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Emails to White House didn't mention gun sting
LA Times ^ | July 28, 2011 | Richard A. Serrano

Posted on 07/31/2011 6:17:37 PM PDT by neverdem

An ATF supervisor who was asked to provide information on efforts to stop weapons trafficking to Mexico did not mention Fast and Furious, a botched operation that let guns reach drug cartels.

The ATF's field supervisor on the Southwest border sent a series of emails last year to a top White House national security official detailing the agency's ambitious efforts to stop weapons trafficking into Mexico, but did not mention that a botched sting operation had allowed hundreds of guns to flow to drug cartels.

Over three days in September 2010, William D. Newell, a 20-year veteran who at the time was the special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' field operations in Arizona and New Mexico, briefed Kevin M. O'Reilly, director of North American affairs for the White House national security staff. Newell sent the emails in advance of a meeting between Mexican officials and John Brennan, President Obama's deputy national security advisor.

A White House official confirmed Thursday that Newell had said nothing about the specific tactics used to fight weapons traffickers, which included allowing "straw" purchasers to buy guns without immediately arresting them, in hopes the small-time traffickers would lead authorities to the cartels and reveal smuggling routes into Mexico. The so-called Fast and Furious operation was run out of the ATF's Phoenix field office.

DOCUMENTS: The Fast and Furious paper trail

As soon as Fast and Furious began in November 2009, ATF agents complained about orders to let the guns "walk" — a risky move that failed when the ATF lost track of most of the weapons. By the time of Newell's emails to the White House 10 months later, the ATF was trying to contain the knowledge that hundreds of guns had dropped out of sight and...

(Excerpt) Read more at articles.latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Mexico; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: atf; banglist; castaway; cia; dea; dhs; doj; fastandfurious; fbi; gunrunner; gunwalker; holder; ice; obama
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1 posted on 07/31/2011 6:17:46 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: vette6387; MetaThought; 60Gunner; XHogPilot; FreedomPoster; Josephat; Prince of Space; ...

FOR REFERENCE:

DAVID CODREA'S PROJECT GUNWALKER

A Journalist's guide to 'Project Gunwalker'-Part One

A Journalist's Guide to 'Project Gunwalker'-Part Two

A Journalist's Guide to 'Project Gunwalker'-Part Three

A Journalist's Guide to 'Project Gunwalker'-Part Four

FULL TRANSCRIPT OF JULY 26 GUNWALKER HEARING & VIDEO


2 posted on 07/31/2011 6:20:09 PM PDT by MestaMachine (Guns don't kill people, the obama administration does. (Gunwalker Ping List))
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To: neverdem

This Mr. Serrano LA Times reporter guy is just amazing —he’s reporting more real news than the entire rest of that (huge) newspaper.

I’ll bet NO ONE there will eat lunch with him.

I love that guy.


3 posted on 07/31/2011 6:21:44 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: neverdem

So, he is saying the White House hadn’t a clue about F&F?


4 posted on 07/31/2011 6:28:34 PM PDT by arkady_renko
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To: neverdem

Memo: And remember not to mention you know what whe you write emails to the Whitehouse. Obama and Holder have to remain as white as the new fallen snow....no pun intended.


5 posted on 07/31/2011 6:32:37 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: neverdem
Emails to White House didn't mention gun sting

I wouldn't expect the e-mails to make such a reference, seein' how the operation wasn't a "sting".

6 posted on 07/31/2011 6:35:38 PM PDT by Charles Martel (Endeavor to persevere...)
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To: arkady_renko
Sounds like he is saying Newell was running a rogue operation ~ and his master in DOJ didn't know about it.

Hmm.

Find it hard to believe this guy would just flat out break the law like that ~ I'm thinking about Mission Impossible where the tape recorder always catches fire only Newell didn't get the tape.

I'm also thinking about the series the Washinton Post did on run running from Arizona to Mexico and how just all kinds of guns were showing up traceable back to the USA.

I think that was 7 guns at the time!

Very embarrassing to the Posties who wrote that garbage.

Now, is it possible the Posties pushed back on Newell and told him in no uncertain words "You'd best git sum gunz bo'yo, afore we strip yo hide" or something to that effect.

That would put the Post staff writers in charge of a gun running operation that ended up killing nearly 200 people!

Sounds about right.

7 posted on 07/31/2011 6:37:16 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Sacajaweau

“Ix-nay on the unrunning-gay”


8 posted on 07/31/2011 6:37:21 PM PDT by Atlas Sneezed (Government borrowing is Taxation without Representation)
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To: arkady_renko
So, he is saying the White House hadn’t a clue about F&F?

No, he is saying that Newell didn't write anything to O Reilly about it during that exchange. Lots of other people on both ends ... white house and Arizona. (Someday I will begin to capitalize "white house" again.

If bill clinton taught us anything, it is to parse their words carefully.

9 posted on 07/31/2011 6:44:13 PM PDT by RobinOfKingston (The instinct toward liberalism is located in the part of the brain called the rectal lobe.)
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To: neverdem

It was funded in the Stimulus Bill. Wow.


10 posted on 07/31/2011 6:59:17 PM PDT by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Happiness)
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To: neverdem
DEFUND socialist collectives, foreign and domestic.

DISMANTLE UNaccountable bureaucracies (more socialism).

Indict/convict/incarcerate Eric Holder.

Impeach/convict/incarcerate Barack Obama.

Attorney General Eric Holder said he wouldn’t authorize it, but someone in Congress knew enough about it to earmark ten million bones for it. And Obama signed the bill and gave it to them.

Does that mean everyone who voted for or signed the Stimulus Bill should be indicted as accessories to all these crimes, including the deaths of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry and ICE agent Jaime Zapata?

And I ask again, what was the ultimate goal of this operation that allowed thousands of guns to “walk” across the border into the hands of extremely violent drug cartels?

Italics...from allamericanblogger July 7, 2011 3:01PM

11 posted on 07/31/2011 7:03:47 PM PDT by PGalt
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To: neverdem

Link...

http://www.allamericanblogger.com/16445/fast-and-furious-aka-gunwalker-funded-by-stimulus-bill/


12 posted on 07/31/2011 7:04:34 PM PDT by PGalt
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To: MestaMachine

Links BUMP!


13 posted on 07/31/2011 7:11:30 PM PDT by PGalt
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To: PGalt

Thanks for the link.


14 posted on 07/31/2011 7:14:12 PM PDT by neverdem (Xin loi minh oi)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; ...

Thanks neverdem.
A White House official confirmed Thursday that Newell had said nothing about the specific tactics used to fight weapons traffickers, which included allowing "straw" purchasers to buy guns without immediately arresting them, in hopes the small-time traffickers would lead authorities to the cartels and reveal smuggling routes into Mexico. The so-called Fast and Furious operation was run out of the ATF's Phoenix field office.
The fix is in.


15 posted on 07/31/2011 7:21:02 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Yes, as a matter of fact, it is that time again -- https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: PGalt; neverdem

This is one of the big misconceptions that keeps being repeated even after it has been refuted and explained many times. GUNRUNNER was a LEGITIMATE op that was started under GW Bush. The funding was for GUNRUNNER.
AFTER the funds were allocated, the project was THEN switched to FAST AND FURIOUS by the DOJ and ATF...along with various other agencies. Congress was not in the loop.


16 posted on 07/31/2011 7:30:36 PM PDT by MestaMachine (Guns don't kill people, the obama administration does. (Gunwalker Ping List))
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To: GeronL

Not knowingly. The stim bill funded GUNRUNNER. Whole ‘nother thing.


17 posted on 07/31/2011 7:35:59 PM PDT by MestaMachine (Guns don't kill people, the obama administration does. (Gunwalker Ping List))
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To: neverdem
A White House official confirmed Thursday that Newell had said nothing about the specific tactics used to fight weapons traffickers, which included allowing "straw" purchasers to buy guns without immediately arresting them, in hopes the small-time traffickers would lead authorities to the cartels and reveal smuggling routes into Mexico. The so-called Fast and Furious operation was run out of the ATF's Phoenix field office.

Just a "White House official" who has every reason to lie or conceal.

Nothing under oath.

No documents provided.

Take it for what it is worth.

18 posted on 07/31/2011 7:36:18 PM PDT by marktwain
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To: neverdem

“...nothing about the specific tactics...”

to which I would respond, specific tactics of what, exactly.
Classic parsing.


19 posted on 07/31/2011 7:38:28 PM PDT by MestaMachine (Guns don't kill people, the obama administration does. (Gunwalker Ping List))
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To: SunkenCiv

Who’s winning the CYA caper?


20 posted on 07/31/2011 7:53:35 PM PDT by willibeaux (de ole Korean War vet age 81)
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