BELTWAY GUNRUNNERS

Analyst calls for removal of U.S. attorney over 'Fast and Furious"

'Why is it not a conflict of interest for Burke to remain in that job?'

Posted: August 13, 2011
1:00 am Eastern
By Michael Carl
© 2011 WND

Phoenix U. S. Attorney Dennis Burke, who recently argued against allowing the parents of murdered Border Patrol agent Brian Terry to be considered victims, should be removed from office over the Project Gunrunner Fast and Furious operation, charges firearms writer and Second Amendment analyst Mike Vanderboegh.

"This is proof positive of the banality of evil. These people have so identified with a regime, a way of thinking, that they no longer believe regular morality applies to them," Vanderboegh told WND.

"They think they're above all of that, that they're special, they're anointed. So it's a natural move for these people who simply don't want anyone to interfere with their cover-up," Vanderboegh said.

"Why is Burke still in office there in Phoenix? Everyone understands the testimony that's been given in the hearings, the documents that have been released by Sen. Grassley and Rep. [Darrell] Issa," he said. "Everybody understands that he (Burke) was neck deep in Gunrunner. Everybody understands that it was Gunrunner weapons that killed Brian Terry. Why is it then not a conflict of interest for Burke to remaining that job?"

Vanderboegh said Burke's involvement in the case is a" conflict of interest, but they only leave him there because they believe that no one's watching the naked emperor."

"The emperor has no clothes; the cover-up has collapsed, and yet they continue to walk around, and actually they're allowed to do this by the mainstream press," he said. "Burke should have been removed a long time ago if the Justice Department is about justice, but of course, we know that it's not."

The failure to remove Burke, he said, goes against American values and the American justice system.

"So we have these ridiculous moves, like Burke trying to prevent the Terry family from being considered as crime victims. It's so outrageous," Vanderboegh said.

That move came after Burke determined that Terry's family was not "directly or proximately harmed" by Terry's murder.

The family had petitioned to be admitted as witnesses in the federal trial of Jamie Avila, the man suspected of buying the guns used in Terry's murder.

The dispute centers on claims that the federal government allowed banned buyers to purchase some 2,000 weapons in the United States that authorities knew probably would be moved to Mexico and end up in the hands of drug lords.

"It's absolutely anti-American. This is now about a criminal gang that is in charge of the justice system. Nothing proves that more than Dennis Burke and the way he has conducted himself," Vanderboegh said.

The U. S. attorney's office in Phoenix has not responded to WND's request for comment.

But the office there has a statement on two Border Patrol agents being charged with civil rights violations.

"A federal grand jury in Tucson returned a 5-count indictment today against Dario Castillo, 23, and Ramon Zuniga, 29, both of Maricopa, Ariz., for Conspiracy to Deprive Persons of Civil Rights and Civil Rights Deprivation under Color of Law. Castillo was also charged with Tampering with a Witness. The defendants will be summoned to appear for arraignment in federal court," the statement read.

USA Today reported the federal gun probe is now zeroing in on suspect Uriel Patino who allegedly bought more than 700 firearms as part of the gun-trafficking ring. The report said federal agents knew that Patino's guns were showing up at Mexican crime scenes, but the agents still let him go free.

He was arrested in January but not before he allegedly bought at least 720 firearms, including 157 traced to Mexican drug cartel enforcers, authorities reported.

Patino's purchases reportedly amount to a significant portion of the guns bought during the operation.

Authorities estimate there were some 2,000 weapons involved in the ATF's controversial gun-trafficking investigation, known as Operation Fast and Furious.

Vanderboegh believes the attention given to Patino's case is part of a major cover-up.

"It's funny how all of these releases and things, they're happening because someone within the conspiracy is trying to cover their behind. There's all sorts of disinformation being quoted or correct information being spun a certain way," Vanderboegh stated.

"Each agency is jockeying to present their own version of what happened," Vanderboegh said.

Vanderboegh believes one of the agencies involved in the campaign to "spin" the results is the one that has avoided close scrutiny – the FBI.

"The FBI was manipulating the NICS check system, the instant background check system in favor of felons. That's a huge story," Vanderboegh said.

"For anyone who buys a gun or anyone with a federal firearms license, to have them manipulate the NICS system so that they allow a felon who is not allowed to buy a gun to buy a gun," Vanderboegh continued.

"The system understands that he's a felon and that he's not allowed to buy. Yet, when the name is submitted, instead of rejecting it, they flipped a switch and he's allowed to buy tens, hundreds of guns," Vanderboegh added. "That's huge."

Vanderboegh said the FBI has almost completely avoided any scrutiny.

"The FBI's culpability in this has hardly been examined by anyone, from the immediate cover-up they've been doing in the Terry murder, allowing three of the people who were seen at the scene, making this determination that they didn't know anything," he said.

"Then what do they do? They send those three guys back to Mexico. Those guys are probably dead by now. They wanted to get them away from the possibility that Grassley's people would interview them," Vanderboegh added. "So back to Mexico they went."

"From the very beginning, the FBI has known about Gunrunner, has participated in Gunrunner, has helped with the cover-up of Gunrunner," he said.

Vanderboegh believes that the FBI will soon be a part of a wider investigation.

Neither the FBI nor the Department of Justice has responded to WND's request for comment on the story.

More hearings are expected in Issa's Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, but a date hasn't been announced.

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