As a follow up to a special joint exclusive report on a letter implicating the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives committing straw purchases for “Project Gunwalker,” this correspondent on Monday approached media staffers working for Rep. Darrell Issa and the House Oversight Committee on Government Reform and Sen. Chuck Grassley on the Senate Judiciary Committee, with the following email:
Good morning all.
In case you haven't seen the latest reports Mike Vanderboegh and I have filed, or if you have and are digesting them, please note:
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2011/09/vanderboegh-codrea-exclusive-us-govt.html
and
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/breaking-letter-implicates-atf-committing-straw-purchases-for-gunwalker
Mike and I would appreciate whatever for-the-record comments on this development you could obtain for us--we'd prefer sourced but we can forgo individual attribution if the statement is conditional on that.
Here is the reply from the Judiciary Committee media spokesperson:
In a March 3 letter to Attorney General Holder and Acting ATF Director Melson, Senator Grassley released Reports of Investigation (Attachment 1 to the letter linked below) in relation to the same case to which Mr. Voth’s letter pertains. There is more detailed information about this non-Fast and Furious case in those previously released ROIs than in Mr. Voth’s letter. The Voth letter was not obtained until later and merely corroborates the information already in the ROIs.
http://grassley.senate.gov/judiciary/upload/ATF-03-03-11-letter-to-Holder-with-redactions.pdf
The relevant report from Attachment 1 of the Grassley letter is presented in this column’s sidebar slideshow. It demonstrates an undercover agent (per the letter referenced in the Gun Rights Examiner/Sipsey Street Irregulars joint report, whistleblower John Dodson) utilizing Agent Cashier Funds to conduct the purchases.
This clarification is important, as some outlets are calling these reports false based on a statement made by Rep. Paul Gosar at a Tucson, AZ townhall meeting and repeated on NRA's Cam and Company (see at around 19:15 in sidebar media player). Evidently the particular case for which Agent Dodson conducted these purchases was a different operation than “Fast and Furious,” albeit occurring in the same time period, the same field division and with the same personnel, and presumably, the confusion arose by characterizing it as part of "Fast and Furious.".
Also see:
- A Journalist’s Guide to ‘Project Gunwalker' Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five and Part Six for a complete list with links of independent investigative reporting and commentary done to date by Sipsey Street Irregulars and Gun Rights Examiner.
Note to newcomers to this story: “Project Gunrunner” is the name ATF assigned to its Southwest Border Initiative to interdict gun smuggling to Mexico. “Project Gunwalker” is the name I assigned to the scandal after allegations by agents that monitored guns were allowed to fall into criminal hands on both sides of the border through a surveillance process termed “walking” surfaced.
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