Obama White House Involved in Selling Guns to Mexican Drug Cartels
WASHINGTON & SANTA FE, NM (By James Walsh, News
Max)
―
Operation Fast and
Furious is a U.S.
Department of
Justice (DOJ) effort
conducted by its
Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms, and
Explosives Bureau
(ATF) in Phoenix,
Ariz.
The operation was
designed to snare
Mexican drug cartel
big fish by
permitting the sale
of firearms of
various calibers to
middlemen or
straw-purchasers,
who then would
attempt to ship the
weapons to the
cartels or other
Mexican criminals.
Through surveillance
and interdiction,
the ATF sought to
trace the weapons to
major Mexican
criminals.
Prosecution was the
original end game,
but at some point
along the way,
DOJ/ATF superiors
instructed Fast and
Furious operatives
to continue
surveillance
(including wiretaps)
of straw-purchasers
but to cease
interdictions
(arrests).
Thus the weapons
went south literally
and figuratively,
and things went
terribly wrong.
According to Mexican
officials, at least
500 Mexican
nationals have been
killed with an
estimated 2,500
weapons sold to the
straw-men. Illegal
transfers of weapons
to Mexico apparently
were conducted
without the
knowledge of Mexican
authorities, who
express outrage at
the mounting deaths.
U.S. citizens also
have been killed.
For example, on Dec.
14, 2010, U.S.
Border Patrol Agent
Brian Terry was
murdered 18 miles
north of the
Arizona-Mexico
Border. Two Fast and
Furious weapons were
found at the site.
His killers were
Mexican nationals,
and upon their
arrest, a cover-up
of Fast and Furious
was begun by the
DOJ/ATF. Political
appointees were in a
“panic mode”, and
the DOJ allegedly
closed down the
Operation.
On Feb. 15, 2011,
the Obama
administration
deported three of
the Terry
assailants, saying
they did not
actually pull the
trigger.
On that same day, in
Mexico, Fast and
Furious weapons were
used in the set-up
killing of Jaime
Zapata, a U.S.
Department of
Homeland
Security/Immigration
and Customs
Enforcement (ICE)
agent. ICE agent
Victor Avila was
wounded.
After Zapata’s
death, the blame
game began with the
Washington two-step:
I know nothing, I
see nothing.
Thanks to U.S. Rep.
Darrell Issa, R-Calif.,
chairman of the
House Oversight and
Government Reform
Committee, the truth
about operation Fast
and Furious is
coming out.
Issa is leading a
bipartisan
fact-finding mission
to Mexico. Senate
Judiciary Committee
Chairman Patrick
Leahy, D-Vt., and
some Democrats on
the House Oversight
Committee continue
to stonewall
investigation of
possible misfeasance
or malfeasance by
the Obama
administration and
its political
appointees.
Around the country,
former DOJ lawyers
know that Fast and
Furious had to be
approved at the
highest levels.
Involving illegal
purchases of
firearms, border
security, national
security, and
international
relations, it
required approval of
the Attorney
General’s office,
the Department of
State, the
Department of
Homeland Security,
and the White House.
Any such operation
would be too
sensitive and risky
for a street agent
or field supervisor
to approve.
The Fast and Furious
electronic
surveillances came
under the Wire and
Electronic
Communications
Interception and
Interception of Oral
Communications Act
(18 U.S. Code
sections 2510-2520).
This law sets out
the requirements for
a court-authorized
wire intercept.
The U.S. attorney
general or a
specifically
designated assistant
must authorize in
writing approval for
an intercept. The
attorney general may
designate wiretap
approval to the
deputy attorney
general, or others.
An intercept begins
with an affidavit by
a federal agent
setting out the
facts establishing
some illegal or
national security
behavior (probable
cause) that warrants
an authorized
intercept.
The paperwork
demonstrating need
is prepared by a DOJ
attorney. The
authorization is
signed, however, by
the DOJ Criminal
Division’s Deputy
Assistant Attorney
General Kenneth A.
Blanco. If the
attorney general
deems that an
intercept involves
political factors,
then the request may
be passed to the
White House for
review.
If approved, then
the matter is placed
before a federal
judge for
authorization. The
federal judge
inspects the
paperwork and
signature of the
Attorney General or
his designee in
accordance with
federal law before
authorizing an
intercept.
Denials of knowledge
regarding Fast and
Furious are running
top down from the
president through
the Department of
Justice to the
Arizona U.S.
attorney and his
Assistant U.S.
attorneys, one of
whom is a main
“orchestrator” of
the operation. These
denials fail the
evidence test, let
alone the smell
test. A federal
grand jury
investigation of
those responsible
for operation Fast
and Furious is in
order but unlikely
with the Obama
administration in
denial mode.
