Operation Fast and Furious

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About

"Operation Fast and Furious", or just "Fast & Furious" (F&F), "was the name of an investigation run by ATF agents and federal prosecutors in Arizona that allowed thousands of guns to be sold to operatives of Mexican drug gangs who then smuggled them across the border for use in the drug war." The idea, illegal as it was, was apparently to use those gun sales to track down drug cartel leaders as part of the US government's pointless war on drugs.

The operation may have initially come to light when Fox News correspondent William La Jeunesse first advanced the ludicrous theory that F&F had been deliberately designed to go badly in order to stir up sentiment for tighter gun control laws.2011-06-15-MM This theory has since been repeated by Ann Coulter and others, despite the lack of any evidence.

Criticism escalated "after a U.S. border agent, Brian Terry, was killed [on 2011-12-19] and two guns that ATF and prosecutors had allowed to "walk" as part of Fast and Furious turned up at the scene of the crime."3

Michelle Malkin appeared on Fox & Friends on 2012-06-21 to criticize the program, but the substance of her argument (stripped of emotional rhetoric) is so concise as to be undetectable. She also asserted that Obama was "at the center of it", and Democrats don't care about Brian Terry.

The US Inspector General's office issued a report finding considerable fault with the administration, but no evidence that it was deliberately fumbled. The Heritage Foundation issued its own statement on the report, and did not seem to find it lacking.

Timeline

date link/title/description org position
2011-06-13 Fox News correspondent William La Jeunesse advances theory that F&F "was allowed to happen to justify tougher gun laws in the U.S." Fox News gun control theory
2011-06-15 Fox Hypes Bogus Theory That ATF Operation Meant To Lay Groundwork For Stricter Gun Laws MediaMatters debunking
2011-08-17 ATF denies it promoted Fast and Furious supervisors LA Times reporting
2011-08-30 ATF head reassigned in wake of 'Fast and Furious' controversy CNN reporting
2011-12-08 Lawmakers: Heads should roll over gun-walking CBS criticism
2011-12-19 US border agent Brian Terry is killed event
2012-09-21 President Obama Falsely Claims Fast and Furious Program "Begun Under the Previous Administration" ABC criticism: false claim
2012-02-10 NRA's LaPierre Returns To Fox To Promote Fast And Furious Conspiracy MediaMatters debunking
2012-04-19 Fast And Fallacious: Pavlich's Book On ATF Operation Filled With Falsehoods MediaMatters debunking
2012-04-23 Fast And Spurious: Katie Pavlich's ATF Conspiracy MediaMatters debunking
2012-05-10 On Fox, Mark Sanford Repeats Paranoid ATF Gun-Control Conspiracy MediaMatters debunking
2012-05-17 Issa Report Again Debunks Right-Wing Media's Fast And Furious Conspiracy Theory MediaMatters debunking
2012-06-21 Operation Fast and Furious: All your questions answered MSNBC reporting
2012-06-21 Michelle Malkin: 'Obama Is At The Center' Of The Fast And Furious Scandal Michelle Malkin criticism: Obama "at the center"
2012-06-27 The truth about the Fast and Furious scandal: "A Fortune investigation reveals that the ATF never intentionally allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. How the world came to believe just the opposite is a tale of rivalry, murder, and political bloodlust." CNN blog debunking
2012-07-11 Fast and Furious Is Not a D.C. Law Firm Ann Coulter gun control theory
2012-09-19 /Horowitz report released US Inspector General investigation: criticism
2012-09-20 Fast and Furious Report Destroys Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories TIME debunking
2012-09-20 Fast And Furious: Michael Horowitz, Justice Dept. Inspector General, Testifying Before House Committee re /Horowitz report HuffPo reporting
2012-09-21 5 Ways Fast & Furious Tarnishes Eric Holder's Justice Department Heritage Foundation criticism: lying under oath, etc.

Footnotes

2011-06-15-MM. Fox Hypes Bogus Theory That ATF Operation Meant To Lay Groundwork For Stricter Gun Laws
1. 2012-06-21 Michelle Malkin: 'Obama Is At The Center' Of The Fast And Furious Scandal
2. 2012-07-11 Fast and Furious Is Not a D.C. Law Firm
3. 2012-09-20 Fast and Furious Report Destroys Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories -- note that this article falsely claims "The operation was exposed after a U.S. border agent, Brian Terry, was killed". Terry was killed on 2011-12-19, but reporting on the operation began no later than 2011-06-13, when Fox first advanced the "gun control" theory.

Links

Reference

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