Newly-released Fast and Furious documents (…still keeping government secrets)

[mountaineer]

Finally turned over, after six years.

Newly-released Fast and Furious documents (…still keeping government secrets)
August 22, 2019 by Sharyl Attkisson

Today, I received several pages of documents related to the Fast and Furious scandal where the Obama Administration secretly facilitated the delivery of assault rifles and other weapons to Mexican drug cartels.

I requested the documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) back in 2013. This response took almost six years, even though– under FOI law– it was due in 30 days.   ...

The pages returned to me today are not enlightening. Some of them are emails from Fall of 2010 referring to a planned meeting in Mexico that included officials from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The bulk of the editorial content in the emails is blacked out. The reason given for many of the redactions is the so-called (b)(5) exemption. It says the government can withhold “inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters which would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency.”  ...  More, including copies of the documents, at Sharyl Attkisson.com

[mountaineer]

By Sharyl Attkisson
 CBS News
February 12, 2013, 4:25 PM
A primer on the "Fast and Furious" scandal

What is "gunwalking"?

"Gunwalking" is law enforcement vernacular for the concept of allowing criminal suspects to "walk" off with guns, without police interdicting or tracking them. It's widely considered taboo, since "walked" guns may be used in violent crimes, including murders.
What is "Project Gunrunner"?

"Project Gunrunner" is a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) national initiative under the Justice Department started in 2006 aimed at reducing US-Mexico cross-border drug and gun trafficking and violence.
What is "Fast and Furious"?

"Fast and Furious" is the name ATF assigned to a group of Phoenix, Arizona-area gun trafficking cases under Project Gunrunner that began in fall of 2009. It's the largest of several known operations in which ATF employed gunwalking, involving more than 2,000 weapons, including hundreds of AK-47 type semi-automatic rifles and .50 caliber rifles. According to sources who worked directly on the case, the vast majority of guns were not tracked and Mexico's government was not fully informed of the case. The ATF Special Agent in Charge of the operation was Bill Newell.  ...  Full story at CBS News

[Smokin Joe]

By Sharyl Attkisson
 CBS News
February 12, 2013, 4:25 PM
A primer on the "Fast and Furious" scandal

What is "gunwalking"?

"Gunwalking" is law enforcement vernacular for the concept of allowing criminal suspects to "walk" off with guns, without police interdicting or tracking them. It's widely considered taboo, since "walked" guns may be used in violent crimes, including murders.
What is "Project Gunrunner"?

"Project Gunrunner" is a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) national initiative under the Justice Department started in 2006 aimed at reducing US-Mexico cross-border drug and gun trafficking and violence.
What is "Fast and Furious"?

"Fast and Furious" is the name ATF assigned to a group of Phoenix, Arizona-area gun trafficking cases under Project Gunrunner that began in fall of 2009. It's the largest of several known operations in which ATF employed gunwalking, involving more than 2,000 weapons, including hundreds of AK-47 type semi-automatic rifles and .50 caliber rifles. According to sources who worked directly on the case, the vast majority of guns were not tracked and Mexico's government was not fully informed of the case. The ATF Special Agent in Charge of the operation was Bill Newell.  ...  Full story at CBS News

The next angle was to prosecute the Dealers who had cooperated with the BATFE's exhortations to sell the firearms. THankfully, one of the dealers had taped the whole setup for their protection. There is strong belief the next step was to 'recover' these firearms from crime scenes in Mexico to support the unsupportable ssertions that US dealers were supplying the Cartels and others with semi automatic rifles used in crime in Mexico, to make the availability of semiautos in the US an international issue, and somehow subject (through myriad legal contortions) to international law, in an attempt to subvert the US Constitution (something, incidentally, all officials involved had sworn to obey and defend, against all enemies, even though they were operating as enemies of the Republic by their actions).

It's enough to make one wonder how many firearms in mass shooting episodes have been South of the Border or were otherwise involved in F&F.

And then there was Grenadewalker