Obama Executive Privilege Asserted Over Fast And Furious Documents

[Karee 4,189]

Conspiracy theory? Not even close! From CBS News, hardly a right wing news conduit.

December 7, 2011 1:44 PM

Documents: ATF used "Fast and Furious" to make the case for gun regulations

By Sharyl Attkisson Topics News ,Law and Order (Credit: CBS) Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation "Fast and Furious" to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales.

PICTURES: ATF "Gunwalking" scandal timeline In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the "big fish." But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called "gunwalking," and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico. Two were found at the murder scene of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.

ATF officials didn't intend to publicly disclose their own role in letting Mexican cartels obtain the weapons, but emails show they discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called "Demand Letter 3". That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or "long guns." Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information.

On July 14, 2010 after ATF headquarters in Washington D.C. received an update on Fast and Furious, ATF Field Ops Assistant Director Mark Chait emailed Bill Newell, ATF's Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of Fast and Furious:

"Bill - can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks."

More Fast and Furious coverage:

Memos contradict Holder on Fast and Furious

Agent: I was ordered to let guns "walk" into Mexico

Gunwalking scandal uncovered at ATF On Jan. 4, 2011, as ATF prepared a press conference to announce arrests in Fast and Furious, Newell saw it as "(A)nother time to address Multiple Sale on Long Guns issue." And a day after the press conference, Chait emailed Newell: "Bill--well done yesterday... (I)n light of our request for Demand letter 3, this case could be a strong supporting factor if we can determine how many multiple sales of long guns occurred during the course of this case."

This revelation angers gun rights advocates. Larry Keane, a spokesman for National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry trade group, calls the discussion of Fast and Furious to argue for Demand Letter 3 "disappointing and ironic." Keane says it's "deeply troubling" if sales made by gun dealers "voluntarily cooperating with ATF's flawed 'Operation Fast & Furious' were going to be used by some individuals within ATF to justify imposing a multiple sales reporting requirement for rifles."

The Gun Dealers' Quandary

Several gun dealers who cooperated with ATF told CBS News and Congressional investigators they only went through with suspicious sales because ATF asked them to.

Sometimes it was against the gun dealer's own best judgment.

Read the email

In April, 2010 a licensed gun dealer cooperating with ATF was increasingly concerned about selling so many guns. "We just want to make sure we are cooperating with ATF and that we are not viewed as selling to the bad guys," writes the gun dealer to ATF Phoenix officials, "(W)e were hoping to put together something like a letter of understanding to alleviate concerns of some type of recourse against us down the road for selling these items."

Read the email

ATF's group supervisor on Fast and Furious David Voth assures the gun dealer there's nothing to worry about. "We (ATF) are continually monitoring these suspects using a variety of investigative techniques which I cannot go into detail."

Two months later, the same gun dealer grew more agitated.

"I wanted to make sure that none of the firearms that were sold per our conversation with you and various ATF agents could or would ever end up south of the border or in the hands of the bad guys. I guess I am looking for a bit of reassurance that the guns are not getting south or in the wrong hands...I want to help ATF with its investigation but not at the risk of agents (sic) safety because I have some very close friends that are US Border Patrol agents in southern AZ as well as my concern for all the agents (sic) safety that protect our country."

"It's like ATF created or added to the problem so they could be the solution to it and pat themselves on the back," says one law enforcement source familiar with the facts. "It's a circular way of thinking."

The Justice Department and ATF declined to comment. ATF officials mentioned in this report did not respond to requests from CBS News to speak with them.

The "Demand Letter 3" Debate

The two sides in the gun debate have long clashed over whether gun dealers should have to report multiple rifle sales. On one side, ATF officials argue that a large number of semi-automatic, high-caliber rifles from the U.S. are being used by violent cartels in Mexico. They believe more reporting requirements would help ATF crack down. On the other side, gun rights advocates say that's unconstitutional, and would not make a difference in Mexican cartel crimes.

Two earlier Demand Letters were initiated in 2000 and affected a relatively small number of gun shops. Demand Letter 3 was to be much more sweeping, affecting 8,500 firearms dealers in four southwest border states: Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. ATF chose those states because they "have a significant number of crime guns traced back to them from Mexico." The reporting requirements were to apply if a gun dealer sells two or more long guns to a single person within five business days, and only if the guns are semi-automatic, greater than .22 caliber and can be fitted with a detachable magazine.

On April 25, 2011, ATF announced plans to implement Demand Letter 3. The National Shooting Sports Foundation is suing the ATF to stop the new rules. It calls the regulation an illegal attempt to enforce a law Congress never passed. ATF counters that it has reasonably targeted guns used most often to "commit violent crimes in Mexico, especially by drug gangs."

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Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, is investigating Fast and Furious, as well as the alleged use of the case to advance gun regulations. "There's plenty of evidence showing that this administration planned to use the tragedies of Fast and Furious as rationale to further their goals of a long gun reporting requirement. But, we've learned from our investigation that reporting multiple long gun sales would do nothing to stop the flow of firearms to known straw purchasers because many Federal Firearms Dealers are already voluntarily reporting suspicious transactions. It's pretty clear that the problem isn't lack of burdensome reporting requirements."

On July 12, 2011, Sen. Grassley and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., wrote Attorney General Eric Holder, whose Justice Department oversees ATF. They asked Holder whether officials in his agency discussed how "Fast and Furious could be used to justify additional regulatory authorities." So far, they have not received a response. CBS News asked the Justice Department for comment and context on ATF emails about Fast and Furious and Demand Letter 3, but officials declined to speak with us.

"In light of the evidence, the Justice Department's refusal to answer questions about the role Operation Fast and Furious was supposed to play in advancing new firearms regulations is simply unacceptable," Rep. Issa told CBS News.

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• Sharyl Attkisson Sharyl Attkisson is a CBS News investigative correspondent based in Washington. All of her stories, videos and blogs are available here.

Please stop. People here don't like facts. Obama and Holder are good men. Shame on you!

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

####### Kip? Facts aren't allowed here.

Iv'e had post deleted and been thread banned on here for posting facts. Half this stuff is over the mods heads and seeing how most of the libs hang out with the mods on FB it's pretty much a no win situation. They will tell you different of course but then again I could post them I'm a billionaire.

[Karee 4,189]

Iv'e had post deleted and been thread banned on here for posting facts. Half this stuff is over the mods heads and seeing how most of the libs hang out with the mods on FB it's pretty much a no win situation. They will tell you different of course but then again I could post them I'm a billionaire.

Send me $

[Leatherneck 693]

Iv'e had post deleted and been thread banned on here for posting facts. Half this stuff is over the mods heads and seeing how most of the libs hang out with the mods on FB it's pretty much a no win situation. They will tell you different of course but then again I could post them I'm a billionaire.

You can show some folks the emails from ATF (which CBS News has done) talking about using Fast & Furious to implement more gun regulation, and to them, its all a conspiracy theory. Had it not been for the deaths of Jaime Zapata and Brain Terry and the 11 ATF agents and senior managers coming forth and whistleblowing, the left would totally deny F&F ever happened.

[Karee 4,189]

You can show some folks the emails from ATF (which CBS News has done) talking about using Fast & Furious to implement more gun regulation, and to them, its all a conspiracy theory. Had it not been for the deaths of Jaime Zapata and Brain Terry and the 11 ATF agents and senior managers coming forth and whistleblowing, the left would totally deny F&F ever happened.

Him and his AG get a pass on this one. If it was Bush or Reagan, they would be strung up in public.

[Leatherneck 693]

Please stop. People here don't like facts. Obama and Holder are good men. Shame on you!

You're right, what was I thinking to even assume posting a piece from that right-wing organization CBS News with an email link from ATF.

We all know if this was a republican administration this happened under, the same folks here trying to cover for this mess would have blood shooting from their eyes and making the exact opposite arguments.

[Karee 4,189]

You're right, what was I thinking to even assume posting a piece from that right-wing organization CBS News with an email link from ATF.

We all know if this was a republican administration this happened under, the same folks here trying to cover for this mess would have blood shooting from their eyes and making the exact opposite arguments.

I'm still waiting on the race card. I'm a little shocked they haven't played that one yet.

[Leatherneck 693]

I'm still waiting on the race card. I'm a little shocked they haven't played that one yet.

Stay tuned -- that trump card is never far away.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

[slim 1,514]

The NRA got what they wanted. For all these years saying that guns don't kill every time federal and state legislation is considered to thwart criminals from getting their hands on guns, the Federal Gov't. proved them wrong. The statistics are clear. Easier access to guns leads to more violent criminal activity. Of course, I'm sure the NRA will now try to claim that the ATF wants to take away all our guns, but I think people will start to wise up to their duplicity. Either access to guns increases violence or it doesn't. If they want to crucify Holder and the ATF for allowing guns into the hands of drug cartels, then they should own up to that fact - guns kill.

Two dead federal agents vs. 200+ Mexicans.

It's a lot easier to get a gun in America. By your rationale, more Americans should be dead than Mexicans. Why is that not the case?

You wanna talk about something substantive? Why is my job being shipped to India? H1B visas should be stopped. Me and you getting in a pissing match does nothing. I was in Delhi a few years ago and my AMEX card wouldn't work. I called the 800 number and I got a girl down the street in Delhi. Obama needs to be stopped. I personally find it offensive that I went through the process LEGALLY, and this nut is giving people a free ride. Everyone on this website should be pi$$ed about that.

Who's the one taking jobs?