Operation Gunrunner was funded by the 2009 Stimulus Package

[red states rule]

Will this be covered in the liberal media, and will Obama be held accountable for the deaths of US citizens

Probably not





Something about Project Gunrunner (gunwalker, fast and furious) has been bugging me but I just couldn't put my finger on it.

This morning when I woke up I remember seeing Project Gunrunner in a bill that was discussed here. The original thread about it was a rumor thread that HR45 had been rolled into the stimulus package.

In that thread I scanned the text of H.R.1 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for gun, firearm, etc and came up with a hit.

I posted in the thread: "Only time “gun” or “firearm” appears is in the part that give $10,000,000 to the ATF for Project Gunrunner. That was H.R. 495, asking for 15,000,000 for Gunrunner".

H.R. 495 that I mentioned never made it out of committee, but it looks as it was to specifically fund Gunrunner.

Instead portions of it were rolled into the stimulus package a month later. That text found in H.R.1 is:

For an additional amount for ‘State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance’, $40,000,000, for competitive grants to provide assistance and equipment to local law enforcement along the Southern border and in High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas to combat criminal narcotics activity stemming from the Southern border, of which $10,000,000 shall be transferred to ‘Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Salaries and Expenses’ for the ATF Project Gunrunner.

Notice that's $40,000,000 for Southern border enforcement, $10,000,000 of which specifically for Project Gunrunner. What does $10 million pay for here? It didn't hire any new agents that I am aware of.

What this tells me is that several congressmen also had knowledge of what Gunrunner was going to entail. This isn't just the ATF and DOJ. This is all levels and areas of government. Even members of the House and Senate knew what Project Gunrunner was.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2745149/posts

[Gaffer]

Get ready for another "personality" to go on a binge and spree. The media is going to need to bury this.

You can bet any members of congress that were in on this have D after their name. Now the simple thing to check is who introduced those bills. They got to have a name or two on them.

[Kathianne]

A word of caution:

http://confederateyankee.mu.nu/archives/318531.php


It's a Trap!

I've seen several claims in the past 24 hours that "prove" that Attorney General Eric Holder, or Congress, or the President, or the Pope, knew about Gunwalker/Fast and Furious because of a speech someone made, or because of legislation being proposed or because of a line item in the Stimulus bill.

I would strongly urge caution in these matters.

Please Keep in mind that Gunrunner is a long-term cartel weapons interdiction program that kicked off during the previous administration. there is no indication that Gunrunner has ever been anything but above-board. The program/project framework has long been used in business and government, with the program being the general vision, with individual projects/operations as steps towards realizing that vision...

Point is that while this one 'project' certainly went off the rails and there should be 'hell to pay,' it may indeed be part of a larger program that may well be working. Indeed, the 'wild accusations' may provide the out the administration is looking for.

[Kathianne]

It does appear though that pressure is mounting to appoint a special prosecutor, as DOJ's inspector general appears more than biased:


DOJ Inspector General Can’t Be Trusted to Investigate Gunwalker

Posted By Bob Owens On July 8, 2011 @ 12:00 am In Crime,Homeland Security,US News | 11 Comments

As the pressure began mounting on his administration’s actions in the Gunwalker scandal last week, President Barack Obama turned once again to the Department of Justice inspector general’s investigation of the crime as cover [1]:


Today at his news conference, President Obama was asked about the unfolding gunwalker scandal, and whether ATF leadership will be replaced.

Mr. Obama answered, “My attorney general has made clear that he certainly would not have ordered gun running to be able to pass through into Mexico. … I’m not going to comment on — a on a current investigation. I’ve made very clear my views that that would not be an appropriate step by the ATF, and we’ve got to find out how that happened.”

Mr. Obama added, “As soon as the investigation is completed, I think appropriate actions will be taken.”

Mr. Obama is referring to the investigation being run by acting DOJ Inspector General Cynthia A. Schnedar, who stepped into the position when well-respected longtime Inspector General Glenn Fine retired in late January.

Unfortunately for Schnedar, few seem to have confidence in her ability to run a competent or even unbiased investigation of the apparent crimes — deeds perpetrated by DOJ agencies involved in a program that saw federal law enforcement agencies providing de facto security to gun smugglers working for Mexican narcotics cartels. Attempts to apprehend gun smugglers during the commission of their crimes were thwarted by the very agencies and agents chartered to stop them.

Ultimately, the operation led to the murder of two U.S. federal agents and an estimated 150 Mexican law enforcement officers and soldiers. The strong implication is that those individuals and agencies responsible for allowing Gunwalker to proceed aided and abetted murder, committing felonies as accessories before the fact...

...DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General ignored ATF whisteblowers, and previous rulings by the OIG may have contributed to the tactics used in Gunwalker. These are clear and obvious conflicts of interest that demand removing the OIG as the investigating agency.

Grassley’s criticism is shared within the Department of Justice itself. A Pajamas Media source within the DOJ concurs that the DOJ OIG Schnedar is not trusted internally to run impartial investigations, and that DOJ employees now avoid going to OIG with concerns.

Aside from Schnedar’s credibility gap, the source further noted the Obama administration’s history of intimidating inspectors general, citing the firing and smearing [2] of Inspector General of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) Gerald Walpin, who was investigating [3] the AmeriCorps scandal, which had in its sights Obama’s friend Kevin Johnson.

Put simply, the DOJ-OIG’s impartiality and competence have been challenged, which has in no way been helped by the Obama administration’s thuggish intimidation of previous OIGs that have gotten too close to Obama’s allies.

The DOJ-OIG’s report won’t be worth the “black paper [4]” the agency submitted in attempts to stonewall the Oversight Committee’s investigation in June.

The severity of the charges demands that a compromised DOJ-OIG be removed from the case, and that an independent prosecutor be appointed to determine who in the Obama administration authorized a gun-running operation that is responsible for graveyards filled with police dead.

[Kathianne]

A word of caution:

http://confederateyankee.mu.nu/archives/318531.php



Point is that while this one 'project' certainly went off the rails and there should be 'hell to pay,' it may indeed be part of a larger program that may well be working. Indeed, the 'wild accusations' may provide the out the administration is looking for.

Perhaps part of reason for the 'warning':

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/43-weapons-in-phoenix-traffic-stop-linked-to-atf-strategy


43 weapons in Phoenix traffic stop linked to ATF strategy
* By: Lori Jane Gliha

PHOENIX - The ABC15 Investigators have linked an additional 43 weapons recovered during a Phoenix traffic stop to the controversial Fast and Furious ATF case.

According to court paperwork, Phoenix Drug Enforcement Administration agents discovered the guns in mid-April. They pulled over a vehicle near 83rd Avenue and Interstate 10, near the Phoenix and Tolleson border.

Documents filed in federal court reveal five suspects named in the case are accused of conspiring to possess and distribute “500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine…”

Four of the suspects are listed as undocumented immigrants. The fifth suspect had been admitted to the United States under a non-immigrant visa, according to court documents.

THE WEAPONS RECOVERED

...

THE HISTORY

Phoenix ATF agents recently testified during a Congressional hearing that they knowingly allowed weapons to slip into the hands of straw buyers who would then distribute the weapons to known criminals.

The strategy was designed to lead ATF officials to key drug players in Mexico, but some agents admitted they never fully tracked the weapons after suspicious buyers purchased them.

“It made no sense to us either, it was just what we were ordered to do, and every time we questioned that order there was punitive action,” Phoenix Special Agent John Dodson testified.

According to the testimony of three Phoenix ATF agents, including Dodson, hundreds of weapons are now on the streets in the United States and Mexico, possibly in the hands of criminals.

Dodson estimated the number could be as many as 1,800 weapons.

“…Fast and Furious was one case from one group in one field division,” he testified. He estimated agents in the Phoenix field division “facilitated the sale of” approximately 2,500 weapons to straw purchasers. A few hundred have been recovered.