Congressman Bilirakis Questions Holder On Tampa ATF Office Gunwalker Allegations
BY Herschel Smith13 years, 6 months ago
David Codrea is reporting that Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) wrote a letter today to Attorney General Eric Holder and Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Kenneth Melson, expressing deep concerns over the allegations of release of guns to MS-13 from the Tampa ATF office.
“These reports,” Bilirakis writes, “raise troubling questions about the motives, intentions, and competency of the ATF and DOJ.”
“In recent days,” he notes, “it has come to light that the ATF and DOJ may have participated in the act of ‘gun walking’ beyond the acts conducted within the scope of “Operation Fast and Furious’…and that similar programs included the possible trafficking of arms to dangerous criminal gangs in Honduras with the knowledge of the ATF’s Tampa Field Division.”
The complete list of questions is as follows:
1. Can you confirm whether or not the ATF Tampa Field Division and/or the Department of Justice’s Middle District of Florida participated in a “gun walking” scheme that allowed weapons to be trafficked to Honduras?
2. If so, does the ATF or the DOJ have knowledge of any of these firearms ending up in the possession of the notorious MS-13 gang?
3. How many guns have been allowed to pass into Honduras and how many have since been accounted for?
4. Were trafficked weapons subject to any special monitoring processes once they left the United States?
5. Has “Operation Castaway” been terminated? If not, does the DOJ or ATF plan to terminate this program or urge its termination?
6. Has the DOJ or the ATF established any criteria or guidance pertaining to what is admissible for future operations aimed at preventing firearms from being obtained and used by dangerous foreign criminal organizations in crimes similar to the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry?
David Codrea enters a detailed discussion about whether this facet of the scandal is subdivided into “Operation Castaway.” I think that this is unimportant, and the important thing to follow is David’s reporting on the events and people. Don’t miss what’s happening here. It has been said that “Fast and Furious” was separate from Project Gunrunner (or at least, a subset of it). “Operation Castaway” is supposed to be another subset of Project Gunrunner. These details will all come to light in the coming days if Congress probes deeply enough, but the important thing now is that their own reporting claims that there is coherence and consistency of effort, a common strategy, and approval of the project – taken as a whole – from the very top levels of the administration. The subdivided operation at the field offices under which each illegality falls is not currently important.
The scandal deepens and widens, and the depth and extent of the illegalities is only beginning to emerge. Perhaps Congressman Bilirakis can get to the ATF before they shred all of the pertinent documents.
Prior: Project Gunrunner category