Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters on Friday that the U.S. may need to apologize for failing to inform Mexican authorities about the botched ATF sting known as “Fast and Furious.”
The operation, which ran out of the ATF bureau in Phoenix from 2009 to 2011, allowed violent Mexican cartels to obtain over 2,000 firearms in the United States but failed to recover over 1,400 of them.
“What seems serious to me is that a violation of our sovereignty was carried out, a secret operation, and that Mexicans were killed with these weapons,” Lopez Obrador said in Mexico City. “There is still time for the U.S. to apologize.”
“We have to shine light on this so that an action of this type will never be carried out again,” he said.
Lopez Obrador made the comments after former Mexican President Felipe Calderon said on Twitter last week that he had no knowledge of the gun-running scheme. Calderon was president from 2006 and 2012. Lopez Obrador speculated that Calderon’s comments indicate that the sting was illegal because it may have been carried out without the president’s knowledge.
“Fast and Furious was a scandal of monumental proportions,” Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Chairman Alan Gottlieb said in response to Lopez Obrador’s statements.
“We can certainly sympathize with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador,” Gottlieb said. “Mexico and every U.S. citizen deserves not only an apology but [then Attorney General Eric] Holder and several other former Obama/Biden administration officials should have been criminally prosecuted. Bad actors should be punished, not law abiding American gun owners, as Joe Biden has proposed with his gun control agenda if elected president.”
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Investigators believe over 100 Mexicans were killed by those who obtained firearms through the Fast and Furious program, including a police chief in the state of Jalisco. At least one American was killed due to the program when Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry died in a shootout with Mexican “bandits” in 2010. It was later determined that two of the AK-47’s used by the bandits were sold as part of Fast and Furious.
The program was ostensibly designed to track firearms from straw purchases in the United States to high-level Mexican drug cartel leaders. By allowing firearms to be purchased illegally, ATF agents hoped to uncover the methods and procedures of cartel firearms traffickers.
But the program was a failure from the beginning, according to a review by the Inspector General for the Department of Justice. The ATF was unable to trace the firearms agents allowed to “walk,” and the guns were only recovered at crime scenes much later.
“Almost from the outset of each case, ATF agents learned that the purchases were financed by violent Mexican drug trafficking organizations and that the firearms were destined for Mexico,” the report states. “We believe the limitations and the ineffectiveness of the surveillance should have prompted ATF and U.S. Attorney’s Office personnel responsible for conducting and supervising the case to assess whether they could responsibly conduct investigations as large as Operations Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious under these circumstances.”
Mexican authorities have a right to be upset, according to the report. The public safety threat of allowing known criminals to purchase so many weapons far exceeded the potential benefits of the operation’s stated goals.
SEE ALSO: ‘El Chapo’ Armory Included Fast and Furious .50-Cal.
“We also concluded that the speculative long term gain of foregoing enforcement action should have yielded to the immediate risk to public safety, both in the United States and Mexico, created by the subjects’ substantial trafficking activities,” the report states.
Former U.S. congressman Darrell Issa also speculated in 2012 that the program was designed to advance the gun control agenda in the U.S. He claimed to have access to emails from officials who were involved in the program that indicated their intentions.
“Could it be that what they really were thinking of was, in fact, to use this — this walking of guns — in order to promote an assault-weapons ban? Many think so, and they haven’t come up with an explanation that would cause any of us not to agree,” Issa said at the 2012 NRA conference.
Deliver Obama,Biden and holder to the border in chains! Let that be our appology.
Holder advised BHO to evoke executive privilege in this case. Recently Pelosi criticized Barr for dropping a bad case against a Lt. General saying that the AG is NOT Trump’s lawyer. And of course Reno covered for Clinton when Elian Gonzales had an MP-5 pointed at his head by the feds (ICE?). Elian was luckier that the kids in Waco where Reno also covered for Clinton. Pelosi should read up on the AG before she grandstands next time.
BRAVO ! HOLDER Should be in federal prison because of Obama’s Fast And Furious
‘ Criminal Activity ‘ that MEXICO is seeing us over and the Death Of Over 100 Mexicans ( and at least 1 American )
Obama and Biden were both in the oval office when cooked up but will NEVER pay for it . HOLDER is still in Contempt Of Court and will NEVER face justice because he is ” Above The Law ! )
You almost got it right…Deliver them to the border in chains, for a high-profile execution, using ONLY guns used in the Fast and Furious debacle. I still have a question about that “program”…If Obama knew “nothing about it” as he claimed, how did he claim “Executive Privilege”? Either it’s an executive order / program, or it’s not. Either he ran everything or he could not claim exec privilege.
It’s not often I agree with anything a Mexican President says but on this one I will have to defer BUT, the only folks that need to apologize is the sodomite pervert muslim commie usurper and his entire administration and then we Patriots need to HANG them ALL!!!
So let me get this straight. The corrupt socialist President of Mexico who lets narcos in custody go free wants the Trump Administration to apologize for the corrupt obama administration?? You sir are a fool.
Barry Soetoro and Joe Biden should apologize.
Apologize hell, they should be locked up
Tell that to Mexico’s President NOT me.
Yes BOTH Should !
The country that screws its own citizens and facilitates illegal border crossings and drug smuggling ?—–Have an Excrement sandwich you cartel puppets
Mexico should look at how Israel went after war criminals after World War 2. Find them and take them back to Mexico for trial. Obama, Holder and Hillary for War Crimes.
Playing the blame game gets you nowhere and two wrongs have never made a right. Instead of trying to unring a bell, Americans need to exercise the nerve to finally stand up against our domestic tyranny and be as willing as our Founding Fathers were to risk everything they had in order to be free. The so-called “Land of the free and home of the brave” is now nothing more than a pitiful exercise in mythical futility.
If Americans were so smart, why do they keep re-electing those who have destroyed our God-given rights and freedoms? It must be that the public is too stupid to not realize the lies being told, over and over again, are no more than false hopes and promises. Until the People are absolutely willing to say NO to those in governmental power, nothing good will ever happen and we all will continue to wear the chains of bondage, and yet still idiotically believe we are somehow free when in truth we know we are not. Remember these words when they come for you, and that you stood idly by while others did what they must to remain free.
Yes Mexico deserves an apology but from Obama and his administration not from Trump,Obama and his thief’s should all go to jail on murder charges and he should be stripped of his title and all benefits he is receiving.
You will get one as soon as you pay for the wall
We should extradite Obama and Holder to Mexico to issue the apology, and then they can be charged by the Mexican government with the crimes that they committed. Mexican people aren’t stupid enough to allow these two criminals to get away with their crimes. Too bad we are.
The U.S should apologize for sending sending illegal guns to Mexico and Mexico should apologize for allowing people to enter the U.S. illegally from Mexico’s side of the border.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador,
While most Americans would love to hand over Obama and Holder for prosecution, we will not apologize to your Cartel controlled country until you clean it up.
I know we have a problem in the US with our own cartel, called the Democrat Party, but we are trying to get it cleaned up.
you sir are fooled the government as a whole needs to be cleaned up remember the old saying when you point a finger at someone three point back at u
Send Obummer to Mexico to explain and apologize as it was his stupid idea! Tell the Secret Service detail to stand down.
Maybe Mexico should apologize for the two illegal piece of shits that murdered my best friend 8 years ago. Maybe apologize for every single crime that’s destroyed American families. Until then America and all Americans owe zero apologies to that man and especially his rouge shit hole, lawless country.
Go get your apology from Obama, or Eric Holder El-Presidente’ Chico, I’m not giving you one and either is President Trump
We should apologize! Those Fast and Furious movies are terrible!!
Trying to track a illegally purchased gun is like trying to track a turd in a sewer.
Exactly. Perhaps the brilliant central government agency bureaucrats forgot to affix a nondescript GPS device to each firearm.
One of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s first visits in that office was to go to Mexico and “investigate” the cross border drug trafficking problem. While there she started talking about the U.S. drug market but it quickly morphed into a discussion about how so many of the guns used by the cartels came from the U.S.. She lied about the number of guns that came from us and a week later sent her spokesperson out to correct the number. The correction wasn’t covered by the MSM. One purpose for Fast and Furious may have been to reward the Sinaloa cartel for information but the the main “political goal” was to put guns in the hands of brutal Mexican drug terrorists to further the argument that American guns were the problem down there. They imposed laws and sanctions on border region gun stores and the goal was to further their gun control agenda nationwide. This was a political operation with political motives and that is the reason Holder wouldn’t turn over records as requested by congress. Killing people to further a political agenda doesn’t win you votes.
Mexico should stop asking for apologies. They need to charge holder and obama with gunrunning, demand extradition, and throw them in a Mexican prison where they belong.
Agreed!
The guy that killed the Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was a undercover ATF agent.
Americans can’t apologize for something they didn’t do. The apology should come from the Obama DOJ, but don’t hold your breath because as you know too well, admitting to a disastrously failed administration would show weakness on their part.
Get your apology from Obama and Eric Holder! Good luck.
Fully agree!
Your comment saved me a lot of typing.
Right no administration wants to admit to a f**ckup. Not this one or the last one. They all want to hide it. It’s time to start bringing new people to congress and clear the entrenched who are living off our work. We need to find reps. who will work for us and not their party or wallet. How is it Pelosi and McConnell are multi millionaires while the rest eke by.
By that logic, we shouldn’t have to apologize for all the stupid crap that Trump has done.
Dick Hurtz , not only are you not clever you seem to be another douche nozzle with TDS , run alone dummy the adults are talking.
It was not a sting operation against cartels. Enough of the fake news. Until you have the memo in your hand stating, that is made up to look like Obama isn’t the person he is. An example is the recent FBI meme stating the goal is the truth or to get Flynn fire and prosecuted. This was an anti-second amendment operation. They started the forest fire so they can say look a forest fire and put it out.
I don’t expect Barry Hussein or Holder will apologize.
Even if they did, you won’t see it on MSM.
I didn’t see ” OBOZO’S ” name in there at all !!!
Pay for the WALL and we’ll talk …
Heres a deal for them ; We apologize for F&F and then Mexico takes back ALL Mexican immigrants to the U.S. , both legal and illegal.
Yeah and lets do the same with all the euro immigrants legal and illegal (you dumb ass)
Amen.
We should also send ’em both “o”boy and holder to prosecute in their own judicial system, as long as they promise to keep ’em.
I completely agree with that!
Mexico takes no responsibility for the illegals flooding our country. The Mexican government should be held accountable for standing on the sidelines and doing nothing.
Go tell Obama, he was the devil in charge at the time. Chalk it up to experience and forget it, cuz we are not going to apologize for a democrap problem. Get lost.
I’m all for handcuffing Holder to Obama and tossing them across the border if that is good enough?
Bama and Holder are the ones that did this so they are the ones that should be held accountable for their Unconstitutional Deeds. They should be in a mexican prison for the rest of their lives. Semper Fi.
Hola amigo. I believe ol’ Bathhouse Barry is the guy you want to hear from. He’s kinda busy right now though, obstructing a sitting president with his extremely rich, globalist buddies.
Agreed Bob….Holder is another Obrador might want to talk to.. But first Obrador might want to apologize for allowing millions of criminals cross his Country into ours..He must apologize for allowing drug dealers to control his Country …. Until then a One Finger salute to him is in order.
You really think the present occupant is any better? HE’s charged the secret service 1mill for staying at his hotels to cover his ass. One is no better than the other. Somewhere there has got to be an honest man or woman who will work for us ,not their party or pocket. Like the greek guy with the lantern, looking for an honest man.
Whenever the Secret Service stays in commercial lodging, it has to pay for it. The President makes the decisions about where he goes and when he goes there. This president happens to own the resorts he frequents. Why shouldn’t he stay at his own resorts? How much of that money do you actually think goes to Trump, and how much to the people who work at his properties? Would it matter to you if Trump stayed elsewhere, and the money went to another millionaire? You’d probably then complain the other millionaire was a Trump supporter. How about Obama? Did you complain about the money he spent on golf (Obama golfed more in the first two years of his first term than GWB golfed in eight years), or about Michele O’s exorbitant rides, courtesy of the US Air Force, to various exotic destinations? How much of his salary as president did BHO give away to charities?
The Secret Service was legally charged for lodging in support of its duties to protect the president. Get over it.
Take his complaint to Omuslim. It was his goon squad.
An apology? I was hoping the result would be Eric Holder becoming the blushing bride of a nice, Mexican prison gang…
Apologies, regrets PHUK that! People need to be held accountable for their heinous behavior and actions!!!
We can get Hilary Clinton, who the FBI’s Comey admitted in his July 2016 speech, committed multiple violations of USC 793f (national security), prosecuted. Anyone who has read that statute know that “intent” is no part nor requirement within said statute. While I understand President Trump has been under constant threat from the Democrat party since winning the election, he can still assign an independent investigator to complete a “real” investigation. Ms Clinton was never put under oath by the FBI. However Judicial Watch has fought in court to at least depose her in the near future, under oath.
Absolutely correct. The espionage (spying) statutes require “intent.” “Gross negligence” in storing, handling, and distributing classified information only requires that a person did not do his or her duty to keep the information secure. The “intent” behind the failure is not relevant. (Although in Hillary’s case there was “intent” – the furtherance of another crime – the evasion of FOIA requirements.)
Mexico needs to start apologizing to the U.S. and then start apologizing to your own citizens for your unbelievable greed and corruption.
Operation “Fast and Furious” was orchestrated by President Obama’s Attorney General, Eric Holder, not the people of the US. Neither he nor Obama even apologized to the family of US Border agent Brian Terry who was murdered by 1 of the guns from that operation.