With the Gunwalker scandal getting prominent media attention for the first time, many people will be hearing about modern America’s worst political scandal for the first time. In light of that, I thought it might be useful to list the key facts:
- No effort whatsoever was made to track the guns that the ATF trafficked to Mexican drug cartels. In fact, agents who wanted to track the guns were ordered not to.
- The Justice Department has never explained what Fast and Furious was intended to accomplish. This has led many to assume that it served no legitimate purpose.
- No one was ever fired or disciplined for Gunwalker. In fact, most of the principals were promoted. On the other hand, agents who blew the whistle on the operation were punished.
- Justice Department officials have made numerous material false statements to Congressional investigators, some of them under oath.
- White House officials were informed about gunwalking. The Justice Department in Washington not only was informed, but signed off on it, in writing, in wiretap applications submitted to federal courts. Eric Holder was personally notified in at least five memos; he says he never read them.
- Neither the operation nor the “tactic” behind it began during the Bush administration. Operation Wide Receiver was completely different: It was conducted with the approval of the Mexican government, agents attempted to track the the weapons, and the operation was terminated when some weapons got away.
- In addition to refusing to produce documents under subpoena, the White House has also refused to allow officials to testify before Congress.
- Guns trafficked in the operation have been linked to over 200 murders, including a US Border Patrol agent.
There’s much more, but but those are the key points.
Internet Scofflaw 