With the resignation this week of Dennis K. Burke, the Obama-appointed U.S. Attorney in Phoenix, we have the first high-level casualty in the burgeoning scandal known as Operation Fast and Furious. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley is also being transferred from the criminal division to the civil division, although the …
The latest horror of August 25 has shaken Mexico. In a brazen and senseless assault, reportedly part of an extortion plot, members of the deadly Zetas criminal organization firebombed a casino in Monterrey, Mexico. In the ensuing inferno, 52 Mexicans—mainly middle-class women with no drug connections—died. Mexican President Felipe Calderon …
A U.S. government gun-trafficking investigation gone horribly wrong has resulted in the death of a U.S. Border Patrol officer, some 2,000 firearms in the hands of criminals, and the dismissal of a 24-year veteran law enforcement official. This is the story of Fast and Furious, and yesterday the latest chapter unfolded …
News broke yesterday that three officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who were instrumental in the agency’s botched Fast and Furious operation had been promoted. That was jarring enough, given the large and seemingly growing scope of the scandal. Now we find out that Fast and …
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) said on a conference call Wednesday evening that he will try to get a White House official who may have had knowledge of the botched Fast and Furious gunrunning operation to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. But Issa, who chairs the committee, …
On the night of December 15, 2010, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry joined with other agents in an effort to catch several bandits targeting illegal immigrants in Arizona near the border. In a firefight, Agent Terry was shot and killed. When law enforcement rushed to the scene, they discovered …
A former special agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms told a House committee that the agency had, in fact, allowed firearms bought in the United States to be transported to Mexico, in the hope that “we could further the investigation” against Mexican drug cartels. The admission came …
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hear testimony from six current and former Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agents regarding the bureau’s botched “Fast and Furious” operation. The hearing will focus specifically on the effect the operation had in Mexico. Operation Fast and Furious involved the sale of thousands …