AM PST by Tribune7 (Vote Perry)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem
NPR is just trying to cushion the blow as F&F becomes a big story.

They can't sit on it any longer...they're trying to spray a lot of air-freshener in the room before the public smells the fart.

27 posted on 01/06/2012 11:25:39 AM PST by capt. norm (Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall never run out of material. c)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

Nothing but bullsh!t.

LLS


28 posted on 01/06/2012 11:27:53 AM PST by LibLieSlayer (ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Joe Brower; Travis McGee; LucyT; vette6387; MetaThought; 60Gunner; XHogPilot; FreedomPoster; ...

npr doing what npr does best...ping.


29 posted on 01/06/2012 11:28:35 AM PST by MestaMachine (obama kills)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

Apples and oranges. One was a law enforcement effort to catch criminals. One was a huge scam to attack the 2nd Amendment, and it has caused the deaths of many innocent people.


30 posted on 01/06/2012 11:31:01 AM PST by pallis
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

“suggest…
may have…
could…
suggest…
may be…
could be…”


31 posted on 01/06/2012 11:31:26 AM PST by WayneS (Comments now include 25% MORE sarcasm for no additional charge...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lucky9teen

The exact point I came here to make...Congress became democratic in 2006...


32 posted on 01/06/2012 11:32:17 AM PST by Boonie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: matt1234

Except Susie didn’t steal anything.


33 posted on 01/06/2012 11:37:09 AM PST by Deb (Beat him, strip him and bring him to my tent!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

The only logical conclusion after reading this is that NPR is functioning as a pro-Obama election website, printing propaganda for their master.

No rational person could make the confusion that is in this report.

Intentional or not - their bias is now past reality phase and into treason/sedition phase.


34 posted on 01/06/2012 11:37:24 AM PST by Eldon Tyrell (question,.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

The only time the MSM reports on FnF is when there is some imagined link to W’s administration. Otherwise, the rule is hear no evil, see no evil, do no evil. I hate these wicked people and their agenda with a passion.


35 posted on 01/06/2012 11:37:34 AM PST by bkopto (Obama is merely a symptom of a more profound, systemic disease in American body politic.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: matt1234

Oh, and Johnny is a liar.


36 posted on 01/06/2012 11:38:00 AM PST by Deb (Beat him, strip him and bring him to my tent!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: neverdem
Just for quick reference for those pining for the Walkergate scandal to be The reason Obama is frog-marched out of the White House:
_____________________________________
October 6, 2011
Gunwalker: Gunning Down the ‘Bush Did It, Too’ Lie
http://pjmedia.com/blog/gunwalker-gunning-down-the-bush-did-it-too-lie/?singlepage=true
Bob Owens
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
October 7, 2011
‘Wide Receiver’ CI: ‘It had nothing to do with Bush or even DOJ’
David Codrea, Gun Rights Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/wide-receiver-ci-it-had-nothing-to-do-with-bush-or-even-doj
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
October 15, 2011
New Documents Highlight Differences in Bush-Era, Obama-Era Gunrunner Investigations
One was a failed law enforcement operation. The other was a possible criminal conspiracy. Bob Owens
http://pjmedia.com/blog/new-documents-highlight-differences-in-bush-era-obama-era-gunrunner-investigations/?singlepage=true
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
November 9, 2011
Under oath, Holder discredits ‘Bush did it too’ excuse for ‘Gunwalker’
Kurt Hofmann, St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-st-louis/under-oath-holder-discredits-bush-did-it-too-excuse-for-gunwalker

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
11/09/2011
Fast and Furious Is Not a “Failed” Operation
Not if Democrats get their gun control laws after all.
by John Hayward
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47437
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
November 28, 2011
Rep. Maloney Lies about Fast and Furious
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/11/rep_maloney_lies_about_fast_and_furious.html

37 posted on 01/06/2012 11:38:20 AM PST by Voice of Reason1 ("Absolute power corrupts absolutely” Lord Acton 1887)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

“that suggest the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives may have used questionable tactics “

“suggest there may be similarities between the Obama operation “Fast and Furious” and an earlier effort during the Bush administration to target the flow of guns into Mexico. “

“show law enforcement officers in the Bush years could have filed criminal conspiracy and false statements charges “


and if my uncle had tits he’d be my aunt....

here’s hoping Issa takes this speculative BS and tells Holder and the criminal liberal media to shove it...


38 posted on 01/06/2012 11:38:38 AM PST by God luvs America (63.5million pay no federal income tax then vote demoKrat)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

Neosocialist Propaganda Radio defending the Obyssmal administration again? House members: Defund NPR now.


39 posted on 01/06/2012 11:38:43 AM PST by Trod Upon (Obama: Making the Carter malaise look good. Misery Index in 3...2...1)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neverdem

There’s one basic difference: Bush was building a legitimate case against violent drug smugglers. Obama was building a case against gun dealers and the Second Amendment.

It’s not nice appointing a gangster to head the Department of Justice. Yes, there are precedents: Bobby Kennedy and Janet Reno. But none of them is in a class with Holder’s blatant thuggery.

And let’s never forget that Hillary was neck deep in this plot, too.


40 posted on 01/06/2012 11:38:48 AM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-75 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson