Holder's Dept. of Justice 'Aware of' ATF Gunrunning

From Anthony Martin, Conservative Examiner

Breaking--CBS News: ATF whistleblower indicates high level approval of scheme

March 25th, 2011 5:35 pm ET

In a new development in the continuing scandal at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives--a division of the Department of Justice--CBS News is reporting today that Barack Obama is denying all knowledge of the illegal scheme but that an ATF whistleblower insists that someone in the highest levels of the Administration not only knew about it but gave their approval.

The ATF's lead official in Mexico, Darren Gill, reported in an exclusive interview with CBS News today that his Washington Bureau supervisor told him point-blank that the person who approved the scheme is higher up in the Administration than ATF director Kenneth Melson.

That would mean at the very least the Justice Department, which has oversight of the agency.

A video of the interview can be found in the top left column. A second portion of the interview can be found at the CBS News site.

The key portion of the interview is in this exchange:

"Is the director aware of this," Gil asked the supervisor. Gil says his supervisor answered "Yes, the director's aware of it. Not only is the director aware of it, D.O.J.'s aware of it... Department of Justice was aware of it."

Gil goes on to say senior Justice official Lanny Breuer and several of his deputies visited Mexico amid the controversy last summer, and spoke to ATF staff generally about a big trafficking case that they claimed was "getting good results." Gil says Melson, ATF's Acting Director, also visited Mexico City. Gil's Deputy Attache and his Analyst questioned Melson about the case that surrounding all the weapons showing up in Mexico. "His response was 'it's a good case, it's still going on,'" recalls Gil, "and we'll close it down as soon as we possibly can."

Thus, not only is the ATF's acting director implicated in illegal activity, but so is someone yet unnamed at the Department of Justice.

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CBS News video:

Illegal Perks for Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives in Iraq

While this is not about Barack Obama, per se, it is about the same ATF (a.k.a., ATFE, BATFE) which was known for their deft anti-civilian maneuvers at Ruby Ridge in 1992 and at Waco in 1993, that under the proto-Obama, Clinton administration. And Obama is the man who would be "Commander in Chief" and the head of all federal law enforcement now, right?

It hearkens one back to the stories of the SS gaining special perks to keep them motivated for their dirty jobs in and out of WWII Germany, from the top right down through agents such as fourteen year old George Soros, in Budapest. Perks are given out for reasons. What reasons does federal government have, for motivating ATF members with such excesses as these?

Soldier Of Fortune Magazine Exposes Bureau Of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms And Explosives Corruption In Iraq

by Robert K. Brown
Editor and Publisher
Soldier of Fortune Magazine

This editorial was first published in the April 2009 edition of Soldier of Fortune Magazine.
It may be reprinted with the encouragement of its author.

NEED A DEFINITION FOR OBAMA’S CALL FOR “RESPONSIBILITY”

Amid the orderly transfer of power, our new Chief Executive has issued a call for responsibility. As is the case with most of his public statements, his meaning is not clear. However, if he means holding government officials accountable for their actions, a novel and great idea, it is something that we can all embrace. It is particularly true of those officials within agencies with a long and well documented history of abuses of entrusted powers. Somehow, ATFE comes to mind as the poster boy for irresponsibility and unaccountability.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Justice recently (December 2008) reported on “An Investigation of Overtime Payments to FBI and Other Department of Justice Employees Deployed to Iraq” during the period 2003 through 2008. The “other” employees in the title of the report included ATFE Special Agents as well as DEA Special Agents and Deputy U.S. Marshals.

ATFE Special Agents were deployed in Iraq on 90-day TDY assignments between 2003 and 2008. During that time, they were paid $4,175,731.00 in unauthorized and unlawful overtime pay.

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Now an Obama administration and a Pelosi Congress would want to investigate this... wouldn't they?

Will they?

photo ht: Minnesota Chris