Friction Grows Between Lawmakers and DOJ Over ‘Project Gunrunner’ Probe

May 4, 2011

Source: Fox News

It started with one whistleblower, but now involves dozens of investigators, has created a standoff between the Department of Justice and lawmakers and threatens Mexico’s diplomatic relationship with the United States.

Friction is growing over the probe into the failed “Project Gunrunner” program — run by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms that intended to stop the flow of guns to criminals in Mexico. Whistleblowers claim the bureau actually encouraged the illegal sale of firearms to known criminals, then allowed those guns to be smuggled to Mexico and tracked.

On Tuesday, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) went after Attorney General Eric Holder for refusing to answer questions and subpoenas for documents that implicate who approved the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives project that allowed guns purchased illegally in U.S. to be smuggled into Mexico on behalf of the drug cartels with the knowledge and consent of the ATF.

“We’re not looking at straw buyers, Mr. Attorney General, we’re looking at you,” Issa said. “We’re looking at you, we’re looking at your key people who knew or
should’ve known about this.”

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The theatre on the Hill is an outgrowth of an ongoing investigation that dates back to allegations two months ago from ATF agent John Dodson, a lone voice and career agent who told Fox News in March that the tactic of letting guns “walk” was approved by his supervisors in the Phoenix ATF office over the objections of several agents.

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Dodson was motivated in part by the death of Terry. At the scene of his shooting, police found two AK-47s that were purchased in the U.S. and distributed to drug cartels. These guns were traced to a gun shop that was working with the ATF Project Gunrunner and the Operation Fast and Furious program.

The gun shops say they were encouraged by ATF to sell the guns to suspected straw buyers, an act that is illegal. ATF agents assured the owners the sales were fine and part of an investigation. Unknown to the owners however, the guns were allegedly allowed to flow to Mexico into cartel hands.

The ATF hoped to trace the guns and ultimately make arrests of “bigger fish” in the trafficking network. That apparently never happened. Investigators believe more than 1,800 weapons, including assault rifles, made their way into Mexico, where they were used to commit violent crimes. This disclosure enraged many Mexican lawmakers, who want to sue the gun stores and prosecute U.S. officials who approved the plan.

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