ATF Whistleblower retaliation by Justice Department, Fast and Furious probe, Senator Charles Grassley warning

“Why did Attorney General Eric Holder lie to Congress about ATF Operation “Fast and Furious”?…Citizen Wells

“Why has Obama, since taking the White House, used Justice Department Attorneys, at taxpayer expense,  to avoid presenting a legitimate birth certificate and college records?”…Citizen Wells and millions of concerned Americans

From NPR July 21, 2011.

“ATF Whistleblower Case Triggers Retaliation Inquiry”

“The Justice Department’s inspector general has opened an investigation into possible retaliation against a whistle-blowing agent at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to two people briefed on the inquiry.

Watchdogs are examining whether anyone at the Justice Department improperly released internal correspondence to try to smear ATF agent John Dodson, who told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last month that he repeatedly warned supervisors about what he called a reckless law enforcement operation known as “Fast and Furious.”

Republican lawmakers in both the House and Senate have spent months pursuing allegations that the ATF may have knowingly allowed assault weapons to enter Mexico in order to try to build bigger criminal cases against violent drug cartels that make use of AK-47s and other American weapons.

In recent days, GOP lawmakers have demanded information about what the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and senior Justice Department leaders may have known about the investigation into gun trafficking along the Southwest border and the strategies that agents pursued.

“Simply put, during this operation … we, the ATF, failed to fulfill one of our most fundamental obligations: to caretake the public trust [and], in part, to keep guns out of the hands of criminals,” Dodson told lawmakers last month.

Many of the guns purchased by straw buyers in Arizona at gun shops under ATF surveillance in 2009 and 2010 later turned up at the scenes of violent crime, including the murder last December of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Officials say tests are inconclusive about whether the weapons found near Terry’s body were used to shoot him. Terry’s family has hired former Arizona U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton to look into filing a wrongful death claim.

Dodson and three other ATF agents told Congress in June that they had serious concerns about Fast and Furious, but they said they couldn’t get any of their supervisors to listen.

Now, the inspector general is looking into whether one of Dodson’s memos, written last year, may have been shared with reporters in an effort to raise doubts about the extent of his involvement in the operation and to discredit him.”

Read more:

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/21/138574291/watchdogs-examine-smear-against-atf-agent?ps=cprs

Thanks to commenter Anonymouse.