Alert! Late breaking news just in from CBS on the ATF gun smuggling scandal is reported at the end of the article.
On April 11, 2011 it was reported that ATF agents were being summoned to Washington for a high-level strategy meeting concerning how to proceed in light of recent developments in the DOJ-ATF gunrunning scandal in which federal agents deliberately placed over 3000 U.S. firearms into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. The news that struck fear in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives in D.C. was that one of the main players in the gun smuggling scandal--Phoenix office special assistant agent in charge George Gillett--was cooperating with Senator Charles Grassley and Rep. Darrell Issa in their Congresssional investigations into the scandal. The meeting in Washington took place on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. (Update--according to one source, the meeting in D.C. was suddenly cancelled).
Although details are sketchy concerning why the meeting was cancelled, it can be reported that Gillett has been placed on 30-day leave, contradicting an earlier report that he had been placed in charge of the Phoenix field office.
In addition, a major shakeup is in effect at the ATF. The special agent in charge of the Detriot office, Thomas Brandon, has been moved to become temporary head of the Phoenix office. William Newell, who has been in charge of the Phoenix office has been pulled back to Washington to prepare for answering questions before Congress concerning 'Operation Fast and Furious,' or as it has been widely known, 'Project Gunwalker.' Another Phoenix special agent, Jim Needles, has also been pulled back to Washington for the same purpose.
The scuttlebutt, however, is that Newell will be sent back to Phoenix after spending some time in D.C. answering questions before Congress in order to head up the prosecution of those involved in the illegal gun smuggling scheme.
Such news is shocking given that Newell himself is a material witness:
So Newell has been chosen to oversee the Fast and Furious prosecutions? Bad move. He is a material witness. He is also the ringleader this catastrophic international incident. And, he was never a good agent or first line supervisor, ever. Kevin O'Keefe ran his Miami group for him when Kevin was a GS-13 street agent and Newell was the GS. Sound familiar? That is no secret. Newell has been over his skis in every postion he has had a ATF. What does Newell know about seeing a case through trial? Just because he is a SAC and SES doesn't count for anything in trial world. Let agents do the real work and keep the executives behind thier desks. ATF has this jacked up enough without inserting Newell back in to the mix to further taint an already tainted investigation.
Meanwhile, Grassley and Issa are still being ignored by Attorney-General Eric Holder and ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson in their requests for documents and information on the scandal that has become an international incident between the U.S. and Mexico.
ALERT! LATE-BREAKING NEWS! CBS News is reporting this afternoon that a key gun shop owner in Phoenix expressed deep concerns early on concerning the ATF's Project Gunwalker scheme, indicating in emails that he feared the guns being sent to Mexico by ATF agents would wind up in the wrong hands. The emails are now in the possession of Senator Charles Grassley, including email responses by ATF supervisors who assured the gun shop owner that no guns would be allowed to go to criminals in Mexico. Grassley fired off a letter last night to Attorney-General Holder concerning the email exchange.
Grassley's letter and the email exchange in question can be read here.
Be sure to catch my blog at The Liberty Sphere.
Visit my ministry site at Martin Christian Ministries.
Subscribe by clicking the subscribe box beside my picture at the top of the page, or below, and an email will be sent to your inbox each time a new article is published.
Comments