Another Outrage from ATF

ATF Celebrates the conclusion of Operations Gunrunner and Fast and Furious. For those of you who have followed this scandal, the outrageous behavior keeps on rolling.

This email is said to have been generated by Teresa Ficaretta and it references Arthur Herbert. Redactions have been made to protect sources.

From: (REDACTED)

Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2011 9:36 AM

Subject: Rifle Multiple Sale Reporting Program Celebration

Please join us on Wednesday, August 31, at 9:30 a.m., in Conference Room B to celebrate the successful completion of the rifle multiple sale reporting program. Collaboration among many directorates made this program possible, and REDACTED and I want to recognize and thank all the employees who contributed to our success.

This celebration will be held in connection with our EPS supervisors meeting to be held in the same room beginning at 10am. Please forward this invitation to all the remaining EPS supervisors in Martinsburg. I initially tried to list all their names, but I know I will leave some of the section supervisors out, and our celebration would not be complete without them. (REDACTED) and I look forward to seeing you all in Martinsburg.

In the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) and in fiscal year (FY) 2009 appropriations, ATF received $21.9 million in funding to support and expand Project Gunrunner. In May 2009, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) opened an evaluation of Project Gunrunner, which is ongoing. We are issuing this interim report on Project Gunrunner plans as ATF is expanding the project.  (Source: OIG Interim Report)

The question you might want to ask yourself is how much Operation Gunrunner did to stimulate the economy since that was how it was funded. Clearly it did a great deal to provide the Mexican narcotics cartels with better arms and ammunition, which they subsequently used to slaughter both each other, Mexican and American law enforcement and innocent civilians who were caught in the middle.

And more from cleanupatf.org, a forum of ATF Agents who are outraged at the conduct of their agency and of the Obama Administration. (graphic right h/t Dale)

Why the ATF scheduled a National Violent Crime and Firearms Trafficking Summit on 30 June 2009 in NM.

"It is essential that our efforts support the strategies and policies of the President and the Attorney General and where possible, complement the strategies of other agencies." -- "Project Gunrunner: A Cartel Focused Strategy," internal ATF report, September 2010, Page 2.

On April 27, 2009, the Department of Justice released guidelines for the consideration of Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) designation in firearms related cases involving Mexican cartels. The memorandum identified firearms trafficking from the United States to Mexico as contributing to the escalating levels of cartel-related violence and as a particular concern for law enforcement on both sides of the border. The memorandum emphasized the important role that the OCDETF program plays in connection with the United States' government-wide efforts to stem the southbound smuggling of arms to Mexican drug trafficking organizations and stated that investigations principally targeting firearms trafficking are eligible for OCDETF designation if there is a sufficient nexus between the firearms and a major Mexican drug trafficking organization. It is not necessary that every OCDETF prosecution include specific drug charges, but every OCDETF prosecution must be drug-related. The specific charges may be firearms, explosives, or other non-drug violations as long as the targets have been identified as major drug violators and otherwise meet OCDETF standards. 

In June 2009, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) released its National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy. The strategy represents another key contribution to the U.S. response to the threat along the Southwest border. The strategy acknowledges the close link between drug trafficking and firearms trafficking and the increasing powerful nature and sophistication of the firearms acquired and used by Mexican drug trafficking organizations. In fact, Chapter 7 of the strategy is devoted to weapons and contains significant language pertaining to ATF investigative responsibilities and enforcement programs. The strategy includes the goals of improving intelligence and information sharing relating to weapons trafficking among Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement partners; increasing interdiction of illegal weapons shipments destined for Mexico; enhancing cooperation with international partners in weapons investigations; strengthening domestic coordination on weapons investigations and increasing the likelihood of successful Federal prosecution of weapons cases. 

On June 25, 2009, ATF released a memorandum detailing a revised national firearms trafficking enforcement strategy focusing on among other things the identification and investigation of specific domestic trafficking corridors. While not a Southwest border focused document, the national firearms trafficking enforcement plan makes reference to Project Gunrunner and firearms trafficking cases with an international nexus. The document is referenced here since it provides guidance for conducting firearms trafficking investigations generally and may include information pertaining to investigative, technical, and preventive tactics that may be applicable when investigating matters related to the Southwest border.

The memorandum "detailing a revised national firearms trafficking enforcement strategy" was only part of a concerted ATF effort to do what their executive branch masters wanted them to do, consistent with the National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy. 

The "field manual" continues: 

On January 7, 2010, the Department of Justice reemphasized its commitment to combating firearms trafficking to Mexican cartels and the use of the OCDETF program as a means of disrupting the cartels by releasing its own strategy. The strategy is premised on the notion that a significant share of the violence, drug trafficking and corruption along the Southwest border is perpetrated by a relatively small number of hierarchical criminal organizations. The DOJ strategy concludes that “the most effective mechanism to attack those organizations is the use of intelligence-based, prosecutor-led multi-agency task forces that attack all levels of, and all criminal activities of, the operations of the organizations.” A significant component of the DOJ strategy pertains to attacking the southbound flow of firearms. The strategy states that “given the national scope of this issue, merely seizing firearms through interdiction will not stop firearms trafficking to Mexico. We must identify, investigate, and eliminate the sources of illegally trafficked firearms and the networks that transport them.” The DOJ strategy calls for closer collaboration between ATF and the efforts of multi-agency drug task forces along the border, including OCDETF strike forces. All ATF field divisions with an OCDETF strike force must consider assigning a complement of special agents to the multi-agency strike force and/or establishing a collocated ATF-led OCDETF group within the strike force. 

Lastly, ATF’s 2010-2016 Strategic Plan provides broad direction intended to guide ATF operations over the next few years and includes information regarding ATF’s efforts to combat firearms trafficking, to include trafficking along and across the Southwest border. The document reiterates that one of ATF’s fundamental responsibilities is addressing the threat posed by firearms violence associated with drug trafficking and specifically the threat posed by Mexican based drug trafficking organizations that acquire firearms from the United States. The document summarizes a wide variety of ATF capabilities useful in suppressing firearms trafficking across the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Additionally, in June 2009, ATF and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) intended to address areas of mutual concern and responsibility. To the extent possible, this revised cartel focused strategy will conform to agreements between ATF and ICE and other law enforcement partners that may exist.

The press release: 

DOJ Officials to Speak at National Violent Crime and Firearms Trafficking Summit 

Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:00pm EDT 

WASHINGTON, June 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Officials from the U.S.Department of Justice (DOJ) will join Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials, U.S. Attorneys, states attorneys, local prosecutors and law enforcement executives to discuss national policy development and strategies at the Violent Crime and Firearms Trafficking Summit in Albuquerque, N.M. Also at the Summit, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) formalizing a partnership to combat firearms trafficking. 

Media are invited to attend the opening session Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. MDT and the separate signing event at 9:30 a.m. MDT. For media not able to attend the signing event, a national news teleconference will be hosted at 10:15 a.m. MDT. 

WHO: 

David W. Ogden, Deputy Attorney General, DOJ 

Lanny A. Breuer, Assistant Attorney General, DOJ Criminal Division 

H. Marshall Jarrett, Director, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys 

Kenneth E. Melson, Acting Director, ATF 

John Morton, Asst. Secretary, ICE, DHS 

WHAT: 

Violent Crime and Firearms Trafficking Summit (Opening Session) 

ATF, ICE MOU Signing Ceremony, Question and Answer Session 

WHEN: 

Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 9:00 a.m. MDT - Opening Session 

9:30 a.m. MDT - Signing Ceremony 

10:15 a.m. MDT - National News Teleconference Begins 

Conference Call-in #: 1-888-469-3045 (call will be moderated; media encouraged to dial-in up to 15 minutes in advance) 

WHERE: 

Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown Hotel 2600 Louisiana Blvd, NE Albuquerque, N.M. 87110 

Note: Media attending the opening session of the summit and/or the MOU signing ceremony will need to present valid media credentials. Media should be set by 7:45 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom for the opening session and pre-set by 9:15 a.m. in Baldwin Room for the signing event. Any inquiries concerning DOJ officials should be directed to the Office of Public Affairs at (202)514-2007. Any inquiries concerning the Summit should be directed to John Hageman at (609) 743-2987. 

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice 

U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, +1-202-514-2007, TDD+1-202-514-1888

This was a big deal. In addition to speeches by Deputy Attorney General Ogden, and Assitant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, ATF Acting Director spoke, as did NM U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman and H. Marshall Jarrett, Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys. Even Andrew Traver was there, as was, according to my sources, Phoenix ATF Field Division SAC William Newell, aka now as "Gunwalker Bill." 

John Morton's speech does not seem to have been posted on the net, the careful man. 

Lanny Breuer makes it clear where the new effort and energy on firearms trafficking came from: 

You just heard from my partner at ICE John Morton; we are all in great hands over there. John and I worked briefly together in the Criminal Division, where John was a Deputy Assistant Attorney General before becoming Assistant Secretary at ICE. He's a spectacular public servant. It's my privilege to share a podium with John and all my distinguished colleagues from DHS and DOJ, including the Deputy Attorney General from whom you will soon hear. 

As many of you know, a little over two months ago, the Attorney General stood on Mexican soil with his law enforcement counterparts from the Mexican government. At that time, the Attorney General announced a firm commitment by the U.S. government to work with Mexico to attack the plague of gun trafficking and related violence that has infected the U.S./Mexico border and regions deep in Mexico itself. 

Since the Attorney General's visit to Cuernavaca, the Justice Department, under the leadership of the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, has taken a number of positive steps to address the southwest border issues, including increasing the resources that are focused on the southwest border and, specifically, firearms trafficking. 

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