The more that comes out about Obama’s gunrunning debacle, the uglier it gets.
On May 3, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder testified before House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa’s committee that he only learned about the government’s sale of weapons to Mexican drug cartels “in the last few weeks.”
But Big Government found a 2009 speech by Holder on the Department of Justice’s own website that proves the attorney general was well aware of Operation Gunrunner back in 2009:
The problem with Holder’s feigned ignorance is that he gave a speech in Cuernavaca, Mexico, on April 2, 2009, in which he boasted about Operation ‘Gunrunner” and told Mexican authorities of everything he was doing to insure its success.
When questioned by the media, Holder also denied knowing anything about Gunrunner:
“Holder’s office at first vehemently denied ATF has ever knowingly allowed weapons to get into the hands of suspected gunrunners for Mexico’s drug cartels,” CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reported.
But at the arms trafficking conference in Cuernavaca, Holder not only acknowledged the program, he bragged that he was in the process of expanding it:
“Last week, our administration launched a major new effort to break the backs of the cartels. My department is committing 100 new ATF personnel to the Southwest border in the next 100 days to supplement our ongoing Project Gunrunner, DEA is adding 16 new positions on the border, as well as mobile enforcement teams, and the FBI is creating a new intelligence group focusing on kidnapping and extortion. DHS is making similar commitments, as Secretary Napolitano will detail.”
So Holder’s May 3rd denial appears to be refuted by his own words.
With 43 automatic weapons with serial numbers traced back to the ATF operation seized during a single traffic stop in Phoenix, and others showing up in crimes throughout Arizona, the ATF director now claims that Holder’s department is obstructing the congressional investigation.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/07/holder-bragged-about-operation-gunrunner-2009
It looks like Holder and Company expanded gunrunning ops where some of our weapons end up in the hands of of Honduran thugs.
Republican lawmakers are alleging that Operation Fast and Furious may have had a twin in Tampa: Operation Castaway.
The new revelations have come to light as Florida Republican Rep. Gus Bilirakis fired off a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and acting ATF Director Ken Melson asking them for answers about the newly discovered program.
“In recent days, it has come to light that the ATF and DOJ have participated in the act of ‘gun walking’ beyond the acts conducted within the scope of ‘Operation Fast and Furious,’” Bilirakis wrote to Holder and Melson.
“Recent reports have suggested that Project Gunrunner may not have been limited to weapons trafficking to Mexico and that similar programs included the possible trafficking of arms to criminal gangs in Honduras with the knowledge of the ATF’s Tampa Field Division and the Department of Justice’s Middle District of Florida through an operation known as ‘Operation Castaway,’” the letter read.
The controversial gun-trafficking sting operation Operation Fast and Furious was managed out of the ATF’s Phoenix field office. Congressional Republicans are investigating whether similar practices were followed elsewhere.
Bilirakis added that, as a member of the House Committees on Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs, he finds it “troubling” that the U.S. government would “willfully allow weapons to be acquired by dangerous criminal and drug trafficking organizations in direct contravention to our strategic and national interests.”
Specifically, Bilirakis asked them to confirm whether or not these new allegations are true, what monitoring and tracking processes the DOJ and ATF used to follow the guns after they were sold and whether or not Operation Castaway has been terminated.
Bilirakis sent a separate letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton asking similar questions about ICE’s possible involvement in Operation Castaway.
A spokeswoman for the DOJ didn’t respond to TheDC’s request for comment.
http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/13/did-operation-fast-and-furious-have-a-tampa-twin-operation-castaway/
Those weapons are ending up in the hands of MS-13 gangs and illegals who shoot border patrol agents. Their blood is on Obama’s hands.
Okay Republicans, can we start the impeachment process now?
Related articles
- Gunwalker Updates: Phoenix Guns, Operation Castaway, Honduras, Eric Holder, The Stimulus, And More (thepatriotperspective.wordpress.com)
- Operation Castaway ATF & Honduras ??? (2012patriot.wordpress.com)
- MORE ON THAT ATF GUNRUNNING SCANDAL: ‘Fast & Furious’ gets hotter for Holder. “Don’t look now, but… (pajamasmedia.com)