According to the Special Agents in Charge of the Alcohol, Tobacoo and Firearms Bureau, their acting director, Kenneth Melson, will be reassigned to the Office of Legal Programs as a Senior Advisor as early as today. This morning, Fox News reported that this is linked to Melson’s involvement in the growing ‘Fast & Furious’ scandal, the program that saw large amounts of illegal weapons in the hands of Mexican drug cartel members, thanks to the U.S. government.
Last month, the Daily Caller reported that Melson had a secret meeting the House Oversight Committee where he disclosed that agents witnessed the transfer of weapons to third parties without following them afterward.
According to Fox:
In Phoenix, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley, who oversaw Fast and Furious on a day-to-day basis, was reassigned from the criminal to civil division. His boss, U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke, was on the hot seat last week and spoke to congressional investigators. According to multiple sources, he got physically sick during questioning and could not finish his session.
Also in Phoenix, three out of the four whistleblowers involved in the case have been reassigned to new positions outside Arizona. Two are headed to Florida, one to South Carolina.
Hurley’s reassignment follows the promotions of three ATF supervisors responsible for the operation. William G. McMahon, a former deputy director of operations, took over the Office of Professional Responsibility. Field supervisors William D. Newell and David Voth, also moved up despite heavy criticism.
As the government’s involvement in Fast & Furious seems to grow, public outrage is as well. This was not a project with failed execution, but rather a project that was doomed from the start. Lives were lost, their blood on the U.S. government’s hands.
