Top Agency Officials Knew of Disputed Gun Program

operation fast and furious, project gunrunner, gunwalker - no matter what you call it, it's a huge screw up on the part of the justice department and the atf.

In this situation, where the very top people are probably involved, is it really a good idea to have the justice department doing an investigation? Do you think this could be objective in any way?

There is no way that people in very high places didn't know about this.

Now the atf and the justice department present congress with documents that are completely blacked out? And then they speak of cooperation? What a bunch of thugs and criminals. I hope that Darrell Issa and the rest of the Oversight Committee are able to sort this out and make every single person involved pay dearly.

You can bet that very soon Mexico will start demanding answers...

By Sean Collins Walsh - The New York Times

Knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious, a controversial border security strategy that allowed guns to be shipped illegally into Mexico in an effort to track them to drug cartels, went to the top of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, according to evidence released on Wednesday at a House Oversight Committee hearing.

The operation, which began in 2009, came under fire after two guns linked to it were found at the scene of the killing of an American Border Patrol agent, Brian A. Terry, in Arizona in 2010. Members of Mr. Terry’s family testified at the hearing.

The acting director of A.T.F., Kenneth E. Melson, and his acting deputy, William J. Hoover, were “keenly interested” in the operation and received weekly updates on its progress, according to internal e-mails released for the first time by the Oversight Committee’s chairman, Darrell Issa, Republican of California.

At the hearing, Republicans pressed a Justice Department witness as to who else in Washington authorized the operation or was aware of it.

The witness, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich, said releasing some of the documents that the committee sought would jeopardize continuing prosecutions.

At one point, Mr. Issa held up an entirely redacted page from evidence submitted by the department and chided Mr. Weich for the department’s response to a subpoena.

“How dare you make an opening statement of cooperation!” Mr. Issa shouted at Mr. Weich. “You’ve given us black paper.”

Read the rest at the link above...