From Vice, even
Prosecutors don’t want jurors to know about Operation Fast and Furious:
Operation Fast and Furious is among the most epic boondoggles in the history of federal law enforcement, which probably explains why federal prosecutors dont want jurors in the trial of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaqun El Chapo Guzmn to hear anything about it.
Fast and Furious was intended as a sting operation by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms to bust gun-runners and straw purchasers along the border. But it ultimately led to American firearms being sent to Mexican cartels and later linked to murders, including the fatal shootings of a Border Patrol agent in 2010 and an ICE agent in 2011.
Altogether, the ATF lost track of about 2,000 weapons, some of which ended up in the hands of El Chapos Sinaloa cartel. Most notably, after El Chapo was captured following a shootout in the city of Los Mochis in 2016, a Barrett .50-caliber rifle linked to Fast and Furious was found inside the drug lords hideout.
December 14th, 2018 at 4:21 am
That is just the cover story, the truth is worse. The government wanted the Sinaloas to have the guns. It was pretty clear that they were trying to arm them in an attempt to quell the violence by getting one group to become the powerful group and end the gang wars. Yes it backfired. If you read the wikileaks about it you get a very different story than “this was mere incompetence”
December 14th, 2018 at 10:08 am
This isn’t as sinister as everyone wants to believe. A criminal trial is about one thing and one thing only: Did the defendant do the things he’s accused of doing? Introducing extraneous issues,especially issues that the defense can use to claim the defendant was coerced or entrapped (“See? The U.S. Government was giving him guns! He couldn’t help himself!”), is always a stupid move, and any prosecutor with any brains will fight to keep those issues out. Fast and Furious belongs before a grand jury, but it has nothing to do with the issue at trial and should be excluded.
December 17th, 2018 at 3:52 am
“…Fast and Furious is among the most epic boondoggles…”
Because they got caught.
“Fast and Furious was intended as a sting operation by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms to bust gun-runners and straw purchasers…”
So they say, though it makes no sense whatsoever.