NRA to Call for Holder's Resignation Over 'Project Gunrunner' Allegations

NRA to Call for Holder's Resignation Over 'Project Gunrunner' Allegations

Having deflected questions so far regarding how much he knew about a federal project suspected of allowing guns sold in the U.S. to be illegally smuggled to Mexico, Attorney General Eric Holder is under fire again, this time from the National Rifle Association, a conservative group with a loud voice and influence in Washington.

Sources tell Fox News that NRA Executive Director Wayne LaPierre will call for Holder's resignation in a Saturday morning speech at the NRA's annual meeting in Pittsburgh.

LaPierre has criticized Holder's handling of "Project Gunrunner." The program of the Justice Department's Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms is intended to stop the flow of guns to criminals in Mexico, but whistleblowers claim the bureau actually encouraged the illegal sale of firearms to known criminals, then allowed those guns to be smuggled to Mexico and tracked


Read more: www.foxnews.com...

I was wondering when it was going to come to this point. For those who are not familiar with the entire incident -

ATF - DOJ - Project Gunrunner - 2005

ATF began Project Gunrunner as a pilot project in Laredo, Texas, in 2005 and expanded it as a national initiative in 2006. Project Gunrunner is also part of the Department’s broader Southwest Border Initiative, which seeks to reduce cross-border drug and firearms trafficking and the high level of violence associated with these activities on both sides of the border.[2]

ATF - DOJ - Project Gunrunner more info
Operation Gunrunner Fact Sheet - US Embassy in Mexico

The ATF was tracking arms crossing the Southern border going into Mexico. The problems came in when they were observing more and more Mexican nationals crossing into the US, going to gun stores and purchasing multiple rifles, and then taking those items back into Mexico, where they were turning up in their war on drugs.

ATF agents began to complain about this operation because they were not being allowed to interdict. It was until this incident occured that this issue came to public attention.

Border Patrol Agent Killed in Southern Arizona - December 15th, 2010

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Authorities continue to comb the rugged southern Arizona terrain during the manhunt for a suspect they say was involved in the deadly gunfight that claimed the life of a U.S. Border Patrol agent late Tuesday night.

“I assure you, that every effort will be extended to bring that suspect into custody,” said Richard Barlow, the Border Patrol deputy chief of the Tucson Sector

The investigation into his death turned this up -

Was Border Patrol agent Brian Terry killed by a gun bought in Phoenix? - February 1st 2011

Grassley said he had information that the AK-47s recovered at the shooting scene were traced to Project Gunrunner, an ATF program designed to stem the illegal flow of U.S. guns to Mexican narcotics cartels. It is not unusual for law-enforcement agents to allow illegal transactions to occur so that they can follow contraband, identifying ringleaders and key players in organized-crime organizations.

“Members of the Judiciary Committee have received numerous allegations that the ATF sanctioned the sale of hundreds of assault weapons to suspected straw purchasers, who then allegedly transported these weapons throughout the southwestern border area and into Mexico,” the senator wrote in a letter Thursday to acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson.

“According to the allegations, one of these individuals purchased three assault rifles with cash in Glendale, Arizona, on January 16, 2010. Two of the weapons were then allegedly used in a firefight on December 14, 2010, against Customs and Border Protection agents, killing CBP Agent Brian Terry.”

A source within the justice system familiar with the case confirmed to The Arizona Republic last week that one or two weapons recovered from the border shootout had been traced to Lone Wolf Trading Co., a Glendale gun store, but did not confirm they were part of Project Gunrunner.

The death of the Border Patrol Agent prompted ATF Agents to send letters in an effort to bring light to this issue. Congress received those letters, and shortly afterwards an investigation was launched. The ATF however was not cooperative on the investigation, and the appearence of a possible coverup began to take shape. Those actions promted these results -

ATF, DOJ Launch Damage Control Effort Over Growing Project Gunrunner Scandal - March 9th 2011
The Damage control was not effective, and criticism and questions continued.

Finally President Obama goes on the record, denying that he knew anything about Project Gun Runner. He also went on record stating AG Holder did not know about the operation either, and that neither of them approved it
Obama on "gunwalking": Serious mistake may have been made - March 23rd 2011

Last night, a reporter from Univision asked President Obama about the subject of a CBS News investigation: allegations that ATF allowed traffickers to send weapons to Mexican drug cartels in an operation called "Fast and Furious." Insiders call the strategy letting guns "walk."

In response, the president said neither he nor Attorney General Eric Holder approved the operation.

"There may be a situation here which a serious mistake was made and if that's the case then we'll find out and well hold somebody accountable," he added. [/url]

More questions started to rise, with no answers coming, resulting in this:
After ATF Blows Deadline, Issa Issues Subpoena for Project Gunrunner Papers - April 1st 2011

Grassley Questions Whether ATF Tried to Thwart Gunrunning Probe - April 11th 2011

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the bureau Friday complaining about the contents of an ATF email he obtained. The email, he said, contained guidance regarding his investigation telling employees they "are in no way obligated" to respond to Congress' questions and urging employees to refer congressional staffers to a particular office.

Though it was unclear whether the email was ever sent out, Grassley wrote in the letter to Acting Director Kenneth Melson that the instructions were "of grave concern." He suggested it would be illegal for the main office to prevent other employees from dealing with Congress and expressed concern that ATF was trying to filter information through a liaison.

"If people have concerns they should be able to express themselves without feeling pressure from their bosses," Grassley said in a statement.

All of this culminating with this -
NRA to Call for Holder's Resignation Over 'Project Gunrunner' Allegations - April 29th 2011

Having deflected questions so far regarding how much he knew about a federal project suspected of allowing guns sold in the U.S. to be illegally smuggled to Mexico, Attorney General Eric Holder is under fire again, this time from the National Rifle Association, a conservative group with a loud voice and influence in Washington.

Sources tell Fox News that NRA Executive Director Wayne LaPierre will call for Holder's resignation in a Saturday morning speech at the NRA's annual meeting in Pittsburgh.

LaPierre has criticized Holder's handling of "Project Gunrunner." The program of the Justice Department's Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms is intended to stop the flow of guns to criminals in Mexico, but whistleblowers claim the bureau actually encouraged the illegal sale of firearms to known criminals, then allowed those guns to be smuggled to Mexico and tracked. - Click link above for more info

Why is all of this problematic?

First off, the article is correct in pointing out one of the main jobs the ATF has is the prevention of weapons related crimes. Since they were knowingly allowing weapons to cross the border, they failed at this task.

Secondly, the last article is correct in pointing out that President Obama and Secratary of State Clinton both blamed partially the US gun manufaturers for the violence in Mexico. This is even more problematic when its our own Government allowing those weapons to cross in the first place.

Sen. Grassley's Press Release - April 14th 2011

“The Justice Department’s unwillingness to be forthcoming is troubling, and the more we learn from whistleblowers, the more it looks like the department will end up with egg on its face,” Grassley said. “Whistleblowers are still coming forward with more information disproving the department’s only response to my inquiries.”

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Grassley provides the Attorney General with emails between ATF officials and a Federal Firearms Licensee in Arizona. These emails demonstrate that ATF instructed gun dealers to engage in suspicious sales despite the dealer’s concerns.

In one email, the dealer raises for a third time with an ATF supervisor his concerns about how the case is being handled.

Email exchanges between some of the gun stores and senior ATF personnel spoke of the issues involved in the operation. Sen. Grassley points out that the Email exchanges prove senior ATF - DOJ personnel knew about the operation, and that the gun owners were raising concerns over the project.

In one email, the dealer raises for a third time with an ATF supervisor his concerns about how the case is being handled.

"I shared my concerns with you guys that I wanted to make sure that none of the firearms that were sold per our conversation with you and various ATF agents could or would ever end up south of the border and in the hands of the bad guys…I want to help ATF with its investigation, but not at the risk of agents' safety because I have some very close friends that are U.S. border patrol agents in southern Arizona," the dealer wrote to ATF Supervisor David Voth.

The question now is does the buck stop at AG Holder, or is it posible President Obama and Possibly Secratary of State Clinton knew about it as well?

Personally speaking, based on the info to date, I dont think its out of line to ask Holder to resign. Also, based on the info to date, I think AG Holder should resign, along with the head of the ATF and any supervisory agent who knew about the operation and failed to stop it.

My other question is did any person in the Bush Administration know about this operation? If so, they deserve an equal share of the blame as well.

Bush Administration Attorney General-
Alberto Gonzalez - February 3, 2005 until September 17, 2007
Michael Mukasey - November 9, 2007 until January 20, 2009 (transition between both administrations)

ATF Directors - Bush Administration / Obama Administration
2004–2006 Carl Truscott
2006 Edgar A. Domenech (2nd time - acting)
2006–2009 Michael Sullivan (acting)
2009 Ronald "Ronnie" A. Carter (acting)
2009–present Kenneth E. Melson (acting)

Should the people involved in the decision making process for Operation Gun Runner be held accountible for the death of Agent Brian Terry?

Should those people be investigated to the extent of being complicit in the violence occuring in Mexico?
Should those people be investigated as accomplices to murders committed in Mexico by the very weapons they allowed to cross the border?

Personally speaking, I think they should face all of that and then some. They violated their oaths of office, they failed to uphold the laws they are sworn to protect, they were complicit in violating Mexican Law by knowingly allowing those wepaons to cross the border, and by extension should be held accountible for Agent Terry's death.

Thoughts?

I think that our law enforcers have, for some reason, decided to put public safety at risk for the sake of a "bigger bust". This happens time and time again, and is a dereliction of duty. Project Gunrunner is just a really good example of this.

Entrapment is another tactic i disapprove of. Like the muslim teens that the FBI sets up to be "terrorists".

It would be far easier to just allow people to be free, remove a bunch of our laws, and cut the throats of the cartels by removing their financial leverage. Instead, we come up with more and more elaborate acts of mendacity.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


I agree with the first art but not the second.

Entrapment is when a person acting under the color of law coerces a person to commit a crime they would not nomrally have committed on their own.

The Feds didnt make the guys cross the border and buy the guns. Contacting the owner of the gun shop and letting them know whats going on so they can get details about the purchase, who purchased, photos etc.

Dont get me wrong, this is a cluster from top to bottom.

reply to post by Xcathdra


something doesn't smell right for me in regards to project gunwalker i am not disputing any facts that you have listed.

and since the official story is project gunwalker started under bush and continued under obama i am left wondering this:

will all the hatred and animosity towards bush why it was never brought up until now people had bush under a microscope looking for anything and everything to bring him down.

and yet gunwalker was overlooked no congressional hearings no nothing and even with the scandal now there is still not anything.

theres more to project gunwalker than meets the eyes and i dont think we will ever get the real story here.

one thing is clear atf answers to the doj and they couldnt have anything remotely like this without higher up approval.

whether bush or obama or the last 3 attorney generals alberto gonazales,michael mukasey or eric holder

they all had to know what was going on and did nothing and congress did nothing.

most of the main stream media hasnt really covered anything about project gunwalker because none of them deem it to be newsworthy.

Originally posted by neo96
reply to post by Xcathdra

 

most of the main stream media hasnt really covered anything about project gunwalker because none of them deem it to be newsworthy.

edit on 30-4-2011 by neo96 because: (no reason given)

I think it is less about it not being newsworthy, and more about the media being, en masse, a CIA resource. The CIA is designed to use subterfuge via propaganda. They have shown mastery of this in other nations. There is absolutely no reason to believe that these lessons aren't to be used in America as well.

When you have no oversight, you will pursue your agenda as far as conscience will allow.

XCathdra...no need to debate the actual definition of "entrapment". My sentiment is still about the same. When law enforcement encourages breaking the law in order to get more charges racked up, it is wrong. Whether they are undercover or not.