The FBI and Fast and Furious
The FBI had to have been complicit in the sale of guns to people that shouldn't be able to buy them, took no notice of the abnormal numbers of guns that were being purchased by individuals and probably took the lead in the cover-up of Fast and Furious guns being involved in the death of Border Patrol Officer Brian Terry. But evidence exist that the FBI was much more involved, the FBI under the leadership of then Director Robert Mueller.
During Fast and Furious, the FBI was working with paid informants within the drug cartels. One of these informants provided $70,000 in "seed money" to purchase guns. Uriel Patino received the money from the FBI through the paid informant to start purchasing guns for the cartel. Patino became the largest "straw purchaser" of guns for Operation Fast and Furious eventually buying in excess of 600 guns.
According to ATF Special Agent John Dodson, those who killed Officer Terry had been hired by the FBI operatives. Their mission that night was to intercept and steal a large shipment of drugs passing through the area. Knowledge of the drug shipment came from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), through the FBI and eventually to the FBI operatives. It was believed by the FBI that the theft of a large shipment of drugs from a rival cartel would enhance the position of the operatives, making them more valuable informants.
The post Fast and Furious reviewed the existence of a third gun that came up missing during the investigation of Officer Terry's death. This gun was more easily tied to the FBI informants and made it necessary for the gun to disappear.
Now we have three agencies involved in Fast and Furious, the ATF, FBI, and now the DEA. All of these agencies report to the Justice Department. With three agencies involved in the same misguided operation it's hard to believe that Attorney General Eric Holder had no knowledge of what was going on.
Eventually, the guns from Fast and Furious started showing up at more and more crime scenes in Mexico. Local agents of the ATF had been forbidden to communicate information of Operation Fast and Furious to their Mexican counterparts. By March of 2011, Mexico was considering opening an investigation into Fast and Furious and the ATF. The DOJ was aware of the impending investigation and efforts were made to stop the investigation before it got started, apparently successful efforts. But efforts by who?
In all the discussion about Fast and Furious, the State Department has not been mentioned. A matter like the potential investigation of the ATF by the Mexican government would have fallen under the State Department and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. At the time Ms. Clinton was busy with her own scandal over the email server, but still I would have expected her name to show up at least as being copied on an email with the issues around Fast and Furious going international. It Hillary and the State Department didn't handle the impending Mexican investigation, who did?
Sources:
EXCLUSIVE: Third Gun Linked to 'Fast and Furious' Identified at Border Agent's Murder Scene
Fast and Furious: FBI Now Linked to Murder of U.S. Border Agent
FBI Director Denies Cover-Up Involving 'Fast and Furious' Guns Found at Border Agent's Murder
No questions to Hillary Clinton about Mexico’s reaction to Fast and Furious?
State Production on Terry FOIA Lawsuit Leaves Key Questions Unanswered
Preliminary Update—The Fast and Furious Papers
It never ceases to amaze me how little we know until the shit hits the fan. As one politician after another brings disgrace, not only to themselves, but also to everone associated to them and to our society as a whole, I wonder if the system can ever be fixed. From small town politics to the people and agencies/people, at the highest levels of our government the truth is hard to discern. Nothing is ever black or white, gray always prevails. How can every situation always have such diabolicalness.
I agree with you. Unfortunately we don't find the truth at the time the shit hits the fan, it takes years to put it all together. There are people, some in the government that believe Fast and Furious was always intended to fail. The thought was for it to generate enough carnage to justify an assault on the Second Amendment. It's hard to disagree with them, especially with the knowledge that both Clinton and Mueller are both staunch anti-gun advocates.
But for something like this to have gone on and years afterward we don't have the whole truth is disheartening. Our government should be better than this. We deserve better than this.