Gary Krasner
It’s the difference between a marshmallow and a Mellow Marsh.
The main Democrat talking point to defend Obama’s debacle — Fast & Furious — is to claim that had begun under Pres. Bush. But in fact, the program they’re referring to that was run during Bush’s administration was called “Wide Receiver”, and it had been discontinued over a year before Obama took office. But more egregious than that is that it’s a facile sound-bite that ignores the stark differences between “Wide Receiver” and “Fast & Furious”, and worse, supposed serious journalists and correspondents do not call Democrats to task for it.
Here are the differences in simplest terms:
- Wide Receiver (WR) was active from 2005 to 2007 (Oct.). Number of guns involved: 400
- Fast & Furious (F&F) was active from Fall 2009 – 2011. Number of guns involved: 2,000
GUN TRACKING METHODS:
Electronic tracking
WR — RFID trackers installed in guns.
F&F — No electronic tracking.
Surveillance
WR — Actively tracked by airborn surveillance.
F&F — No active surveillance of any kind.
Purchases
WR — Straw purchases recorded & surveilled.
F&F — No recording or surveillance of straw purchasers
Further Explanation: The local ATF field agents were ordered not to follow the straw purchasers. Federal agents were not allowed to interdict the guns and they even ran interference for the smugglers with local law enforcement on multiple occasions to make sure those guns made it across the border.
When Mexico was notified:
WR — When arms were purchased & smugglers crossed border.
F&F — Not told the program even existed.
Results of the operation:
WR — 1,400 felony arrests & identification of cartel operators.
F&F — No arrests were made.
Reason it was discontinued:
WR — Smugglers began disabling RFID tracking devices.
F&F — Over 200 Mexicans + two US federal agents killed by the guns.
Agencies involved:
WR — DoJ and Arizona-local ATF.
F&F — 4 federal agencies & 10 cities in five states.
Purpose of operation:
WR — Identify & prosecute gun smugglers & drug cartels.
F&F — Build case against 2nd Amendment & American gun dealers.
Further Explanation: Following the failure of the assault weapons ban in Congress, the Administration realized that gun mayhem was necessary to outrage Americans to justify future legislative efforts. HOW DO WE KNOW THIS?
First, just ask yourself what possible reason could there be for making no attempt to trace the guns for the two years this operation was in effect? In every state and federal gun and drug sting operation since they were first tried in the US, it has always been of prime importance to trace the contraband. Tracking it, to ultimately retain possession of it, was essential for successful prosecutions, and of course to keep these dangerous items off the streets.
Thus, why did DoJ stray from this virtual mandate for sting operations? SILENCE. Whose decision was it? SILENCE. Who at DoJ approved this operation? SILENCE. Why can’t Eric Holder answer these questions? SILENCE (after lying to Congress for a year).
MORE EVIDENCE?
Plenty. Take, for example, the report by CBS Correspondent Sheryl Atkisson on December 7, 2011, located here.
START EXCERPT:
[…] emails show they discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called “Demand Letter 3”. That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or “long guns.” Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information.
On July 14, 2010 after ATF headquarters in Washington D.C. received an update on Fast and Furious, ATF Field Ops Assistant Director Mark Chait emailed Bill Newell, ATF’s Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of Fast and Furious:
“Bill – can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks.”
On Jan. 4, 2011, as ATF prepared a press conference to announce arrests in Fast and Furious, Newell saw it as “(A)nother time to address Multiple Sale on Long Guns issue.” And a day after the press conference, Chait emailed Newell: “Bill–well done yesterday… (I)n light of our request for Demand letter 3, this case could be a strong supporting factor if we can determine how many multiple sales of long guns occurred during the course of this case.”
This revelation angers gun rights advocates. Larry Keane, a spokesman for National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry trade group, calls the discussion of Fast and Furious to argue for Demand Letter 3 “disappointing and ironic.” Keane says it’s “deeply troubling” if sales made by gun dealers “voluntarily cooperating with ATF’s flawed ‘Operation Fast & Furious’ were going to be used by some individuals within ATF to justify imposing a multiple sales reporting requirement for rifles.”
Several gun dealers who cooperated with ATF told CBS News and Congressional investigators they only went through with suspicious sales because ATF asked them to.
Sometimes it was against the gun dealer’s own best judgment.
In April, 2010 a licensed gun dealer cooperating with ATF was increasingly concerned about selling so many guns. “We just want to make sure we are cooperating with ATF and that we are not viewed as selling to the bad guys,” writes the gun dealer to ATF Phoenix officials, “(W)e were hoping to put together something like a letter of understanding to alleviate concerns of some type of recourse against us down the road for selling these items.”
ATF’s group supervisor on Fast and Furious David Voth assures the gun dealer there’s nothing to worry about. “We (ATF) are continually monitoring these suspects using a variety of investigative techniques which I cannot go into detail.”
Two months later, the same gun dealer grew more agitated.
“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 or in the hands of the bad guys. I guess I am looking for a bit of reassurance that the guns are not getting south or in the wrong hands…I want to help ATF with its investigation but not at the risk of agents (sic) safety because I have some very close friends that are US Border Patrol agents in southern AZ as well as my concern for all the agents (sic) safety that protect our country.”
“It’s like ATF created or added to the problem so they could be the solution to it and pat themselves on the back,” says one law enforcement source familiar with the facts. “It’s a circular way of thinking.”
The Justice Department and ATF declined to comment. ATF officials mentioned in this report did not respond to requests from CBS News to speak with them.
END EXCERPT
WHO KNEW WHAT AND WHEN?
So as you can see, there’s sufficient evidence that shows the motive of ATF in allowing lethal automatic weapons to wreak havoc. It reflects the mindset of what Andrew C. McCarthy often refers to as “the liberal left”—-lawyers who take up liberal policy causes, and who now staff the upper echelons of Obama’s Department of Justice. It certainly reflects the views of Mr. Obama himself, who famously said to a group of supporters in San Francisco: “It’s not surprising that they get bitter. They cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
In order to understand how Eric Holder, his Deputy AG, and other Obama-administration political appointees had to have known about the above DETAILS (and more) of Fast and Furious (F&F) prior to almost a year before Agent Terry’s death on December 14, 2010—-and certainly before they claimed to have learned about it the operation—-you need to read “Fast and Furious and OCDETF”, by former US Attorney Andrew C. McCarthy, posted June 23, 2012 HERE.
EXCERPTED & EDITED SUMMARY:
F&F became an “OCDETF” investigation January 2010. OCDETF stands for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. Every OCDETF investigation since they had begun 30 years ago has required said top officials at “Main Justice” (Justice Dept in DC) to have intimate knowledge of the operation, by regulation and statute, from its inception. That made F&F a Main Justice case, not the orphan Arizona debacle of media portrayal.
It is always a deliberate process. ATF and the U.S. attorney had to apply to Main Justice for OCDETF status. A case gets approval for funding ó which can run well into the millions of dollars ó only if senior Justice Department officials, after studying the formally submitted proposal, determine that the investigation has great promise.
The Obama Justice Department made exactly that determination. And this was no rubber stamp ó it never is, given the number of agencies across the country competing over the OCDETF pot of gold. Chairman Issa’s most recent memo (dated May 3, 2012) explains that, to win its OCDETF designation, Fast and Furious was “reorganized as a Strike Force including agents from ATF, FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) component of the Department of Homeland Security.”
One example: the OCDETF designation enabled Fast and Furious investigators to use wiretaps. This is highly unusual in ATF-run cases ó almost all federal wiretapping is done in investigations led by the FBI or the DEA. Wiretapping, by law, requires Main Justice approval.
Furthermore, federal wiretap law mandates that the application to the court describe the investigative tactics that have been used in the investigation and explain why those tactics cannot achieve the investigation’s objectives without wiretapping. If the Fast and Furious wiretap applications complied with federal law, they must have described the gunwalking tactic. These applications cannot be submitted to a federal judge until they have been approved by Main Justice; they are submitted to the Department’s Office of Enforcement Operations, which screens them very carefully.
Another example: Given that the “OC” in OCDETF stands for “Organized Crime,” OCDETF investigations almost always contemplate ó and frequently indict ó racketeering charges under RICO (the statute outlawing “Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations”). RICO is one of the few federal laws under which a district U.S. attorney needs permission from Main Justice before indicting.
No doubt the wiretap applications would show that senior DOJ officials were aware of the gunwalking tactic long before Agent Terry was gunned down on December 14, 2010. But that’s not the half of it. Gunwalking had to have been discussed in the consideration of whether to make Fast and Furious an OCDETF case in the first place. OCDETF investigations, moreover, are carefully monitored by the Justice Department throughout, to ensure that the extraordinary flow of funding continues to be worthwhile.