Topic: ATF’s Fast & Furious- Obama’s ‘Weaponsgate’?

[charlesoakwood]

It's Woodrow's fault.

[IronDioPriest]

ATF 'Fast and Furious' secret audio recordings reveal concerns about whistleblower
(Audio linked @ CBS)

In a series of secretly recorded audio tapes believe to have been recorded last March and obtained by CBS News, an Arizona gun dealer and an ATF agent involved with ATF's "Fast and Furious" operation worried about the unraveling scandal.

The tapes were made just weeks after CBS News broke the story in February.

The conversations were recorded by Andre Howard who ran the Lone Wolf Trading Company. Howard's gun dealership had been cooperating with the ATF in "Fast and Furious." At least two of his weapons were sold to a straw buyer before turning up later at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Hope MacAllister, the ATF agent heard in the conversations, was the lead case agent.

<snip>

Among other things, Howard and MacAllister expressed concerns about ATF Special Agent John Dodson, who by that point had gone public about "Fast and Furious" in an exclusive interview with CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.

They also spoke of their concerns that Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) was investigating, with Agent MacCallister saying of her superiors in Washington, DC, "they're gonna say have to say Grassley you're just gonna have to sit your a-- down."

These recordings are important because MacAllister has never spoken publicly about her involvement in the operation and its fallout and Howard's role as a gun dealer cooperating with the ATF placed him in position to see "Fast and Furious" firsthand . The audio recordings contain new revelations about the guns involved, and ATF's efforts to respond to the breaking scandal. The tapes were turned over to Congressional investigators and the Inspector General in connection with their probe into "Fast and Furious."

The excerpts below refer to whistleblower ATF special agent John Dodson, and a March 9 letter that Rep. Lamar Smith and 13 other House Judiciary Committee members sent to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding answers regarding "Fast and Furious."

(Read text of the audio excerpts below.) (It is helpful to read the transcript while listening to the audio at the link in order to get a sense of the hostility and growing desperation - IDP)
The gun dealer is Andre Howard, the agent is ATF Agent Hope MacAllister.

Dealer: He's (Dodson) more toxic than you realize. I can tell you cause I asked him. How much of this f-----g file did you release?

Agent: Mmmhm

Dealer: He said basically the underlying case file. I said okay, who'd you release it to? F-----g Patrick Leahy! Ok? Wasn't just Grassley it was Leahy alright? Leahy as we both know has adjourned this inquiry right now okay with no plans to reconvene it. So your people were successful on that end.

Agent: Right.

Dealer: Obviously that's good. However these other idiots from

Agent: Yeah I saw that. The House?

Dealer: Yeah and that I don't know. What is troublesome with this I expected Darrell Issa's signature to be on this it wasn't. He's your biggest thorn, he hates Holder.

Agent: Yeah. Where's he out of?

Dealer: Darrell Issa?

Agent: Yeah.

Dealer: California.

Agent: California.

Dealer: Lamar Smith you know's out of Texas, I don't know. Holder has to respond to this tomorrow.

Agent: Yeah he's gonna respond.

Dealer: I know he is. And I can assure you the media isn't gonna like his response because basically it's gonna mirror what he's told Grassley.

Agent: Yeah.

Dealer: He can't deviate.

Agent: Well if, I mean I've seen a rough copy at least of what our US Attorney here has sent up. Whether or not he has the b---s to actually use it or not, I doubt it. But I mean it's pretty aggressive. Um. The way I see it our local US Attorney is extremely aggressive. When it gets to DC..

Dealer: Who Emory?

Agent: No...THE US Attorney.

Dealer: Burke, yeah, used to work under Clinton. Guy used to work under Clinton. Talking about Burke?

Agent: MMhmm.

Dealer: yeah well

Agent: But the problem is once it gets to dc it just gets... well you know

(unintell.)

Dealer: Discombobulated that's a good term for it yeah I get that.

Dealer: Let me tell you you got more people out there now talking about this f-----g thing than anything I've ever seen...(unintell.) ... they're not shutting the hell up

Agent: (unintell)

Dealer: and that goes from DHS to f-----g FBI to everybody...

Agent: Yeah.

Dealer: I'm hearing hypothetically on every fringe

Agent: Yeah.

Dealer: Thru third parties and I can assure you they're all like what the hell are they nuts?

EXCERPT 2

Dealer: But you have got to put the word out there to all the departments tell the f------g FBI shut the f--- up. (whispering)

Agent: FBI'S got their own problems, trust me.

Dealer: I know I hear.

Agent: They've got their own problems.

Dealer: Hypothetically. (What does this mean? That there is a plan to create some problem for the FBI? - IDP)

Agent: If anybody's gonna get sued it's gonna be the FBI in my opinion.

EXCERPT 3

Dealer: What is it with the FBI they just have a h--- on for you guys or what?

Agent: The FBI's got their own problems. Like I said they're focusing on our problems they should probably turn it inward, cause they got their own problems right now.

Dealer: That ain't no lie.

Agent: So.. so hahaha.

EXCERPT 4

Dealer: What's Holders' office got to say about this?

Agent: Well like I said they're supposed to come out with little more um b----y statement than they have in the past, so...

Dealer: God they're (intell)

Agent: I mean at some point they're gonna say have to say Grassley you're just gonna have to sit your a-- down. I mean that or they're gonna have to (unintell). I mean like I said my understanding is he can't call a hearing. Somebody from the majority party has got to call a congressional hearing and as of right now...

Dealer: Patrick Leahy's an a----e, you know that. He gets ahold of something he's like a dog with a bone.

Agent: As of right now we don't have any info that's occurred. So...

Dealer: No, not now, but

Agent: I know there was a presentation given to Judiciary committee and everybody aside from Grassley is is satisfied. At least at this point.

Dealer: So they say you know I don't trust em...

Agent: No but I mean that's all I've got...it's all (unintell.)

[Pandora]

SeeBS is running this?  I'm almost shocked, and Holeee Smokes! do some people need to go to prison!

Another facet:

Two former law enforcement officers allege that they cannot get anyone to investigate allegations that the Mexican drug cartels have corrupted U.S. law officers and politicians in the El Paso border region.

...

Gonzales and Dutton said both or either one of them helped with federal investigations that were successful, including the arrest of Special FBI Agent John Shipley. Shipley was convicted of weapons-related charges after a weapon he sold someone turned up in Chihuahua state at a scene where a firefight took place between Mexican soldiers and drug traffickers.

However, they said, they are concerned that other serious allegations have not found their way to court.

Hit on agent

"One of the street gangs that works for the Juárez cartel put a hit out on FBI Special Agent Samantha Mikeska, and I told the FBI as soon as I heard about it," Dutton said. "We also had information on campaign fundraisers and parties in La Union that the cartel held for officials from New Mexico and El Paso. A lot of important people were at those parties, such as bankers, judges, and law enforcement officers."

Mikeska is a high-profile agent whose investigations of the Barrio Azteca gang led to prosecutions of gang leaders. The gang, which has members in West Texas and New Mexico, is linked to the Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel.

Gonzales said a U.S. law enforcement officer was suspected of selling to a street gang with Juárez drug cartel ties a list of U.S. Marshals that included their telephone numbers.

"With their number, the gang was able to 'clone' the agents' cell phones and intercept their calls," Gonzales said. "That way, they would know when one of the agents was trying to serve an arrest warrant against one of their members."

Dutton and Gonzales said small aircraft regularly drop drug loads on ranches or other properties along the U.S.-Mexico border, and that some U.S. law officers escort the loads to the next stop.

The two whistle-blowers said that drug cartels have managed to obtain computer access codes to U.S. surveillance systems that let them see where and when Border Patrol agents are monitoring the border.

They also alleged that drug cartels have given big donations to politicians, which are unreported, to influence appointments of key law enforcement officers.

Some of these allegations were contained in a letter that Dutton provided to Gov. Rick Perry, who is seeking the Republican Party's nomination for president in the 2012 election.

URL keeps getting "redacted".  The piece is at elpasotimes.com  title:  Whistle-blowers allege corruption, cartel ties

by Diana Washington Valdez

[IronDioPriest]

...URL keeps getting "redacted".  

I'm sure that means it's on the Righthaven list and I've entered the url into the censored words list. Once we know for certain that Righthaven is kaput for good, I'll remove all those urls from that list. I'd almost go ahead and do it now based on what we know, but setting that up was a helluva lot of time and PITA, so I want to be double sure the threat is gone before I undo it.

[Pandora]

...URL keeps getting "redacted".  

I'm sure that means it's on the Righthaven list and I've entered the url into the censored words list. Once we know for certain that Righthaven is kaput for good, I'll remove all those urls from that list. I'd almost go ahead and do it now based on what we know, but setting that up was a helluva lot of time and PITA, so I want to be double sure the threat is gone before I undo it.

That's what I suspected.  No problem; it's wise to wait.  I included the pertinent info for a search; the entire piece should be easily found.

[IronDioPriest]

It just gets deeper and uglier, and the stench more unbearable...

New Fast & Furious document: ATF bought guns with taxpayer money and sold them to illegal buyers directly

[blockquote]According to documents obtained by Fox News, Agent John Dodson was ordered to buy six semi-automatic Draco pistols — two of those were purchased at the Lone Wolf gun store in Peoria, Ariz. An unusual sale, Dodson was sent to the store with a letter of approval from David Voth, an ATF group supervisor.

Dodson then sold the weapons to known illegal buyers, while fellow agents watched from their cars nearby.

This was not a “buy-bust” or a sting operation, where police sell to a buyer and then arrest them immediately afterward. In this case, agents were “ordered” to let the sale go through and follow the weapons to a stash house.

According to sources directly involved in the case, Dodson felt strongly that the weapons should not be abandoned and the stash house should remain under 24-hour surveillance. However, Voth disagreed and ordered the surveillance team to return to the office. Dodson refused, and for six days in the desert heat kept the house under watch, defying direct orders from Voth.

A week later, a second vehicle showed up to transfer the weapons. Dodson called for an interdiction team to move in, make the arrest and seize the weapons. Voth refused and the guns disappeared with no surveillance.[/blockquote]

Much more, including supporting links, at HotAir....

[Pandora]

About Dodson:

Sources also describe a second letter from Voth to another FFL authorizing Dodson to purchase two more Draco pistols. One source stated flatly: "Issa and Grassley have copies of both letters, and have had for a long time."

Subsequent to this undercover weapons buying and transfer to cartel smugglers by Dodson, say the sources, "Dodson just about came apart all over them (his supervisors)." In a "screaming match" that was heard throughout the Phoenix office by many employees, Dodson yelled at Voth and Assistant Special Agent in Charge George Gillett, "Why not just go direct and empty out the (ATF) arms room?" (to the cartels), or words to that effect.

After this confrontation, say the sources, ATF managers transferred Dodson to a post as "liaison to the intel guys at FBI" in the Phoenix office. For clarification, it is worth noting that the Brian Terry murder investigation was at this time being carried out by the criminal investigations side of the FBI out of the Tuscon office, not Phoenix.

Sources describe continuing harassment of Dodson as his access to the Phoenix office building was restricted. "They removed him from the (Fast and Furious) case as politically unreliable," said another source, adding, "And of course after the Terry murder all the shots were being called by D.C."

After the death of Brian Terry, the "rumor" post on the ATF agent's website, CleanUpATF.org and the initial coverage by these reporters in the early weeks of January, 2011, "things got ugly" for Dodson. Blamed by his immediate supervisors as well as many of his fellow agents in the Phoenix office for "treason" as one source described it, Dodson's existence at the Phoenix office was described as "precarious" by one D.C. source. The threats to his life were perceived to be so great that "solitary range days" were arranged by a sympathetic supervisor so Dodson could practice marksmanship in safety. "He (the supervisor) didn't want him (Dodson) to eat one in the back" in a range "accident," said the source.

Dodson has not given any more interviews of late. "Not since the hearings as far as I know," said one source, and it is not because he hasn't been asked.

"They're (the Justice Department) coming at him hard, looking for anything they can use against him," said another. "Can you blame him for keeping his head down?"

Linked by HotAir to Sipsey Street.

[IronDioPriest]

...Linked by HotAir to Sipsey Street.

That link...

http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2011/09/vanderboegh-codrea-exclusive-us-govt.html

That is a HELLUVA read.

[charlesoakwood]

Not to distract from the conversation but are those things legal pistols?  They look like sawed off rifles.

[John Florida]

Not to distract from the conversation but are those things legal pistols?  They look like sawed off rifles.

 Legal not practical but legal in semi auto.

[charlesoakwood]

...Linked by HotAir to Sipsey Street.

That link...

http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2011/09/vanderboegh-codrea-exclusive-us-govt.html

That is a HELLUVA read.

Given the fact that it is a weekend, these reporters do not expect any reaction until later on Monday morning.

Did they really expect a response?  Shazam!  How many attacks on our sovereignty are going on at once?  All of these things going on and the media says nothing but praise.  We're on a roller coaster capable of making an instantaneous 90° lateral.  Hold on and keep your eyes open.

[Libertas]

Not to distract from the conversation but are those things legal pistols?  They look like sawed off rifles.

 Legal not practical but legal in semi auto.

Yes, commonly referred to as machine pistols...

[jpatrickham]

Taxpayers Paid for “Fast and Furious”Plan to Arm the Sinaloa Drug Cartel

Ben Johnson,The White House Watch

"The Mexican government has opened two criminal investigations into Operation Fast and Furious,the deadly ATF operation that allowed the Sinaloa drug cartel to purchase $1.25 million in illegal guns responsible for countless acts of violence south of the border. Reasonable people may ask when the United States will follow suit after today’s revelations that taxpayers funded the transfer and ATF agents personally handed the guns over to murderous gang members.

Fox News reports it has uncovered documents showing David Voth,an ATF group supervisor,ordered eventual whistleblower John Dodson to use federal dollars to purchase and then personally sell six semi-automatic Draco pistols to members of the gang in Arizona. Then he allowed the guns to ride off into the sunset over the sands of old Mexico:

This was not a “buy-bust”or a sting operation,where police sell to a buyer and then arrest them immediately afterward. In this case,agents were “ordered”to let the sale go through and follow the weapons to a stash house.

According to sources directly involved in the case,Dodson felt strongly that the weapons should not be abandoned and the stash house should remain under 24-hour surveillance. However,Voth disagreed and ordered the surveillance team to return to the office. Dodson refused,and for six days in the desert heat kept the house under watch,defying direct orders from Voth.

A week later,a second vehicle showed up to transfer the weapons. Dodson called for an interdiction team to move in,make the arrest and seize the weapons. Voth refused and the guns disappeared with no surveillance.

According to a story posted Sunday on a website dedicated to covering Fast and Furious,Voth gave Dodson the assignment to “dirty him up,”since Dodson had become the most vocal critic of the operation.

“I think Dodson demanded the letter from Voth to cover both himself and the FFL (Federal Firearm Licensee). He didn’t want to be hung out to dry by Voth,”a source told the website “Sipsey Street Irregulars.”
Shortly after this,Dodson confronted his supervisors,asking why the ATF did not simply give the drug cartel its entire cache of weapons,after which he was given “a more menial job.”Demoting whistleblowers or punishing employees otherwise critical of institutional corruption is a defining feature of the Obama administration.

Commentators have asked whether the program is part of a wider policy of supporting the Sinaloa drug cartel…."

Read more.http://floydreports.com/taxpayers-paid-for-fast-and-furious-plan-to-arm-the-sinaloa-drug-cartel/#sf

Well, just new there was fun for Yax Payers in there somwhere. Ain't a full blown party unless we are involved!

[Libertas]

“I think Dodson demanded the letter from Voth to cover both himself and the FFL (Federal Firearm Licensee). He didn’t want to be hung out to dry by Voth,”

You know you work for crooks when you have to start collecting CYA chits...

This Regime stinks to high heaven, and I want their reign of terror ended right damn now!

[Pandora]

   Very illuminating.  This very early email demonstrates something that our sources have been saying all along.  Even when the rest of the media and the political class were as yet ignorant of the Gunwalker Scandal, the gunwalkers themselves, the upper management types of ATF and DOJ, were monitoring -- and acutely aware of -- every tiny development in the story as reported by Gun Rights Examiner, Sipsey Street and CleanUpATF.org.  They exhibited all the tension and straining of senses that a burglar does right after he breaks a window and makes too much noise.  Did anybody hear?  Is anybody paying attention?  Will somebody call a cop?

    And who were they afraid of?  A few -- very few -- dissident ATF agents and lowly gun rights bloggers who, by Internet standards, were hardly noticeable or noticed.  Yet, even at this early stage, we were apparently living in their heads rent free, all expenses paid.

    They had broken the window, somebody they couldn't control had noticed, and were now in the process of calling the cops.  No wonder they were paying attention to you.

Another early email has surfaced.  Read the rest >> http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/exclusive-report-atf-chief-counsel-s-office-warned-management-of-gun-rights-exa?CID=examiner_alerts_article

Havoc 

[jpatrickham]

Me thinks, if a Presidential Administration is found guilty of lets say, the things the Obama Administration has done, and found guilty, and they will. Then, hanging should be brought back. Just this once!  

[Libertas]

You can't make it up...

And they think they'll get away with it...

And they may be right...


...for now...

[charlesoakwood]

All natural manilla.

[Libertas]

All natural manilla.

manilla, bonded, parchment...



 

[charlesoakwood]

Or more appropriately something along the lines...