SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH-FAST AND FURIOUS COVER-UP
On November 8, 2024, President Trump campaign team announced his ten-point Plan to clean out the deep state by establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for a search for the truth
This Substack article is dedicated to the memory of Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry. Terry was mortally wounded during the exchange of gunfire on December 14, 2010, while conducting operations as a member of the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) in the Nogales, Arizona, area of operations. [Note: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) traced the weapon used to kill Terry as part of the guns purchased during the failed Fast and Furious gun-walking operation.] 1
Between 2006 and 2007, under the Bush Administration, the BATF conducted Operation Wide Receiver as part of the Southwest Border strategy under Project Gunrunner. The operation was a failure due to the inability of Mexican Law Enforcement to conduct surveillance on the Mexican cartel members who purchased weapons from a U.S. firearm dealer who was a BATF Cooperating Source (CS). Over 450 weapons, along with an additional 200 weapons under a smaller probe, were lost or never recovered by the BATF.
On April 16, 2009, during President Obama's visit to Mexico, President Obama told the Mexican and U.S. Press about the drug war, "This war is being waged with guns purchased not here but in the United States … more than 90% of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States, many from gun shops that lay in our shared border." President Obama was using the figure to argue that the U.S. needs more gun control laws. However, the 90% figure used by President Obama is a made-up number; the facts show only 17% of the weapons found at Mexican crime scenes had been traced by BATF to the U.S. because Mexican Law Enforcement only turned over those weapons, they thought came from the U.S. 2 3
In 2009, Obama Administration DOJ and BATF approved Operation Fast and Furious, without the Mexican government's authorization or Mexican Law Enforcement being part of the operation that resulted in over 2,000 guns purchased from U.S. gun stores by straw purchasers of the Mexican cartel and transported to Mexico. The tragic results of these straw purchasers ended in late 2010, after the death of Homeland Security Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, where BATF, the gun that killed Terry, was traced back to a straw purchase. Additionally, BATF seized guns and was able to be traced to over 200 murders in Mexico from guns purchased by Mexican Cartel members from Operation Fast and Furious.
LEGAL PRECEDENT
On June 28, 2012, following President Barack Obama's assertion of executive privilege to shield further information from disclosure, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General (AG) Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to provide key documents in response to subpoenas issued in connection with its investigation into Operation Fast and Furious. Holder is the first Attorney General in United States history to be held in contempt. 4 5
It's apparent that President Obama, in his comments in April 2009, used the failure of Operation Wide Receiver to initiate Operation Fast and Furious as part of his gun control agenda for political purposes. It’s hoped that the incoming Trump administration will establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for a search for the truth by obtaining the documents and conversations of former Obama Attorney AG Holder and senior officials who served in the Obama DOJ in exposing the cover-up to the American people.
President Biden set the precedent by waiving his predecessor's executive privilege, and a Washinton, DC, Appellate Court set the legal precedent denying former President Trump's appeal of executive privilege, setting up the opportunity for President Trump to waive Obama's claim of executive privilege on Fast and Furious.
On October 8, 2021, President Biden waived President Trump's Executive privilege and directed the National Archives to produce record documents and conversations with certain senior officials who served in the Trump Administration to a Democratically controlled congressional committee investigating January 6, 2021. 6
On December 10, 2021, the Washinton, DC Appellate Court denied Trump's appeal of executive privilege, ruling that the former President's executive privilege claims—which he used to justify his refusal to release documents requested by the January 6 select committee—are unwarranted and improper.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recognized that former presidents, including Trump, do have the right to make executive privilege claims. However, the court found that Trump's assertions were meritless, particularly when juxtaposed with the January 6 commission's need for the documents and President Joe Biden's agreement that they are justified in seeking them. 7
Here are the facts and the timeline of U.S. gun walking operations:
2006, Project Gunrunner:
Project Gunrunner is the operational designation file title used to file all documents related to United States-Mexican Law Enforcement efforts under the Department of Justice Southwest Border Strategy.
Project Gunrunner was implemented in 2006 by the Bush Administration Department of Justice (DOJ) as part of a joint United States-Mexican Law Enforcement effort under the Southwest Border Strategy. The goal was to stem the tide of weapons being purchased by Mexican criminal organizations and drug cartels in the United States and transported to Mexico. The strategy allowed suspected straw purchasers working for the Mexican criminal organizations and cartels to complete the weapon purchase in the United States and then transit the arms to Mexico to build a case for Federal prosecution against Mexican criminal organizations and the buyers.
All participating Law Enforcement agencies under DOJ Project Gunrunner, including the DOJ, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and BATF (Operation Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious), would use their agency designation file number but be referenced under DOJ Project Gunrunner.
2006-2007, Operation Wide Receiver:
In early 2006, BATF initiated Operation Wide Receiver as part of the Southwest Border strategy under Project Gunrunner. The BATF began a joint law enforcement operation with Mexican Law Enforcement after being informed of a suspicious gun purchase from a licensed gun dealer in Tucson, Arizona. The licensed gun dealer agreed to work as a confidential source (CS) for the BATF's Tucson office, part of their Phoenix, Arizona field division. With the use of surveillance equipment, BATF agents monitored additional sales by CS to straw purchasers suspected of supplying weapons to Mexican drug cartels. After Mexican suspects purchased guns, BATF would conduct surveillance of following the straw purchasers with the weapons to the US-Mexico border. Mexican Law Enforcement was responsible for conducting surveillance or interdicting the weapons once the weapons entered Mexico.
Another smaller probe occurred was conducted by the same BATF Phoenix field division. It began when the BATF agents identified Mexican suspects who bought weapons from a Phoenix gun shop over several months. The BATF probe ultimately involved over 200 guns purchased. Mexican Law Enforcement was unable to surveil a dozen of these weapons lost in Mexico.
On September 27, 2007, ATF agents saw the same Mexican suspects buying weapons at the same gun store and followed them toward the Mexican border. The BATF informed the Mexican government when the suspects successfully crossed the border, but Mexican law enforcement was unable to track them.
On October 6, 2007, BATF Assistant Director of Field Operations William Hoover ordered then BATF's Special Agent in Charge, Pete Newell, Phoenix field division, to shut down Operation Wide Receiver.
Investigative information from Operation Wide Receiver resulted in federal Indictments in 2010, and on October 4, 2011, nine people, two of whom had pled guilty, were charged with making false statements in the acquisition of firearms and illicit transfer, shipment, or delivery of firearms.
2009-2010, Operation Fast and Furious:
On October 26, 2009, DOJ Deputy Attorney General David Ogden and Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer held a teleconference with the heads of DEA, Administrator Michele Leonhart, then FBI Director Robert Muller, then BATF Director Kenneth Melson with Federal prosecutors from the Southwestern Border States (Arizona, Texas, and California).
Purportedly, the Obama administration DOJ decided on a new strategy to identify and eliminate armed trafficking organizations supplying weapons to the Mexican drug cartels rather than focusing on low-level buyers, and there was no discussion of allowing weapons to be walked into Mexico (gun walking).
During the fall of 2009, BATF initiated Operation Fast and Furious as part of this targeting high-level individuals under the Southwest Border strategy, and ended in late 2010, after the death of Homeland Security Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
As documented in a January 2010 Phoenix BATF briefing document, the BATF laid out the plans for "gun walking," not requiring the arms shipments to be seized or intercepted. The BATF SAC Pete Newell, Phoenix office, claimed that this was allowed under existing BATF and DOJ regulations and approved then U.S. Attorney of Arizona Dennis Burke. The Obama administration defended that gun sales were part of a new crime-fighting technique allowed by the Bush administration during Operation Wide Receiver.
From my experience as a retired Federal Agent conducting these types of law enforcement operations with foreign LE counterparts, I can attest that under DOJ regulations, for an agency to obtain approval to allow drugs or weapons into the public domain without being seized, it would need the approval of the highest level of government: the U.S. Attorney General or his designee.
The documentation for the operation would also include an impact statement on the potential adverse effects of allowing drugs or weapons into the public. In drug cases, the amounts approved by the DOJ were pretty small, usually less than an ounce or less. In working with BATF on numerous investigations, I never observed or heard of ever allowing guns without being seized or surveilled for interception due to adverse impact on the public. Since this is an approved DOJ -BATF operation, there would be documentation showing who signed off on the operation and who at DOJ gave approval.
Under Operation Fast and Furious, BATF was allowing firearms to be smuggled from U.S. gun stores into Mexico to Mexican criminal gangs. Since there were no tracking devices installed or surveillance conducted once the weapons entered Mexico, these guns wouldn't be seen again until they resurfaced in crimes. During the operation, over 2,000 guns were allowed by BATF to be purchased from U.S. gun stores by straw purchasers and transported to Mexico.
By June 2011, BATF, through its electronic tracing program, traced some of these guns to 179 crime scenes in Mexico. Additionally, 21 of the weapons recovered were from violent crime scenes in Mexico. Of the 2,000 guns allowed to walk into Mexico, only 600 recovered by Mexican officials. The BATF never found 1400 weapons. Marisela Morales, Mexico's attorney general, reported that the BATF can trace at least 200 Mexican deaths to the guns from the Fast and Furious program.
The main issue and Question for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission are, who authorized Fast and Furious? And who do we hold accountable for the deaths of over 200 Mexican Citizens and Boder Patrol Agent Brian Terry?
On July 7, 2024, the Gateway Pundit published an article that highlights how the current lawsuit between Mexico and U.S. gun manufacturers is a prime example of how the current lawsuit against gun manufacturers by Mexico is rooted in the misguided decisions of American politicians, not the actions of lawful companies. The article documents the Fast and Furious scandal, in which the U.S. government became a de facto arms dealer to Mexican criminal organizations, should be considered one of the greatest scandals in American history.8
A federal district court threw out Mexico's lawsuit in September 2022 for violating federal law. But in January 2024, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit allowed the case to proceed.
Mexico filed the request for the Supreme Court to get involved on July 3, 2024, after a petition was filed in April, led by Smith and Wesson, to overturn the First Circuit decision. 9
Under DOJ and agency guidelines, for a U.S. law enforcement agency to conduct an enforcement operation involving the violating of a nation's sovereignty without notification, the only individuals with the authority who can approve without advising that host government are the President, AG, or the AG designee, The approval level is usually granted at the AG level or his designee. The main reason for this to occur is the government may be corrupt, or their LE agencies may be corrupt, and the potential for compromise of the operation by notifying the host government. Usually, the host government is informed, and it's the exception rather than the rule where the host government is not informed.
On March 22, 2011, the Spanish-language network Univision asked President Obama about Operation Fast and Furious. President Obama said, "Well, first of all," I did not authorize it, and told Congress he knew nothing about it.
AG Eric Holder testified before Congress that he did not authorize Fast and Furious and said, "There may be a situation in which a serious mistake was made. If that's the case, we'll find out and hold somebody accountable."
Then, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico told Congress they had yet to be informed about Operation Fast and Furious. I can tell you that under DOJ guidelines, the agency law enforcement representative would brief the State Department and the ambassador of the country on any U.S. Law Enforcement operations that may impact a foreign country. It appears these briefings never occurred.
During and after the operation, several BATF agents including Supervisory Agents, told Congress the BATF Leadership were allowing guns sent into to Mexico in violation of agency guidelines and U.S. laws.
The results of the IG report on Fast and Furious reported that those involved in the Phoenix BATF and DOJ U.S. Attorney's office didn't notify anyone outside of Phoenix of allowing guns purchased by straw buyers in violation of BATF and DOJ policy. Raises the Question, why isn't someone charged with a crime for violating U.S. law without authority? That is what the media should have asked the Obama administration.
U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke for the Central District of Arizona resigned after leaking information to the Press in an effort to discredit the BATF agents who came forward.
The Deputy Criminal Chief, U.S. Attorney Office for the District of Arizona, took the Fifth Amendment when asked by Congress about his participation and knowledge of who authored the operation. As stated above, the differences between the two operations are that the 2007 Operation Wide Receiver operation under the Bush administration followed DOJ and agency guidelines, which were unsuccessful, while the 2009 Fast and Furious operation under the Obama administration did neither.
The DOJ refused numerous requests from Congress to obtain the documentation regarding who authorized the operation, and Attorney General Holder was held in contempt by Congress for his refusal.
President Obama used his Executive authority to prevent the documents from being given to Congress for National Security reasons.
It's highly unusual that a law enforcement operation would be protected under a Presidential order for National Security concerns. I have never heard or seen of this occurring in my 30-year Law Enforcement career. The Obama administration insists the gun sales were part of a new crime-fighting technique wasn’t about politics.10
References and Citations
https://www.cbp.gov/about/in-memoriam/brian-terry
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/the-myth-of-90-percent-only-a-small-fraction-of-guns-in-mexico-come-from-u-s?msockid=2a5c0f02bfd9641321b91a50be2265e9
https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2011/09/28/fast-and-furious-just-might-be-president-obamas-watergate/
https://www.heritage.org/courts/report/operation-fast-and-furious-how-botched-justice-department-operation-led-standoff-over
https://www.businessinsider.com/justice-department-obama-executive-privilege-fast-and-furious-contempt-eric-holder-2012-6
Biden White House waives executive privilege for initial set of Trump-era documents sought by Jan. 6 panel
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/fast-furious-ii-understanding-mexico-lawsuit-against-u/
https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/mexico-urges-supreme-court-allow-lawsuit-against-us-gun-makers-proceed-lower
https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/10-29-12-Fast-and-Furious-The-Anatomy-of-a-Failed-Operation-Part-II-of-III-Report.pdf
[Note: This analysis was created by a former Retired DEA Supervisory Special Agent John Seaman with over 30 years’ experience conducting complex conspiracy investigations. Seaman is the co-author of an article Taliban Include Heroin Kingpins in Leadership - by Gretchen Peters and John Seaman - SpyTalk and author of Ideology and Political Correctness Trump Reality and reference in article The secret story of how America lost the drug war with the Taliban - POLITICOPOLITICO]