Kenneth E. Melson, acting director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has “blown past” yesterday’s deadline for the delivery of key documents relating to the Project Gunrunner inquiry that was launched recently by Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
According to committee spokesman Seamus Kraft, there was no response from Melson, who has also been dodging a separate inquiry by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea is also reporting this new development here.
As this column reported yesterday, Melson’s name was also withdrawn from a roster of officials, including former Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, now the Obama administration’s Drug czar, before a subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chaired by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ). That hearing, which began this morning at 10 a.m., concerns “counternarcotics and citizen security” in this country.
Sources familiar with the Issa inquiry indicated that because Melson was not forthcoming with documents requested by Issa in a March 16 letter obtained by CBS News, further steps may be taken.
Issa had asked for specific documents (detailed below) relating to “the genesis” of Project Gunrunner, now believed to have allowed thousands of firearms to be “walked” out of gun shops in the Southwest, and into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. The slayings of at least two federal law enforcement officers have been connected to such firearms, as reported by this column here and here.
On Tuesday, Issa expanded his inquiry to include Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. He has requested specific documents from her as well in a letter obtained by this column, relating to a meeting held last summer in Mexico City involving former Ambassador Carlos Pascual and Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer and other unnamed officials. That meeting apparently involved a discussion of Project Gunrunner.
...I am joining Senator Grassley’s request for any and all records relating to a meeting involving the then-U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual with Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, Mr. Breuer’s deputy, and other officials in Mexico City in the summer of 2010 regarding “on-going investigations” related to Project Gunrunner and its “Fast and Furious” component. The records sought include meeting minutes, briefing notes, e-mails and cables relating to any such meeting or meetings that may have occurred from June through September 2010. Additionally, please explain in detail the reasons behind your refusal to answer the Senator directly.”—Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
Chairman Issa asked Melson for the following, and he wanted them by 5 p.m. yesterday:
1. Documents and communications relating to the genesis of Project Gunner(sic) and Operation Fast and Furious, and any memoranda or reports involving any changes to either program at or near the time of the release of the DOJ-OIG report about Project Gunrunner in November 2010.
2. A list of individuals responsible for authorizing the decision to “walk” guns to Mexico in order to follow them and capture a “bigger fish.”
3. Following the fatal shooting of Agent Brian Terry, did ATF conduct an investigation of the circumstances of his killing? Did you determine whether the two guns found at the crime scene were permitted to cross into Mexico?
4. Is ATF aware what weapon was responsible for the death of Agent Brian Terry?
5. All documents, including e-mails, relating to communications between the ATF and the Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) who sold the weapons to Jaime Avila, including any Report of Investigation (ROI) or other records relating to a December 17, 2009 meeting to “discuss his role as an FFL during this investigation.”
6. A copy of the presentation, approximately 200 pages long, that the Group 7 Supervisor made to officials at ATF headquarters in the spring of 2010.
7. All documents, including e-mails, relating to communications regarding Operation Fast and Furious between ATF headquarters and Special Agent in Charge (SAC) William D. Newell, Assistant Special Agents in Charge Jim Needles and George Gillette, Group Supervisor David Voth, or any Case Agent from November 1, 2009 to the present. The response to this request should include a memorandum, approximately 30 pages long, from SAC Newell to ATF headquarters following the arrest of Jaime Avila and the death of Agent Brian Terry.
8. All documents and communications related to complaints or objections by ATF agents in Phoenix about letting straw buyers with American guns enter Mexico.
There has been no indication why Melson or his agency did not hand over the requested information.
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