LAS VEGAS — A top official with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Phoenix, AZ who has repeatedly declined to voluntarily testify to Congressional investigators about Operation Fast and Furious has been subpoenaed, according to the office of Congressman Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
The development comes as the American firearms industry is gathered here at the Sands Convention Center for its annual Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show, and Fast and Furious is a hot topic. This announcement will make it hotter, primarily because the industry, and particularly gun dealers from across the Southwest, have been blamed by the Obama administration for the flood of firearms heading south to Mexico.
My colleague, National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea, writes about this newest development here. He has reported that the man in question, Patrick J. Cunningham, will apparently resign on Jan. 27.
Revelations during the Fast and Furious investigation, which began one year ago, indicate that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Justice Department, could be far more responsible. Indeed, gun dealers in the Phoenix area, and down in Texas, actually tried to warn ATF not to allow suspects to “walk” out of their stores with multiple firearms they had purchased.
However, those running the scandalous operation not only allowed several gun trafficking suspects to purchase multiple firearms, they encouraged dealers to let the sales go through.
The committee issued a subpoena to Cunningham, chief of the Criminal Division in Phoenix. In a press release issued earlier Thursday, the committee stated, “Mr. Cunningham’s repeated refusals to testify voluntarily have forced the Committee to use compulsory process.”
There is evidently good reason that Issa wants Cunningham to be questioned, as the California congressman explained in a letter sent to Cunningham Wednesday:
“During the course of our investigation, the Committee has learned of the outsized role played by the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s Office – and you specifically – in approving the unacceptable tactics used in Fast and Furious. Senior Justice Department officials have recently told the Committee that you relayed inaccurate and misleading information to the Department in preparation for its initial response to Congress.”—Congressman Darrell Issa
In August of last year, Dennis Burke — Cunningham’s former boss — stepped down abruptly as U.S. Attorney for Arizona at the same time Kenneth Melson was removed as acting director of the ATF. This column reported that departure.
Issa’s blistering letter to Cunningham made it clear that the prosecutor will be on the receiving end, and that he will appear for a deposition “at a time and place convenient to the Committee’s schedule.”
Cunningham’s attorney apparently agreed to accept the subpoena on his behalf, Issa’s letter stated.
“It is of paramount importance that you appear before the Committee. Given your intimate knowledge of Fast and Furious, your counsel’s offer of an attorney proffer, akin to what a defense lawyer would offer for an indicted defendant, is wholly inadequate. As a result of your recalcitrance and inflexible position, the Committee is now forced to engage in compulsory process to obtain your testimony.”—Congressman Darrell Issa
If there had been any doubt that Issa could be ignored, that has disappeared with this move.
Operation Fast and Furious allowed between 2,000 and 2,500 guns, by some estimates, enter into the criminal pipeline into Mexico where ATF investigators almost immediately lost track of them. When they began showing up at crime scenes, ATF officials hoped to exploit the situation to push for mandatory reporting of multiple long gun sales by federally licensed firearms dealers in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.
BREAKING: The Washington Arms Collectors' weekend gun show in Puyallup has been cancelled, according to WAC President Lee Bull. A power failure at the fairgrounds, due to the winter storm, makes it impossible for the gathering to convene.
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