Holder Lied. People died.

Not in that order, perhaps, but still…

It has been said that Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms sounds more like a Mississippi convenience store than a federal agency. That is unfair to convenience stores, which are generally run with a pretty clear idea of what they are doing. What, exactly, did the ATF think it was doing when it delivered arms to Mexican gangs?

I have yet to see a reasonable explanation of the strategy behind "Project Gunrunner" or "Gunwalker," or "Fast and Furious," as the policy has been called. In case you are behind the curve on this one, the ATF pressured gun stores in Phoenix to sell high powered semi-automatic rifles and military pistols to questionable buyers (i.e., Mexican gangsters).

Apparently the idea was to follow the weapons and see where they ended up, apparently with the idea of shutting down the networks. Apparently no means of actually tracking the weapons were employed (assuming such means are available). All the ATF actually did do was to make sure that the weapons were delivered. From CBS News:

50-caliber weapons are fearsome. For months, ATF agents followed 50-caliber Barrett rifles and other guns believed headed for the Mexican border, but were ordered to let them go. One distraught agent was often overheard on ATF radios begging and pleading to be allowed to intercept transports. The answer: "Negative. Stand down."

I have been trying to imagine what the strategy was behind this. Here is my best guess. Maybe the ATF wanted to show that weapons purchased in the U.S. and delivered to Mexican gangs would in turn be resold in the U.S. to domestic criminals. That would be determined when the weapons resurfaced in arrests here. The demonstration of such a contraband flow would then be used to justify stricter controls on U.S. gun sales.

That is the best I can come up with and it's both criminal and stupid. Putting thousands of dangerous guns in the hands in order to bolster the case for gun control would be insane. It would make the ATF an accomplice in all the murders committed with those weapons.

And indeed that is all that the policy actually accomplished.

One agent argued with a superior asking, "are you prepared to go to the funeral of a federal officer killed with one of these guns?" Another said every time there was a shooting near the border, "we would all hold our breath hoping it wasn't one of 'our' guns."

Then, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered. The serial numbers on the two assault rifles found at the scene matched two rifles ATF watched Jaime Avila buy in Phoenix nearly a year before. Officials won't answer whether the bullet that killed Terry came from one of those rifles. But the nightmare had come true: "walked" guns turned up at a federal agent's murder.

I don't know whether the ATF can offer a better justification for the policy than I suggest here, but I am pretty sure that whatever they might offer won't satisfy Agent Terry's family. Oh, and it also seems likely that these weapons figure in the murder of a number of officials in Mexico. The government of our southern neighbor is not amused.

The Obama Administration has denied knowing anything about "Fast and Furious". Not so fast. Again from CBS News:

WASHINGTON - New documents obtained by CBS News show Attorney General Eric Holder was sent briefings on the controversial Fast and Furious operation as far back as July 2010. That directly contradicts his statement to Congress.

On May 3, 2011, Holder told a Judiciary Committee hearing, "I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks."

Yet internal Justice Department documents show that at least ten months before that hearing, Holder began receiving frequent memos discussing Fast and Furious.

General Holder's May 3^rd testimony to Congress was not technically a lie. It was only an actual lie. The weasel word "probably" nails it down. It was also a stupid lie. With Republicans in control of the House Judiciary Committee, General Holder could not have expected that he could pretend ignorance for very long or for long enough to make it past next year's election.

Of course there is another possible interpretation of the facts.

The Justice Department told CBS News that the officials in those emails were talking about a different case started before Eric Holder became Attorney General. And tonight they tell CBS News, Holder misunderstood that question from the committee - he did know about Fast and Furious - just not the details.

For that explanation of his testimony to work, you have to believe two things. One is that the ATF was running a ridiculously stupid and dangerous program on our southern border and neither the Attorney General nor the President knew much of anything about it. The other is that the Attorney General did know at least something about it, but was not curious enough, let alone alarmed enough, to inquire further.  File under "criminal negligence."  Cross file under "incompetence."  

The ignorance excuse is more damning that the lie. I go with the latter, but given what we know about the empty wheel house on Obama's ship of state, one can scarcely be sure.

Comments

[Stan Gibilisco]

So God was the snake in the Garden of Eden. Should this surprise us?

[duggersd]

I can believe the President did not know about this. It is apparent the President does not know a lot of things. But for the Attorney General to claim no knowledge, well that is another case. I guess he gets those briefing documents, but does not read them or understand them. Already, one person, Ken Melson, has fallen on his sword over this, but booted out? Hell no! He was moved in a sideways position. I believe when this is all over, Eric Holder will be removed. But he will probably move into another Cabinet position.

[George Mason]

KB; Your suggestion about this program is being aimed at establishing more rigid control on gun ownership ( a direct assault on 2nd Amendment rights) follows along with statements made by Hillary Clinton over the last 2 years ("90% of guns used in murders in Mexico come from the U.S.A" (words to that effect)). It is rather surprising that CBS has pursued this as aggressively as it has, but maybe that's because the DOJ and WH people have taken to screaming and swearing at its reporters. The next question is how long will it take to file perjury charges against Holder (he was under oath when he testified). Perhaps getting rid of Holder will provide us with an AG who will protect voting rights as well as law enforcement officers.
In response to dugger: Only in government can you achieve this level of stupidity without someone being fired or thrown in jail.

[coyotejoe]

Sad but true, we can only speculate on the intended purpose of this operation because the claimed purpose of "tracking the guns to the bigger fish" is preposterous in view of their having made no attempt to track them. The speculation that it was to lay a statistical basis for new gun controls and win new funding for the ATF is more plausible but still speculative.
Regardless of the true intent, in practice it is a criminal conspiracy to enable international terrorism. This is the worst scandal ever to surface in Federal Law Enforcement and the silence from the mainstream media is deafening. Remember "Watergate"? That was a third rate burglary in which nothing was stolen. "Gunwalker" is a conspiracy to violate U.S. law and international boundaries. Even the rare mention in the media is low key with no sense of outrage, like "oops, those silly boys messed up."

[KB]

I doubt very much whether any of this amounts to criminality on the part of the Administration. It is just really stupid.

[Jimi]

KB,

"I doubt very much whether any of this amounts to criminality on the part of the Administration."

The act never does....the cover up is what always gets them. Besdies.....there still seems to be room for the theory that this could be tied to an planned political attack on the Second Admendment. If that turns out to be the case.....obviously it would have came from the higher echelons of the Democratic Party.

Personally...I beleive that they were attempting to arm all the Cartels equally hoping they would all start killing each other, or hoping they would become strong enough to force the issue and bring the military option to the table.

[DDC]

George Mason,

Perjury? Really? C'mon now, the only way to be brought up on perjury charges for lying to congress is to try to cover up something truly heinous, like taking HGH and/or steroids to heal quicker or try to prolong your baseball career (or break some records). That and there are a lot of medical marijuana dispensaries that dare operate without breaking any state laws, so we have to go after them on a federal level. Don't forget about raw milk!!! We simply don't have enough resources to investigate every piddly little crime or fibs told in an attempt to cover up really terrible government actions.

[Stan Gibilisco]

"Truth is such a precious article let us all economize in its use." -- Mark Twain.

[KB]

DDC: is perjury. I don't think a strong case can be made here, but contempt of Congress is crime.

[duggersd]

I guess I am a criminal as I have all kinds of contempt of Congress. BTW, it now appears Holder missed at least 5 memos. http://biggovernment.com/publius/2011/10/06/holder-received-at-least-5-memos-on-fast-and-furious/

[Lynn]

I am wondering at the timing of the release of the info about the attempted terrorist plot just announced by Holder today. Seems this guy has been under arrest for some time. Methinks that Holder wants to distract us from the Fast and Furious scandal. And it IS a scandal; people have gone to jail for much less in prior scandals or coverups. Do I think Holder will get by with it though? Yea, sadly, I do. No one gets prosecuted in this administration no matter how much they violate the Constitution or lie. Pathetic.