ATF news stories on Newser

Drug Lords Targeted by ATF Were Working for FBI

Rob Quinn — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 04:40:05 CDT

The investigation into the ATF's ill-fated "Fast and Furious" gun-trafficking operation has been going on for months, and it keeps uncovering new layers of screw-ups. Newly released records show that the operation could have been wrapped up much earlier—without leaving hundreds of illegal guns in the hands of Mexican...

Holder: We Didn't Lie About 'Fast and Furious'

Kevin Spak — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:40:25 CST

Eric Holder angrily denied that the Justice Department was trying to hide anything about the botched "Operation Fast and Furious" program in his testimony before Congress today—and insisted that he'd had no knowledge of the gun-tracking operation. "There's no attempt at any kind of coverup," the attorney general said,...

40 'Fast & Furious' ATF Guns Found in Cartel Thug's House

Mark Russell — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 03:43:21 CDT

Forty weapons from the ATF's botched "Fast and the Furious" gun-tracking plan ended up in a home of the top enforcer for the Sinaloa drug cartel, reports the Los Angeles Times . In all, 100 guns were transported from Phoenix, site of the failed sting operation, to El Paso, showing how...

Accessory to Murder? Holder Cries Foul on GOP Charge

John Johnson — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 08:15:49 CDT

When a congressman suggested that White House officials could be charged with accessory to murder over the botched Fast and Furious gun-tracking program , he apparently touched a nerve. Attorney General Eric Holder fired off an unusually aggressive five-page letter to Congress complaining about the "base" level of public discourse, reports...

Obama's 'Scandal-Free' Streak Sets Record

Kevin Spak — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 08:43:05 CDT

Yesterday Barack Obama officially broke George W. Bush’s record for the longest scandal-free streak by a president in the post-Watergate era—at least by one political scientist’s criteria. Dartmouth professor Brendan Nyhan ran a study earlier this year on presidential scandals, which he defines as "widespread elite perception of wrongdoing....

ATF Chief Who Oversaw Botched Gun Plan Resigns

John Johnson — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:35:05 CDT

The ATF is getting a new chief today, the fallout from a botched scheme to catch gun smugglers supplying Mexico's drug cartels. Kenneth Melson is returning to lesser duties with the Justice Department, and his role as overseer of Operation Fast and Furious wasn't even mentioned in a glowing farewell...

Bungled ATF Sting Lost Track of More Than 1K Firearms

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 07:11:20 CDT

Operation Fast and Furious, the bungled ATF gun-trafficking probe , was even more bungled than originally thought: Federal agents lost track of more than 1,000 firearms purchased by suspected gun smugglers during the Arizona investigation. The information comes from a new congressional report ahead of a House hearing today examining...

Was Agent Killed With Cartel Guns Supplied by US?

Mark Russell — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 02:00:00 CDT

The family of a US immigration agent who was shot dead by Mexican drug cartel gangsters is demanding to know if the guns that killed him came from the bungled federal "Fast and Furious" sting operation that put hundreds of weapons into the hands of smugglers, reports the Los Angeles...

ATF Head Likely to Quit Over Guns Scandal

Polly Davis Doig — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:42:54 CDT

The acting director of the ATF is likely to step down within a day or two, reports CNN, the potential casualty of a botched weapons program meant to halt the flow of firearms into Mexico. Kenneth Melson presided over the agency's "Fast and Furious" program, which inadvertently let arms smugglers...