by Actually, I’m not sure I’d call them visitors and I definitely know that they aren’t that welcome – at least by ATF. The “they” are House and Senate investigators who have converged on Arizona in the course of their investigation into Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker).
Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News reports that:
CBS News has learned that House and Senate investigators have descended upon Arizona for their probe into the so-called “Gunwalker” scandal. They’re gathering interviews from witnesses, including ATF insiders and area gun shop owners. Sources tell CBS News the congressional investigators are frustrated by what they view as across-the-board stonewalling by government agencies which have refused to provide information in the investigation. Government officials have said they won’t provide information while their own investigations are ongoing.
“They’re investigating themselves,” says one source on Capitol Hill, “and then claiming the open investigations preclude them from giving Congress information it needs for independent oversight. It’s highly improper.”
Attkisson’s report also identifies the Assistant U.S. Attorney who advised Operation Fast and Furious as AUSA Emory Hurley. Mr. Hurley’s boss U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke was the long-time chief of staff for Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. As a reminder, one should not forget that Napolitano was the Governor of Arizona until she assumed the DHS post in 2009.
In a related development, Attkisson reports that George Gillett continues to spill the beans to Sen. Charles Grassley’s staff. As I emphasized earlier in the month, this is the equivalent of a Nixon White House insider giving the goods to Sen. Sam Ervin’s Watergate investigation.
The person who needs to testify before Congress is that AUSA. All revolves around him and the permission he gave ATFE, and, apparently, ICE HSI, to run the guns to Mexico.