“In an April 13, 2010 email, [an] unnamed gun shop owner told ATF he was worried how he'd be viewed if the guns he sold ended up in the wrong hands,” Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News reported months back.
The response?
ATF Supervisor [David] Voth tried to reassure the cooperating gun shop owner. "I understand that the frequency with which some individuals under investigation by our office have been purchasing firearms from your business has caused concerns for you... However, if helps put you at east we (ATF) are continually monitoring these suspects using a variety of investigative techniques which I cannot go into [in] detail."
Voth, of course, is the supervisor who infamously advised those under his command:
"If you are going to make an omelet, you need to scramble some eggs."
The CBS report was based on a letter Sen. Chuck Grassley had written Attorney General Eric Holder. Concerning Voth’s reply to the nervous gun dealer, Grassley flat-out stated:
As we now know, those assurances proved to be untrue.
Further corroboration for the untruth of Voth’s assurances can be gleaned from another key piece of information. From The Los Angeles Times:
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.
In March they knew things were out of control. And Voth was giving official assurances everything was hunky-dory in April.
No wonder DOJ brass wants to keep this character and his accomplices far from scrutiny and close to the Chief Counsel’s office.
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Project Guntalker
You can listen to my appearance yesterday on Peter Boyles’ radio program on 630 KHOW talk radio, Denver, by clicking here.
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Also see:
- A Journalist’s Guide to ‘Project Gunwalker' Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four and Part Five for a complete list with links of independent investigative reporting and commentary done to date by Sipsey Street Irregulars and Gun Rights Examiner.
Note to newcomers to this story: “Project Gunrunner” is the name ATF assigned to its Southwest Border Initiative to interdict gun smuggling to Mexico. “Project Gunwalker” is the name I assigned to the scandal after allegations by agents that monitored guns were allowed to fall into criminal hands on both sides of the border through a surveillance process termed “walking” surfaced.
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Help wanted--inquire within
Regular readers: If you agree that mainstream press coverage of the gun rights issue demands a counter-balance, please help me spread the word by sharing Gun Rights Examiner links with your friends via emails, and in online discussion boards, blogs, social media sites, etc. Then get more commentary at The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance.
And don't forget to check out my War on Guns Resistance Radio show, weekdays at 7:00 AM Pacific and 10:00 AM Eastern on NBC 1260 Scottsdale, or by listening live, through weekend encores, or downloading archived programs.
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