by Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News has posted a second video of her interview with former ATF Attache to Mexico, Darren Gil. While a bit shorter, it goes deeper.
Project Gunwalker
Former ATF Attache In Mexico City On Operation Fast And Furious
Darren Gil served as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Attache in the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. He was recalled to Washington late in 2010 after he started asking questions about Operation Fast and Furious.Gil subsequently retired in December 2010. His replacement was the former Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Field Division William Newell who’s actions are at the center of Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker).
Mr. Gil hasn’t spoken out publicly about the gun walking. That is, until now. Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News has just published an interview with him in which he says that knowledge of the gunwalking went higher than ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson.
In an exclusive interview with CBS News, the lead ATF official in Mexico at the time Darren Gil says somebody in the Justice Department did know about the case. Gil says his supervisor at ATF’s Washington D.C. headquarters told him point-blank the operation was approved even higher than ATF Director Kenneth Melson.
“Is the director aware of this,” Gil asked the supervisor. Gil says his supervisor answered “Yes, the director’s aware of it. Not only is the director aware of it, D.O.J.’s aware of it… Department of Justice was aware of it.”
Gil goes on to say senior Justice official Lanny Breuer and several of his deputies visited Mexico amid the controversy last summer, and spoke to ATF staff generally about a big trafficking case that they claimed was “getting good results.” Gil says Melson, ATF’s Acting Director, also visited Mexico City. Gil’s Deputy Attache and his Analyst questioned Melson about the case that surrounding all the weapons showing up in Mexico. “His response was ‘it’s a good case, it’s still going on,'” recalls Gil, “and we’ll close it down as soon as we possibly can.”
One of the reasons that Gil is speaking out is because Mexican politicians are threatening to bring charges against ATF agents in Mexico. Gil says that would be wrong because the ATF agents in Mexico were specifically excluded from having knowledge of the gunwalking. They were frozen out of their normal computer access to case files. He notes that some of his conversations with officials in Washington became “screaming and shouting matches” over this lack of access. He did note that many of their serial number traces went back to the Phoenix area – where SAC William Newell was running Operation Fast and Furious.
Mike Vanderboegh has mentioned Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, head of the Criminal Division at DOJ, many times on his blog Sipsey Street Irregulars as involved in Project Gunwalker. Gil’s interview is confirmation that Breuer was probably up to his neck in it. The question now is whether he or Melson will be thrown under the bus to protect Attorney General Eric Holder.
As mentioned a few days ago, ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson will be appearing before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Global Narcotics Affairs. Now that Darren Gil has gone on the record with CBS’s Sharyl Attkisson about higher-ups being involved, it would be a shame if the screws weren’t put to Melson to testify under oath on just how high it went.
UPDATE: Video of the interview is now available.
Senator Grassley Is Asking More Questions
Senator Chuck Grassley is asking more questions regarding Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker). This time he is asking the questions of the head of Customs and Border Protection. He wants if they knowingly let Jaime Avila and two of those arrested in Columbus, NM “walk” with firearms even though Border Patrol agents had stopped all three.
Grassley Presses for More Answers on Operation Fast and Furious, Allowing Guns to “Walk”
WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley continues to press the administration for answers about the policy that allowed guns to “walk” over the Mexican border. Grassley began questioning the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in January. His requests for information about the involvement of various agencies, including ATF, the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection have been stonewalled by the administration.
Grassley is now asking Customs and Border Protection for information about reportedly stopping Blas Gutierrez and Miguel Carrillo near the Mexican border. The two were recently indicted as part of a gun trafficking operation involving the mayor of Columbus, New Mexico. Additionally, Grassley is asking about allegations that Customs and Border Protection stopped Jaime Avila, who was recently indicted as the straw purchaser of weapons found at the scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s murder. In both instances, Border Patrol agents allegedly found the gun runners to be in possession of multiple weapons, but let the suspects proceed for unknown reasons.
“No longer can this administration stand idly by and answer every question by saying that the Justice Department Inspector General is investigating. There is too much at stake. U.S. agents may have been killed because of a tragically ill-advised policy,” Grassley said. “The President said a serious mistake may have been made here, and that, if so, he would hold someone accountable. It is clearer every day that serious mistakes were made. Now it’s time for accountability.”
Grassley’s letter to Customs and Border Protection (March 16, 2011) made a specific request for officials knowledgeable about the agency’s involvement in Operation Fast and Furious be made available at a briefing that was already scheduled to take place with Grassley staff. Customs and Border Protection did not make officials available and there have been no attempts by the agency to schedule a subsequent briefing when officials would be available to answer the questions in Grassley’s letter.
Senator Grassley’s letter to Alan Bersin, Comissioner of Customs and Border Protection, can be found here.
A Golden Opportunity For Answers Under Oath
Next Thursday, March 31st, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Global Narcotics Affairs is holding hearings. The topic is “A Shared Responsibility: Counternarcotics and Citizen Security in the Americas U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations”.
Among the called witnesses is Kenneth Melson, Acting Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. If there was a better time to grill Melson on what he knew about Operation Fast and Furious and when he knew it, it won’t be any sooner than this.
The membership of the Subcommittee is listed below. Four of the five Republicans are A-rated by the NRA and Marco Rubio was rated B+. Democrat Jim Webb was rated A when he ran back in 2006.
You would think at least one of these six senators would use this opportunity to force Melson to spill on what he knew, when he knew it, and who else was involved. If they don’t take advantage of this, they should be ashamed of themselves. If you live in a state represented by one of these six, call their office and ask (or demand) that they ask the hard questions that need to be asked of Kenneth Melson and the ATF.
Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Global Narcotics Affairs
* Robert Menendez,
Chairman
* Barbara Boxer
* Jim Webb
* Jeanne Shaheen
* Tom Udall* Marco Rubio,
Ranking Member
* Mike Lee
* Jim DeMint
* Johnny Isakson
* John Barrasso
H/T CUATF
Obama Says He Didn’t Approve “Fast and Furious” (updated)
According to tweets from CBS Investigative Reporter Sharyl Attkisson, President Obama was asked this evening about Operation Fast and Furious and and ATF’s “gunwalking”. He stated he didn’t approve the operation.
@SharylAttkisson
President Obama tonight was asked about ATF Gunwalking Scandal, subject of @CBSEveningNews investigation.
@SharylAttkisson
President Obama stated that he did not approve the ATF operation. Watch @CBSEveningNews @katiecouric for the latest Gunwalking developmts
I am looking for when and where Obama stated this and will post the full text when it is available.
UPDATE: Obama’s comments came in a sit-down interview with Jorge Ramos of Univision. The interview is posted below.
Sharyl Attkisson reports on the interview here.
H/T Sharyl Attkisson for video
Second ATF Agent Speaks Out On CBS News
ATF Special Agent Rene Jaquez was interviewed by Sharyl Attkisson on CBS News this evening. Agent Jaquez is stationed in Juarez, Mexico which has become one of the most dangerous locations in Mexico. He had previously been interviewed about Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker) on the Spanish-language station Univision.
More importantly, it now becomes evident that Operation Fast and Furious did not involve only the ATF.
But ATF wasn’t working alone on the case known as “Fast and Furious.” Documents show ATF had conference calls with “DHS” (Homeland Security). “USMS” (U.S. Marshals) and DEA. An “ICE,” or Customs agent, was on ATF’s Fast and Furious team. They were advised by an “AUSA,” or Assistant U.S. Attorney under the Justice Department.
Clarification?
On Friday the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City released this.
Clarification
March 11, 2011 – Because of the attention given to this issue, the Embassy of the United States would like to issue the following clarification:
There is no contradiction between the statement of the Mexican government and the information provided by the United States concerning an operation that dismantled a major arms trafficking ring that has been called Fast and Furious. The operation took place on U.S. territory and arrested 20 defendants on January 25, 2011.
After the arrests on January 25, reports emerged alleging that the operation could have entailed a transfer of arms from the United States to Mexico. Attorney General Holder has called for an investigation. He has stated unequivocally that such actions, if true, “would not be acceptable.” He affirmed that he “made that clear to attorneys and agents in charge of ATF.”
The Mexican Government has stated that “it had no knowledge of an operation that might include the transgression or the controlled trafficking of arms to Mexican territory.” The briefings that took place between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement focused on operations on U.S. territory to crack down on trafficking operations. The alleged transfer of arms to Mexican territory at this point is exactly that – an allegation. Attorney General Holder has underscored that he takes “those allegations seriously.” He said “that is why I asked the IG (Inspector General) to report on it.”
The Government of Mexico has constructively “offered whatever support might be necessary in order to clearly establish the facts.” This type of mutual support is reflective of our common objectives to stop the illicit movement of arms, drugs and money that threaten both Mexican and U.S. citizens.
I think the proper term to describe this press release is not clarification but spin. This is especially true when you examine this map of recovered firearms for Operation Fast and Furious. It was released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona. It shows 372 firearms recovered in the United States and 195 firearms recovered in Mexico. So if the U.S. Attorney’s Office says 195 firearms were recovered in Mexico, is this just “an allegation”?
I suggest the Press Attache’ in the U.S Embassy to Mexico check to make sure they won’t be immediately contradicted when they issue a press release in the future. As it is, they are the public face of the United States government in Mexico and this release is an embarrassment.
H/T CUATF.org
Chris Cox On NRA-ILA’s Call For Independent Investigation
Chris Cox was on Cam & Company last night with Cam Edwards and Ginny Simone discussing the NRA-ILA’s call for an independent investigation by Congress into Project Gunwalker among other things. Cox said it is not only important to find out what happened but why it happened.
AG Holder Questioned On ATF At Appropriations Hearings
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science held appropriation hearings on the Department of Justice’s FY 2012 budget requests. It marks the first time that Attorney General Eric Holder has been called on to testify under oath since the Project Gunwalker scandal has really erupted.
A video webcast of the hearings can be found here.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) is the Ranking Member on this subcommittee. She expressed her reservations about ATF’s Operation Gunrunner in her opening remarks (38:15 – 39:25). When it was her turn to question Holder, she asked him directly about Operation Gunrunner (53:45 – 56:00). He responded that “letting guns walk is not acceptable” and that he had made that clear to U.S. Attorneys and field ATF offices. He noted that firearms are different than drug or money laundering cases where investigators might want to follow the money or drugs.
Later in the hearings, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) tried to get Holder to commit to supporting both a ban on standard capacity magazines and the “gun show loophole” (83:30 – 86:30). In both cases, Holder said they should examine the ban and private sales but wouldn’t commit to endorsing Lautenberg’s measures. He said the administration was looking at measures that would “respect the Second Amendment yet still protect law enforcement officers.” Lautenberg also threw out some poll numbers saying 69% of Americans support closing the “gun show loophole”. I presume these come from the same discredited polls put out by Bloomberg and his Illegal Mayors.
The website MainJustice.com also has a report on these hearings.
UPDATE: CBS News has better video of Holder’s answer to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s question about Project Gunrunner.
Indictment At Center Of Operation Fast And Furious
On January 25th, Dennis Burke, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, announced a grand jury indictment of 20 people on gun-running and drug charges. These charges were based upon the Operation Gunrunner (now Fast and Furious) investigation by the Phoenix Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. It seemed like a big bust at the time and it got a lot of publicity – as it was intended to do. We now know that this was only the tip of the iceberg.
Reading through the indictment of Jaime Avila, Jr. and the other defendents is interesting. By my rough count, the defendents purchased 717 firearms while only 123 were recovered by police and other law enforcement agencies. The majority of the firearms were sold by Lone Wolf Trading of Glendale, AZ. Indeed, I count 618 AK rifles and AK Draco pistols sold by them alone.
My conclusion on reading the indictment is that no FFL would have sold anything in that sort of quantity without the permission (and encouragement) of ATF.
Second, red flags had to be going off in Clarksburg, WV where the FBI was processing all those NICS checks before allowing the sales to go through. The FBI has not been mentioned in connection with Operation Gunwalker previously but these sales could not have been processed without their assistance. This leads to the question of what the FBI knew about this investigation and were they ordered by higher-ups in the Justice Department to provide assistance to ATF’s ongoing investigation. If so, who?
H/T The Firing Line forum
ATF – AVILA, Jaime Indictment – USBP Agent Terry Murder