The former U.S. attorney in Phoenix who oversaw the controversial “Fast & Furious’’ gun-trafficking investigation inappropriately leaked a document to Fox News in an apparent effort to denigrate an ATF whistleblower, the Justice Department inspector general concluded Monday.
Dennis Burke, who resigned in August 2011 as discord over “Fast & Furious’’ was reaching a crescendo on Capitol Hill, took aim at Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives agent John Dodson because of Dodson’s role in bringing the botched investigation to the attention of Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and CBS News.
Dodson had complained that while investigating a major gun-trafficking ring that smuggled thousands of weapons from Phoenix to a Mexican drug cartel, ATF agents were instructed to let guns “walk’’ _ permit smugglers to ferry weapons south of the border instead of interdicting them.
The controversy ignited soon after U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent Brian Terry died in a shootout in Southern Arizona on Dec. 14, 2010. Two weapons found at the murder site were traced to the ring under investigation in “Fast & Furious.’’
In June 2011, Dodson testified before Congress, calling the tactics employed in the “Fast & Furious’’ investigation “unthinkable to most law enforcement.’’ He told lawmakers he could not comprehend “how the risk of letting guns fall into the hands of known criminals could possibly advance any legitimate law enforcement interest.’’
In July 2011 after receiving a complaint from Dodson’s attorney, the Justice Department Office of the Inspector General opened an investigation into who leaked a 2010 memo by Dodson.
In the memo, Dodson proposed acting undercover as a “straw purchaser’’ in order to provide weapons to a suspected trafficker. Dodson would take no action to interdict the weapons and arrest the trafficker, the memo said.
Soon after the inspector general began its investigation, Burke acknowledged leaking the memo to Fox News reporter Mike Levine, telling investigators he did not believe he had done anything wrong. Burke told investigators that he believed the memo had been given to congressional staff conducting a probe of “Fast & Furious.’’
In any case, Burke said, Levine already had information on the memo and providing it to him merely gave the reporter a “time advantage.’’
In an email referred to in the inspector general’s report, Burke made it clear that he believed Dodson’s memo showed the veteran agent was guilty of hypocrisy.
“Unbelievable,’’ Burke wrote. “This guy called Grassley and CBS to unearth what he in fact was proposing to do by himself.’’
The inspector general’s report noted that Burke had already been admonished by Deputy Attorney General James Cole _ the department’s No.-2 official _ for leaking a prosecution memo on an individual “Fast & Furious’’ suspect to the New York Times.
The report brushed aside Burke’s explanation for leaking the Dodson memo to Fox News. It concluded Burke was guilty of violating Justice Department rules on disclosures to the media.
“We found Burke’s conduct in disclosing the Dodson memorandum to be inappropriate for a department employee and wholly unbefitting a U.S. attorney,’’ the report concluded.
Calls Monday seeking comment from Burke’s attorneys were not answered.
The report said that since Burke no longer is U.S. attorney in Phoenix, its findings would be turned over to the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, which would determine whether Burke’s conduct violated the rules of state bars in which he is a member.
Grassley, who along with House Oversight and Government Reform Commtitee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has been waging a long war against the Obama administration over access to “Fast & Furious’’ documents, said the report proved the Justice Department had tried to undermine the whistleblower instead of addressing the issues raised.
“ The report brings into question, yet again, the treatment that whistleblowers receive from this administration. Instead of examining the allegations that came forward, the Justice Department almost immediately began to attack the credibility and good name of a dedicated federal agent upset with what he was ordered to do,’’ Grassley said.
