who was attorney general foroperation fast and furious

What did Attorney General Holder know about fast and furious?

Dec 14, 2019 · Attorney General Eric Holder claimed ignorance about the operation, something that was later called into question by a number of sources. Meanwhile, ATF Agent Vince Cefalu was fired in June 2011, likely for his role in exposing the operation to the general public.

Who was the ATF Special Agent in charge during fast and furious?

Oct 14, 2011 · Details about the Justice Department's horribly botched gun-tracking program, dubbed "Fast and Furious," reveal government incompetence at best and misconduct at worst. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has been investigating this troubling case for months -- often with little cooperation from Attorney General Eric Holder's Justice …

When did Operation Fast and furious turn into a criminal investigation?

Nov 16, 2011 · The pressure is intensifying for Attorney General Eric Holder to resign. Now, more than 40 members of Congress are urging Holder to step down over the program known as Operation Fast and Furious - a problematic program by the Department of Justice (DOJ) that cleared the way for thousands of guns to...

Did president Obama authorize fast and furious?

Sep 19, 2012 · Operation Fast and Furious Justice department Fast and Furious investigation clears Eric Holder Attorney general found to have no prior knowledge of the operation, but two other senior officials...

Who was the prosecutor for Operation Fast and Furious?

On January 25, 2011, Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke announced the indictment of 20 individuals connected with Operation Fast and Furious and provided the first public details of the investigation.

Who is the Mexican attorney general who is involved in Operation Fast and Furious?

Mexican Attorney General Marisela Morales told the Los Angeles Times that she first learned about Operation Fast and Furious from news accounts. “In no way would we have allowed it,” she said, “because it is an attack on the safety of Mexicans.”.

What did Holder ask the President to do?

In a bit of a bait and switch, Attorney General Holder informed the President that the committee had limited its request to the post–February 4 documents and asked the President, in a letter dated June 19, to invoke executive privilege with respect to those documents, which Holder claims “were created after the investigative tactics at issue in [Operation Fast and Furious] had terminated and in the course of the Department’s deliberative process concerning how to respond to congressional and related media inquiries into that operation.” [30] The next day, Deputy Attorney General James Cole informed Chairman Issa in a letter that “the President has asserted executive privilege over the relevant post-February 4, 2011, documents.” [31]

When did the DOJ admit gunwalking?

It was not until November 8, 2011—nine months after the false DOJ statements were first made—that Holder admitted during testimony that, in violation of DOJ policy, gunwalking had in fact been used in Operation Fast and Furious.

What happened to the ATF in Fast and Furious?

Abstract: The damage from the ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious is staggering: A federal border patrol agent and hundreds of Mexican citizens are dead, killed with guns that were allowed to “walk” into the hands of a powerful drug cartel. While the Department of Justice initially told Congress that its agents did not allow guns to walk into Mexico, ...

When did Operation Fast and Furious go wrong?

The Operation Goes Very Wrong. In late 2009 or early 2010, some of the agents involved with Operation Fast and Furious began to object to some of the investigative techniques being used, including gunwalking.

Is Operation Fast and Furious unindictable?

Remarkably, it also seems that two of the targets of Operation Fast and Furious are probably unindictable, having been paid informants of, and designated as national security assets by, the FBI—information that should have been shared within the task force overseeing the investigation.

What was Operation Fast and Furious?

When it won approval and received additional funding, Operation Fast and Furious was reorganized as a Strike Force that included agents from the ATF, FBI, DEA, and the ICE component of the Department of Homeland Security, which would be run through the U.S. Attorney's office rather than the ATF.

How many guns were recovered during Operation Fast and Furious?

During Operation Fast and Furious, the largest "gunwalking" probe, the ATF monitored the sale of about 2,000 firearms, of which only 710 were recovered as of February 2012. [update] .

What did Grassley write to the ATF?

Melson requesting information about the ATF-sanctioned sale of hundreds of firearms to straw purchasers. The letter mentioned a number of allegations that walked guns were used in the fight that killed Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. A second letter from Grassley on January 31 accused the ATF of targeting whistleblowers.

Where was the gunwalking scandal?

ATF gunwalking scandal. Weapons recovered by the Mexican military in Naco, Sonora, Mexico on November 20, 2009. They include weapons bought two weeks earlier by Operation Fast and Furious suspect Uriel Patino, who bought 723 guns during the operation. " Gunwalking ", or " letting guns walk ", was a tactic used by the Arizona U.S.

When did the ATF start gunwalking?

The first known ATF "gunwalking" operation to Mexican drug cartels, named Operation Wide Receiver, began in early 2006 and ran into late 2007. Licensed dealer Mike Detty of Mad Dawg Global informed the ATF of a suspicious gun purchase that took place in February 2006 in Tucson, Arizona.

Why did the Justice Department withdraw its statement of February 4, 2011, denying gunwalking?

On December 2, 2011, the Justice Department formally withdrew its statement of February 4, 2011, denying gunwalking, due to inaccuracies.

When did the Fidel Hernandez case occur?

The Fidel Hernandez case began when the ATF identified Mexican suspects who bought weapons from a Phoenix gun shop over a span of several months. The probe ultimately involved over 200 guns, a dozen of which were lost in Mexico. On September 27, 2007, ATF agents saw the original suspects buying weapons at the same store and followed them toward the Mexican border. The ATF informed the Mexican government when the suspects successfully crossed the border, but Mexican law enforcement were unable to track them.

Who cleared Eric Holder of botched operation?

Chris McGreal. The US justice department's inspector general has cleared the attorney general, Eric Holder, of Republican accusations he had prior knowledge of a botched operation that shipped hundreds of weapons to Mexican drug cartels that were later used in killings.

Has Eric Holder been cleared of wrongdoing?

Eric Holder has been cleared of wrongdoing, but the department of justice has recommended Lanny Breuer, left, be disciplined. Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters. Eric Holder has been cleared of wrongdoing, but the department of justice has recommended Lanny Breuer, left, be disciplined. Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters.

Where were the guns seized in Fast and Furious?

On January 8, 2010, the Mexican Army seized 14 firearms in Tijuana, Mexico, that had been purchased by Sean Steward, 1 of the leading Operation Fast and Furious straw purchasers and who had purchased the 9 firearms seized in Douglas, Arizona, on December 8.

Who was shot in the exchange?

Agent Terry was shot in the exchange and died soon afterward. One of the suspects was shot and taken into custody at the scene. Five suspects, including the suspect who was shot, were subsequently charged with Terry’s murder or other related crimes. Three suspects remain at large and are fugitives.

What was the charge against Avila?

On December 15, 2010, a day after Agent Terry’s death, ATF agents arrested Avila and charged him with making false statements on a Form 4473 for a firearms purchase he made in June 2010. This charge was subsumed by the January 19, 2010, indictment of Avila and 19 other subjects from Operation Fast and Furious.

How much did Avila spend on firearms?

Avila spent $23,000 in June on 15 firearms, including over $18,000 for two Barrett .50 caliber rifles.

What is Operation Fast and Furious?

So it was with one of this president’s earliest embarrassments, “Operation Fast and Furious,” designed to help the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) dismantle drug cartels operating inside the United States and disrupt drug-trafficking routes.

Where was the Fast and Furious attack?

In December, the scheme’s ramifications crossed back over the border. On December 14, four Border Patrol agents were staked out near Rio Rico, Ariz., eleven miles north of the Mexican border.

How many Mexicans were killed by Fast and Furious?

By the time of the House’s contempt vote, some 300 Mexicans had been killed or wounded by Fast and Furious firearms, and that number has surely risen. In December 2013, a walked gun was found at the site of a gunfight at a Mexican resort that left five cartel members dead. The guns have found their way north, too.

Is Benghazi a president's sole assertion of executive privilege?

Despite the IRS scandal, Benghazi, and a host of other accusations of malfeasance against this White House, it remains this president’s sole assertion of executive privilege.

Who owns the gun in the Draw Muhammad contest?

A weapon owned by Nadir Soofi, one of the two Muslim terrorists who tried to shoot up Pamela Geller’s “Draw Muhammad” contest in Texas last May, was acquired through Fast and Furious. The guns have found their way north, too.

Did the ATF track guns?

ATF agents would then track the guns as they made their way through the ranks of the cartel. At least, that was the theory. In reality, once the guns walked across the border, they were gone. Whistleblowers reported, and investigators later confirmed, that the ATF made no effort to trace the guns.

The Birth of Operation Fast and Furious

• In October 2009, Ken Melson, then Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), submitted a “weekly report” to Attorney General Holder, noting that “several potential traffickers or suspicious purchasers” had been identified through “firearms compliance investigations” at two large gun dealerships. The report st...

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The Operation Goes Very Wrong

Congress’s Initial Investigation and The Alleged Cover-Up

Congress’s Interest in Getting Answers

The President Invokes Executive Privilege

Overview

Aftermath and reaction

Since the end of Operation Fast and Furious, related firearms have continued to be discovered in criminal hands. As reported in September 2011, the Mexican government stated that an undisclosed number of guns found at about 170 crime scenes were linked to Fast and Furious. Reflecting on the operation, Attorney General Eric Holder said that the United States governmentis "...losing the battle to stop the flow of illegal guns to Mexico," and that the effects of Operation F…

Background

Operations

See also

External links