Payne: Justice admits misleading on Terry smoking gun (The Michigan View 12.05.11)

Posted by hpayne on December 5, 2011

Gungate, the growing scandal surrounding botched federal sting Operation Fast and Furious that sold firearms to Mexican drug dealers, took an explosive turn Friday as President Obama’s Justice Department admitted it had provided misleading information on guns involved in the murder of Michigan native and federal customs agent Brian Terry.

“(U.S. Attorney in Phoenix Dennis) Burke said that the guns found at the Terry murder scene were purchased at a Phoenix gun shop before Operation Fast and Furious began,” reports the AP. “In fact, the operation was under way at the time and the guns found at the Terry murder scene were part of the probe. ”

The department’s document dump came late Friday in order to minimize media publicity. Michigan’s MSM has largely ignored the scandal even as Michigan’s Terry has been at the center of the disturbing operation.

The truth about the weapons involved in Terry’s death were part of a larger admission of falsehoods by Eric Holder’s Justice Department. “In a letter last February to Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Justice Department said that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had not sanctioned the sale of assault weapons to a straw purchaser and that the agency makes every effort to intercept weapons that have been purchased illegally,” continues the AP report.

“In Operation Fast and Furious, both statements turned out to be incorrect.”

The revelation comes after Terry’s family has been publicly critical of AG Holder for not being more forthcoming on their son’s death and for not apologizing for the botched federal operation.

The Friday document dump revealed the inner workings of a Justice Department at odds with Congressional oversight. U.S. Attorney Burke – who has since been removed from his post – wrote: “By the way, what is so offensive about this whole project” of response “is that Grassley’s staff, acting as willing stooges for the Gun Lobby, have attempted to distract from the incredible success in dismantling” Southwest Border “gun trafficking operations” and “not uttering one word of rightful praise and thanks to ATF – but, instead, lobbing this reckless despicable accusation that ATF is complicit in the murder of a fellow federal law enforcement officer.”

In truth, it seems that the ATF is very much complicit and will likely add fuel to the Terry family’s plans for a federal lawsuit.

 

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