| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: WoT |
| Project Gunwalker: Part II - Letter Implicates ATF Agents Acted as Straw Purchasers |
| 2011-09-26 |
| Under opinion -- Mike talked to lots of people at this Chicago conference and gained further info -- which he passes to Issa's committee. He has been to Washington and met with Issa's committe and with Sharyl Attkisson of CBS. People are talking to him with details. Mike Vanderboegh conducted these supplemental interviews, and provides this narrative: According one source close to the Issa committee and knowledgeable of its workings, this revelation "puts a stake in the heart of the 'botched sting operation' lie." He continued, "There never was any 'sting,' there was only a deliberate effort to provide weapons to the DTO's (Drug Trafficking Organizations)." He added, "this was one hundred percent us -- our money, our guy, our (gun)walking." This source also provided context and explanation of how the letter came to exist in the first place. (It should be noted that although we would never reveal our sources for any story, it is important in this case for the readers to understand where we did NOT get it. Neither John Dodson nor his lawyer provided us this letter. Nor did they pass it through to us via a third party, as the DOJ has been known to do lately.) "Dodson was given this undercover assignment by Voth," said the source, "to purchase weapons directly and provide them to the smugglers. He was operating under cover, pretending to be a 'straw buyer.'" He continued, "I think Dodson demanded the letter from Voth to cover both himself and the FFL (Federal Firearm Licensee). He didn't want to be hung out to dry" by Voth. The source also said that the letter was an effort by Voth to "dirty him (Dodson) up," pointing out that by the time of the undercover assignment that Dodson's vocal opposition to "letting guns walk" was well known to his superiors in the Phoenix ATF office. Sources also describe a second letter from Voth to another FFL authorizing Dodson to purchase two more Draco pistols. One source stated flatly: "Issa and Grassley have copies of both letters, and have had for a long time." Subsequent to this undercover weapons buying and transfer to cartel smugglers by Dodson, say the sources, "Dodson just about came apart all over them (his supervisors)." In a "screaming match" that was heard throughout the Phoenix office by many employees, Dodson yelled at Voth and Assistant Special Agent in Charge George Gillett, "Why not just go direct and empty out the ATF arms room" to the cartels," or words to that effect. After this confrontation, say the sources, Phoenix managers transferred Dodson to a post as "liaison to the intel guys at FBI" in the Phoenix office. For clarification, it is worth noting that the Brian Terry murder investigation was at this time being carried out by the criminal side of the FBI out of the Tuscon office, not Phoenix. Sources describe continuing harassment of Dodson as his access to the Phoenix office building was restricted. "They removed him from the (Fast and Furious) case as politically unreliable," said another source, adding, "And of course after the Terry murder all the shots were being called by D.C." After the death of Brian Terry, the "rumor" post on the ATF agent's website, CleanUpATF.org and the initial coverage by these reporters in the early weeks of January, 2011, "things got ugly" for Dodson. Blamed by his immediate supervisors as well as many of his fellow agents in the Phoenix office for "treason" as one source described it, Dodson's existence at the Phoenix office was described as "precarious" by one D.C. source. The threats to his life were perceived to be so great that "solitary range days" were arranged by a sympathetic supervisor to Dodson could practice marksmanship in safety. "He (the supervisor) didn't want him (Dodson) to eat one in the back" in a range "accident," said the source. Dodson has not given any more interviews of late. "Not since the hearings as far as I now," said one source, and it is not because he hasn't been asked. "They're coming at him hard, looking for anything they can use against him," said another. "Can you blame him for keeping his head down?" Although our sources firmly agree that Senator Grassley and Congressman Issa have both of the Voth/Dodson letters, we have forwarded a copy of the June 1, 2010 to staffers of both men, asking for comment on this story and an explanation as to why they have not previously released the letters. Given the fact that it is a weekend, these reporters do not expect any reaction until later on Monday morning. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #2 When asked his opinion on gun control and registration soon after coming into office, Obama cooly replied.... "we have other plans." I guess he damn sure did at that! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2011-09-26 17:15 |
| #1 Bottom line is that there never was any sort of "sting" intended. This was a naked, *political* effort to show that US guns were going to Mexico, as part of a national gun control scheme. Holy crap. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-09-26 15:46 |