Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) appeared on FoxNews this afternoon and was interviewed by Jenna Lee. When asked about the gunwalked firearms still out there, Grassley said, “Remember, you are never going to sweep all those guns out there.” He also didn’t think much of SAC William Newell’s assertion that they never intended for the guns to cross the border.
I just read over the prepared testimony of former ATF SAC of Phoenix Field Division William Newell. To put it bluntly, it is full of self-serving bullshit.
On Brian Terry’s death:
The death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry is one I will mourn for the rest of my life, as I do for all those brave heroes who have taken up the badge to serve and protect and then made the ultimate sacrifice. I express my deepest condolences to the Terry family and may our Heavenly Father bless him and the Terry family through these very difficult times.
On the lack of “tools” to combat gun trafficking:
Firearms trafficking investigations are not always easy to conduct for a variety of reasons including the lack of a Federal statute that specifically prohibits firearms trafficking related activity; 1 the fact that firearms unless altered in some way are not, in and of themselves, contraband; the lack of adequate punishment for “straw” purchasers thus impacting our ability to identify the leadership of the criminal organization; and the limited resources at our disposal.
On gunwalking:
One, it was not the purpose of the investigation to permit the transportation of firearms into Mexico and to the best of my knowledge none of the suspects in this case was ever witnessed by our agents crossing the border with firearms.
On keeping ATF Agents in Mexico informed on Operation Fast and Furious:
From the beginning of this investigation in late 2009 to the first indictments in January of 2011 I made every reasonable effort to keep the Phoenix PGR representative and my ATF colleagues in Mexico briefed on this investigation. I am also aware of numerous discussions throughout this investigation between the agents working this case with their ATF peers in Mexico, dialogue which I encouraged. In addition, and in conjunction with our Mexico Country Office, I extended an invitation for Mexican Federal prosecutors to participate in briefings in order to provide them with essential facts of the case. I was determined that if and when we ever identified the key decision makers of the criminal organization, most likely cartel members in Mexico, that we would be fully supportive of providing this information to our Mexican counterparts in order for them to pursue criminal charges there.
Darren Gil is delivering this prepared statement currently before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Statement of Darren D. Gil, Former ATF Attaché to Mexico
Hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
July 26, 2011Thank you, Chairman Issa, Ranking Member Cummings and members of the
Committee for inviting me to participate in this important hearing regarding the serious ATF matter known as “Operation Fast and Furious.”First, I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the families of Agents Brian
Terry and Jaime Zapata. I am deeply sorry for their loss, and for the grief that this illconceived operation may have caused. Also, I would like to thank ICE special agent Victor Avila for his services and sacrifices in fighting the narco‐violence in Mexico and along the border. I can only imagine the horror of helplessly watching a brother law enforcement officer die in the line of duty.In addition, as the former head of the ATF contingent in Mexico, I would like to
apologize to my former Mexican law enforcement counterparts and to the Mexican people for Operation Fast and Furious. I hope they understand that this operation was kept secret from most of ATF, including me and my colleagues in Mexico. Unfortunately, as a result of this operation, it is the Mexican people who will continue to suffer the consequences of narco‐related firearms violence. I have no doubt, as recent media reports have indicated, that American citizens will also be exposed to more firearms‐related violence as a result of this operation.I am grateful for the opportunity to be here today and would like to provide the
Committee with a brief description of my background. I received a Bachelors degree in Criminology from the University of Maryland, a Masters degree in Criminal Justice from the University Alabama, and am currently completing my dissertation at the University of Southern Mississippi, focusing on international affairs and security studies. I have been in service to our nation since my enlistment in the U.S. Army in 1980. After my tour in the Army, I joined the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, where I served until I received my commission as an ATF Special Agent in 1987. I then served for 23 years in various positions in ATF, including intelligence assignments and as Attaché to Mexico, until I retired in December 2010.I chose ATF for my career because it was a small organization with a focused
mission that I found appealing: combating the most violent offenders in America. During my first 12 years as a field agent, I participated in, or directed investigations that targeted the worst of the worst. For the remainder of my career, I supervised, managed and led agents who conducted similar investigations. Throughout my career at ATF, not once, never, did firearms “walk” from any investigations I directed or which fell under my command. This includes my service as ATF Attaché in Mexico. Put bluntly, it is inconceivable in my mind, or the mind of any competent ATF Special Agent, to allow firearms to disappear at all. Furthermore, it is even more inconceivable that a competent ATF Special Agent would allow firearms to cross an international border, knowing that they are ultimately destined for the hands of the “worst of the worst” criminals in the Western Hemisphere.I recall my first days at the ATF academy, where it was drilled into us as new agents that under no circumstances would any firearms, in any investigation, leave the control of ATF. Instructors stressed that even if a weapon was lost “by accident,” the agent was still subject to termination. Even today, if an agent loses their ATF‐issued firearms, they are subject to termination. My point is that ATF agents don’t allow ‐ and ATF as an organization historically has not tolerated ‐ the notion that firearms could simply disappear. Yet, that apparently is what was allowed to happen here.
In early 2011 after retiring from ATF, I started receiving inquires from former ATF
colleagues, including Senior Special Agents Vince Cefalu and Jay Dobyns, as well as from numerous media organizations. They all wanted to know whether I was aware that ATF had allowed firearms to walk into Mexico. I advised my former colleagues that I was not aware, but refused to speak with the media without a complete understanding of the issue. After talking with several ATF agents in the field and at headquarters, I became convinced that firearms might have been walked into Mexico by ATF. Thankfully, Congress and the media continued to investigate the matter and Operation Fast and Furious began to receive greater notoriety. Nonetheless, I remained reluctant to speak out about what I had come to suspect since retiring from ATF, but was never told, about this operation. After discussions with my former staff in Mexico and employees at ATF Headquarters, I learned that ATF executive staff would not make statements exonerating my former staff in Mexico
of any knowledge of the gun walking aspects of this operation. Out of a desire to set the record straight and protect my colleagues in Mexico, it was only then that I decided to speak to the media. My understanding is that my initial interview with Sharyl Atkinson of CBS News did have some calming effect on relations between the Government of Mexico and ATF personnel assigned to Mexico. To this day, I do not understand the failure of the ATF executive staff to provide their own support in this matter to ATF personnel serving in Mexico.During my dissertation research I came across a study that provided some insight
into how an operation like Fast and Furious could arise and be supported. Interestingly enough, it is titled The Waco, Texas, ATF Raid and Challenger Launch Decision: Management, Judgment and the Knowledge Analytic by Terence Garret (2001). The paper could have substituted “Operation Fast and Furious” for “Waco, Texas, ATF Raid” in the title and the study’s conclusions would have been the same: namely, poor management, poor judgment and poor leadership resulted in disaster. Operation Fast and Furious, as I have come to understand it, is indeed a disaster.I know the Committee has asked me to testify and to answer questions today, which
I look forward to doing. But, I also have a few questions of my own which I hope this committee may someday be able to answer. For example, who actually presented this operation for implementation? What was the objective? My staff in Mexico was already working with the Government of Mexico in tracing thousands of cartel‐related firearms recovered from crime scenes that had been smuggled into Mexico illegally. Why the need to introduce even more firearms into a country being besieged by narco‐ violence? Also, what supervisor approved this plan? Who thought this was a good idea? Why did the ATF leadership in Washington fail to exercise oversight of this disaster? And, why were ATF personnel in Mexico kept in the dark on this operation, which has now imperiled trust and cooperation between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement at a time when that trust and cooperation is more essential than ever?During my tenure in Mexico, I observed firsthand the extraordinary changes
occurring in that country. Mexico is indeed working towards improvements in the rule of law, a transition to an adversarial court system, and improvement of their police forces. The heads of the agencies leading these changes for Mexico are some of the bravest people I have ever met. As a result of their leadership and implementation of change, they become marked targets by the Mexican Drug Organizations. I find it grotesquely ironic that as representatives of United States law enforcement in Mexico, my staff and I were asked to expose ourselves and our families to the same sort of risk while speaking to our Mexican counterparts of integrity, rule of law, honor and duty in policing. Meanwhile, members of our own ATF and Department of Justice for whatever reason, appear to have refused to follow the same principles.As a career ATF Special Agent, I believe in the mission and the people of ATF. ATF is an organization that constantly operates under political and budgetary constraints. Despite these constraints, the men and women of ATF go to work around the world every day with a strong sense of mission and duty. I hope that once all the facts are known about this operation and whatever necessary managerial changes are made in response to it, that ATF will emerge a stronger, more effective organization and that it will continue to focus on its core mission: taking the worst of the worst armed violent offenders off the streets in America.
Again, thank you Mr. Chairman and members of the committee for inviting me to
testify today. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has released a staff report this morning on the impact of Fast and Furious on Mexico. It gives a preview of the hearings that start at 10am. The key points include the fact that there was little information sharing between ATF in Mexico and Phoenix, that Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer was “in the loop”, and that ATF agents in Mexico were furious when they found out the full extent of the gunwalking.
ATF Officials in Mexico Denied Access to Information by U.S. Counterparts about Reckless Strategy that Allowed Guns to Fall Into the Hands of Mexican Drug Cartels
Issa, Grassley release staff report focusing on impact of Operation Fast and Furious on Mexico
WASHINGTON – Findings in a second staff report released by Representative Darrell Issa and Senator Chuck Grassley show that ATF officials based in the United States Embassy in Mexico City were increasingly worried about the alarming rate of guns found in violent crimes in Mexico from a single ATF operation based out of the ATF’s Phoenix Field Division. Issa is Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and Grassley is Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“The consequences of arming Mexican drug cartels seem obvious. But even guns turning up at crime scenes in Mexico wasn’t enough for Justice Department officials to arrest straw purchasers and shut down their trafficking operations. Tragically, it wasn’t until Fast and Furious guns were found at the murder scene of a Border Patrol Agent that Justice officials finally ended this reckless and arrogant effort,” said Issa.
“It’s incomprehensible that officials at the Justice Department, the ATF and the U.S. attorney’s office would keep their counterparts at the U.S. embassy in Mexico City in the dark about Operation Fast and Furious. Keeping key details secret while straw purchasers continued buying weapons for gun traffickers jeopardized our relationship with our southern ally and put lives at risk,” Grassley said.
The report released today outlines several important findings, including:
• There was little to no information sharing from the Phoenix Field Division, ATF Headquarters and the Justice Department to their colleagues in Mexico City. Every time Mexico City officials asked about the mysterious investigation, their U.S. based ATF counterparts in Phoenix and Washington, D.C. continued to say they were “working on it” and “everything was under control.”
• Lanny Breuer, the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division at the Justice Department, was clearly aware of Operation Fast and Furious and touted the case during a visit to Mexico.
• ATF officials in Mexico City were incredulous that their agency would knowingly allow guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, and they were incensed when they finally began to learn the full scope of Operation Fast and Furious and the investigative techniques used.
Issa and Grassley are leading a congressional inquiry into the ill-advised strategy known as Operation Fast and Furious.
David Codrea has uploaded the full staff report to Scribd and I have embedded it below. You can also download the PDF here. In his National Gun Rights Examiner column, David notes that the ATF attache called the program a “perfect storm of idiocy.” How true.
ATF Mexico Report
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The Full Committee hearing entitled, “Operation Fast and Furious: The Other Side of the Border” will take place at 10:00am on Tuesday, July 26th in room 2154 Rayburn House Office Building.
The hearing will be streamed live at http://oversight.house.gov.
There is no word yet on whether CSpan will cover the hearings tomorrow like they did last time. I really hope they will as I want to see William Newell squirm under questioning.
FoxNews reported today that at least two of the indicted straw purchasers in Operation Fast and Furious were not only straw purchasers but convicted felons. When the FBI conducted the NICS check, they should have been flagged immediately as prohibited purchasers and the sale denied.
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) represents the Spartanburg area of the Upstate of South Carolina. Prior to entering Congress, Gowdy was the local solicitor or district attorney for Spartanburg County. He has also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and has experience in prosecuting violations of Federal firearms law. He says “you cannot sanction illegal activity to further an ill-fated, ill-founded, ill-conceived investigation.”
In an interview with CNN reporter Abbie Boudreau in May 2010, ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson was highly critical of the website CleanUpATF.org. He objected to ATF critics hiding behind made-up screen names. You know, like Vincent Cefalu and Jay Dobyns. Oh, wait – those are their real names. He does mention “Thor” which was the name of the Norse God of Thunder. Thor, according to Wikipedia, is also charged with the protection of mankind. Given the important role that the members of CUATF have played in exposing Project Gunwalker, I would say Thor is an appropriate screen name.
As one might imagine, the CUATF people who have posted this video are none too thrilled with Mr. Melson. From the webmaster:
Many of us here at CUATF.org used to believe that Kenneth Melson was simply another clueless career bureaucrat, who, although he might not be a bad guy personally, had not the slightest idea what was really happening in the agency he was supposedly responsible for “leading”. Although that would make him patently incompetent (which seems to have been rather conclusively established at this point), many of us gave him a certain benefit of the doubt in terms of personal integrity. That misconception has now been irrevocably clarified.
The simple fact is that Kenneth Melson is a bald-faced LIAR.
In the interview shown below, Melson states that he has an “open door” policy. However, on the basis of repeated conduct, such a claim is an unequivocal lie. A significant number of employees have, while using their real names, attempted in good faith to make Melson aware as to just how screwed up ATF is in terms of managerial malfeasance, corruption and unlawful conduct, only to either be retaliated against, or to receive nothing but a big, fat cold shoulder.
“Open-Door” Policy? Our ass.
You might also recall that when confronted about the fact that Whistleblower Special Agent Vince Cefalu had been deliberately relegated to twiddling his thumbs all day (at significant taxpayer expense) by his vicious, retaliatory, corrupt, perjuring managers (who all work directly for Kenny-Boy, Melson told the nation, “Not on my watch”. However, Melson then proceeded to do precisely NOTHING about that ridiculous abuse of taxpayer monies (and complete waste of Cefalu’s 25 years of top-notch training, experience and accomplishments), and Cefalu remains in the same basket-weaving status to this very day, more than a YEAR after Melson’s shameless whoppers.
Once again, there is a word for what Melson did; it’s called LYING. You are a professional prevaricator, Melson…an unmitigated, unadulterated, dyed-in-the-wool fibber. You might manage to somehow save your own ass in this ginormic fiasco you have overseen, but you’re still a liar by any reasonable measure.
Also, you’ll note that Melson laughably contradicts himself in the most amateurish manner by first pompously stating that he personally blocked www.CleanUpATF.org (from access through government computers) “because no employee should be exposed to such lies and distortions” (in so many words), but in the same breath, saying that he encourages employees to visit the site(!), as long as it’s on their own time. Only the most dronishly jaded lifelong federal bureaucrat could make such an incomprehensibly muddled and logically incompatible statement.
Ken Melson, you are a disgrace and a stain on the honor of decent, hard-working law enforcement agents. You have failed miserably in your duties as Acting Director of ATF, a position for which you were clearly not qualified or competent. We call on you to resign immediately and spare yourself, ATF, DOJ and this nation further embarrassment.
“Pama” is a bit more forgiving of Melson but agrees that he is lying about what he knew and his involvement in Project Gunwalker.
Although Melson was obviously involved in “supervising” and directing Fast and Furious, it equally obviously was not his idea. I personally believe this came directly from Obama, Holder, Breuer and a few other political appointees. I believe the State Department and Homeland Security were involved in planning this deplorable debacle or at the least, were well aware of it and approved of it. I have a secret suspicion that FnF is why Hillary and Mueller are leaving the Regime. Melson was appointed in April or May of 2009. I believe the planning for this operation was already well underway by that time. That being said, he is clearly lying about what he knew and about his involvement. However Holder and Obama are chiefly responsible. Everyone involved needs to be exposed, prosecuted and pilloried.
If this interview were recorded today as opposed to a year ago, I wonder what Melson would be saying about CUATF.
The Complementary Spouse and I are spending the week in southern Illinois and Missouri visiting family. One of my self-imposed chores for the week is to clean and oil all of her late father’s guns. He was quite the collector and had a goodly number of shotguns and commemorative Winchester 94s.
Unfortunately, while kept in an air-conditioned house, a few are showing signs of spotty rust. I have heard 0000-size steel wool when used with gun oil will take care of the rust and not harm the blueing. Is this correct? Do you have other suggestions for removing little bits of rust without harming the blueing?
Any suggestions for a gun oil to use for longer term storage short of covering them in cosmoline? I planned to use a light oil like RemOil. Should I go with something heavier like RIG Gun Grease instead?
Thanks for the help.
A Tweet from Cheaper Than Dirt advertising their 30-round magazines for the HK 91/G3 reminded me that I have at least 100 G3 magazines (20-rounders) and don’t even own a HK 91/G3/PTR-91! I’m sure I am not alone in owning magazines for firearms that I don’t currently own.
I bought most of them a couple of years ago when the great Obama’s Gonna Ban Them rumors were going strong. CMMG was planning on launching an AR-10 variant which would use the G3 magazines. They did come out with the lower but you had to shave down the DPMS upper. I wasn’t too keen on doing that work myself.
I think if I ever get around to having a rifle that can use these magazines, it will either be a PTR-91 or a semi-custom rifle built by SI Defense out of Kalispell, Montana. SI Defense has a lower that will fit modifed G3 magazines and they will build the whole rifle for you. I did speak with them at the NRA Annual Meeting in Charlotte and that seems the way to go for the higher quality build.
In the debate over stripping funding from the ATF’s new multiple rifle sale reporting requirement in the Southwest, Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) said removing the funding from the rule would be akin to “virtual wholesale slaughter.” His comments, as reported in The Hill, go on:
“The NRA is so afraid that the people who are really funding the NRA, the gun manufacturers, might lose some sales that we’re willing to sacrifice the lives of these people that are casualties of this gun war,” Moran said during the markup.
“And we’re promoting it. We’re enabling … that slaughter to continue,” Moran said.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation did not take Moran’s comments lying down. They responded with a blistering 3-page letter which took him to task over his comments. The full letter is here.
First, NSSF General Counsel Larry Keane points to Moran that ATF was never given the authority by Congress to impose the reporting requirement.
We are filing the lawsuit on behalf of our members challenging ATF’s new record keeping and reporting requirement because Congress never gave ATF the legal authority to impose this requirement. In 1986, Congress amended the Gun Control Act to require the multiple sale reporting of handguns. Congress could have, but did not, require reporting of long guns.
Then, the NSSF reminds Moran that it is the NSSF that speaks for the firearms industry.
Please allow me to correct another misunderstanding. The people who are really funding the NRA are its 4 million members. The NRA does not speak for the firearms industry. The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry – we, not the NRA, are the voice of our industry
Next, Keane points out that the new reporting requirement will make it harder for FFL’s to spot straw purchasers and proactively report them to ATF.
..the policy is ill-advised as it will actually make it more difficult for firearms retailers to cooperate with law enforcement, as illegal firearms traffickers quickly modify their schemes to circumvent the new reporting requirement. They can simply send a straw purchaser to multiple dealers, recruit more straw purchasers, spread out the purchases beyond five business days, or acquire firearms in non-border states. America’s firearms retailers, the very people ATF identifies as their “partners” and the first line of defense, will no longer be able to detect suspicious purchases and alert the proper authorities.
Finally, he discusses the decade-old “Don’t Lie For The Other Guy” program that NSSF has funded to the tune of $5 million dollars and then reminds Moran they sought his help for more funding to expand the program.
About a year ago, we visited your office to seek your help as a member of the Appropriations committee in securing grant funding for the Don’t Lie program so we could grow and expand the program and deliver its message throughout the country. Unfortunately, you did not provide the bipartisan leadership we had hoped for.
In other words, Jim Moran is not just an ignorant tool of the gun banners but a hypocrite as well. When he had the chance to help expand the Don’t Lie program, he took a pass.
Lest it be forgotten, during Operation Fast and Furious, firearms stores in Arizona reported the suspicious sales of firearms, requested that the sales be denied, and were specifically told to go through with the sales by ATF to what were obvious straw purchasers. The guns didn’t walk to Mexico because of FFLs; they walked under orders from ATF and DOJ.
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