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Mexican drug cartels are recruiting convicts in U.S. prisons to work for them as drug runners, assassins and enforcers when they are released. One prisoner who is nearing the end of a 10-year sentence has said he was approached by Mexican drug gangs who wanted to give him 20kilograms of cocaine to sell when he got out - worth nearly half a million dollars on the street. The prisoner said the Mexican drug gangs are beginning to see American prisons as a 'job fair' that can supply an endless stream of talent in the United States as prisoners are released...

Credits: (Photo courtesy of ATF via Getty Images) On October 27th, in a townhall meeting in Yuma, Arizona, before his election as senator, Jeff Flake promised to hold those who had allowed and covered up the Fast and Furious scandal accountable. The time has come for Senator Flake to start making good on his promise. On June 11th, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to begin hearings on the confirmation of B.Todd Jones as the Director of the BATFE. Senator Flake is a member of that committee. B. Todd Jones was present at a key meeting that occurred just...

What did he know, when did he know it, and what has he done about it? Was ATF Director Appointee, B. Todd Jones, involved in the inception of the felony stupid program known as Fast and Furious?  What has he done regarding the scandal in the year and a half that he has been Acting Director? What specific actions does he intend to take to focus ATF enforcement efforts on violent criminals and reduce the incidence of prosecution of unwitting technical violations by regular gun owners? The Judiciary Committee of the US Senate is scheduled to begin hearings on the...

The case of Jay Anthony Dobyns v. The United States is scheduled to begin Monday by the United States Court of Federal Claims, an entry yesterday on the ATF agent’s blog announced. “The trial will start in Arizona and end in Washington, D.C. in early August,” Dobyns wrote.Dobyns is the agent who gained fame after infiltrating the Hells Angels in a “harrowing undercover journey” he wrote about in his New York Times bestseller “No Angel.” He, along with colleague, friend and fellow whistleblower Vince Cefalu, has been the subject of several Gun Rights Examiner reports focused on retaliation they have...

The U.S. government can require gun dealers in border states to disclose records of certain firearm sales, a federal appeals court has ruled, upholding a key component of the government’s recent crackdown on illegal gun trafficking. The ruling on Friday, by a unanimous three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Washington, comes over strenuous objection by the firearms industry. And it could renew calls among gun-rights supporters that the government’s program trammels rights of gun sellers and owners. In 2011, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm and Explosives began issuing so-called “demand letters”...

The former U.S. Attorney for Arizona could be disbarred, after an investigation found he lied to the Justice Department about his role in trying to discredit the federal whistle-blower who exposed the botched gun-running scheme known as Fast and Furious. An Office of Inspector General report showed that Dennis Burke -- the former chief of staff for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano appointed as U.S. Attorney for Arizona by President Obama in September 2009 -- lied when asked if he leaked sensitive documents to the press meant to undermine the credibility of ATF whistle-blower John Dodson. The IG report also...

Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the following statement after an Office of Inspector General Report showed that U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke leaked a sensitive document to the press regarding a whistleblower who had come forward with allegations of gunwalking, that he leaked an internal memo regarding Fast and Furious suspect Jaime Avila to the New York Times, and that he lied to Deputy Attorney General James Cole. The document leaked to Fox News was deemed so sensitive by the Justice Department that it was not provided to Congress, except in a secured room at...

Inspector General report paves way for Burke disbarment gun rights May 20, 2013 By: David Codrea Subscribe Per the OIG report, "Burke's Law" could be a thing of the past if his "professional conduct" catches up with him at the bar. Per the OIG report, "Burke's Law" could be a thing of the past if his "professional conduct" catches up with him at the bar. Credits: United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona 0 Email Policy & Issues newsletter A report released today by the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General pronounces a harsh assessment of former...

With new reports today that the Obama Department of Justice leaked documents intended to smear a whistleblower in the Fast and Furious gunwalking scandal, it is now more obvious than ever that this administration has, in the words of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) created a “culture of intimidation” that stretches from the White House down to myriad agencies of the executive branch. *** Department of Justice: Today’s report from the Department of Justice Inspector General, showing that former US Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke leaked documents intended to smear a whistleblower in Fast and Furious, are only the...

The U.S. Attorney in Arizona violated Justice Department policy by providing Fox News with information apparently aimed at undercutting the credibility of a federal agent who helped reveal the botched arms-trafficking probe called Operation Fast and Furious, the Justice Department's inspector general said Monday. There was substantial evidence in the 2011 incident that then-U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke's motive for disclosing a memo by federal agent John Dodson was retaliation, the inspector general's report said. In testimony to a House committee just two weeks earlier, Dodson had raised serious concerns about Operation Fast and Furious. In Dodson's memo, which was eventually...

(US President Barack gestures as he speaks at the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City, Friday, May 3, 2013.) (CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama, speaking in Mexico City on Friday, said the United States is responsible for much of the crime and violence in Mexico because of the demand for drugs and the illegal smuggling of guns across the southern border. He told the crowd, “We understand that the root cause of violence that’s been happening here in Mexico for which so many Mexicans have suffered is the demand for illegal drugs in the United States.” He later added, “We...

President Obama used a speech at Mexico’s Museo Nacional de Antropología – the National Anthropology Museum – to claim that ‘most of the guns used to commit violence here in Mexico come from the United States.’ ‘I think many of you know that in America, our Constitution guarantees our individual right to bear arms,’ Obama said. ‘And as president, I swore an oath to uphold that right, and I always will.’ ‘But at the same time, as I’ve said in the United States, I will continue to do everything in my power to pass common-sense reforms that keep guns out...

Shameless: Obama blames the U.S. and 2nd Amendment for Mexican gun violence.- President Obama delivered a speech today in Mexico City where he blamed the United States for being the root of Mexico’s violence. He even implied that the 2nd Amendment was to blame, after absurdly claiming he was committed to "uphold" the right to bear arms. But worst of all was the shameless hypocrisy of a man whose Attorney General Eric Holder carried out a gun-running "Operation Fast and Furious" which sold AK-47s and other weapons, which have been used to murder over 300 Mexican civilians, and 2 U.S....

President Barack Obama issued a one-page memorandum on January 25, five days after the inauguration. The memo told the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish new mandates that would allow federal agencies to terminate employment of staffers without appeal if their work can be deemed as 'national security sensitive.' Thousands of federal positions would be negatively affected by the rule if it were to go into effect. The rule would encompass any jobs involving public safety or law enforcement duties. Anyone who works for an office that has an inspector general and individual...

A comprehensive lawsuit charging government conspiracy and cover-up was filed Tuesday in the United States District Court Southern District of Texas Brownsville Division by the parents of murdered Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jamie Zapata and Special Agent Victor Avila, Jr., against the government, straw purchasers, individual government officials, gun dealers and others deemed to share in responsibility per the complaint. Gun Rights Examiner has obtained copies of the Plaintiff’s Original Complaint and the related docket sheet. On first reading, the complaint appears to have the potential to uncover specifics about government-sanctioned “gunwalking” and those who authorized it beyond what...

Rick and Ryin Reese were released on bond yesterday afternoon, a source close to the case confirmed to Gun Rights Examiner last night. The father and son are part of a family of gun dealers jailed for allegedly knowingly selling guns to cartel members, but who were found not guilty on the most serious charges of conspiracy and had money laundering charges against them dismissed. They were convicted on a handful of lesser charges of making false statements on forms, basically under the presumption that they should have know federal agents were lying. Wife Terri was released on bond last...

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has launched an internal investigation into a flawed storefront sting in Milwaukee marred by a series of missteps and failures. The review was launched this week after a Journal Sentinel investigation exposed a 10-month federal operation during which an agent's Colt M-4 machine gun was stolen and burglars ripped off $35,000 in merchandise from the agency's phony store. U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) on Friday joined a chorus of public officials from both parties demanding accountability from the ATF. Two other congressional letters were sent to the agency Thursday, including one...

. A bipartisan push intensified Thursday for answers from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives about a flawed storefront sting in Milwaukee. A Journal Sentinel investigation this week exposed a 10-month federal operation marred by a series of mistakes and failures, including an agent's machine gun being stolen and burglars ripping off $35,000 in merchandise from the agency's phony store. Milwaukee police and ATF are still looking for that stolen machine gun, officials said Thursday. "Suffice to say, ATF and the police department both have a keen interest in trying to get that firearm back," said Milwaukee...

A decision on whether or not members of a New Mexico gun dealer family will get a new trial on charges of lying on federal firearm purchase forms could happen as early as this week, Las Cruces Sun-News reported yesterday. Judge Robert C. Brack of the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico indicated in yesterday’s hearing that he will make his decision “soon” following a day of testimony that revealed the extent of corruption a key law enforcement witness against the Reese family was under investigation for – a fact the prosecution withheld from the defense...

A court order filed yesterday and obtained by Gun Rights Examiner in the case of U.S. vs. Reese has denied a motion by the prosecution to seal a hearing from the public. Defendants Rick and Terri Reese and son Ryin, New Mexico gun dealers jailed for allegedly knowingly selling guns to cartel members, and who have since had conspiracy and money laundering charges against them dismissed, have filed a motion for a new trial after being convicted of, as Jeff Knox of the Firearms Coalition described it, “the comparatively minor charge of lying on gun sales forms -- even though...