New ATF Manual Recommends Death By Firing Squad For Those Who Leak Secrets

Photo from The Free Republic

Sacrebleu! ATF Threatens French-Style Firing Squad For Agents Who Leak Secrets -- Washington Times

After months of anguished debate over mass shootings, gun control and Second Amendment rights, the Justice Department finds itself on the defensive after a training manual surfaced that suggests federal agents could face a firing squad for leaking government secrets.

The online manual for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — complete with a photo of a turn-of-the-century firing squad — was obtained by The Washington Times from a concerned federal law enforcement official, and it immediately drew protests from watchdogs who said it showed a lack of sensitivity to gun violence and the continuing hostile environment toward whistleblowers.

Stephen Kohn, executive director of the National Whistleblower Center, said the DOJ has forgotten about the protections of the First Amendment, which covers leaks to the media, and that the photo could scare its employees into self-censorship.

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My Comment: The juveniles have taken over the Justice Department.

Why The ATF Is Critical To Solving Cases Like The Boston Marathon Bombing

Often Unloved, ATF Critical To Solving Major Crimes Like Boston Bombing -- Washington Post

It’s the agency that Congress and the National Rifle Association love to hate.

But the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which hasn’t had a director in seven years, has been at the heart of two searing events over the past two weeks — the investigations of the Boston Marathon bombing and the explosion that leveled a fertilizer plant and part of a town in central Texas.

In the hours after the coordinated blasts near the finish line of the April 15 marathon, ATF agents were on their hands and knees on Boylston Street. They were scouring the debris for remnants of the bombs, the first excruciating steps in reconstructing the devices.

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My Comment: Agents who work for the ATF do have a difficult job. That pesky 2nd Amendment on the constitution .... supported by the mass majority of Americans .... will always put the ATF in conflict with gun owners and supporters. But they do play a critical role in investigations like the Boston Marathon bombing .... and because of that importance they will never be disbanded or eliminated.

ATF Rank And File Don't Trust The Brass

Credit: CBS

Internal Memo Shows ATF Rank And File Don't Trust The Brass -- FOX News

Top leaders at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, already under fire from lawmakers in the wake of the “Fast and Furious” debacle, also get harsh marks from the men and women who serve under them, according to an internal survey.

An ATF memo obtained by FoxNews.com reveals that rank-and-file workers at the beleaguered federal agency, where whistleblowers who first alerted lawmakers to the “gun-walking” scandal say they were threatened or even punished, don’t trust the agency’s leaders.

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My Comment: They do not trust the brass ... but more specifically ... they do not trust the Justice Department and their handling of the 'Fast and Furious' scandal.

'Fast And Furious' Scandal -- News Updates October 18, 2011

The Department of Justice has denied speculation that there was a missing third weapon at the murder scene of DEA agent Brian Terry, which sparked the ATF's Fast and Furious scandal. (Credit: CBS)

‘Fast & Furious’: How A Botched Operation Spawned Fatal Results -- Washington Times

Overseer promised skeptical agents ‘most fun’ with ATF.

The central characters in the failed “Fast and Furious” firearms investigation were 19 men and one woman, all legal residents of the U.S., accused of laying down hundreds of thousands of dollars in illicit cash at Phoenix-area gun shops to buy an arsenal of high-powered weapons for Mexican drug smugglers.

Between September 2009 and December 2010, congressional investigators said, they purchased or aided in the purchase of more than 2,000 AK-47 assault weapons, Barrett .50-caliber sniper rifles, FN 5.7mm semi-automatic pistols and other assorted rifles, shotguns and handguns that later were “walked” into Mexico. About half the weapons remain unaccounted for.

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More News On Fast And Furious

Sen. John Cornyn: No more 'Fast and Furious' gun programs -- L.A. Times
DOJ: No 3rd gun in "Fast and Furious" murder -- CBS
Issa to press FBI for "gunwalking" info -- CBS
Dem blasts Issa for 'reckless' comments -- The Hill
Justice Department Accuses Issa of 'Mischaracterizing' Evidence in Probe of Operation Fast and Furious -- FOX News
Justice Department Denies Lawmaker’s ‘Fast and Furious’ Claim -- Bloomberg Businessweek

Grenades Were Also Supplied To Mexico's Drug Cartels Under The Watchful Eye Of The ATF

"Grenade-Walking" Part Of "Gunwalker" Scandal -- CBS News

There's a new twist in the government's "gunwalking" scandal involving an even more dangerous weapon: grenades.

CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson, who has reported on this story from the beginning, said on "The Early Show" that the investigation into the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)'s so-called "Fast and Furious" operation branches out to a case involving grenades. Sources tell her a suspect was left to traffic and manufacture them for Mexican drug cartels.

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My Comment: This scandal is getting messier and messier with each passing day, further reinforced with the administration providing conflicting and contradictory accounts on the "who and when" did they know what was happening. While the rest of the media is asleep on this story, "Face the Nation" will be focusing more on this story this Sunday.

On a side note, kudos to CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson for uncovering this story .... if there ever was a person who deserved a Pulitzer for a news story .... this is it.

100 Assault Weapons From The ATF's Fast And Furious Program Found In Mexico Cartel Enforcer's Home

Fast And Furious Weapons Were Found In Mexico Cartel Enforcer's Home -- L.A. Times

Guns illegally purchased under the ATF operation were found in April hidden in violence-plagued Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, court records show.

Reporting from Washington—High-powered assault weapons illegally purchased under the ATF's Fast and Furious program in Phoenix ended up in a home belonging to the purported top Sinaloa cartel enforcer in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, whose organization was terrorizing that city with the worst violence in the Mexican drug wars.

In all, 100 assault weapons acquired under Fast and Furious were transported 350 miles from Phoenix to El Paso, making that West Texas city a central hub for gun traffickers. Forty of the weapons made it across the border and into the arsenal of Jose Antonio Torres Marrufo, a feared cartel leader in Ciudad Juarez, according to federal court records and trace documents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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My Comment: US taxpayers money at work, with no accountability at the top for this fiasco.

'Fast And Furious' Scandal Continues To Grow

Deputy AG Received Detailed Fast And Furious Briefing -- CBS News

Documents recently turned over by the Justice Department to Congressional investigators indicate that then-Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler received a detailed briefing on Fast and Furious more than a year and a half ago.

"Deputy Attorney General" is the Justice Department's number two figure, directly under Attorney General Eric Holder.

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Update: Fast and Furious in a Rotten Nutshell -- Ronald Kolb, American Thinker

My Comment: So .... we now know that the second top official in the US Justice Department knew about 'Fast and Furious' .... who so happens to now be the Attorney General's Chief of Staff. The idea that he did not brief the Attorney General about this huge and sensitive program stretches credibility.

On a side note .... CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson deserves a Pulitzer for her work.

President Obama Hedges On 'Fast And Furious'

Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. has come under intense criticism by congressional Republicans who say he misled lawmakers about his knowledge of the ATF’s Fast and Furious gun operation. (John Thys, AFP/Getty Images / October 7, 2011)

Obama Backs Holder, But Hedges On ‘Fast And Furious’ -- Washington Times

President Obama said he has “complete confidence” in Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., although his response Thursday to a question about the “Fast and Furious” gun-running probe suggested something less than certainty about when Mr. Holder learned of the controversial program.

Mr. Obama had this to say at a news conference about the attorney general’s claim that he was in the dark about the program, run by the Justice Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which let U.S. weapons enter Mexico for use by drug cartels until last spring as part of a sting operation:

“He’s indicated that he was not aware of what was happening in Fast and Furious,” Mr. Obama said. “Certainly I was not.”

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Update: AG Under Fire Over ‘Fast and Furious’: When Did He Know About Program? -- ABC News

My Comment: President Obama is no fool .... he can easily see where this is going. The 'Fast and Furious' program has already cost the life on one US agent, and one can suspect numerous Mexicans on the other side of the border. This is a terrible disaster and someone has to made accountable for it .... 'screaming' at a reporter for her coverage is not going to make it go away. What is my prediction .... Scooter Libby was convicted and sent to jail for far less, I expect AG Holder to be held accountable for this program. As for President Obama .... I am sure there is no paper trail to him.

Has The Main CBS Reporter Investigating The "Fast And Furious" Scandal Been Silenced?

Is CBS News Silencing Fast and Furious Reporter? -- Weekly Standard

Yesterday, CBS News investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson told radio show host Laura Ingraham that the White House yelled and swore at her over her reporting on the Fast and Furious gunrunning scandal tied to the deaths of two U.S. law enforcement agents. Attkisson also revealed that she'd also been yelled at by the Justice Department.

Today, I called CBS News in an attempt to interview Attkisson. I was told by CBS News senior vice president of communications Sonya McNair that Attkisson would be unavailable for interviews all week. When I asked why Attkisson would be unavailable, McNair would not say.

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My Comment: By chance I had the opportunity to listen to Laura Ingraham's interview with Sharyl Attkisson, and I was shocked with what I was hearing. A CBS reporter was essentially telling everyone who was listening that the White House had not only "forcefully" indicated to her that she was out of line, but everyone else in the media were following the White House line that there was no story here (so much for independent journalism). What was worse .... Sharyl Attkisson in this interview also named those in the DoJ who were "screaming and yelling" at her .... something that even surprised Laura Ingraham. At the end of the interview, I could just see those same people going to their phones and calling the powers that be in CBS to shut up their reporter .... and fast.

Has Sharyl Attkisson been muzzled by CBS .... it definitely looks like it. Is the White House scared with where the "Fast and Furious" scandal is going .... it definitely looks like that also. But using the power of government to force a news agency to silence a reporter .... sighhh .... I saw this when I was living in the former Soviet Union .... are we becoming like that now?

US 'Fast And Furious' Scandal Growing In Washington

ATF Fast And Furious: New Documents Show Attorney General Eric Holder Was Briefed In July 2010 -- CBS News

WASHINGTON - New documents obtained by CBS News show Attorney General Eric Holder was sent briefings on the controversial Fast and Furious operation as far back as July 2010. That directly contradicts his statement to Congress.

On May 3, 2011, Holder told a Judiciary Committee hearing, "I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks."

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More News On The Growing 'Fast And Furious' Scandal

Justice Department source rejects report that leaked documents show Holder erroneously testified -- CNN
Emails show top Justice Department officials knew of ATF gun program -- L.A. Times
Docs show Holder was informed of Fast and Furious in 2010 -- The Hill
White House Releases New Fast and Furious Documents -- ABC News
Justice Emails Show Officials Discussing Gun Probe -- Wall Street Journal
Documents may contradict Eric Holder Fast & Furious testimony -- Politico
Documents Suggest Holder Knew About 'Fast and Furious' Earlier Than He Claimed -- FOX News
Stench of feds’ gunwalker scandal reaches AG Eric Holder -- Kyle Wingfield, AJC
Did Attorney General Fudge Fast and Furious Testimony? DOJ Offers Explanation -- ABA Journal
Fast and felonious -- Washington Times editorial

My Comment: There is now a very good chance that Attorney General Holder will be fired (or will resign) because of this scandal.

Taxpayer Funds Used To Buy Weapons For The Mexican Cartels

U.S. Government Used Taxpayer Funds To Buy, Sell Weapons During 'Fast And Furious,' Documents Show -- FOX News

Not only did U.S. officials approve, allow and assist in the sale of more than 2,000 guns to the Sinaloa cartel -- the federal government used taxpayer money to buy semi-automatic weapons, sold them to criminals and then watched as the guns disappeared.

This disclosure, revealed in documents obtained by Fox News, could undermine the Department of Justice's previous defense that Operation Fast and Furious was a "botched" operation where agents simply "lost track" of weapons as they were transferred from one illegal buyer to another. Instead, it heightens the culpability of the federal government as Mexico, according to sources, has opened two criminal investigations into the operation that flooded their country with illegal weapons.

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More News On The "Fast And Furious" Scandal

New documents show that taxpayer money went to outfit gangs and the drug cartels -- Examiner
Letter implicates ATF in committing straw purchases for Gunwalker -- Examiner
Fast and Furious: Cartel Guns Purchased With Taxpayer Money -- Human Events
GOP steps up pressure on Obama with Fast and Furious investigation -- The Hill

My Comment: Where is the national outrage? With the exception of FOX .... the main stream media is ignoring this incredible story (and scandal).

ATF 'Fast And Furious' Secret Audio Recordings Reveal Worries Over The Growing Scandal

ATF 'Fast And Furious' Secret Audio Recordings Reveal Concerns About Whistleblower -- CBS News

In a series of secretly recorded audio tapes believe to have been recorded last March and obtained by CBS News, an Arizona gun dealer and an ATF agent involved with ATF's "Fast and Furious" operation worried about the unraveling scandal.

The tapes were made just weeks after CBS News broke the story in February.

The conversations were recorded by Andre Howard who ran the Lone Wolf Trading Company. Howard's gun dealership had been cooperating with the ATF in "Fast and Furious." At least two of his weapons were sold to a straw buyer before turning up later at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Hope MacAllister, the ATF agent heard in the conversations, was the lead case agent.

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More News On The "Fast and Furious" Scandal

Audio Tapes Reveal More Details in 'Fast and Furious' Gunrunner Scandal -- FOX News
Fast and Furious Tapes: Sit Your Ass Down, Charles Grassley -- Human Events
Issa Wants ‘Fast and Furious’ Special Prosecutor -- Pajamas Media
Mexico’s attorney general: US still mum on Operation Fast and Furious -- Daily Caller
Mexican Officials Furious Over ATF Gunrunning -- New American
Report: At least 200 murders in Mexico now linked to Fast & Furious weapons -- Hot Air
Issa Confirms 200 Mexicans Killed by Fast and Furious Weapons -- American Thinker

New Questions In ATF 'Gunwalker' Operation Being Raised

Secret Recordings Raise New Questions In ATF 'Gunwalker' Operation -- CBS News

WASHINGTON - CBS News has obtained secretly recorded conversations that raise questions as to whether some evidence is being withheld in the murder of a Border Patrol agent.

The tapes were recorded approximately mid-March 2011 by the primary gun dealer cooperating with ATF in its "Fast and Furious" operation: Andre Howard, owner of Lone Wolf Trading Company in Glendale, Arizona. He's talking with the lead case ATF case agent Hope MacAllister.

The tapes have been turned over to Congressional investigators and the Inspector General.

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More News On The ATF's "Fast And Furious" Program Scandal

ATF Fast and Furious secret audio recordings -- CBS News
Fast & Furious: FBI may have covered up third gun found at scene of agent’s death to protect informant -- Hot Air
Mexico still waiting for answers on Fast and Furious gun program -- L.A. Times

My Comment: This ATF scandal is getting more messier with each passing day.

ATF's Fast And Furious Gun-Trafficking Operation Scandal Continues To Grow

White House Received Emails About Fast And Furious Gun-Trafficking Operation -- L.A. Times

Three national security officials were given some details about the operation. But an administration official says the emails do not prove that anyone in the White House was aware of the covert tactics of the program.

Reporting from Washington—Newly obtained emails show that the White House was better informed about a failed gun-tracking operation on the border with Mexico than was previously known.

Three White House national security officials were given some details about the operation, dubbed Fast and Furious. The operation allowed firearms to be illegally purchased, with the goal of tracking them to Mexican drug cartels. But the effort went out of control after agents lost track of many of the weapons.

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More News On The Fast And Furious Gun-Trafficking Operation

Evidence Suggests Cover-Up in ATF Scandal, as More Guns Appear at Crime Scenes -- FOX News
E-Mails Show Three Officials Were Informed of Gun Inquiry -- New York Times
Cover-up in ATF gunwalker case? -- CBS News
Emails show some W.H. contact on 'Fast and Furious' -- Politico
Grassley questions if the White House tried to cover-up of ATF's ‘Fast & Furious’ -- The Hill
GOP lawmakers: Coverup attempted in death of Border Patrol agent -- USA Today
Fast & Furious scandal may have its first cover-up -- American Thinker

My Comment: This case is not going away.

ATF Head "Demoted" In Wake of Gun-Trafficking Scandal

ATF Head Kenneth Melson Reassigned Amid Gun-Trafficking Probe -- Washington Post

The head of the ATF has been reassigned amid an investigation into a controversial U.S. gun-trafficking operation, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

Kenneth E. Melson, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, will become a senior advisor on forensic science in the department’s Office of Legal Policy. He will be replaced at ATF by B. Todd Jones, the U.S. attorney in Minnesota.


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More News On The Reassignment Of ATF Chief Kenneth Melson

ATF Director Reassigned; Sources Say U.S. Attorney Out Amid 'Fast and Furious' Uproar -- FOX News
Gunwalker scandal: ATF director out of top job -- CBS News
ATF chief ousted amid gun trafficking probes -- USA Today
Kenneth Melson, acting ATF chief, steps down -- Politico
Kenneth Melson, who oversaw ATF's Fast and Furious, steps down -- Chicago Tribune News
ATF head reassigned in wake of 'Fast and Furious' controversy -- CNN
Under Scrutiny For 'Fast And Furious,' ATF Announces New Leader -- NPR
ATF chief reassigned after botched sting -- Reuters
Acting head of alcohol, tobacco and firearms taskforce is reassigned -- Government Executive

My Comment: Will Ex-ATF Head Kenneth Melson be the last "demotion" as a result of this scandal .... or is Attorney General Holden next? Hmmmm .... we shall see.

When Will Heads Roll For The ATF’s Fast And Furious Fiasco

Details Only Get Worse From ATF’s Fast And Furious Fiasco -- Dallas News Editorial

Finding someone to stand up and take responsibility for the feds’ ill-advised gun-walk-to-Mexico program has been anything but fast. Only the denying, obfuscating and bus-throwing-under has been furious.

Months into a congressional investigation into Project Gunrunner and its Arizona-led wing, Operation Fast and Furious, we know only a little more. In large part, this is because Attorney General Eric Holder and his Department of Justice have expended far more energy covering up than coming clean.

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My Comment: Too many people have died to keep this under-wraps .... heads will eventually roll.

Why These Promotions In The ATF?

Promotions Of ‘Fast And Furious’ Officials Draw Texan’s Wrath -- Washington Times

A senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday described as “inconceivable” a Justice Department decision to promote key Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) personnel who oversaw the controversial “Fast and Furious” weapons investigation that allowed hundreds of guns to be walked into Mexico.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who last week demanded that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. immediately brief his office regarding the “scope and details of any past or present ATF gun-walking programs” in his state, said until Mr. Holder and the department “come clean” on the gun-walking investigation, “it is inconceivable to reward those who spearheaded this disastrous operation with cushy desks in Washington.”

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My Comment: This is the consequences of running and overseeing a badly designed program .... so .... are these promotions justified .... or are they being used to buy silence?

Update: I am not the only one who is wondering about these promotions.

ATF's "fast And Furious" Program Showed Early Signs Of Failure

Photo: Gun experts at the tracing center set aside for study some of the firearms most commonly seen in ATF field offices in Texas and, consequently, in crimes along the border. Andrea Vasquez For the Chronicle

ATF's Gun Surveillance Program Showed Early Signs Of Failure -- L.A. Times

Just a few months into Operation Fast and Furious, an agency official called for a strategy to shut down the program aimed at following guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

Reporting from Washington — In March 2010, the No. 2 man at the ATF was deeply worried. His agents had lost track of hundreds of firearms. Some of the guns, supposed to have been tracked to Mexican drug cartels, were lost right after they cleared the gun stores.

Five months into the surveillance effort — dubbed Operation Fast and Furious — no indictments had been announced and no charges were immediately expected. Worse, the weapons had turned up at crime scenes in Mexico and the ATF official was worried that someone in the United States could be hurt next.

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My Comment: Heads should roll .... but I doubt that anyone is going to get fired. For an interesting opinion on what may/was/is the CIA's role in "Fast and Furious", go here.

Operation "Fast and Furious" Is Raising Temperatures On Both Sides Of The U.S.-Mexican Border

For Mexicans, Fury Over Fast And Furious Only Confirms U.S. Role In Drug Violence -- McClatchy News

MEXICO CITY — While a gunrunning sting known as Fast and Furious is drawing criticism in Congress for losing track of weapons that were smuggled into Mexico, Mexicans say the controversy only confirms their conviction that the U.S. gun industry profits off of bloodshed south of the border.

As new details of the U.S. undercover operation emerged last week in congressional hearings in Washington, a broad array of Mexicans said the scandal simply underscores the ease with which brutal crime gangs obtain large quantities of assault weapons from U.S. gun shops near the border.

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More News On Who Knew What On Operation "Fast and Furious"

ATF: The White House Knew -- FOX News
'Fast and Furious' traced to White House -- Catharine Evans, American Thinker
Fast & Furious Hearing Sending Shockwaves Towards White House & Eric Holder -- Ammo Land

Operation Fast and Furious: White House Kept in Dark On Botched Gun Trafficking Program -- IBTimes
Emails to White House didn't mention gun sting -- L.A. Times
Emails Debunk IBD's "The White House Knew" Claim -- Media Matters

My Comment: What is my take .... such a program would never be authorized .... I repeat .... it would be authorized unless it was OK'd by senior officials in the Justice department .... and maybe even higher than that. To think that this was a rogue operation from certain ATF officers is not convincing, especially in regards to the large number of weapons involved.

But .... there is still enough evidence (or lack of) to make one wonder if administration officials were kept in the dark, and that this was in fact a rogue operation. Either way .... this scandal is screaming for a special prosecutor .... and one should be appointed in the next few months.

White House Knew About ATF's "Fast And Furious" Program

ATF Manager Says He Shared Fast And Furious Info With White House -- CBS News

At a lengthy hearing on ATF's controversial gunwalking operation today, a key ATF manager told Congress he discussed the case with a White House National Security staffer as early as September 2010. The communications were between ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix office, Bill Newell, and White House National Security Director for North America Kevin O'Reilly. Newhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifell said the two are longtime friends. The content of what Newell shared with O'Reilly is unclear and wasn't fully explored at the hearing.

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More News On 'Fast And Furious'

ATF Chief Says He Didn't Approve Tactics -- Wall Street Journal
Lawmakers grill ‘Fast and Furious’ supervisors -- Houston and Chronicle
Panel grills ATF over botched gun operation -- Washington Post
ATF official apologizes for mistakes in gun probe -- AP
Agent Who Supervised Gun-Trafficking Operation Testifies on His Failings -- New York Times
ATF official apologises over Mexico gun probe -- BBC
U.S. sting operation lost track of smuggled guns -- CBC News
Guns from U.S. sting found at Mexican crime scenes -- Reuters
FBI report at odds with ATF claim on weapons -- L.A. Times
US Report: Government Sting Operation 'Reckless' -- Voice of America
Report: Phoenix ATF Kept Mexico ATF Out of Loop Regarding 'Fast and Furious' -- ABC News
'Fast and Furious' Scandal Spreads to Four Agencies -- FOX News
How border 'Fast and Furious' gun sting backfired -- Seattle Times/Washington Post