Gunwalker: ATF Walked Guns Directly to Cartel Using Taxpayer Dollars
Mike Vanderboegh at Sipsey Street Irregulars and David Codrea at the Gun Rights Examiner have broken an exclusive story that claims the ATF authorized the sale of firearms directly to the agency in order to have them provided directly to the cartels:
A letter forwarded on Friday by a proven reliable source to Gun Rights Examiner and Mike Vanderboegh of Sipsey Street Irregulars documents Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives management authorizing the sale of firearms, which sources say were intended for delivery to cartel purchasers as part of the “Fast and Furious” / ”Gunwalker” scandal.
A copy of the letter, which bears the handwritten note of the gun dealer who accepted it, is also posted at the Examiner. The note reads: “Picked up guns 6/10/10. Paid cash.” The line “Paid cash” was underlined. The ATF special agent authorized to pick up the weapons was John Dodson, the agent who became the first whistleblower on Operation Fast and Furious after two walked guns from the smuggling operation turned up at the scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s murder.
According to Vanderboegh:
The existence of this letter provided to these reporters by a previously reliable source familiar with the Fast and Furious investigation, coupled with interviews of other sources across the country which put it into context, provides startling proof that the Federal government did not merely “lose track” of weapons purchased by “straw buyers” under surveillance by the ATF and destined for the Mexican drug cartels. In an undercover operation ordered by Fast and Furious supervisor David Voth, the U.S. government purchased firearms with taxpayer money from licensed firearms dealers, instructed them to conduct the sales “off the books,” and used an ATF agent, John Dodson, to deliver them directly to people that Dodson believed were conducting them across the border.
According one source close to the Issa committee and knowledgeable of its workings, this revelation “puts a stake in the heart of the ‘botched sting operation’ lie.” He continued, “There never was any ‘sting,’ there was only a deliberate effort to provide weapons to the DTO’s (Drug Trafficking Organizations).” He added, “this was one hundred percent us — our money, our guy, our (gun)walking.”
A spokesperson for Senator Charles Grassley responded to the allegations by Vanderboegh/Codrea by noting:
In a March 3 letter to Attorney General Holder and Acting ATF Director Melson, Senator Grassley released Reports of Investigation (Attachment 1 to the letter linked below) in relation to the same case to which Mr. Voth’s letter pertains. There is more detailed information about this non-Fast and Furious case in those previously released ROIs than in Mr. Voth’s letter. The Voth letter was not obtained until later and merely corroborates the information already in the ROIs.
The letter and attachment noted by Grassley’s office corroborate Vanderboegh/Codrea’s claim, and show that Dodson bought the weapons from Guns for All, a FFL in Peoria, AZ.
The allegation that the purpose of Operation Fast and Furious was a plot to inject weapons of American dealer origin into the near civil war between the Mexican government and drug cartels is utterly consistent with previously revelations about the conspiracy. The stated cover story for Operation Fast and Furious and alleged parallel Gunwalker plots in Houston, Dallas, and Tampa never made sense and would have been shot down by risk-averse bureaucrats before it even became a formal proposal.
There was never any method to track the firearms provided to the cartels. The cartel leaders that were the alleged target of the investigation never would have been involved in such low-level work as weapons procurement, an allegation on par with claiming they can ensnare a Fortune 500 CEO for the purchase of toner for printers. And of course, the U.S. government does not have the authority to arrest suspects across an international border in Mexico. The justification for the operation is laughable even as a hastily trumped-up cover story. Those who were a part of the conspiracy felt they had political cover at the highest level of government, and didn’t believe they needed but the thinnest of veneers of a cover story for their actions, which have led to weapons being recovered at the scenes of over 200 murders in Mexico and to the shooting of three U.S. federal agents.
If Vanderboegh/Codrea are correct — and for the duration of this scandal they have been dead-on accurate — Dodson was chosen by his superiors to become the “walker” of Fast and Furious guns in order to “dirty” him for his previous vehement arguments against the operations. The apparent hope was that if he was sullied in the operation himself, that he would be unwilling or unable to blow the whistle on crimes that he himself participated in. Obviously, they miscalculated his character.
The plot to ensnare Dodson sounds like a Hollywood mob movie for a very good reason; this kind of stunt has been revealed in multiple RICO prosecutions of organized crime.
The unraveling Gunwalker conspiracy has the potential of being the most devastating scandal in the history of American politics.
Using agency funds (taxpayers’ money) to buy the weapons to be transferred to the cartels means that the operation has, prima facie, violated U.S. Code Title 18, Part 1, chap. 96, section 1960-61, defining the use of federal funds to illegally obtain and/or transfer controlled substances and/or items to unauthorized third parties.
To do this within the law (as in a drug transaction) requires a bench warrant from a state or federal court. The buying or selling has to be done in a controlled manner, the item(s) must never be out of law enforcement control (meaning they at least must be tracked), and they cannot cross state lines or national boundaries without proper notification of authorities on the “receiving end”.
“Fast & Furious” and “Gunwalker” have, on the face of it, violated all of the above provisions.
Considering the level of stupidity on display at ATF, the agency might want to consider an insanity defense. If the orders came from “on high”, the officials issuing them might be better off resigning right now.
clear ether
eon
Resign? Instead, he is running for re-election.
They just have to do what Teddy did. Keep acting like nothing happened. Then ride out the wave of negativity. Once that is done progressives will just dismiss it as one of those dark periods. It’s not murder, it’s just that something got a little out of hand, that’s all.
I enjoy your posts eon.
Here I think you are mistaken about the warrant requirement.
U.S. Government Used Taxpayer Funds to Buy, Sell Weapons During ‘Fast and Furious,’ Documents Show
By William Lajeunesse
Published September 26, 2011
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/26/us-government-bought-and-sold-weapons-during-fast-and-furious-documents-show/
Fox News pretty much lifted their article part and parcel from Codrea and Vanderboegh, and should be considered plagiarists. No link to either of their sites, and Sispsey Street was only mentioned in passing; the Examiner not at all.
That’s why I’m linking to PJM on other sites (as well as Mike’s and David’s sites). Because PJM led with the attribution.
Very classy, PJM.
Fox seems to have some info that SSR doesn’t. From the Fox article:
I don’t see that episode in the SSR piece.
Hell of a scene, by the way. Dodson grows further in my estimation.
This just gets deeper and deeper, doesn’t it?
How is the administration going to cover for this? I’m sure they’ll think of something.
Heads should roll over this and I don’t mean the peons at the bottom!
There is not going to be a cover up. Just very little mention of it. And it will just go away.
All part of the Democrat’s “under the radar” plan to attack our 2nd Amendment rights.
This scandal involves many departments. It would be interesting to know if the RICO act can be used to prosecute federal officials for corruption.
Let’s see, DOJ, ATF, FBI, DHS, DEA, and the State Dept., all brought up on RICO violations. Now that WOULD be interesting.
What about CIA? Doesn’t that agency have a history of organized crime connections and manners? They weren’t involved?
“The unraveling Gunwalker conspiracy has the potential of being the most devastating scandal in the history of American politics.”
I agree, and it’s not getting nearly enough attention in the main stream media. Think about how upset the main stream media must be right now. The guy THEY PICKED, “the most intelligent president EVER,” is about to go down in one of the worst political scandals since Watergate. And this one is even worse because so many people died as a result of it, primarily in Mexico. But you still have a dead American border agent and his murder has to be answered for. Shame on the main stream media for not paying attention to this. I’m sure that if it were a Republican in the White House, there would be non-stop news coverage on this 24/7. What a bunch of hypocrites. Not even the death of an American citizen plus almost 200 Mexicans is enough of a story to interest them these days. That is, of course, unless the president was a Republican.
But will he? The level of coverage and the court of public opinion were critical to the Watergate outcome. I fear that this more severe scandal will not receive due coverage in the complicit media.
The break-in, IIRC, was on June 17, 1972. Nixon was forced to resign in August 1974. As a 25 year old law student I was amazed and very disappointed that it took 2 years to bring Nixon to Justice. Nixon had the government on his side and the media opposed. Obama has both the media and the DOJ (which is implicated in the scandal) on his side and a timid opposition.
The truth will eventually come out but not likely before Obama is removed in November 2012.
That will work in our favor, if he is out of office he cannot pardon anyone.
Well…there goes to ol’ adage of, “If it bleeds, it leads”. Most of the MSM won’t touch this story with a ten foot pole.
Remember the big to-do about Iran-contra that went nowhere? This is far larger. Hardly a peep.
If a scandal falls in the dead-tree forest, does it make a sound?
And the Iranian moderates and the Nicaragua contras had, at least, some semblance of legitimacy.
Prosecuting the perpetrators of this monstrous crime will not be enough. The power of the government and especially of the executive branch has been growing steadily too much for too long. Allowing too much power to be concentrated in one branch or one person leads inevitably to abuse. It may be tempting to empower the good guy to solve your problem today, but sooner or later, a bad guy gets his hands on that power. Usually sooner. Thats what I dont understand about the imbecile progressives, this is basic stuff. You learn it in grade school for God’s sake. As some have pointed out lately, Obama isnt the real problem, its the people who elected him who are.
The best articulation of progressive mentality that I have seen was written here a while back by a commenter named Bugs.
“To them no exercise of power is excessive or unnecessary if it leads to the improvement of society. It’s not power, it’s the power to do good that they worship. The power to solve big problems. In my opinion, they are the people who would worship Hitler if he made the trains run on time.”
“Despite their claim to nuanced thinking and morality, they appreciate the simplicity of power. They prefer a morally certain president or congress saying ‘make it so’ to a heterogenous rabble working out a deal that might involve compromise. When you are clearly right, they think, you shouldnt have to negotiate- you should simply get to do what you want. When your opponents are clearly wrong, they should STFU and stay out of the way.”
Bugs, you should copyright that. It is the very definition of tyranny.
After hanging all the people who had a hand in these evil operations, top to bottom, we need to take a good hard look at who we have become. Maybe it is time to get back to some basics, like very limited government. I personally prefer the heterogenous rabble working out deals with compromise.
NOBODY knows about any of this except conservative political junkies and people who watch FOX and NOBODY EVER WILL. There won’t be any Woodward/Bernstein exposes or WaPo and NYT features, no lead stories on the Nightly News. This isn’t happening, didn’t happen, never could happen; Democrats are good people and good people don’t do bad things, so move along.
Exactly, Art.
The JournOlistas will bury this ….in fact, THIS will be the most “shovel ready” job this administration has produced.
The propaganda machine will make sure this never sees the light of day. Had this been Bush, a Hollywood movie would be out by Christmas mirroring it.
It would dominate the headlines, it would lead every newscast.
But not for the hippies and stoners who currently lead us. Scandals in sandals just doesn’t fit the narrative.
You may recall that I said on one of the earlier reports that it would come out that the whole thing was being done with government money and assets. Hate to have been so right. There’s no market for US legal stuff with the real bad guys; they buy military full autos by the case for a third or less the price of US legal semi-autos. The government was buying this stuff and using their “assets” to plant US guns in Mexico. Some people need to hang for this, but when we get the government back, assuming this lot will relinquish it after they lose next year, all of them worth hanging will have a pardon. Might be fun to find out how the courts feel about the durability of a pardon issued by a President who was a co-conspirator.
I wish that we could trust the courts, Art. Unfortunately the courts have been stuffed with leftists, part of a fifth column of the entire Federal government, by the left.
This administration has ignored court orders without being held in contempt, or dragged off to jail by US Marshalls.
The issue is that the Obama Regime currently controls all federal law enforcement, so there won’t be any arrests or prosecutions, thus no questions to court, so long as Obama/Holder are in power. My point was that on the assumptions that we can win the WH in ’12 AND this lot actually relinquishes the government after they lose, not a certainty, we’ll find that they’ve all been pardoned and those pardons need a test.
Yes, there are leftists in the federal courts, especially at the trial court level, but if you have the wherewithal to work something all the way to the USSC, they generally get it right. Pray for the health of the 4/5 Justices who actually believe in The Constitution.
If there were any Republican governors and AGs who had any guts, they’d try to assert standing and take the questions up at the state level. Some of these actions had to have violated some state laws too.
I’m not buying the lame MSM’s “ignore it it and it will go away” attempt at a Jedi mind trick to make Operation Fast and Furious just disappear. The Speaker of the House and the Chief Justice of the SCOTUS need to investigate whether this was a poorly conceived and executed, leftist PR stunt to usurp the 2nd Amendment / U.S. Constitution. If it was, the Joint Chiefs of Staff need protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and DOMESTIC by ensuring everyone involved gets thrown into jail.
And just where do you find the authority for the JCS to do that?
There is none, but, IMO – if the POTUS, and the politically appointed leadership of the DOJ – BAFTE, FBI, DEA, the DHS, the DOS look like they are involved in a plot to usurp the 2nd Amendment (and are cool with killing 200+ people to do it), I’m OK with the SCOTUS and the Military playing the honest broker to see who broke what laws – - and, I don’t like the idea of the politically appointed leadership of the DOJ, FBI and the BATFE deciding that they might need to come break my door down because I want to exercise my rights under the First Amendment here on PJ Media.
That’s a little too close to a coup d’etat for my tastes in the current circumstances – note that last qualifier.
In a sane World, the Congress would impeach at least the Department heads involved and depending on his involvement take some action up to and including impeachment against the President himself. Unfortunately, the World has not been sane since radio and television, especially television.
Art, as long as there are 34 treasonous Copperheads in the Senate, impeachment won’t accomplish a damned thing. The Founders didn’t really anticipate the government in the hands of an entire party determined to undermine the country.
Mr. Owens:
While I find it admirable that you want to get to the bottom of Fast and Furious but Robert Farago at the Truth About Guns seems to always be a couple of days ahead of you with this story. Are you just slow or are you relying on other sources?
That’s a nice bit of advertising for Mr. Farago’s web site, but you forgot to mention the URL. As for the quality, relevance and accuracy of the work here, I think it stands for itself.
I am sure you can google/bing it. If I were really advertising it I would have.
I communicate with Robert Farago all the time. We don’t always draw the same conclusions but we’re on good terms with each other. I can assure you TTAG did not have this story a couple days before Bob Owens unless he has a time machine, because Mike Vanderboegh and I initially posted our joint releases on the 25th (we pulled those posts down for rework because they were incomplete and reposted them early on the 26th, but the publishing tool retained the original date) and Owens posted this piece on the 26th. So I’m not getting the purpose of your comment–in the context it appears, it looks like this is personal and you just want to say something mean and don’t care if your charge is true or not.
In the good old days Dems used groups like the KKK to murder thousands in order to get one of their tyrannical programs into place (Jim Crow). Nowadays, they’re using drug cartels to murder dozens in order to get one of their tyrannical programs into place (abolition of private ownership of guns).
They seem to be making some progress, since they’re murdering fewer people.
If only that were true Dave. The 200 officially linked deaths in Mexico is probably just the tip of the iceberg. Knowing what Mexico and Mexican LEO’s are like there are probably many times that many murders where these guns were used. The same is probably true here in the States as well.
Here’s what’s burning me:
Clearly DODSON knew about this from the beginning – and reports are that Issa’s known about this for ~9 months.
So why are *WE* just hearing about it NOW?!!
Are these so-called “righteous” men still part of the cover-up?
Based on what has come out to date there is no logical explanation except that the highest levels of the US government wanted to arm certain Mexican drug cartels. There is no other interpretation that is plausible.
The question is, why? The idea that it was to lend credence to the case that stronger restrictions on gun sales are needed in the US is very weak, to the point of being implausible, unless we assume Holder et al are idiots–and they may be many things, but idiots is probably not one of them.
So, the question remains, why did the US government, at least up to the level of the AG, choose to arm certain drug cartels, and wanted to do so even to the extent of corrupting ATF?
Perhaps Obama believes the Cartels are going to win the civil war in Mexico, and wants to get on their good side. Perhaps he WANTS the Cartels to win. As a theory, it’s certainly consistent with the rest of his foreign policy actions.
Yeah, but that doesn’t make sense. As has been pointed out, military-grade weapons would be a lot cheaper to supply. Why go via the commercial route?
Commercial weapons are less powerful, less interesting to the big cartels and more expensive.
So, either there was a new player on the scene that the administration wanted to support – someone who didn’t have the connections to easily get military-grade weapons, even if the administration wanted to supply them – or the administration wanted to dirty the commercial supply chain, or both.
Or maybe Obama just likes destroying various aspects of the US, and the ATF was convenient? Do whatever it takes to destabilize America and drive her reputation into the ground?
It seems to be the only thing any Obama policy consistently possesses.
Party PRI ran Mexico for decades, they lost the last Federal election to the “reformist” opposition partly based on the opposition’s promise to the Mexican people to clean up the drug smuggling/govt. corruption. PRI had harnessed the cartels for their own purposes and had a nice (relatively) quiet business profiting off of the drug trade. As did elements in the US.
The new govt. went to war with the cartels however the Los Zetas appear eager to topple the govt. and run things their way, with elements of the old PRI. By arming the Sinaloa cartel, someone or something (CIA + State + DHS = Panetta+Hillary+Big Sis) is trying to prop up the “reformist” govt. to re-establish the old order so everyone can go back to profiting off of the drug trade. Any benefits to whacking 2nd amendment supporters is just a bonus.
If Congress has the power of the purse, and the evidence so far is pretty convincing, why doesn’t Congress simply withhold the budgets of the implicated agencies? The new fiscal year starts 1 October. Starve the bastards.
Just stop funding them — make every petty bureaucrat scream for their paychecks until those responsible come to heel. Who knows — maybe some little fish, concerned about his paycheck, will cough up even more evidence.
@ 13: “Clearly DODSON knew about this from the beginning – and reports are that Issa’s known about this for ~9 months. So why are *WE* just hearing about it NOW?!!”
I read somewhere that Issa may be dragging this out so that it doesn’t go away too soon before the election. The public has a notoriously short memory; mustn’t wrap this up too quickly.
Congressman Issa is dragging it out so that he can turn over every rock possible. He knows that a special prosecutor will be appointed by Holder so he needs as much evidence as possible to hold that prosecutor accountable
Man, there’s no nice way to say it, so I’m just going to say it:
The government is flat out murdering people (using Mexican drug gangs to do their dirty work) so they can justify imposing more gun control here in the United States.
And, everyone damned well knows it.
The question is what are we going to do about it? How much longer are we going to put up with living in a nation where the government robs us blind via taxation and then uses some of the money they steal to try and take away our rights (that includes the right not to be murdered by Mexican gangsters armed with guns paid for with our tax dollars)?
Investigate the links between the drug dealers and US government officials. I don’t think this is just about planting evidence to be used to support gun control. There is no money in that. I suspect this story is about US government officials making money selling arms and drugs.
I’ve held the same belief for years. Follow the money. It’s actually very simple.
Arms to Mexican Cartels + Drugs from Mexican Cartels = USGov CARTEL
Here’s a little more proof of the extent our Government made DEALS with the Sinaloa Cartel, which allowed them to distribute drugs throughout the US, and murder people while our authorities looked the other way, in trade for info on the other Cartels…which in essence..were the “competition” to our own USGov Cartel. This is so unbelievable it’s beyond comprehension what the FBI/ATF/DHS/DOJ/DEA/State Department/ICE/IRS are really doing. And I’d bet that the Poppy trade in Afghanistan is the REAL reason were there too.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/05/sinaloa-cartel-case/
Won’t be long and the war in Mexico will look like a party compared to what’s going to happen here.
The real continuing tragedy of this is that the real perpetrators of this crime will almost certainly walk and some sacrificial lamb (underling) will take the rap and do the time.
The Ruling Class is running a rigged game in America, and if you want to see real justice, you will have to find another venue.
I hate to be so cynical, but I have lost faith in our leaders and their commitment to the rule of law and equal protection. Sad, but true.
The purpose was to enable further gun control legislation in America by showing the US gun dealers as enablers in arming the Mexican Cartels.
If ever a case of being (as someone said in the not to distant past) “frog marched out”. Ribbet
in case of that i have no excused for that!
wouldn’t be anymore from there!
“Oh Rhodesway – why do you keep harping about making the Presidents men disappear?”
Besides would the facility at Guantanamo Bay be large enough to hold – not only the present suspected terrorists – but the new Government acquisitions as they disappear from Osama’s roster.
Forget the ‘Bay’ I’ve got a tobacco barn that could accommodate the first influx of traitors – after that maybe a ’tent camp’ in Alaska!
“a plot to inject weapons of American dealer origin into the near civil war between the Mexican government and drug cartels”
Doesn’t this make it a “near act of war against Mexico”? I’m just…you know….asking….
Crap, now I’ll be the featured link on attackwatch.com
Every time the Democrats get into power, they start talking gun control, and sales of guns go to >1M / month. This has been a very reliable sequence.
I have always assumed that Ds own a lot of stock in gun manufacturers. I have seen statistics that Ds own a lot of stock in military-suppliers.
I think the AFT is the last group in the world that wants to get rid of guns. Their jobs depend on having guns and gun dealers. They want more regulations, more complexity, … but not abolition of firearms. True Believers in the Ds want to do so perhaps, but there are few TBs in the political class, they merely use them for ‘free votes’, ones that are ideologically based and therefore can be paid for with words rather than having to dole out taxpayer money.
There were, no doubt, lots of different motivations for this stupidity, lots of different groups with their own agendas. There are few simple stories in history, and anyone who is pushing a simple story doesn’t understand much.
This goes for Issa, et al, also. This case is part of their power portfolio. You can be sure they are negotiating every day for all the advantages they can get, money, more power, … That alone accounts for dragging everything out. Dragging it out is in the Bush-Obama administration’s advantage, so Issa et all are getting something out of it.
Every person complicit in this illegal operation needs to be jailed, including Holder and Obama if they were involved.
So will this material find its way to a Congressional Com. to investigate all of this? This seems to be just horrid and yet the MSM refuses to cover it and we have two huge issues: Solyn and Fast converging now in some voter’s minds. Will it get out to the mainstream.