Thread: ‘Fast and Furious’ Investigation Could Expand

‘Fast and Furious’ Investigation Could Expand

Thursday, 30 Jun 2011 11:50 AM
By Caroline Rawls

The lead Democrat official on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is calling for a more extensive inquiry into Operation Fast and Furious, reports Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/58102.html

Rep. Elijah Cummings released a report Thursday that takes an in depth look at gun law reform suggestions from agents of the Bureau for Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The report is titled “Outgunnedâ€

'Fast and Furious' inquiry broadens


Elijah Cummings released a report saying that gun laws need to be tightened to fight crime. | AP Photo Close

By SEUNG MIN KIM
6/30/11 9:10 AM EDT
Updated: 6/30/11 12:24 PM EDT

House Democrats are still fuming about when Rep. Darrell Issa cut off their questions during an oversight hearing earlier this month on a bungled gun-tracking operation, broadening the inquiry Thursday during their own hearing.

Issa, the Republican chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, had led a hearing where he grilled agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives into how the mission, called Operation Fast and Furious, had gone awry.

When Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) asked whether existing criminal penalties were so weak that agents were discouraged from pursuing cases, Issa cut her off.

“Why were we having the hearing?â€

Elijah Cummings released a report saying that gun laws need to be tightened to fight crime.

Put on your Bull Shit Deflectors cause Here Comes the Bull Shit in Bucket Loads

This is what 'Fast and Furious' was all about ... to Disarm America so that the coup d'état of the United States would be Unopposed while bringing in the U.N. and a One World Government

again .. this has very little to do about reducing crime and everything to do with disarming America of any and all resistance to a New World Order

If you "Crazy Americans" allow them to get away with it; you will suffer dearly for what they have planned for you

Follow along with cause and effect ...

the Federal Government not only is the criminal entity in this whole ordeal; it will say that in order to fix it we have to take away your 2nd amendments rights

the maniac cartels are not going to give those guns back and with a disarmed citizenry it will be an absolute slaughter of American citizens on the border thats as safe as its ever been according to broke ass Napolitano

The U.N. Small Arms Treaty that Clinton / Obama wants will go into effect and thats when all hell is going to break lose and those FEMA Camps will open up

Here is a solution idiots. Secure the damn border. We already know you wanted to use this as a reason to grab guns so dont bother trying...

"Good Citizens of Maryland this man wants to remove your right to bare arms and protect yourself and your family from criminals please tell him "No Thanks, by voting his ass out of congress!"

https://cummingsforms.house.gov/contact ... form.shtml

Washington, DC Office
Elijah Cummings 2235 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4741
Fax: (202) 225-3178

Baltimore Office
Elijah Cummings 1010 Park Avenue
Suite 105
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: (410) 685-9199
Fax: (410) 685-9399

Catonsville Office
Elijah Cummings 745 Frederick Road
Catonsville, MD 21228
Phone: (410) 719-8777
Fax: (410) 455-0110

Ellicott City Office
Elijah Cummings 8267 Main Street
Room 102
Ellicott Mills Post Office
Ellicott City, MD 21043
Phone: (410) 465-8259
Fax: (410) 465-8740

House of Representatives
Dem Lawmaker Decries Illegal Firearms in Rival Panel on ATF's 'Fast and Furious' Operation



The free flow of illegal guns through the U.S. -- which prompted the controversial, now-defunct sting "Operation Fast and Furious" -- undermines the mission of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said Thursday.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., held a forum Thursday to rebut what he said is a too narrowly focused investigation and not "real oversight" by the the committee's chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., into the operation, which ended in January after U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's corpse was found near two guns purchased under the program.

"As I have stated repeatedly, I believe the allegations regarding Fast and Furious are serious and deserve a thorough, even-handed and full investigation. But we cannot ignore the broader problem and its devastating effects on both sides of the border," he said in a statement. "Real oversight requires us not just to hold hearings, but to convert our findings into action."

Cummings released a report ahead of his forum entitled, "Outgunned: Law Enforcement Agents Warn Congress They Lack Adequate Tools to Counter Illegal Firearms Trafficking." It comes just two weeks after Issa held the latest in a series of hearings on the ATF operation, which was designed to track major weapons traffickers on the Southwest border but resulted in agents being told to let guns "walk" across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Cummings' forum sets up the latest battle between the two top members on the committee, who have fought over a number of issues this year, from federal regulations on businesses to an investigation into the housing crisis to the ground rules over calling witnesses to testify.

Issa questioned Cummings' motive.

"This is a predictable maneuver from a minority that has sought to obstruct the investigation into Justice Department sanctioned gunwalking," Issa spokeswoman Becca Glover Watkins said in an email to FoxNews.com. "It will not affect the committee's continued focus on a reckless operation that has been linked to deaths on both sides of the border."

Issa's hearing focused on how the operation spiraled out of control and who at the Justice Department authorized it. Three federal firearms investigators said they were repeatedly ordered to step aside while gun buyers in Arizona walked away with AK-47s and other high-powered weaponry headed for Mexican drug cartels.

Issa berated one witness, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weigh, because the Justice Department – of which ATF is a component – has not turned over documents that Issa has subpoenaed. When Issa demanded to know who authorized the operation, Weich said that question is the subject of an inquiry by the department's inspector general.

Cummings' forum adopted a less confrontational tone and offered a sympathetic ear to the ATF.

Michael Bouchard, a retired ATF assistant director, said one of the ways his former agency strives to prevent crimes is by "disrupting and dismantling large and small firearms trafficking schemes, which put guns into the hands of violent criminals."

"Unfortunately, criminals bent on acquiring guns can be very clever in the methods that they use to circumvent the law and avoid detection," he said. "ATF and law enforcement must continually adjust to the criminal's changing tactics and develop new strategies and tactics of their own."

Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke blamed America's gun laws on the illegal flow of U.S. guns into Mexico.

"Yet as the six-month anniversary of Tucson approaches, we have still seen no change in our nation's weak or non-existent gun laws," he said. "We still have no federal law criminalizing gun trafficking, banning assault weapons and magazines or closing the loopholes in our Brady Background Check system that help arm dangerous killers and supply gun traffickers.

"I ask Congress what we should all be asking ourselves: What are you going to do about it?"


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/06 ... z1QqwdEC00

[size=150] Obama Working “Under The Radarâ€

News report by http://www.abc15.com Phx AZ .

The DEA in drug cartel raids in AZ have found drugs, cash and guns.
The serial numbers have now been matched to the list of the walked guns by the ATF.

Some leak now that the ATF may have had the same gun walking operation out of the Houston Tx. ATF operation.

In any event once the guns got to the cartels in Mexico they could show up any where in the U.S..

Obama and his justice department traffic guns to criminal cartels and:

Elijah Cummings released a report saying that gun laws need to be tightened to fight crime.

Real genius. There are lots of laws, unfortunately none apply to the Obama administration! Impeach this turkey!