Interesting update to the Operation Fast & Furious debacle. Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson is being pressured to resign by higher ups in the DOJ. He was to be the designated fall guy and was supposed to take the hit for the team. Apparently, Melson doesn’t see it that way and is refusing to go quietly saying that he doesn’t want to resign. Melson says that he is eager to testify before Congress but hasn’t gotten DOJ approval to do that. Gee I wonder why? Obviously the trail of culpability leads higher up the chain of command. It seems to me that if Melson was the creator and chief administrator of this monstrosity, he would fall on his sword and be done with it. There’s a lot more to come on this story.
Kenneth E. Melson, who has run the bureau for two years, is reportedly eager to testify to Congress about the extent of his and other officials’ involvement in the operation, code-named Fast and Furious.
Melson does not want to be “the fall guy” for the program, under which ATF agents allowed straw purchasers to acquire more than 1,700 AK-47s and other high-powered rifles from Arizona gun dealers, the sources said. The idea was to track the guns to drug cartel leaders. But that goal proved elusive, and the guns turned up at shootings in Mexico, as well as at the slaying in Arizona of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in December.
“He is saying he won’t go,” said one source close to the situation, who asked for anonymity because high-level discussions with Melson remained fluid. “He has told them, ‘I’m not going to be the fall guy on this.’ “
Added a second source, who also requested anonymity: “He’s resisting. He does not want to go.”
Melson has an open invitation to appear on Capitol Hill. So far, he has not been given Justice Department approval to appear before Congress.
Read the whole thing here: ATF Director resists pressure to step down.
Tags: Department of Justice, Eric Holder, Operation Fast & Furious
