PHOENIX - The top federal prosecutor in Arizona resigned Tuesday against the backdrop of a bungled program that let straw buyers purchase weapons for Mexican drug organizations.
Dennis Burke, in a prepared statement, made no mention of the Fast and Furious program, which he helped coordinate as the U.S. attorney for Arizona.
It was designed, according to the Department of Justice, to let the guns get into the hands of those not legally entitled to have them, creating an opportunity for prosecution.
But the program went seriously wrong, with agents losing track of more than half the 2,000-plus weapons. Two of those that were lost showed up at the scene where Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was shot to death last year near Rio Rico. And officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives admitted its agents are aware of 11 instances where a firearm that was supposed to be part of Fast and Furious was recovered in connection with a violent crime in this country.
People are also reading…
Burke did not say whether his resignation, just a week after he was questioned by congressional investigators, was requested by his boss, Attorney General Eric Holder. Instead, Burke said simply it was the "right time to move on."
Holder, who credited Burke for his work in Arizona, also made no mention of Fast and Furious.
Previously, Burke was chief of staff for Janet Napolitano when she was governor of Arizona, before she became the current Homeland Security secretary.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., whose House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has been conducting hearings into Fast and Furious, said this change and the reassignment of acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson which also was announced Tuesday, were "warranted."
In a separate move, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley, who was responsible for the day-to-day operations of Fast and Furious, was reassigned to the civil division at his own request, spokeswoman Sandra Raynor said.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, who has been a critic of Fast and Furious, said Burke's ouster is long overdue. But he does not want the inquiry to end there.
"The footsteps now have gotten that much closer to the attorney general, Eric Holder, himself," he said. And Babeu said more than an investigation is needed.
"They need to come clean," he said. Babeu said the role of the program in the death of the Border Patrol agent amounts to "a significant cover-up."
The sheriff acknowledged there is some basis for using contraband to go after the major players in a criminal scheme rather than simply busting low-level functionaries.
But Babeu said while that makes sense with cash or drugs, it is "outrageous" to let dangerous weapons make their way into the hands of gang members, especially when there was no easy way to track the guns.
