Note: As often noted before, the F&F debacle, as so many other
issues, cannot be separated from the AZMEX border situation.
Staffers may want to also check the comments on the webpage.
Don't know yet who the FFL was. Perhaps this episode was indirectly
referred to by Newell in his letter of Sept. 21, 2011 PDF version
page 6
Vanderboegh & Codrea exclusive: U.S. Gov't used an ATF employee to
buy weapons with taxpayer money & walk them -- without help from
straw buyers!
A Sipsey Street Irregulars/National Gun Rights Examiner Column
Exclusive: ATF Letter and Sources Confirm That There Was No "Botched
Sting Operation" in Fast and Furious.
"One hundred percent us."
By Mike Vanderboegh & David Codrea
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2011/09/vanderboegh-codrea-
exclusive-us-govt.html
Official ATF documents as well as sources in Arizona and Washington
D.C. confirm that in at least two instances in 2010, an agent of the
United States government purchased Kalashnikov-pattern semi-automatic
pistols from licensed federal firearms dealers with taxpayer money
and delivered those weapons directly into the hands of cartel smugglers.
In a letter dated June 1, 2010, then Phoenix ATF Group VII supervisor
David Voth instructed a Federal Firearms Licensee in Arizona as follows:
Dear Sir,
Per Section 925(a)(1) of the Gun Control Act (GCA) exempts law
enforcement agencies from the transportation, shipment, receipt, or
importation controls of the GCA when firearms are to be used for the
official business of the agency.
Please accept this letter in lieu of completing an ATF Form 4473 for
the purchase of four (4) CAI, Model Draco, 7.62x39 mm pistols, by
Special Agent John Dodson. These aforementioned pistols will be used
by Special Agent Dodson in furtherance of the performance of his
official duties. In addition, Special Agent Dodson has not been
convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. If you have
any questions, you may contact me at telephone number 602-605-6501.
Sincerely,
(Signature)
David Voth
ATF Group Supervisor
Phoenix Group VII
In the lower left-hand margin of the one-page letter is the hand-
written notation:
"Picked guns
up 6/10/10
Paid Cash"
"Paid Cash" is underlined.
The existence of this letter provided to these reporters by a
previously reliable source familiar with the Fast and Furious
investigation, coupled with interviews of other sources across the
country which put it into context, provides startling proof that the
Federal government did not merely "lose track" of weapons purchased
by "straw buyers" under surveillance by the ATF and destined for the
Mexican drug cartels. In an undercover operation ordered by Fast and
Furious supervisor David Voth, the U.S. government purchased firearms
with taxpayer money from licensed firearms dealers, instructed them
to conduct the sales "off the books," and used an ATF agent, John
Dodson, to deliver them directly to people that Dodson believed were
conducting them across the border.
According one source close to the Issa committee and knowledgeable of
its workings, this revelation "puts a stake in the heart of the
'botched sting operation' lie." He continued, "There never was any
'sting,' there was only a deliberate effort to provide weapons to the
DTO's (Drug Trafficking Organizations)." He added, "this was one
hundred percent us -- our money, our guy, our (gun)walking."
This source also provided context and explanation of how the letter
came to exist in the first place.
(It should be noted that although we would never reveal our sources
for any story, it is important in this case for the readers to
understand where we did NOT get it. Neither John Dodson nor his
lawyer provided us this letter. Nor did they pass it through to us
via a third party, as the DOJ has been known to do lately.)
"Dodson was given this undercover assignment by Voth," said the
source, "to purchase weapons directly and provide them to the
smugglers. He was operating under cover, pretending to be a 'straw
buyer.'" He continued, "I think Dodson demanded the letter from Voth
to cover both himself and the FFL (Federal Firearm Licensee). He
didn't want to be hung out to dry" by Voth.
A source also said that the undercover assignment was an effort by
Voth to "dirty him (Dodson) up," pointing out that by the time of the
undercover assignment that Dodson's vocal opposition to "letting guns
walk" was well known to his superiors in the Phoenix ATF office.
Sources also describe a second letter from Voth to another FFL
authorizing Dodson to purchase two more Draco pistols. One source
stated flatly: "Issa and Grassley have copies of both letters, and
have had for a long time."
Subsequent to this undercover weapons buying and transfer to cartel
smugglers by Dodson, say the sources, "Dodson just about came apart
all over them (his supervisors)." In a "screaming match" that was
heard throughout the Phoenix office by many employees, Dodson yelled
at Voth and Assistant Special Agent in Charge George Gillett, "Why
not just go direct and empty out the (ATF) arms room?" (to the
cartels), or words to that effect.
After this confrontation, say the sources, ATF managers transferred
Dodson to a post as "liaison to the intel guys at FBI" in the Phoenix
office. For clarification, it is worth noting that the Brian Terry
murder investigation was at this time being carried out by the
criminal investigations side of the FBI out of the Tuscon office, not
Phoenix.
Sources describe continuing harassment of Dodson as his access to the
Phoenix office building was restricted. "They removed him from the
(Fast and Furious) case as politically unreliable," said another
source, adding, "And of course after the Terry murder all the shots
were being called by D.C."
After the death of Brian Terry, the "rumor" post on the ATF agent's
website, CleanUpATF.org and the initial coverage by these reporters
in the early weeks of January, 2011, "things got ugly" for Dodson.
Blamed by his immediate supervisors as well as many of his fellow
agents in the Phoenix office for "treason" as one source described
it, Dodson's existence at the Phoenix office was described as
"precarious" by one D.C. source. The threats to his life were
perceived to be so great that "solitary range days" were arranged by
a sympathetic supervisor so Dodson could practice marksmanship in
safety. "He (the supervisor) didn't want him (Dodson) to eat one in
the back" in a range "accident," said the source.
Dodson has not given any more interviews of late. "Not since the
hearings as far as I know," said one source, and it is not because he
hasn't been asked.
"They're (the Justice Department) coming at him hard, looking for
anything they can use against him," said another. "Can you blame him
for keeping his head down?"
Although our sources firmly agree that Senator Grassley and
Congressman Issa have both of the Voth/Dodson letters, we are
forwarding copies of the June 1, 2010 letter to staffers of both men,
asking for comment on this story and an explanation as to why they
have not previously released the letters.
Given the fact that it is a weekend, these reporters do not expect
any reaction until later on Monday morning.
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