Congressman Darrell Issa, speaking this morning in a conference call with on-line reporters, called the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Operation Fast and Furious “dumb, useless and lethal.”
   Issa said that in addition to the slaying of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, he has been advised by Mexican authorities that there have been some 200 different incidents involving guns linked to the Fast and Furious operation, launched in autumn 2009 by the Obama administration.
   An off-shoot of the Bush-era Project Gunrunner, a firearms trafficking interdiction effort designed to prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands, Operation Fast and Furious allowed an estimated 2,500 firearms to enter the illegal gun trade. Issa made quick distinction between the two efforts, noting that under President Bush, the Second Amendment was supported and there was aggressive prosecution of gun law violations.


   Under Obama, however, there has been what Issa called “a pattern of indifference about how you do operations.” He said it has been nearly impossible to get prosecutions under former U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke, who abruptly resigned recently as the Fast and Furious probe continues to expand.
   While some believe the operation was mounted to “pad the numbers” of U.S.-origin guns being recovered at Mexican crime scenes to boost the argument for renewal of the ban on so-called “assault weapons,” others apparently think the administration launched the operation because it could not count on cooperation from the Mexican government in tacking illicit guns up the criminal chain. In the final analysis, though, Issa said the operation was a mess.
   “It was dumb, it was useless and it was lethal,” Issa told reporters.
   Examiner was represented by National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea and this column. Also present were Mike Vanderboegh from Sipsey Street Irregulars, Katie Pavlich with Town Hall, CNS News, the Washington Examiner, and others.
   Responding to a question from this column, Issa said he could use his position on the House Judiciary Committee to look at a possible reform and/or reorganization of the ATF at some point. Noting that the agency has not had a permanent director for the past six years, he said no other federal agency would be allowed to remain under control of acting directors that long.
   He also said more witnesses may be interviewed privately but that the records of those sworn testimonies would be open to the public.
   The conference call with on-line journalists was something of a departure, but it reflects a need – as Issa even suggested at the close of the discussion – for this story to remain before the public even as it does not get as much exposure by traditional news agencies. Lately, only Fox News, CBS News and the Los Angeles Times have shown consistent interest, but even the CBS reports have not made it to the airwaves, but only in on-line reports.
   Issa was critical of Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. He said both should have known about the operation.
   “If Holder didn’t know,” Issa said, “it’s because he didn’t want to know or because he wasn’t doing his job.”
   About Napolitano, Issa commented, “She seems to know everything and is running everything until something goes wrong.”
   The California congressman did say he hopes to wrap up the investigation sometime in October or November, and acknowledged the political liabilities of extending the probe for another six months, stretching into 2012. At that point, Democrats would begin complaining that he was trying to make the investigation an election year issue.
   However, the Justice Department has not helped speed the process by dragging things out, he said. The lack of cooperation has been evident in the delivery of heavily-redacted documents in response to committee requests. At some point, he promised the committee will compare un-redacted documents it has received to the redacted copies of the same documents provided by the Justice Department, to show the difference and determine what information the agency thought so important to withhold.
   Ultimately, Issa said, this operation and its revelations have damaged relations between the United States and Mexico.
   “For the Mexican government to trust us again,” he said, “we believe they need to be fully briefed.”
   As for identifying those responsible for the botched operation, Issa had this to say: “It is incredulous to believe that so many people at the top should have known…and didn’t know.”


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