The principal drafter of that statute says "yes."

And on related fronts, it turns out that DEA has helped launder cartel profits.

From January 2011, about a month before the story of "Operation Fast and Furious" began to break:

""Our office is committed to stopping the illegal flow of guns into Mexico," Dennis K. Burke, U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, says. "The massive size of this operation sadly exemplifies the magnitude of the problem -- Mexican Drug Lords go shopping for war weapons in Arizona.""

And another memorable utterance:

"This investigation is further proof of the relentless efforts by Mexican drug cartels, especially the Sinaloa Cartel, to illegally acquire large quantities of firearms in Arizona and elsewhere in the U.S. for use in the ongoing Mexican drug war," Bill Newell, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Phoenix Field Division, says in a statement.

Jay Dobyns will be on "Justice w/Judge Jeanine," tonight at 10pm, ET (live). It's carried by Fox News. I am told it may get pretty lively.

Story here. Apparently, when Sen. Grassley wrote Holder asking if guns were being "walked," the US Attorney for Arizona emailed Justice HQ that "Grassley's assertions regarding the Arizona investigation and the weapons recovered at the "murder scene are based on categorical falsehoods. I worry that ATF will take 8 months to answer this when they should be refuting its underlying accusations right now."

Since he had personal knowledge that guns were being walked, that would explain his sudden resignation. It's interesting that (1) Holder declined to state this when asked about the letter and (2) that it took this much prying to get the information out. I suspect the US Attorney has something to hold over HQ's head, or this would have been given up immediately. "I was lied to by a guy whom I demanded resign," is a quick and easy answer.

This would never have come to light but for a lot of persistence by Grassley and Issa, which tells you how easily an agency can lie to a senator and get away with it.

UPDATE: Unbelievable. The US Attorney for Arizona, Dennis K. Burke, was assuring HQ that Sen. Grassley was a "stooge for the gun lobby" and that he was "personally outraged by Senator Grassley’s falsehoods," and the mythical gun lobby was "lobbing this reckless despicable accusation..."

See that bus? ... be under it.

Hat tip to David Codrea.

ANOTHER update: Politico thinks Dennis Burke's career in AZ politics just capsized and sank. He noted "“No commentary by Grassley on the lax laws, nor greedy gun shop owners, nor careless straw purchasers..."

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers has joined in the call for an Independent Counsel, over Operation Fast and Furious.

BP Agents aren't known for mincing words, and their statement lives up to that. They are "appalled and infuriated by what is coming to light about Operation Fast and Furious."

"We call it a scheme for we will not dignify it by calling it an investigation."

"The departures from acceptable investigative practices were many, but in short, ATF allowed and encouraged and in some cases apparently coerced, U.S. gun dealers, whom they license, to abet violations of federal gun control laws"

"Due to the number of agencies and the political and professional stakes involved, it is no surprise that, at best, the administration is being uncooperative in Congress' inquiries into the matter. At worst, it appears that a cover-up is underway. Normally, the Department of Justice and agency Inspectors General would look into what has gone on. However, the conflicts of interest and the high stakes make it nearly impossible to expect that any of those entities would produce and unbiased, truthful finding."

"That misdeeds, felonies, in fact, have been committed and condoned by government agents is incontrovertible. Now, we must find out who is responsible. To do otherwise would be a miscarriage of justice."

Story here. This is a real bombshell. Also, the likelihood that FBI and DEA knew the "rip crew" was out raiding that night, and didn't bother to tell Border Patrol.

The Washington Times has the story.

David Codrea blogs the Arizona Republic coverage. The Republic is the big paper up in Phoenix, and unlike the Tucson paper, has no qualms about covering the case. It's great coverage.

One mystery to me has always been the ATF supervisor who emailed agents, "If you don't think this is fun, you're in the wrong line of work -- period!" In the hearings, the supervisors conceded that they had no plans to extradite and prosecute Cartel members or leaders. So where's the fun? Supplying drug cartels with guns? That seems like a rather strange way to get your amusement. The one thing that might seem fun is, if you wanted more restrictions, the idea that a plan to inflate the tracing statistics was succeeding.

A very interesting article, suggesting that the US government may be the principle supplier of the cartels, and not thru Operation Fast and Furious! The Mexican Army is heavily equipped with US arms, and has about 25,000 desertions per year Plus, the US ships semiauto rifles (I assume for law enforcement) to Mexico, at the rate of 13,000-20,000 per year. In 2009, the value of arms shipped nearly trebled over 2008.

The Washington TImes is reporting that the illegals who shot it out with Terry's BP unit were looking for Border Patrol agents in order to attack them; they were seen (I assume in thermal imaging) to be advancing with guns butts at the shoulder, ready to shoot.

Many, many gains.

The one limit is the the bar to granting relief from disabilities is still in there, with its exemption for corporations convicted of felonies!

Agricultural, Rural Development, Food and Drug
Administration, and Related Agencies Programs for the Fiscal Year ending
September 30, 2012, and for other purposes. Conference Report to accompany
H.R. 2112. H.R. Report No. 112-284, 112th Congress, 1st Session.
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2011, pages 58-60.

BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES
SALARIES AND EXPENSES

For necessary expenses of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives,....
:
Provided, That no funds appropriated herein or hereafter
shall be available for salaries or administrative expenses in connection
with consolidating or centralizing, within the Department of
Justice, the records, or any portion thereof, of acquisition and disposition
of firearms maintained by Federal firearms licensees: Provided
further, That no funds appropriated herein shall be used to
pay administrative expenses or the compensation of any officer or
employee of the United States to implement an amendment or
amendments to 27 CFR 478.118 or to change the definition of ??Curios
or relics?? in 27 CFR 478.11 or remove any item from ATF Publication
5300.11 as it existed on January 1, 1994: Provided further,
That none of the funds appropriated herein shall be available to investigate
or act upon applications for relief from Federal firearms
disabilities under 18 U.S.C. 925(c): Provided further, That such
funds shall be available to investigate and act upon applications
filed by corporations for relief from Federal firearms disabilities
under section 925(c) of title 18, United States Code: Provided further,
That no funds made available by this or any other Act may
be used to transfer the functions, missions, or activities of the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to other agencies
or Departments: Provided further, That, during the current fiscal
year and in each fiscal year thereafter, no funds appropriated under
this or any other Act may be used to disclose part or all of the contents
of the Firearms Trace System database maintained by the National
Trace Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives or any information required to be kept by licensees pursuant
to section 923(g) of title 18, United States Code, or required
to be reported pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (7) of such section,
except to: (1) a Federal, State, local, or tribal law enforcement agency,
or a Federal, State, or local prosecutor; or (2) a foreign law enforcement
agency solely in connection with or for use in a criminal
investigation or prosecution; or (3) a Federal agency for a national
security or intelligence purpose; unless such disclosure of such data
to any of the entities described in (1), (2) or (3) of this proviso would
compromise the identity of any undercover law enforcement officer
or confidential informant, or interfere with any case under investigation;
and no person or entity described in (1), (2) or (3) shall
knowingly and publicly disclose such data; and all such data shall
be immune from legal process, shall not be subject to subpoena or
other discovery, shall be inadmissible in evidence, and shall not be
used, relied on, or disclosed in any manner, nor shall testimony or
other evidence be permitted based on the data, in a civil action in
any State (including the District of Columbia) or Federal court or
in an administrative proceeding other than a proceeding commenced
by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
to enforce the provisions of chapter 44 of such title, or a review of
such an action or proceeding; except that this proviso shall not be
construed to prevent: (A) the disclosure of statistical information
concerning total production, importation, and exportation by each
licensed importer (as defined in section 921(a)(9) of such title) and
licensed manufacturer (as defined in section 921(a)(10) of such
title); (B) the sharing or exchange of such information among and
between Federal, State, local, or foreign law enforcement agencies,
Federal, State, or local prosecutors, and Federal national security,
intelligence, or counterterrorism officials; or (C) the publication of
annual statistical reports on products regulated by the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, including total production,
importation, and exportation by each licensed importer (as so
defined) and licensed manufacturer (as so defined), or statistical aggregate
data regarding firearms traffickers and trafficking channels,
or firearms misuse, felons, and trafficking investigations: Provided
further, That no funds made available by this or any other
Act shall be expended to promulgate or implement any rule requiring
a physical inventory of any business licensed under section 923
of title 18, United States Code: Provided further, That, hereafter, no
funds made available by this or any other Act may be used to electronically
retrieve information gathered pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
923(g)(4) by name or any personal identification code: Provided further,
That no funds authorized or made available under this or any
other Act may be used to deny any application for a license under
section 923 of title 18, United States Code, or renewal of such a li-
cense due to a lack of business activity, provided that the applicant
is otherwise eligible to receive such a license, and is eligible to report
business income or to claim an income tax deduction for business
expenses under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

Here's what I see when I use the court's electronic docket and search for the case by its file number:

Normally there would be links on the side for the case history, a docket sheet listing all the pleadings and motions, and much more. Not here. The entire file is sealed, and even the motion to seal is itself sealed.

In the matter of BP Agent Brian Terry, where Fast and Furious guns were found at the scene, the government brought an indictment against Manuel Osorio-Arellandes and others, whose names were revealed. The morning paper here reports that the entire case has apparently been sealed, and the prosecutor refuses to make a statement as to why.

I find this extraordinary. Sure, specific documents are sometimes sealed -- in this case, the original indictment, with the names of all defendants, is apparently sealed. But to seal an entire case is extraordinary, let alone to do it some six months into the case.