ATF director expected to resign amid Mexico gun controversy
June 20th, 2011
01:27 PM ET

ATF director expected to resign amid Mexico gun controversy

The acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and firearms is expected to resign amid the ongoing controversy over the "Fast and Furious" operation, two senior federal law enforcement sources told CNN.

Straw buyers were allowed to illegally purchase large numbers of weapons in the operation, some of which ended up in the hands of cartels in Mexico.

Acting Director Kenneth Melson may resign in the next day or two, the sources said.

Attorney General Eric Holder will meet Tuesday with Andrew Traver, head of the ATF field office in Chicago about potentially serving as acting director of the ATF to replace Melson.

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  1. Baccarat

    Mmmmmhmmmmm, where was everyone's outrage over Iran Contra, and where were the outcries of "Resign, Reagan"?

    Or is it because Reagan was a Republican, and Obama is a dem?

    Nah....couldn't be that....that would make no sense at all.

    June 20, 2011 at 4:30 pm | Report abuse |
  2. banasy

    @True SonofLiberty:

    Exactly.
    Thank you.

    June 20, 2011 at 5:30 pm | Report abuse |
  3. leeintulsa

    I think it has more to do with the stupidity of it all than party affiliation. What was going on? I'm not a cop, but i've seen Cops. Don't they bust the person buying the contraband as soon as it happens? So the contraband never actually leaves the room?

    This guy was illegally selling guns to drug runners, intentionally and apparently with NO of fore thought. The HEAD of the ATF. The kind of thing he's supposed to prevent.

    He not only needs to lose his job, he should be prosecuted. If they've found some, some have and will be used to kill people.

    June 20, 2011 at 5:56 pm | Report abuse |
    • vegandave128

      This is not about stupidity - it's about ideology. Obama is very anti-COTUS - especially the Bill of Rights - and more specifically the 2nd Amendment. Obama is so vehemently against the 2nd Amendment that he'd put his entire administration at political risk to concoct a ruse to justify new gun control laws.

      June 23, 2011 at 7:29 pm | Report abuse |
  4. leeintulsa

    @baccarat: they're just mad and spewing. Remember how we were with W? Let em rant. Even with a little bad luck, i think they've got another five and a half years to whine about it..

    June 20, 2011 at 6:08 pm | Report abuse |
  5. glyder

    let eric holder investigate this case.if this guy can pass himself off as a black panther,charges will be dropped.ta daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

    June 20, 2011 at 6:38 pm | Report abuse |
  6. jrod13206

    He probably is getting paiid by the cartels and just wasn't aware of the sell of firearms and then when he found out he botched it and let them walk with the guns saying there was a special operation. Kinda like in the movie departed.

    June 20, 2011 at 8:25 pm | Report abuse |
  7. vegandave128

    The Fast and Furious investigat­ion can not stop with the resignatio­n of Kenneth Melson, acting director of the ATF. We already know that other Federal agencies including DEA, ICE and Border Patrol were involved in Operation Fast and Furious. None of those agencies report to Kenneth Melson. Authorizat­ion for the involvemen­t of those other agencies had to come from higher up. Both BATFE and DEA report to Eric Holder and since the operation crossed his agencies, he was involved. Similarly, Border Patrol and ICE report to Janet Napolitano and since the operation crossed her agencies, she was involved. Since the operation crossed department­s (Homeland Security and Justice) and those department­s report to Obama, he too had to have been involved - it can really be NO other way.

    June 23, 2011 at 7:30 pm | Report abuse |
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