This story has been updated.
The chairman of the House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for information about a controversial federal gun smuggling program.
In a March 16 letter to ATF acting Director Kenneth Melson, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) requested records related to “Project Gunrunner” and “Operation Fast and Furious,” which allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels in an effort to track them. He also asked in the letter for documents about the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, whose body was found near two guns traced to the program. Issa set a March 30 deadline for the documents.
The administration missed the deadline. “The unwillingness of this Administration – most specifically the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms – to answer questions about this deadly serious matter is deeply troubling,” Issa said in a statement. “Allegations surrounding this program are serious and the ability of the Justice Department to conduct an impartial investigation is in question. Congressional oversight is necessary to get the truth about what is really happening.”
According to a news release, Issa’s subpoena orders the ATF to provide his committee by April 13 with documents and communications related to:
- the origin of “Project Gunrunner” and “Operation Fast and Furious” and any possible changes made to them around the time of the November 2010 release of a Justice Department Inspector General report about “Project Gunrunner.”
- officials that allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels in an effort to track them.
- ATF and other DOJ-related investigations about Terry’s murder and the guns found at the crime scene.
- weapons picked up at the crime scene or during the investigation of Terry’s murder.
- the sale of guns to Jaime Avila, who has been charged with buying firearms found at the scene of Terry’s murder.
- a 200-page presentation a supervisor made in spring 2010 to ATF officials at their headquarters.
- “Operation Fast and Furious” and its connection to Special Agent in Charge William D. Newell, Assistant Special Agents in Charge Jim Needles and George Gillette, Group Supervisor David Voth, or any case agent from November 1, 2009 to the present. A memorandum Newell sent to ATF officials in D.C. after Avila’s arrest and Terry’s murder also is also requested.
- objections or complains from ATF agents about the agency’s gun smuggling programs.
On Tuesday, Issa also asked Secretary of State Hilary Clinton for records related to a meeting that Obama administration officials had with Mexican authorities about “Project Gunrunner” and “Operation Fast and Furious.” Issa said then-U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual and Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the DOJ Criminal Division held a meeting about the program in the summer of 2010. He wants those documents by 5 p.m. on April 12.
Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, also has demanded information related to the ATF’s gun smuggling investigations. He asked Melson to respond to questions about whether ATF operations contributed to the shooting of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Jaime Zapata, who was killed in Mexico in February. Agent Victor Avila Jr., who was with Zapata during the shooting, was wounded.
President Barack Obama last week said neither he nor Attorney General Eric Holder approved “Operation Fast and Furious.” Holder told Congress in March that he informed Justice Department officials that allowing guns to “walk” is unacceptable.
The DOJ Office of Inspector General currently is conducting an investigation into the ATF gun smuggling policies.
Meanwhile, a law enforcement bulletin was issued last month warning federal agents working on the U.S. border with Mexico that Mexican drug cartel members are planning to kill them by shooting them from across the border, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s oversight subcommittee said at a hearing Thursday.
“The shooting of Special Agents Zapata and Avila is a game-changer which alters the landscape of the United States’ involvement in Mexico’s war against the drug cartels,” McCaul said in remarks prepared for the hearing. “For the first time in 25 years, the cartels are targeting American law enforcement.”
UPDATE
The Justice Department is “surprised and disappointed” in the subpoena from Issa, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich of the Office of Legislative Affairs wrote in a letter to the chairman on Friday.
Weich said before Issa issued his subpoena, the DOJ informed the committee that it would work with it on the chairman’s requests, producing several documents in the next week.
“Despite this unnecessary step on your part, we will review the subpoena and work with the Committee to address your concerns,” Weich wrote in his letter.
But the DOJ would compromise prosecutions and investigations, including the probe into Terry’s death, if it turned over certain documents, the Assistant Attorney General said. The DOJ “would seek to work productively to find other ways to be responsive to its needs,” he wrote.
