Hanging Out To Dry

Matthew Boyle of the Daily Caller had an article on Monday which described the attempts by Department of Justice officials to push the blame for Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker) away from DC and out to the field. When I first read the article I immediately thought that the powers to be were letting people like ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Field Division William Newell to hang out to dry.

The second thought I had about that was that it was a very risky strategy on the part of Eric Holder, Lanny Breuer, and Kenneth Melson. For it to succeed, a person like Newell has to be willing to be the fall guy. We have already seen the number two man in that office, George Gillett, become a whistleblower when he saw the way the wind was blowing. I have my doubts that there will be any sufficient inducement forthcoming that would convince Newell not to do the same as George Gillett.

The third thing that came to mind is that Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, will take a fall over this before Eric Holder. I say this because Main Justice is trying to push part of the blame on Napolitano's protege Dennis Burke. Mr. Burke is now the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona and his office was closely tied into Operation Fast and Furious.

Mike Vanderboegh has done an extensive analysis of the moves of the DOJ to push the blame down to the locals along with the tie-in the drug smuggling task forces. He does a much better job that I at detailing the linkages between Operation Fast and Furious and other Federal agencies. He also directs attention to the role of the "Fusion Centers" in this debacle.

Going back to the Boyle article, Cam Edwards interviews him about it for NRA News.