What is the difference between project gunrunner and fast and furious

Others have appeared at crime scenes around Mexico. The second question, which has pushed the ATF into the background, is what the attorney general is refusing to show the House Oversight Committee. Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and other congressional Republicans make it no secret that they think Holder is running a coverup.

They say Fast and Furious proves the agency has been funneling guns to Mexican criminal organizations. Why the ATF would be doing this — and making official policy of it — is never part of the argument. While that sounds preposterous to most of us, including one assumes to most critics of the president, there is a place where the levelheaded believe what the anti-government fringe in the United States believes, and where Fast and Furious is a constant topic of conversation — Mexico.

Heads rolled, literally, a lot of them. On my second night in town, 12 bodies belonging to an amateurish crew of pistoleros were found around town. Later, a police captain and his brother were gunned down a few blocks from the central square. It has made a favorite subject of Chapo. His sources in government and the criminal underworld are extensive. He is also very prudent, a necessity when as many people want you dead as want him dead.

Yet he takes it as a given that the ATF intentionally supplies the Sinaloa cartel with guns. He noted that it coincides directly with the cartel wars of the late s. To him, this connection is as clear as day.

More common than you might think. President Clinton invoked it 14 times, and President George W. Bush 6. This is the first time that President Obama has done it. So what happens now that the committee has voted to hold Holder in contempt? The vote will now go to the full House, likely as soon as next week. The committee vote was on party lines, with all Republicans voting yes and all Democrats no. If that happens, the House could then, in theory, initiate a criminal proceeding against Holder, with the potential of up to a year of jail time.

Instead, the House will likely pursue a civil prosecution in federal courts, meaning a judge would ultimately decide—no doubt after a lengthy process of appeals by both sides—whether the documents have to be released. But by that time the Obama administration may no longer exist, and everyone will likely have forgotten about the kerfuffle. Not too long ago, actually. January - Although not present at the shootout that resulted in Terry's murder, Rito Osorio-Arellanes is sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery.

February 10, - Manuel Osorio-Arellanes is sentenced to 30 years in prison for first-degree murder, in connection with Terry's death. November 3, - Under court order, the Justice Department turns over nearly 65, pages of Fast and Furious-related documents. The documents were previously withheld under the Obama administration's claim of executive privilege. They later receive life sentences.

October 19, - Rosario Rafael Burboa-Alvarez is sentenced to 27 years in prison after pleading guilty to first degree murder in Terry's death. April 12, - Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes, a fugitive cartel member wanted in connection with Terry's death, is arrested in Mexico. He is later found guilty of first-degree murder and other charges and is sentenced to life in prison. June 7, - The third part of the Congressional report is published.

October - Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga, the last of seven suspects wanted in connection with Terry's death, is arrested in Mexico. May 8, - The House and the Justice Department announce to a federal appeals court that they reached a settlement in the Operation Fast and Furious court case on April 10, In the deal, both sides state that they are abandoning their appeals and lawsuit despite disagreeing with the prior court's orders.

ATF further asked the gun dealers to continue to cooperate by selling to the suspicious customers repeatedly, and providing ATF with names and weapons' serial numbers. Several gun dealers expressed concerns to ATF: they worried if they cooperated in selling guns to suspected criminals, they would later be unfairly blamed or even prosecuted, and that some of the weapons might be used one day to murder federal agents.

Many U. Though the exact percentage and number is the subject of debate, ATF was tasked with trying to stop the flow of guns. ATF officials who supported "gunwalking" say they thought that by seeing where the guns later "ended up" in Mexico would help them take down a cartel big fish.

Nobody has publicly acknowledged being the architect of the plan and available documents shed no light on the answer. The public was not told about the link between Terry's murder and Fast and Furious, nor was the gunwalking revealed. Gun rights advocates including David Codrea and Mike Vanderboegh wrote extensively on the controversy and rumors surrounding Terry's death, and the allegation that ATF was attempting to "bump up its case numbers" by letting large numbers of guns "walk" into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

Several ATF agents became whistleblowers and contacted Sen. Charles Grassley R-Iowa , who began investigating the controversy in Jan. Two weapons used in Zapata's murder were linked to suspects who had been under ATF surveillance for at least six months before Zapata's murder, but were not arrested.

In the Hernandez case, started under the Bush Administration in , documents show ATF agents watched several suspects and weapons cross the border in coordination with Mexican officials who then failed to stop the suspects, so they were lost. In its earliest response to Sen. Grassley's questions about the gunwalking operation, the Justice Department sent a letter that contained inaccurate information.