By Andy Wiltrout
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives came under attack from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for its involvement in the controversial “Fast and Furious” program.
According to the ATF, “the strategy of this operation is to allow the transfer of firearms to continue to take place in order to further the investigation and allow for the identification of additional coconspirators.”
Three current ATF agents testified at today’s hearing that not only is the ATF not completing this mission, but has allowed thousands of U.S. guns to be illegally “walked” into Mexico, which has contributed to the 35,00 drug related killings in Mexico since 2006, and may have facilitated the murder of a United States border patrol agent by the name of Brian Terry.
“Allowing firearms to be trafficked to criminals is a dangerous and deadly strategy. The thought that the techniques used in “Fast and Furious” investigation would result in taking down a cartel given the toothless nature of the straw purchasing law and the lack of a firearms trafficking statute is, in my opinion, delusional,” said Peter J. Forcelli, Supervisory Special Agent of the ATF.
Terry’s family released a statement at the hearing, which read “We ask that if a government official made a wrong decision that they admit their error and take responsibility for his or her actions.”
The Committee’s Chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) had partly intended the hearing to focus on whether Justice Department officials, including U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, have misled lawmakers over the true purpose of “Fast and Furious.” The question is whether ATF agents were instructed to keep silent as roughly 2,000 guns purchased at shows eventually trickled into the hands of dangerous Mexican cartel members.
Issa grilled Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich, who testified on one of the panels. Republicans have accused DOJ officials of impeding the committee’s investigation into the program, and today, Issa expressed frustration over a perceived lack of cooperation from the Feds.
“Your representatives of the executive branch have discouraged witnesses from coming forward,” Issa told Weich.