Cleaning House at BATFE

[old Grump]

Burke and Melson are gone as of this morning, would it be to much to hope for that Holder follow them out the door.

I would like to see the 3 of them looking at another door as they kiss their wives goodby and tell them don't wait supper for us, It may be a few years before we see you again.

So far just bulletins nothing hard and fast but Todd a DA From Mn is taking over BATFE.

:woot::hoo-yeah:

[Dan Morris]

To what degree improvements???????????????
Dan

[old Grump]

To what degree improvements???????????????
DanWashington DC way. No improvement just fresh faces that can't or won't take the blame for their predecessors actions. To get improvement we need criminal charges filed and prosecuted and since the DOJ is a huge part of the problem .................. well fill in your own scenario of what is about to happen. This is going to be a pigeon shit tasting white wash 12' deep.

[alismith]

More here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44328901/ns/us_news-security/

Yeah, OG is right. Criminal prosecutions are called for, but I doubt they'll happen.

[Penguin]

Well better than nothing. Unless charges are brought up though it will probably be buissness as usual tomawor, just with different people running the show.

[recon]

From another site.

Obama shakes up gun agency over botched Mexico sting

ATF Acting Director Kenneth E. Melson

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced on Tuesday a major shake-up of the U.S. agency that botched an attempt to track weapons smuggled to drug cartels in Mexico after guns were allowed to flow freely over the border.

Kenneth Melson, who has been acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives since 2009, was reassigned after admitting mistakes in the sting operation meant to try to crack down on weapons reaching violent drug gangs from U.S. gun stores.

In further fallout from the operation, the U.S. attorney for Arizona, Dennis Burke, has resigned effective immediately after acknowledging mistakes in the operation. The lead prosecutor on the case, Emory Hurley, has also been reassigned, an Obama administration official said.

Another administration official said the shake-up at ATF was a chance for a "fresh start given everything they've gone through lately."

The sting operation, dubbed "Fast and Furious," has spawned congressional and internal Justice Department probes and put the Obama administration on the defensive about whether dangerous weapons were knowingly allowed to cross the border.

Authorities had hoped they would be able to follow the guns to cartel leaders, but ATF agents did not track the weapons after they were transferred from the initial buyer to others who smuggled them across the border. Some agents have testified that they were not allowed to continue the pursuit.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Melson both issued statements but steered clear of any comments about the controversy. Holder has referred the entire matter to the department's inspector general for an investigation.

Melson will be reassigned to the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy as an adviser on forensic science, the Justice Department said.

The U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Todd Jones, will serve as acting ATF director starting on Wednesday.

U.S. ATTORNEY ADMITS MISTAKES

Burke was interviewed by congressional investigators on August 18 and said he was unaware of the tactical details of the sting and acknowledged that he and his team made mistakes, including not adequately supervising the case.

"It should not have been done the way it was done, and I want to take responsibility for that, and I'm not falling on a sword or trying to cover for anyone else," Burke told them, according to excerpts of his testimony released by Democrats on the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight.

Mexican authorities have complained bitterly about the flow of guns from the United States across the border, where gangs have battled with each other and with Mexican authorities, straining ties between the two countries.

Some 42,000 have died since 2006 as a result of the turf wars. The congressional investigation has turned up evidence that guns sold in the sting have been found at numerous crime scenes in the United States and Mexico.

U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry died in a December 2010 shootout on the American side of the border and two guns found there have been traced to the sting. It is not known if those guns were used to fire the fatal shots.

Some of the weapons recovered at crime scenes include powerful AK-47s and .50 caliber rifles.

Republicans in the U.S. Congress have been demanding the Obama administration explain who knew what and when about the ATF program, which was conceived of and run out of the agency's Phoenix division.

"There are still many questions to be answered about what happened in Operation Fast and Furious and who else bears responsibility," said Republican Representative Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

For years the ATF has been without a director confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The position has been the source of tension between advocates and opponents of gun control.

President Barack Obama has nominated Andrew Traver of the agency's Chicago office to the job, but the gun industry has opposed him. Melson is a career federal employee.

Obama will need to nominate someone to fill the U.S. Attorney's post. Burke previously served as chief of staff to Janet Napolitano when she was Arizona governor.

Melson was interviewed on July 4 by congressional investigators. At that time he acknowledged mistakes had been made and other law enforcement agencies had had critical information they did not share about their targets.

[imanaknut]

I won't be happy until they get the "F" out of that "bureau" and we the people get the right to keep and bear arms that is no longer infringed.

In the mean time, as they (alphabet soup agencies) like to say about we the people, hang them all!

[Schuetzenman]

"Mistakes were made"! Fucking LAW was BROKEN! I want these scum behind bars, all the way to the top man who ever that might be.

[ltorlo64]

The MSM is making it sound like this should make everything better. As far as I can tell, no one was fired. One person resigned and two were reassigned to other positions. They are not positions with as much authority, but they still have a job, with the government. After they allowed at least one government worker to be killed by their incompetence or by their desire to take away more of our rights. I hope the investigations continue as it was looking as though the buck did not stop in the BATF but went into the DOJ.

[old Grump]

Back in the 50's Grandpa called it the Washington shuffle. Sadly little has changed except now things cost more and the stakes are higher.

BATFE needs to be disbanded, If the treasury department can't enforce Tobacco and Alcohol taxes with what they have for IRS agents they should get out of the tax collecting business. This department should NOT be part of the Justice Department. Firearms and explosives is a police matter and we already have local, county, state and federal agencies coming out of our ears.

[stinker]

The U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Todd Jones, will serve as acting ATF director starting on Wednesday.
We know anything about this guy yet?

[Gunreference1]

Just some basic info here:

http://www.justice.gov/usao/mn/meetattorney.html

Steve

[recon]

Eric Holder should also be canned! But that won't happen!

[AMVET47]

I believe Melsen was actually just reassigned. There's no accountability there. Holder is just playing a shell game with us. We should demand an investigation into Holder. He along with the rest of this radical, deceptive administration are truly disgusting.

[ltorlo64]

I believe Melsen was actually just reassigned. There's no accountability there. Holder is just playing a shell game with us. We should demand an investigation into Holder. He along with the rest of this radical, deceptive administration are truly disgusting.

It is my hope that the investigation will not end because of these reassignments. I read rumblings that it is not going away, but I would feel better if I saw an actual article explaining what is happening now. Having this forgotten about would be a travesty. They also need to look more into the other "Gun Runner" operation where they were sending guns to South America.

Here is what I read a couple days ago;


Evidence Suggests Cover-Up in ATF Scandal, as More Guns Appear at Crime Scenes
By William La Jeunesse & Laura Prabucki

Published September 02, 2011

| FoxNews.com

Just hours after the death of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, federal officials tried to cover up evidence that the gun that killed Terry was one the government intentionally helped sell to the Mexican cartels in a weapons trafficking program known as Operation Fast and Furious.

The revelation comes just days after a huge shake-up of government officials who oversaw the failed anti-gun trafficking program and Congress renewed its demand for more answers.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/02/demand-for-more-answers-in-fast-and-furious-scandal/#ixzz1X1zSIqhG

[ltorlo64]

Here is the other ATF operation I was thinking of, Operation Castaway. Interesting that I can find no MSM stories on it, not even Fox. Here is what I could find.


Operation Castaway: ATF Trafficked Guns to Honduran Criminal Gangs

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
July 14, 2011

Evidence indicates that the ATF not only provided weapons to Mexican drug cartels and gangs but also trafficked guns to criminal gangs in Honduras, including the murderous MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, known to work with the Sinaloa drug cartel.

http://www.infowars.com/operation-castaway-guns-trafficked-to-honduran-criminal-gangs/

[O.S.O.K.]

The biggest "mistake" that happened as far as obummer is concerned is that they got caught.

This was to be the impetus for a grand new spate of gun control laws and now he's high and dry. boo-hoo

Holder needs to go - there is no way in hell that he didn't know about this and no way in hell that he wasn't involved in the cover-up - he is culpable and should be removed and prosecuted.

Where's the special investigator "Keneth Starr" type shit? Where???

[ltorlo64]

The biggest "mistake" that happened as far as obummer is concerned is that they got caught.

This was to be the impetus for a grand new spate of gun control laws and now he's high and dry. boo-hoo

Holder needs to go - there is no way in hell that he didn't know about this and no way in hell that he wasn't involved in the cover-up - he is culpable and should be removed and prosecuted.

Where's the special investigator "Keneth Starr" type shit? Where???

There is alot out there of people calling for a special prosecutor, but it is all conservative type blogs, nothing from the MSM yet. We will see if the revelations coming out this week that the administration knew more than they have been letting on will get this rolling.