Phoenix ATF agent reveals why guns were allowed to enter Mexico

Radio station KFYI, Phoenix ^ | June 15, 2011 | Mike Broomhead

[Tarantulas]

Phoenix radio station KFYI, Mike Broomhead show, June 15, 2011, 4 p.m. segment

At about 8:10 in the poddcast, Mike interviews Joe Gordon, former ATF supervisor in Phoenix. He was the Assistant Special Agent in charge for law enforcement operations in Phoenix from 1999-2007. Joe said the operation started out doing very well, tracing guns used in Mexican crimes back to where they were purchased. They were researching gun stores in Phoenix and Tuscon, identifying the people buying the guns, and assembling a package of information about who was making money by selling guns to the cartels. Originally they stopped the people and took their guns, but the US Attorney in Phoenix wasn't interested in prosecuting the people. The US Attorney said, basically, that if they could tie the operation to the cartel then maybe they would be interested. Phoenix ATF leadership gave too much authority to the US Attorney's office. Agents were told not to stop the gun runners from then on. They could have notified ICE that the guns were coming so ICE could get them before they crossed, but they didn't.

[Tarantulas]

Listen to the podcast to hear the rest. I heard it on the way home from work today and my jaw was on the floor. Mr. Gordon needs to be called to testify in this case.

http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/18227/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/18227/podcast/PHOENIX-AZ/KFYI-AM/June%2015%204%20PM.mp3

[pepsionice]

Basically, after Doctor Frankenstein had created his monster....he didn’t have any concept of the next step or steps beyond that. My gut feeling is that they could never visualize how many weapons would go across the border and how they would be used. These are people who should not be in law enforcement or US government...for the rest of their lives.

[greeneyes]

Kinda makes you wonder if it’s really just incompetence, or if the cartels have succeeded in corrupting government officials and law enforcement with bribes and kickbacks?

[USNBandit]

This is pretty weak. The ATF is blaming the U.S. Attorney's Office for allowing the cross border movement of contraband. Sorry, I'm not going to buy that for a second.

The potential for cross border movement has got to be an issue that the Phoenix ATF had to be familiar with. In gun trafficking, that would have been that office's main concern. They knew the ramifications of their actions and must have had direction from higher up to put those guns in play.

We already know this was part of a larger Southwest border ATF operation. Now this ATF supervisor wants us to believe the Phoenix office was just trying to get the AUSA to prosecute by moving the guns internationally? I'm calling BS on this one.

[vanilla swirl]

“if the cartels have succeeded in corrupting government officials and law enforcement with bribes and kickbacks?”

gee, ya think?

[greeneyes]

Duh. Yeh, I do. How about you? What do you think?

[USNBandit]

Attempting to bribe ATF is not exactly low hanging fruit. Bribing CBP officers and agents is a lot easier and more effective. On CBP's internal website they have a "Trust Betrayed" link that shows the CBP officers that have been charged with crimes. The vast majority of those charged are hispanics who have been caught assisting smugglers in some way.

The scary trend is new hires that seem to have applied for the job for the express purpose of helping the enemy. The cartels are recruiting people with clean records to apply to Customs and BP, knowing that CBP has a big push on to hire minorities.

[count-your-change]

Any reason it can’t be both?

[greeneyes]

No reason. I meant to type and/or, but I’m keeping my eyes open with toothpicks. LOL.

[chuckles]

What I'm hearing is they wanted to trace the guns back to the US to crack down on US gun sales. From the get go they were blaming gun shows and US gun shops for selling the guns to illegals. That won't fly if everyone knows they are the ones allowing them to be sold and cross the border. Several agents even called in and asked if they could bust them because they were about to cross the border. They were told no.

From day one I keep hearing how smart Obama is. I say, no, he looks pretty stupid to me. They say, "RACIST!". I say OK, he's smart. That makes him a terrorist. No smart person would do what he does unless they want to destroy America. This is on purpose people! Why aren't we impeaching him now?

[count-your-change]

Be careful of splinters in the eye.

[SteveH]

That is FUBAR.

[USNBandit]

FUBAR, but true. You have people that are working hard every day, and some are risking their lives every day to fight smuggling, but they can’t trust the guy next to them.