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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Lanny Breuer: Should have learned from past 'gun-walking' failure A senior Justice Department official was aware last year that controversial “gun-walking” tactics were used in a gun-trafficking operation carried out five years ago during the Bush administration, but did not take aggressive steps to ensure that such techniques were not repeated in other federal investigations. The same tactics of allowing the purchase of firearms so they could be tracked to gun traffickers and Mexican drug cartel leaders are now at the heart of a congressional investigation into the “Fast and Furious” operation carried out by the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives during the Obama administration. “Knowing what I now know was a pattern of unacceptable and misguided tactics used by the ATF, I regret that I did not alert others within the leadership of the Department of Justice to the tactics used in Operation Wide Receiver when they first came to my attention” in April 2010, said Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, who heads the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, in a statement released to POLITICO Monday evening. Even as the scandal unfolded after the Dec. 2010 death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in an incident linked to “Fast and Furious” weapons, Breuer conceded that he did not alert Justice Department leadership about his knowledge of the similar gun-walking tactics used in the earlier “Wide Receiver” operation. “I did not draw a connection between the unacceptable tactics used by the ATF years earlier in Operation Wide Receiver and the allegations made about Operation Fast and Furious, and therefore did not, at that time, alert others within department leadership of any similarities between the two. That was a mistake, and I regret not having done so,” said Breuer. When Breuer, who was confirmed to his post by the Senate in 2009, found out about the gun-walking used in the “Wide Receiver” operation in 2006-2007, he brought the tactics to the attention of ATF , which had been responsible for the operation. However, Breuer said he took no further action to ensure that the department had completely halted “gun-walking,” a practice where guns are allowed to flow to criminals without constant supervision from law enforcement and which he called “misguided” and “unacceptable.” “At the time, he had no reason to believe that it was still going on, so why would he?” a Justice Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity told POLITICO. Nor did Breuer alert others in the department about the tactics, something he said he now regrets. Breuer’s statement comes as the Justice Department sent hundreds of pages of documents to Congress Monday in response to a subpoena from the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif). “There are 652 pages of documents that our investigators will scour over the next several days, beyond the few that the Justice Department pointed out. At first glance, though, the documents indicate that contrary to previous denials by the Justice Department, the criminal division has a great deal of culpability in sweeping the previous Wide Receiver strategy under the rug and then allowing the subsequent Operation Fast and Furious to continue without asking key questions,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Sen. Chuck Grassley in a statement. “With every document that comes out, the Justice Department loses credibility and the faith of the American people,” Grassley added. The Wide Receiver operation involved straw purchases of approximately 500 guns, 400 of which were allowed to “walk” into Mexico so that they could eventually be traced to gun traffickers and drug cartel members, according to a Justice Department official. It did not result in any prosecutions. After the Obama administration entered office, a lawyer in the Justice Department’s criminal division evaluated that prior investigation. In the process of trying to prosecute targets related to Wide Receiver, she realized that “gun-walking” had been involved, and took steps to inform department officials. By April 2010, this news had reached Breuer, and he informed the ATF of the tactics but took no further action. “Fast and Furious” began to come under fire after U.S. Border Patrol Officer Brian Terry was killed in December 2010 and two guns found at the scene were traced to the ATF operation. In all, more than 2,000 firearms were allowed to be purchased in the hope that they could later be traced to gun traffickers and drug cartel leaders. The ATF eventually lost track of the majority of these firearms. “Top Justice Department officials, including Attorney General Holder, know more about Operation Fast and Furious than they have publicly acknowledged,” Issa said at the time. The new revelations also follow Attorney General Eric Holder’s assertion in early September that “the notion that somehow or other [Fast and Furious] reaches into the upper levels of the Justice Department is something that, at this point, I don’t think is supported by the facts.” Holder will be testifying in front of both the Senate and House Judiciary Committees on Nov. 8 and Dec. 8, respectively. President Barack Obama said earlier this month he had “complete confidence” in Holder’s handling of the Fast and Furious investigation. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Phant2000 (#0)
Were this not so indictably criminal, it'd be hilarious.
Break the Conventions - Keep the Commandments - G.K.Chesterson Such behavior from our governmental employees AND our politicians will not change until we rise up and do something about it. They know we sleep, hence this kind of criminal behavior.
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